When I visited Taurus a couple of years back, their head honcho Mark Kresser showed me the gun he carries. It was a Model 85 that he had the boys in the back modify for him. His little wheelgun had a short barrel and a cut-down stock that gave him just enough real estate to grip and fire it. It also disappeared in his suit coat or pants pocket. That was the inspiration for the Taurus View . . .
Kresser’s gun, though, didn’t have the View’s most famous feature, the peek-a-boo side panel. In what will be seen, depending who you are, as either a brilliant marketing move or a ridiculous gimmick, the View gives anyone who wants to look a bird’s eye view of the revolver’s clockwork as it cycles via a Lexan plate on the gun’s right side.
While they probably would have rather used transparent aluminum, Taurus says they formulated the polycarbonate polymer plate so as not to crack under the attendant stress of cycling rounds through a firearm. Time will tell. Until then it seems plenty scratch-resistant and we hear that, if you tire of the peep show, they’ll have a standard aluminum replacement plate out next year.
Forget about the view the Brazilian made View affords, though. The real story here is the revolver’s size. How small is it? This little guy apparently didn’t listen to his mother, took up smoking at age 11 and never cut back. It’s the little wheelgun at the end of the line that will cry wee wee wee all the way home.
Taurus put a lot of thought and some unique design work into making the double action only View about as concealable as a 5-round revolver can be. First, they cut the weight down by using a titanium cylinder and barrel on an aluminum frame. We’re talking seriously svelte here.
A standard small-frame revolver (think 642 Airweight) tips the scales at 15 oz. Not bad, right? Compared to the 9 oz. View, Smith’s venerable pocket rocket is downright portly. And a standard steel +P-rated 85 is a veritable sumo wrestler at 21 oz. The View’s amazingly bearable lightness of being in your pocket makes a huge difference in portability and all-day comfort.
Taurus also made this thing about as physically small as it can possible be. It sports nicely rounded edges and with that bobbed hammer, there’s nothing to snag during a draw from concealment. They cut about a half inch from the length of a standard snubbie barrel. They also gave the View a grip that’s pretty much the minimum required to give you enough to hang onto — you’ll get about a finger and a half on it. But they didn’t even stop there.
In order to make the View conform to your form (as long as you’re a righty) they went so far as to contour the stock. Uh huh, the frame and grip panels have a slight curvature that reduces the print of the gun under your shirt or its outline in your pocket just that much more. And no, it’s not enough to affect accuracy.
Which brings us to actually shooting this thing. The first question that popped into my fevered brain when I first picked up a View at the SHOT Show was, “OK, how much is this thing gonna hurt when I shoot it?” The answer: a lot. No really, shooting the View is downright painful and it’s no mystery as to why.
When you combine the revolver’s minimal mass with a grip you hold with your thumb and about 1.5 fingers, touching off a 130gr. range round causes some serious shucking and jiving in your hand. That motion means pain and plenty of it. If I’d had a glove with me on my first trip to the range, I’d have used it. Sadly, I’d left mine at home. Ouch.
Though Taurus doesn’t recommend the gun for +P loads, I ran some 110gr. Hornady Critical Defense through it, too. The gun came away fine, but my hand barked at me like a rabid Doberman. I managed to put 150 total rounds down range before I finally gave out and asked RF for combat pay. The moral of the story is this thing is a personal defense gun, not one you’ll ever want to shoot for fun.
The View’s DAO trigger is actually pretty good. The gun’s rated at a 10lb. pull, and without the benefit of a pull weight gauge, that feels about right. It’s a very smooth pull with some slight stacking before the break.
As for accuracy, despite the pain the gun was accurate enough. As accurate as any other snubbie you’re going to shoot. The View has the standard channel running along the top leading to a low profile fixed blade front sight. Not that you’re ever likely to use it. Like any snubbie, the View’s every bit an up close and personal, last ditch self-defense weapon. Something you’re most likely to poke into a bad guy’s ribs, pull the trigger and badaBING! you end up with some of him all over your nice Ivy League suit.
Taurus packages the gun with two more features, one you’ll want to use and one you won’t. Like all of Taurus’s revolvers the view has the Taurus Safety System a key-lock device that disables the gun. Leave it alone and forget it’s there. The other potentially more useful item included is a free one year NRA membership.
In the end, though, the View probably won’t be seen as your typical snubbie. Plenty of potential buyers will look at it and see it as a curiosity. They’ll be too distracted by that window into its inner workings. But that’s missing the larger point and isn’t really what the View is all about.
With its uber-compact size and feathery weight, this is a gun that you’ll be more than happy to slip into a pocket without thinking about it. The fact that it punishes your hand when you pull the trigger is really beside the point, since it’s decidedly not a firearm you’ll ever be plinking with. And if you ever do have to use it in a defensive situation, a sore palm will be the least of your concerns. Boiled down to its essence then, the View is a nicely made, exceptionally concealable gun that lets you carry five big boy rounds in supreme comfort. And what’s wrong with that?
Specifications:
Model: 85VTA
Caliber: .38 Special (not +P rated)
Capacity: 5 rounds
Weight: 9 oz.
Barrel length: 1.41”
Frame: Aluminum
Cylinder and Barrel: Titanium
Height: 3.5”
Width: 1.35”
MSRP: $599 (about $450 street)
Ratings (out of five stars):
Fit and finish: * * * *
This is a nicely made revolver. The trigger is good, if a tad on the heavy side. And based on the uniquely visible clockwork, a fair amount of care went into the gun’s assembly.
Ergonomics (carry): * * * * *
There’s no question — this is the most easily-carried revolver on the market. With its ultra-light weight and bobbed/curved grip, it virtually disappears on your waist or in your pocket.
Ergonomics (shooting): *
Masochists rejoice. No firearm I’ve ever touched off has been more painful. The combination of minimal mass and tiny stock means the View will pummel your palm. This is not — repeat not – a range toy. Wear a glove to fire it when you take it out to ensure initial function.
Accuracy: * * *
It’s as accurate as a full-size Model 85, or any other snubbie for that matter at self-defense distances. The View is designed as a last ditch personal defense weapon. You won’t be using it to pop cans off a fence rail at 20 yards.
Overall: * * * *
You’ll get past that see-through side plate in about 20 minutes. That’s when you’ll realize you’re left with a highly concealable, uber-comfortable carry gun that lets you keep five rounds of .38 caliber dissuasion in your pocket all day long with no bother at all. It’s a gun you’ll (really) hope you never have to fire. But it’s also one you’ll probably have with you if you ever do.
My hand is feeling sore just reading about how painful it is to shoot this thing. Thanks for the write up. I must admit, I did like watching it work in the video. Kind of like watching a cut-away display at the Science Center.
Selling a uncomfortable-to-shoot self-defense handgun isn’t the best idea. Your daily carry tool should be one that you love to shoot. As the old adage goes: Just because you own a guitar doesn’t make you a musician – as such just because you carry a gun doesn’t make you a gun fighter.
Who said it was a daily? it is all kinds of obvious that this is a backup gun. Probably a backup for your backup. Or a gun to take when circumstances make carrying anything more substantial essentially impossible. It is a gun of desperation. Where your compact of full sized carry pistol may be viewed as a conflict ender this should probably be viewed as leverage.
Agreed. This is a last-ditch weapon that is a far better choice than a Freedom Arms single-action .22 or .22Mag.
Still, I’ll Keep my P3-AT for the same job.
Dunno, a good friend (the guy that let me shoot my first pistol, the b@stard) carries an ultralight that tears up his trigger finger something horrible whenever he shoots it. It occurred to me one day that he does that in for legal reasons in the event he ever has to use it. He can say “I don’t LIKE to shoot it, look at what it does to me.”
I called him out on it and only got a coy smile….
$450-600?
+P rated J-frames run 3-400 in my area.
Why pay more for less gun? A Taurus over a Smith no less.
Because it IS less gun. It says it right in the review. it is lighter and smaller than the Smith and thus intended for a different role. By your definition a HIpoint is “more gun” for a lot less.
I was referring to the standard vs. +P difference. And you must have never held a Smith next to a Taurus, night and day difference in fit, finish, and quality.
I’m just not impressed. Many people could make these changes in their garage with a hacksaw and a tig welder. If they really wanted to go crazy small Taurus would have chopped the frame and cylinder back to fit the shorter 9X19mm. Now THAT would be interesting.
Exactly what I was thinking. 9x19mm is at least as legit a round as .38 Special, and is even shorter. The requirement to either use moon clips or design a system for holding and then dumping rimless rounds was probably the buzzkill there. As sold the View probably uses a large number of common Taurus parts and does not require a new extractor or frame. I bet they could make a shorty 9mm cylinder, but not at this price point. Which as others have pointed out, ain’t that great of a price point.
I have used a S&W 638-2 and it’s no fun. This is not on my to-buy list.
Yea I bet it would be REAL fun to test some +P outta that thing, is it easier to carry a tiny revolver like that or just use a mouse gun/pocket pistol?
I love revolvers, but there are a lot of better options out there in the concealed carry category. My father’s DB9 packs 6+1 9mm rounds, and is perfectly reliable now that he changed the mag spring. (In his wife’s gun as well- both work great now). The gun is as thin as a wallet and disappears in your pocket.
What about limp wristing?
What about it? Limp wristing is a user error. It has nothing to do with the gun. I ran a hundred rounds combined through both of his DB9s and had no problems. I’ll be damn sure to run many more through them when I get down to visit again.
Not being able to stomp and steer properly in a car not equipped with ABS is user error too. As is performing an evasive maneuver and losing control of and/or flipping your car when it’s not equipped with electronic stability control.
Limp wristing will not cause function issues as in a small semi-auto.
I have shot lots of +P out of a 638 and it snappy but not that bad. I don’t think the extra six ounces weighs down my pocket that much.
I tried it. With 148-gr. target wadcutter ammo, it’s unpleasant but bearable. With standard 158-gr. lead round nose, it cut the web of my thumb open. The worst of all was +P 125-gr. Silvertips. The gun must be held in an unnatural position to align the front sight properly with the rear, and even then it shoots 6-12″ high at 10 yards. It’s a gun you’ll carry a lot, and practice with maybe once (unless you’re seriously into pain).
First, thanks for the review, Dan.
Second, I just don’t see a purpose for this gun besides curiosity. Has anyone ever looked at a J frame and thought, “this is just too damn big”? No. My cat could conceal a J frame.
Nor have I ever felt that my J frame was just too comfortable to shoot, and could use a little more kick.
Does your kitty rock an IWB or OWB?
http://www.nyan.cat/america
I don’t ask him questions, and he doesn’t ask me questions. I suspect he uses a modified belly band.
http://i937.photobucket.com/albums/ad216/Eranys/IMAG0044_BURST004_zpsb499a732.jpg
(Yes, that is my cat).
Damn it feel good to be a gangsta!
That cat is gangsta as f*ck. I did the same thing with my cat and my 1911. His name is Gat.
I’d trust my dog. Not the cat, though. Little f’er might decide to shoot me on a whim.
I did. Not even just “too big”, more like “too heavy”. Ounces count when you want to pocket carry (and there are valid reasons as to why you’d want to – not the least is that it places fewer restrictions on what you can wear).
Snubbies are good for one thing, as Dan said, sticking the barrel in the BG’s ribs and pulling the trigger. If you get into a gun fightfight with it any more than five yards away you are going to lose anyway. You also don’t need to practice to use it effectively either so I wouldn’t sweat the recoil and the pain.
Great points. I need to get something smaller and lighter. One to two shots is all that is needed, and your points are great. I need to look for something lighter and all that I am aging more and have want less weight and pull and it is also a requirement that I can conceal it very well in a coat pocket, pants pocket, etc.
I still say they should have made it in .327 federal, with the extractor set up for .32acp too.
This. Using .327 with an extra round in the cylinder is all sorts of win.
Yeah because 327 ammo is so plentiful cheap and easily procured.
Yeah, but you only need one box. You fire a couple dozen shots to make sure it works, and then either stick it in your pocket and never fire it again, or sell it on Armslist because it’s too painful to shoot. 😉
The recoil with .327 Mag would probably be unbearable for both the shooter and the gun–but it would be nice to have the capability to shoot all the other .32 calibers out of it.
How much do ballistics suffer from such a short barrel? I had a Taurus 85 which I hated to shoot. But the absolute worst was a Keltec PF9. It made my hand bleed even with a Houge grip. Still Taurus is going to sell this just because it’s tiny. Especially if the price drops under $400.
Interesting review on an interesting gun. I’ll pass because I don’t see it as a terribly effective ballistic tool relative to my Glock 23 / 27 / Smith .357 snubbie every day carry guns. Carrying combat gear and duty belts makes a double stack semi auto feel light by comparison. To those who feel differently, this could be a decent summer carry option. It certainly beats carrying nothing.
I’m curious to see what this would do on with a contact shot(s) versus ballistic gel. I wonder if there would be sufficient velocity for a JHP to expand at 5-25 feet for standard .38 / .38 +P ammo. That’s definitely a short barrel.
It would be much more fun if they chambered it in .44 magnum and only sold it to older women.
I like the contour idea, but it seems like something that could have been done just with the grip panels. The frame curve seems unnecessary. It would be fun to try that out on grips for a Officers 1911, combined with a bobtail cut..
Pass…my 642 may weigh a bit more, but it is still unnoticeable when carried. It isn’t uncomfortable to shoot, and once I adjusted my technique (I’m used to shooting SAO semi’s) it is minute of fist accurate @ 25 yards. I don’t mind spending a day shooting it…which is exactly what you should be doing with a purpose made carry gun.
I’m curious about curving the grip..it seems like the cylinder is more likely to create a bulge than that short grip.
This one is a novelty pistol. Taurus guns have been given a lot of crap but as a BUG I still carry a 9mm revolver. On the beach mostly I carry stainless 1911 is primary CCW. Until 15 years ago I carried my fathers Colt D frame or my K frame .357 off duty & as backups. Now they are safe queens. Gov’t model. or Sig 2022 as primary & the 9 revolver as a BUG. I have never carried a semi-auto as a 2nd pc except brief fling w/ruger POS LC9.
Make it a 9-shot 22mag and I’d buy it.
now there’s an idea…
Makes no sense. With that a short barrel you might as well use .22 LR. You will get same velocity with the same weight just with much less flash.
You have to include the fact that the barrel is 1.5 inches. According to BBTI (Ballistics By The Inch) a 40 grain .22 mag bullet out of a 2 inch barrel goes about 850-950 fps. While a 40 grain .22 LR bullet gets somewhere around 900 fps out of a 2 inch barrel.
There are ammo types for naa mini revolvers on the market for short barrels. Hornady critical defense, Speer gold dot to name a few.
Taurus makes a short cylinder .380 snub nose. Put that on there, which would make it lighter and smaller, ditch the stupid Lexan, and take my money!
Regarding the reference to transparent aluminum, sapphire is an aluminum oxide, and since it’s transparent…
Sapphire (Greek: σάπφειρος; sappheiros, ‘blue stone’,[2] which probably referred instead at the time to lapis lazuli) is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide (α-Al2O3). Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, chromium, copper, or magnesium can give corundum blue, yellow, purple, orange, or a greenish color. Chromium impurities in corundum yield a pink or red tint, the latter being called a ruby.
Transparent aluminum is used in armor, Aluminum Oxynitride. Stuff will stop a 50 cal.
The translucent panels are helpful to see what parts are rattling around inside when it breaks. Taurus probably specified clear panels to help the technician diagnose it, and cut the repair time down from 16 weeks to 14 weeks.
I’ll keep mine right next to my R51 and Glock .380… on a shelf in a gun shop. PASS!!!
Oooo, how cute. But it should be chambered for the MSMs favorite cartridge, the .9mm.
Hey Rick I’m pretty sure the transparent aluminum reference came from Star Trek 4.LOL Then again I could be wrong.
For less money one can get any of several pocket size .380’s that are smaller and lighter, or pocket 9’s, .40’s, or even . 40’s that are about the same size and weight. All of which hold at least the same number of rounds , and are exponentially easier to shoot. I am having trouble seeing a market for this pistol.
A semi-auto inherently has more failure points than a revolver. There’s limp wristing, for example. And generally the possibility of FTF or FTE is always there, no matter how small. Clearing those take time and effort and skill.
With a revolver, you pull the trigger and it fires. Or not, in which case you pull it again.
Wait a minute how can Glock never fail but be unreliable at the same time? This less reliable automatic is just so much conventional wisdom and like all conventional wisdom it is wrong. If automatics were so unreliable then why would military use them? Shouldn’t they be using revolvers? I can’t think of a more life or death situation than combat. Even more so, why wouldn’t they be using the far more reliable and maintainable bolt action battle rifle over the fare less reliable and harder to maintain assault rifle?
I never said that Glocks “never fail”. They fail the same as any other semi auto.
Reliability is not the only factor, and for military, other factors (like the need to deal with multiple targets) can be more important. Simply put, military use is not the same as personal self-defense, and different criteria apply.
The risk of failure on a well maintained quality auto is so low that it’s not worth having to carry a larger, heavier, harder to conceal and absolutely painful to shoot revolver to compensate. My S&W bodyguard in .380 is smaller by every dimension, extremely reliable, carries two more rounds and has a faster, more positive reload. This weapon is merely a curiosity, not a serious consideration.
“Larger and heavier”? How many semi-autos are lighter than 9oz that View weighs? The only one I can think of is Kel-Tec P32 (which has a smaller caliber). The second lightest is P3AT, which is also 9oz.
The risk of failure on any semi-auto includes operator error such as limp wristing, which can cause troubles regardless of how well-maintained the gun is. And don’t say that it doesn’t count, because situations that involve using a gun in self-defense tend to be highly stressful, and can also involve being physically hurt before you get a chance to fire, all of which increases the chances of doing something wrong.
Ahh, now I can see the inerds of my pistola, no thanks.
Peek-a-boo side panel? Lamest idea since Clear Pepsi.
Neat.
My SP101, DAO snubbie is as small as I’d be willing to go. Plus I can put a box of full house 158gr magnums through it in a range session and be no worse for wear.
Disclaimer: I’m a subject of the Citizen Disarmament Republic of Shall Not Issue (NJ), so deep concealment is never a concern.
Still…
Let’s see, there’s the Model 49 for practice, the M-38 for social duties and now the View as a…. a crazy lady TV show? I just can’t think of a place for it; with even reduced-load .38 Spl. reloaded ammo the 38 gets painful pretty quick, and if one has even a glimmer of “practice with your carry gun” mentality it sounds like this just won’t do. I’ll pass, but thanks for the review!
Given that this thing is clearly positioned as an alternative to .380 mouse guns like P3AT and LCP, it would be really interesting to compare the effect on target. My understanding is that .38 Special is heavier but slower than .380, for more or less the same muzzle energy. The question is, how does that affect penetration and expansion? Also, I don’t think we’ve ever had a .38 revolver with a barrel that short – I’m curious as to what it actually does to muzzle velocity, and what the flash is like…
It would be an interesting gun for ShootingTheBull410 to experiment on.
No thanks. I can comfortably carry my LCR all day; pocket carry or IWB. Comfortable to shoot and +P.
It’s good to have choices, isn’t it? I can comfortably carry LCR in some of my pants, but not in others.
$450 for that!?! I don’t do Taurus to begin with but 450 is extortion.
Taurus should market this gun plus the term Wheelgun to hipsters BOOM millions baby
Hi Dan, thank you for the review of the Taurus 85 ‘View’, it is always valuable to get someone’s perspective. Thank you for the excellent photographs of the Taurus View.
You inspired me to look at the Taurus web site to read the manual and review the View’s schematic on the Internet. Taurus are of the “one size fits all” (but suits no one) mentality; with a generic revolver manual. However there are numerous forum posts by far too numerous Taurus handgun owners complaining about sharp edges, internal parts with burrs and residue sand blasting media. One M380 owner’s revolver’s trigger pull was in excess of 18 pounds trigger pull. I guess some complaints are from cretins who have fired +P ammo and some by lazy dullards who do not clean their handgun and prepare it for firing: the rest have legitimate grips about the lack of Taurus QC. I did also find an interesting Shot Show interview of the Taurus View, “this is a gun you wear … the ejector rod is short because people who concealed carry do not want to have to reload.” These two points show an interesting / very disturbing mindset on the part of Taurus. Taurus needs to publically address these issues.
Weight. The unloaded weight of a defensive handgun is of interest to your gun safe; so I guess the weight of a loaded Taurus View is about 15 oz.
Barrel Length & Gap. The Taurus View has a 1.41” (35.8 mm) barrel giving a barrel factor (length of barrel – forcing cone (2mm) ÷ calibre) of [3.75]: a Colt .45acp M1911A1 is [9.10] for reference and comparative understanding. Using the BBTI data for .38 Spl at 2.7” (BBTI use Thompson Center; so cartridge case length + barrel length); The optimum barrel length for .38 Spl is 16” and the Taurus View 1.41” barrels gives an average of 40.3% of potential cartridge power. From this you must subtract the 3% – 6% loss of MV and ME due to the barrel/cylinder gap; see the BBTI web site for detail. So .38 Special cartridges fired from the Taurus View are potentially only 35% – 37% effective. TTAG did not mention the barrel/cylinder gap and there is no detail in the Taurus pdf manual. Normally the barrel/cylinder gap is.006”; some Taurus owners report on forums gaps as large as .010” -.011”, almost twice the standard gap.
Ejector Rod. You did not mention how you found using the ¼” (6mm) ejector rod of on the Taurus View, having used it 30 times in your testing; your opinion would be valuable input. Personally I would have made it the full length of the barrel for more positive cartridge case ejection. I note the Taurus CEO’s comments and the incorrect statistics in the G&A review; a nice piece for an advertiser.
At your prompting I had a looked at the S&W 642 Airweight for comparison. The 642 can fire +P ammunition, the barrel is 1.875” (47mm) long with a barrel factor of [4.89] and the MSRP almost $100 cheaper than the Taurus View. Yes the S&W 642 is a little heavier than the Taurus View; also the S&W is an accredited Law Enforcement-standard firearm – a Tier 2 firearm.
To the best of my understanding Taurus is only rated as a domestic / civilian standard firearm maker – Tier 3.
The Grip. You clearly state that the Taurus View’s grip is very uncomfortable to shoot and with a heavy trigger pull. Anybody who owns a Taurus View for concealed carry needs train with it to become proficient; 500+ rounds of training to give you the best change of surviving the legal aftermath of a DHU event. That training includes at least 100 reloads from a speed loader, speed strip or by hand; therefore you need a better ejection rod also. Add to this the flinching as the shooter waits for the recoil kick.
Front Sight. The pathetic milled front sight is not good enough for DHU, it is ok for the firing range during daylight. The same milling effort could have cut a dovetail for a night sight or fibre optic sight.
Disclaimer. There was no disclaimer for this review, so readers must draw their own conclusions. We do not know if the revolver reviewed was a production run or a gunsmith enhanced ‘presentation / review’ gun.
>> I guess the weight of a loaded Taurus View is about 15 oz.
This figure sounds suspicious. Taurus quotes the unloaded weight of the gun as 9 oz – so you’re basically saying that 5 rounds of 38 Spl weigh 6 oz, or over an ounce each. Now, I just weighted a .357 Mag round that I had lying around nearby – that’s a 158gr soft point – and it clocked 0.58 oz. So I would expect .38 to be somewhere around 0.5 oz per round, and therefore a loaded View to be about 11.5 oz.
Please make this in .22 mag and/or .22lr, Taurus. Pretty, please?
I plan on getting one for my collection. I will let the price settle a bit. I am sure it won’t be in production. Unique and using titanium too.. Got to love taurus
I sent my Taurus Model 80 back for repair as it has gone out of time , I called to check on the repair status and was told they could not repair the firearm , but could sell me an updated version for $200.00 I told them to keep it and the paperweight too , I thought when I bought the firearm over 20 years ago that the lifetime warranty stated that if they couldn’t fix it they would replace it , well so much for the lifetime warranty , won’t buy another Taurus , and I am just advising ya’ll that if you want a lifetime warranty that will be honored look for another brand . Be prepared and ready . Keep your powder dry .
I am a 24 year old female who owns this gun & if you’re not a complete idiot, you should know how to hold the gun when shooting, it does not hurt! In no way do I find mine painful to shoot, my advice is to find a gun shop with a shooting range and have them teach you the specifics. I’m from south Louisiana & the shop I go to helps a lot and the only way this can hurt that bad is if you’re not even holding it right.
Have one. Fired it. Yes, it hurts afterward but in the heat of the moment I don’t think this will be a concern. As for me, for personal defense at 20′, or less, this 11.6 oz weapon (loaded with five Hornady 90-grain) is just what’s needed as a last resort. Moreover, it beats the heck out of a 25oz weapon sitting in drawer at home because it’s too unwieldy to carry all the time. Best of all, with a wallet-size print in a pocket holster it’s inconspicuous. Just saying.
Taurus has an offering that is better in almost every way, at half the price: the PT-738 TCP.
Nobody takes any 2″ 38 to range expecting to have a good time. I hand load very light loads for mine so that my wife and I can practice a little. About 25 rounds each then out comes the full size K frames and K22 to practice and have fun with. 2″ 38s are made for carrying and defense not for a day at the range.
Today I got one mine is up dated with a aluminum side plate . I will carry with 5 CCD 90 gr. . I plan to take it to the range shoot it at 20 ‘ . Ya it’s small and it was new and under $300.00 .
Bill, I own two like yours and I like them, order the boot grip from Taurus and bend the grips because they have metal built in to fit your no view. They fit perfect and is a lot more fun to shoot, will not hurt your hand. You can still carry in pocket or Iwb holster and you will not know it is there.
Bill order the small frame boot grips from Taurus, only $9.00, once installed there will be some space inside butt of rubber grips because grips are little longer, but no big thing. I found out about this when I removed my small frame boot grips off my Taurus M380 revolver and they worked on my no view, so I ordered a set of small frame rubber grips. Hope this info helps.
I love the concealabililty of this gun.., i didnt buy it for the window., ive had some “thumb busters” in the past that hurt ALOT more than this gun.
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