Page 68 - American Rifleman (February 2020)

DOPE BAG

TAURUS RAGING HUNTER

nce a rarity, pistols with optics centers it to the barrel. The design out the seven-shot cylinder to ensure
have become commonplace results in an overall lighter package it was empty, we further observed the
Oin both the sport shooting that is far less front-heavy than tradi- black-oxide nish of both it and the
and defensive carry realms. Out in tional revolvers of this size. Four ports frame. In addition to all-black models
the eld, hunting with a handgun have been drilled into each side of the like this one, two-tone Raging Hunters
has been popular ever since sports- barrel’s muzzle, as have elongated slots are also available. Dry- ring the gun
men rst realized that dragging a on the sides of the shroud, allowing a gave us a feel for the overall heft and
ri e through dense woods wasn’t portion of the escaping gases to travel revealed the transfer bar safety that
always necessary in situations where upward—helping to tame felt recoil and ensures the magnum revolver is drop-
most shots are taken within 50 yds. counteract muzzle ip. safe. With the hammer cocked, we
Naturally, it was only a matter of time The Raging Hunter’s reduced weight were also able to observe the frame-
before these two notions merged, should not be mistaken for reduced mounted ring pin.
and Taurus’ answer is the optic-ready strength, however, as it features dual Of course, the Taurus Raging Hunter
Raging Hunter line of revolvers. cylinder locks. A secondary unit located is a double-action revolver that can
Offered initially only in .44 Mag., the in the crane locks into the frame for- also be red in single-action by manu-
company expanded the line in 2019 ward of the cylinder to increase overall ally cocking the hammer. After some
to include multiple .357 Mag.- and rigidity. This relationship helps to dry- re practice to both get a better
.454 Casull-chambered models—an absorb the stress created by the energy feel for the gun and to smooth out the
8.44"-barreled version of the former of the igniting cartridge. Having a lock trigger, we used a trigger pull gauge
being the subject of this review. both fore and aft of the cylinder also to measure the trigger’s break in both
Considering the additional heft improves the alignment of the bore to double-action and single-action modes;
of an optic, it’s important for manu- the chamber, which in turn improves the former yielded an average result
facturers to keep the weight of their accuracy. Once locked in place, the of 15 lbs., while manually thumbing
large-frame revolvers down at man- Raging Hunter employs a recess in the hammer back reduced the force
ageable levels, which was a driving the barrel shroud to keep the ejector needed to drop the hammer to 7 lbs.,
premise behind the Raging Hunter line. rod protected from being bent against 6 ozs. Despite both gures being rela-
Taurus engineers endeavored to keep impact with foreign objects. tively heavy, the pulls were pleasantly
the Raging Hunter’s weight in check Our test revolver consisted of a smooth; regardless of whether the
through the use of a lightweight stain- black alloy-steel frame and a hard- hammer was cocked or not, there was
less steel barrel surrounded by an alu- anodized barrel assembly. As we swung absolutely zero creep or slack.
minum-alloy shroud. During the manu-
facturing process, the barrel is rst
threaded onto the revolver’s frame, and
then the shroud is assembled over it.
As it’s attached, the shroud slips over a
post on the frame that ensures correct
sight alignment. This Picatinny-rail- The Raging Hunter’s peg-style grip
clad overlay is then secured to the frame accepts a one-piece polymer
barrel via a threaded bushing/nut that stock held in place by a single screw.
66 FEBRUARY 2020 AMERICAN RIFLEMAN