Taurus Titanium Tracker

American Handgunner, March, 2001 by John Taffin

COULD THIS BE THE GUN REVIVES THE .41 MAGNUM?

From its very beginning in the '60s, the .41 Magnum has had a difficult life. Many of the gun writers of the time saw no useful purpose for it, and, for most of the past 35 years, it has been the cartridge of the connoisseur, never really being afforded the respect it deserves.

At one time, Smith & Wesson offered blue, nickel and stainless .41 Magnums with their Models 57 and 657, while Ruger first housed the .41 Magnum in their three-screw model, or Old Model Blackhawks, of the mid-'60s, then later in the New Model Blackhawks, beginning in 1973. Today, Smith & Wesson only offers the .41 Magnum in a 6" Model 657, and Ruger has dropped the Bisley Model.

Freedom Arms has gone in the opposite direction and chambered both of their high-quality five-shot revolvers, the full sized Model 83 and the mid-frame Model 97, in the .41 Magnum.

The "middle magnum" is now offered in a new lightweight Titanium Tracker model by Taurus. This latest .41 Magnum by Taurus is what we are looking at here.

Titanium is the firearms material for the 21st century, with several manufacturers now offering ultra lightweight pocket pistols and bigbore sixguns manufactured from this metal which is much stronger than its weight would acknowledge. We've come a long way with handguns, from iron to steel to stainless to alloy to titanium.

With the Tracker, the cylinder and barrel remain of steel construction, as do parts like the hammer and trigger, while most of the rest of the gun is manufactured from titanium.

How much difference does this make in actual ounces? Making a comparison is somewhat akin to an apples-and-oranges situation because Taurus doesn't make the same gun in steel. My old 4" Model, 57 weighs 42.5 ozs. The Taurus Titanium comes in at 23 ozs, and if we add the Bianchi #5BHL holster and five rounds of 170 gr. JHP ammunition, the total, weight is still only 33.5 ozs. That makes a huge difference at the end of the day.

Of course, the day of most peace officers packing a revolver is long passed. At least for now. No, this lightweight power house will be most popular with back-. packers, hikers, fishermen campers, hunters, outdoorsmen, woods-bummers; desert rats and anyone else that desires an easy-to-carry, unobtrusive sidearm.

The Taurus Titanium Tracker .41 Magnum could well be looked upon as the ultimate combination of power and portability. If one goes to a smaller firearm, the required caliber is also smaller; go to a larger bore and the cylinder and frame become too big.

Vital Stats

The Tracker is a 4", double-action revolver with adjustable sights. The rear sight blade is slanted to reduce glare, while the front sight is of the ramp variety with a pinned-in, quick-draw blade with a red insert. The smooth trigger and checkered hammer are both case-colored, while the entire finish of the Tracker looks like bead-blasted stainless.

Taurus has long been known for smooth double-action operation on their revolvers. However, this Tracker is not quite as smooth in operation as other larger and smaller Taurus double-action revolvers I have worked with. The single-action trigger pull, at 4.75 lbs., is too heavy for, such a lightweight revolver.

Recoil Considerations

Now, 23 ozs. is not much weight to counteract the recoil of full-house .41 Magnum loads; however, two features on the Tracker help reduce felt recoil. On each side of the front sight, one finds a slot cut into the barrel, with each slot containing four round ports. Actually, these ports are cut into the shroud and then into the barrel. The shroud is of the full-underlug style, enclosing and protecting the ejector rod.

Of greater effect for reducing felt recoil are the grips. Now, I am no great fan of rubber grips; however, I do find them essential for heavy-recoiling handguns such as. a Contender .45-70. Without the man-made material wrapped around this heavy-duty hunting single-shot, I believe--in fact, I know-- I could not control it.

The same holds true for the Taurus Titanium Tracker .41 Magnum. This gun comes from the factory equipped with what must be-- and I do not like to use this much-abused term-- the most user-friendly grips ever placed on a revolver. Rubber? Yes. Ugly? Yes. Effective? Absolutely!

The designer of the grips certainly knew what he was about. They totally enclose the Tracker grip frame and are composed of soft rubber with small horizontal ribs forming a three-quarter oval around the grip, with the backstrap left smooth.

These rubber ribs form a most comfortable cushion for the shooting hand. They also provide a most secure feeling in cold, wet weather. Although some factory loads exhibit heavy recoil, the combination of porting and properly designed grips keeps this little .41 Magnum controllable.

A 170 gr. JHP at 1,300-plus fps out of a 23 oz. revolver has the capacity for being brutal to the shooter. Not so with this sixgun. I understand the rubber grips on the Tracker suffered a typo and came out "Ribber" in early advertising. The name stuck, and these Ribber grips would be a welcome addition on many other heavy-recoiling sixguns from several manufacturers.