Taurus Titanium Tracker

American Handgunner, March, 2001 by John Taffin

In fact, I would like to see some grip manufacturer come to an agreement with Taurus that allows these excellent grips to be offered for other guns.

The Taurus Titanium Tracker .41 Magnum was test-fired with eight factory rounds at both 15 and 25 yards. At the closer distance, most groups were at 1" or slightly above, while at 25 yards, 2" was the norm. Since the groups were fired from a lightweight, 4" revolver, with a heavy trigger pull and using my high-mileage eyes, I would classify this as one excellent-shooting revolver.

If you are a regular reader, you are aware that my preference in sixguns runs to fancy guns with exotic grips carried in exquisite leather. However, there are times when function overshadows form, If you should happen to run into me in the mountains, forests or deserts of Idaho and I am trying to travel adequately armed and lightweight at the same time, don't be surprised if you spot a Taurus Titanium Tracker on my hip.

THE ORIGIN OF MAGNUMS

JOHN TAFFIN

If you are a relatively new shooter, or even one who has arrived on the sixgunning scene in the last 20 years, chances are pretty good that you may not know the origins of Smith & Wesson's trio of magnum cartridges.

The first one, the .357 Magnum, arrived on the stage in 1935, mainly to fill a need for a better cartridge to arm the nation's peace officers. The .38 Special, with its standard issue 158 gr. roundnose bullet, had proven woefully inadequate against the new crop of bank robbers and gangsters in their high-speed automobiles. The .357 Magnum not only gave peace officers a round that would penetrate automobiles, but it also proved to be an exceptional outdoorsman's round in the Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver.

It has been our most popular magnum cartridge for more than 65 years. Combining adequate power for many, probably most, situations with relatively low recoil, it also has an exceptional defensive shooting record of one-shot stops with the 125 gr. JHP load.

While the .357 Magnum was developed mainly for peace-officer use, the .44 Magnum took a different trail. Shooters such as Elmer Keith had been full-house loading the .44 Special for nearly 30 years when Smith & Wesson and Remington finally listened and brought forth the .44 Magnum sixgun and ammunition, which together gave the outdoorsman and hunter the most powerful and accurate combination offered up to that time.

It was not then, nor is it now, given high marks as a peace-officer's weapon of choice, simply because it is too powerful for most people to handle as a defensive weapon. Keith touted his .44 Special sixguns and loads for outdoor use, mainly hunting and long-range shooting, and that is exactly at what the .44 Magnum excels.

Keith asked for a 250 gr. bullet at 1,200 fps, and, while many current factory .44 Magnum loads are at this level or slightly above, the original loading in 1956 was nearly 1,500 fps.

So with the development of these two cartridges, we had a peace-officer's cartridge that also doubled as an outdoorsman's cartridge in the .357 Magnum, as well as a superb bigbore hunting round with the .44 Magnum.