Trail gun extraordinaire - Taurus' Stellar Tracker .45 ACP

American Handgunner, May-June, 2003 by Charlie Cutshaw

It's an unfortunate fact of life that things don't always go the way we wish. Although we hope for the best, time and experience teaches us we must expect and prepare for the worst. In the case of the outdoor sports enthusiast, preparation includes having the right equipment to deal with emergencies. Dozens of cases are documented each year where people are seriously injured--or even seriously killed--by wild animals. In the east, bears can be a problem, as are coyotes, wildcats and feral dogs. Unlike the propaganda espoused by some "conservationists," all bears are not clones of Winnie the Pooh, any more than all deer are descended from Bambi. In other areas, alligators, although protected, have been known to attack humans and no matter where one travels, poisonous snakes are a real presence. Thus, in addition to all the other measures taken to prepare for the worst, the serious outdoors kinda' person, may also be well-advised to have a "little something" in his or her kit.

Most guns used for such things are not specifically designed for backwoods use, but the fact is such handguns do exist and in most instances they are revolvers. There's a good reason for the "outdoors" revolver as opposed to the "outdoors" semiauto. The revolver is the simplest solution for a person who is not a gun-guy who practices shooting on an irregular basis. Further, the revolver remains the most reliable handgun short of a single shot pistol. For the hiker or backwoods bicyclist who carries the handgun solely for self-protection and may not own another gun, the revolver is easy to use and carry. The revolver requires less maintenance and has fewer working parts than a semiautomatic pistol. The manual of arms for the revolver is also simpler. Unlike the semiautomatic pistol, which requires a "tap -- rack -- bang" drill in case of a misfire, the revolver needs only another trigger pull to fetch a fresh cartridge up for firing. Thus "outdoors" handguns have generally always been revolvers. That said, wh at defines an "outdoors" handgun?

The Definitive Word

In his classic Textbook of Pistols and Revolvers, published in 1935, Julian Hatcher defined the outdoors revolver as follows:

An outdoorsman's revolver is one that uses a cartridge having high velocity, flat trajectory ..., wind bucking qualities above the average, and shock power...; that has a clean, crisp trigger pull so it can be shot accurately; that has a barrel not only long enough to insure ample distance between the sights, but also weighted and balanced so as to avoid any effect of either undue weight or muzzle lightness. It must also have sights with perpendicular sharp edges so no reflected light will affect the shooter's aim; they ... must be adjustable to the individual, and, when adjusted, remain unchanged; and, above all, this revolver must be the utmost in reliability and accuracy.

If you accept the General's definition, the outdoors revolver must meet some fairly high standards. In terms of caliber, at the time, the .38 special revolver was generally considered to be the ultimate. Bear in mind Hatcher's text was written before the .357 Magnum was introduced and in a time when .45 ACP revolvers were not commonly considered well-suited to outdoors use. But times have changed.

Outdoors revolvers today are, for the most part, .357 Magnum caliber. But when confronting dangerous animals, a cartridge is needed that's not only accurate, but one that fires a heavy bullet that will penetrate bone, reach vital organs and create a large permanent wound cavity. While the .357 will usually get the job done, the old adage that a good big bullet is better than a good small bullet is as correct today as it's always been. The relatively slow moving .45 ACP creates a large permanent wound cavity, has sufficient penetration to reach vital organs in most large animals and remains one of the most widely used cartridges in the world. It has been recommended by some authorities as the ideal backwoods cartridge. Some have even made the argument the ideal .45 ACP load for backwoods carry is the 230 gr. FMJ because it will readily penetrate an animal's heavy skull and enter the brain, immediately putting an end to the situation. At the same time, the 230 gr. bullet has sufficient penetration to also reac h vital organs, but it does not create a very large permanent wound cavity.

So, just perhaps it wouldn't be wise to depend solely upon FMJ loads; hollow point cartridges -- in addition to FMJs -- would be a good addition to any ammo inventory for the field. Hollow points deliver the largest permanent wound cavity, and that's what it's all about. The notion that temporary wound cavity has any serious wounding effect in any pistol caliber, incidentally, is utter nonsense. It is not our purpose to enter the wound ballistics debate, but the fact is that temporary wound cavity is a factor only in rifle caliber cartridges, as any forensic surgeon will confirm. And that's a fact.

Boys From Brazil

So, with these kinds of facts in mind, when Taurus set out to design an outdoorsy-handgun, it seems the Boys from Brazil might have begun their effort by reading Hatcher's text and then improving on the good point. Naturally, the Stellar Tracker is a revolver. As important, it's in .45 ACP -- so far, so good. The name of Taurus' latest revolver is hinted at in the "star" pattern of its full moon clip. The clips are not necessary to load and fire the gun, because the cylinder is chambered with a ridge to allow the mouth of the case to seat on it, providing proper headspace. But, when the clips are not used, the ejector will not extract and eject the spent casings, so clips are almost mandatory in this or any revolver that uses rimless cartridges. Basically, having clips makes reloads much faster and life easier.