Total Titanium Taurus

American Handgunner, Annual, 2000 by Carolee Boyles

However, the challenge went beyond just forging a titanium frame and parts. Once the gun was made, designers had to find a way to manage the greater recoil from a gun that is 30 percent lighter than "normal." Taurus built a complete recoil management system into the guns. The three-part system-- the light weight of the guns, exclusive "Ribber" (ribbed soft rubber) grips and the porting system-- work together to make Taurus's Total Titanium guns a pleasure to shoot.

"The recoil management system is unique to Taurus firearms," Mehalik says. "Even if someone else comes out with a titanium firearm, the other two components might be missing. That would make shooting the gun a lot less pleasant."

The Ribber grips on a Taurus titanium handgun feel like the handlebar grips on motorcycles and mountain bikes.

"That's not a coincidence," Mehalik says. "We have a manufacturing facility that makes them. We manufacture everything that's in our guns, from the springs to the frame and cylinders. We even manufacture the tools that we use to make our guns."

In short, Taurus is one of the most experienced manufacturers in the business today.

"Although the Ribber grips are an adaptation of the grips used on mountain bikes, our engineers saw that there were some other requirements for their use on guns," Mehalik said. "First, you've got to maintain control over a rapidly moving, hard-to-grasp object. You have to be able to control a gun firing everything up to magnum rounds. Especially in a lighter gun, that's very difficult."

By virtue of their shape, the grips provide additional surface area for the shooter to grasp. They also conform to the shooter's hands, eliminating the need for the exact placement of fingers in a pre-shaped grip.

"The gun adapts to your hand," Mehalik says. "You don't have to adapt to it." In addition, the design of the grip adds a natural vibration-dampening ability to the gun.

The third part of the system is the specially designed barrel porting.

"The porting is the most complex aspect of the system," Mehalik says. "You'd imagine that, with a lighter-framed gun and magnum rounds, the porting would not be able to control the severe recoil. But you've got less mass to control. So, while the recoil is more dramatic, the porting has a great effect in reducing muzzle rise."

Mehalik says he was pleasantly surprised when he first shot the Total Titanium guns, because as a result of the porting system, the muzzle actually dips a little instead of rising.

"I've fired the .41 Magnum in both titanium and stainless steel, and there's actually less dramatic recoil with the titanium," Mehalik says. "The porting is the same on both guns, but the jet effect of the gases escaping through the nozzle on the top of the barrel is more efficient on titanium guns because there's less metal to move."

One problem the porting system solved was the potential for cartridges to pull apart under heavy recoil, especially non-standard loads.

"The porting tends to prevent the sharp rearward recoil that you get from the lighter mass of the titanium gun," Mehalik says. "Some manufacturers say certain bullet weights or types should not be used in such a gun. What we've done with the titanium gun is build a kinetic bullet-puller. Imagine a point in space that's occupied by a lead bullet surrounded by brass. Because of its mass, the bullet wants to remain in place when a brother cartridge is fired. The rest of the cartridge wants to move backwards. Inertia causes the bullet to "walk" out of its case if the cartridge isn't crimped or if the porting system doesn't offset the recoil."