Taurus Tracker TI 41mag

[AndyHass]

I just took delivery of a Taurus Tracker titanium in 41mag.  A buddy has one in 357mag that he carries for bears (grizzlies are thick where we elk hunt) and it was nice but I decided to go with the bigger round.  It took 6 months to find a decent deal.

I put a couple cylinders of stiff but not max loads through it last night with 210gr bullets.  I had never shot anything larger than a 357mag in a handgun before, and given the light weight I really expected the recoil to be worse.  The grip and ports really do their job.

[coues2506]

I would stiff load hard cast lead SWC for bears- you want penetration! And bone busting! The flat nose of the SWC will give the shock you need.

[AndyHass]

Yes, I'm looking at the 250-265gr hard cast bullets for bears.  I was just waiting on ordering those.  Already researched that!  I'll save these 210gr hollowpoints for practice and deer hunting.

[dakotashooter2]

FYI Taurus cylinders are a bit shorter than other manufacturers. Something to consider when ordering heavy bullets. I have a 230gr I cast that is too long if the crimp grove is used.

[AndyHass]

Thanks, I'll try the 250s first then...

[Dand]

Tell us how you come out. I buy factory loads and home load 250 to 265 LBT style hard cast for my S&W and Ruger 41s.  I've wondered how these TI Taurus guns perform.

[Ak.Hiker]

If you want a good field load for the 41 Magnum try the Federal 250 grain Cast Core. This one has been on the market for a long time and I would trust its ability to stay in place under recoil. In a light weight Magnum handgun it is wise to check the chosen field load for bullet movement under recoil. You can get hotter cast loads from speciality companies but for a light weight gun like your Taurus I would go with the Federal. Nothing would ruin your day more in a defense situation than a tied up gun.   

[AndyHass]

If you want a good field load for the 41 Magnum try the Federal 250 grain Cast Core. This one has been on the market for a long time and I would trust its ability to stay in place under recoil. In a light weight Magnum handgun it is wise to check the chosen field load for bullet movement under recoil. You can get hotter cast loads from speciality companies but for a light weight gun like your Taurus I would go with the Federal. Nothing would ruin your day more in a defense situation than a tied up gun.   

Thanks, I doubt this gun will ever see a box of factory ammo though.  I've got plenty of experience reloading to get the crimp right.  My plan is to load up 50, shoot at least 20-25 checking the last round of the cylinder for movement, saving the rest for use in the field.

So far I have 50 rounds of 210gr JHPs through it.  I remain underwhelmed by the recoil, the ports do a great job on the muzzle flip.  I've sighted it in and shot it to 50 yards, plenty accurate.  On Easter I was shooting eggs at 15 yards and hitting about 3-for-5.  Have not ordered the heavy bullets yet.

[darkroomdan]

I have a TT Titanium in .357
When shooting cast boolits without gaschecks, I get streams of melted lead deposited in the area above the ports - the base of boolit must be pretty chewed up as it passes the the 8 ports while spinning at high speed. I have not noticed a loss in accuracy, but the indoor range we use is only 50 feet. It might make a difference at longer distances. It would be interesting to fire one into a swimming pool or something to retrieve the boolit relatively undamaged to see what the base actually looked like.
DRD

[yorketransport]

I've had a TI Tracker in 41 Mag for about 7 years, and I'll share my experiences with you.

The best combo I found for my gun was the 210 XTP and H110. This bullet shot well, performed well on the small game (rabits, porcupines, and raccoons) I shot with it, and is a good all round load. The 170 Sierra is a beautiful deffensive load for 2 legged predators, but not so good for anything you want to eat. It expands a little too well. The 250gr Cast Core factory ammo DOES jump crimp after 2 shots. The same bullet in comparable hand loads doesn't move as much, but you still want to keep an eye on them. I couldn't get the accuracy I wanted from the heavy bullets out of my gun. You might have better luck. The heavier bullets don't fit in the cylinder, so I just didn't bother. The load I shoot the most of is a 215gr cast bullet and 5.7gr of Trail Boss. It works great on small game, and is just plain fun to shoot.

As for the gun itself, I have always had a love/hate relationship with it. It has never shot as well as I would like it to, but that was offset by the light weight. The fit and finish of the gun isn't bad, but it also isn't great. There are some rough spots, and the chambers need to be polished. Mine gives sticky extraction with almost any load, even the super light loads with Trail Boss powder. It's not like I need to force the brass out of the cylinder, they just don't slide out like they do on my other revolvers. It's also hard/expensive to find replacement grips for them. I wanted to get some wood grips to use the gun for CC, but I'm not sure that the gun is worth a $150 set of grips to me. My biggest complaint is the porting. With lead bullets it's just a pain to clean them after a day of shooting.

At this point, I'm selling TI Tracker as soon as my buddy gets his tax return. I like the gun, but I just don't love the gun. If S&W had offered the Scandium 357PD (the scandium 41 mag) at the time, I probably would have bought that gun instead.

Good luck with yours. They are a dream to carry in the woods. I have actually forgotten I had mine on before.

Andrew

[AndyHass]

Thanks for all the details.  I'll be sure to get the gas checks when I get 250 hard casts to load up for bear.  I'm going to use a stiff crimp in new cases, we'll see if they stay put.

I have not gotten ahold of any XTPs yet, but I did try 210 Remington JHPs.  H110 was the powder I used.

The fit/finish on mine is good, so far I have zero complaints.  I don't shoot for groups much with handguns but once I sighted it in I had little difficulty shooting eggs at 10-15 yds.

[AndyHass]

As an update...

I have a couple of hundred rounds through this gun at this point, a mix of moderate 210gr loads and full house loads with 250gr hardcasts.  I seated the hardcasts with a very heavy crimp into the groove with no issues fitting into the cylinder.  The 265grs would NOT fit though, I can tell without trying them.

Accuracy is acceptable with both bullets, I am not expert enough with a handgun to say any issues are not me.  I have yet to have a 250gr jump the crimp, and I check the last round of each cylinder prior to firing it.

The gun is a dream to carry.  I covered more than 80 miles on foot in a week in Montana and another 10 miles or so back home, I have to check to make sure it is still there it is so light.  My buddy was carrying a similar sized steel 357 and I did not envy him, that thing weighed a ton.

I did learn my lesson during deer season however.  I shot a buck at 40yds with my muzzleloader and he took off toward a property line, so I pulled the revolver and fired two at him from probably 50-60 and 70-80 yards; the first one was very close just over his back, the second not-so-much.  But my ears were ringing for a couple minutes.  I would love to still-hunt with just this gun but I will need to get a pair of quality amplifying/cutoff electronic muffs first.

[yorketransport]

Thanks for the update! I'm glad to hear that it's working out for you.

Andrew

[BRL]

Great info here! I posted regarding my TI tracker in .41 quite a while ago after deciding to keep mine VS. selling it. It's a neat little gun. Yes, it does kick but in a comfortable sort of way...as those who own one know what I'm talking about. I'm thinking about training with mine to deer hunt one day. I've only shot factory 210gr. loads and am a little hesitant to try some cast due to the horror stories I've heard with the leading at the ports.

Anyway, thank you for the report. I look forward to practicing with mine more.

[AndyHass]

I've had this gun for almost 2 years now.  It's been on several backcountry backpack hunts and its light weight is a blessing.  I've put another 100 rounds or so through it, life has been busy to shoot much lately.  I'm going to start playing with the powder charge now, and see how accurate I can make it with the 210 XTPs.


Some people hate Taurus but I have 3 and no issues.  The only issue I've had with this Tracker is that I had two squib fires that lodged the bullet firmly in front of the forcing cone and were a pain to knock out.  I never figured out the problem, the forcing cone was packed with unburned powder so it was not a reloading error.  All I could figure was bad primers, bad powder (although both were used in my 44 carbine reloads with no issues) or the bullet jumping crimp and dropping the pressure too quickly upon ignition to let the main load ignite.  I've put another 50 rounds through it since the last occurrence, checking final rounds, without finding bullet movement.


I'm considering whether I want a Model 444 Ultralite now.     I don't do a lot of target shooting for groups but I really like the carryability of the light bigbores, the recoil (of this 41 at least) doesn't bother me.

[dakotashooter2]

My experience with Taurus revolvers is that most  problems have to do with fit/finish. Generally some polishing of internal parts has resolved any issues I had.

[Missionary5155]

Greetings
When up north there in the US of A I haul my TI Tracker 41 mag about quit regular.  Primarily I view it as a CC tool.  Mostly I use a 220 - 240 grain SWC cast of 30-1 pushed at 950 FPS for that purpose.  Figured the 44 Special is well noted as a stopper with this load so that was good enough for me.  Tried some 265 GC grainers (have to shorten brass a bit) at 1000 fps.  Those are a bit more of a thumper and would really hurt something up close.  Sure would be nice to be able to have it here in Peru with me.  No magnums allowed.
As I have a Ruger 45 Colt 4 5/8" barrel I would rather have that with me IF there were big bears about.  But if all I had was my 41 5 shot I would up that 265 load to 1200 FPS and hope I never needed it.  Would be far more inclined to want a 12 guage Mossy loaded with Round Ball loaded to 1500 fps if I thought I would have to stop a charging big bear. 
Mike in Peru

[dakotashooter2]

I would stiff load hard cast lead SWC for bears- you want penetration! And bone busting! The flat nose of the SWC will give the shock you need.

Another option would be if you could find some of the discontinued  (hornady?) 180 silouette bullets. You could get velocity AND penetration.