Old Taurus 82

[jimster]

A while back a friend bought several old Brazilian heavy barreled 38 spl's with lanyard rings on them, he called me up to come and take my pick.  So I wound up picking one that did not look so good, bluing worn, nicks, scuffed up, but the timing was great, real nice bore and smooth chambers.  Finally got around to trying it out, was really pleased with how it shot just plain old 158 grain round nose standard 38's.  The darn thing shoots to POA, could not believe it, I even took along some files and was planning to do something right there if it didn't because I don't have much luck with fix sights.  Got lucky with this old beat up revolver.  It doesn't look so good, but boy it's fun to plink with and it sure shoots straight.  Not sure of the age of this thing, but it has a transfer bar much like a Ruger with a step in the hammer so the hammer sits on the frame when the transfer bar is down.

[reliquary]

 
A while back, someone gave me an old Taurus Model 80 to satisfy a modest debt.  The photos and schematics seem almost like the 82; some differences in barrel lug and, of course, the lanyard loop.
 
Mine shoots very well; after I cleaned it up it's quite presentable and seems sturdy enough to handle decent loads.   My wife likes it and is comfortable with it.  I will, at the very least, put it away with a box or two of ammo. 

[Ready_Aim_Fire!]

I have seen a lot of those contract pistols being offered on Gun broker. But most looked to be in very poor condition. Then I found a civilian model that is exactly the same as the contract pistol. Funny thing is is was lower in price than any of the military model but in 100% better condition. And nobody was bidding on it. I got it for $145 shipped. The pistol is a strong 95% gun it came with pachmayr grips and the original wood grips.
I took it out and shot some of my 148 gr HBWC and I am holding 1" or less groups @ 15yds. It is certainly one of the best buys I have had this year.....So far.

[jimster]

I have seen a lot of those contract pistols being offered on Gun broker. But most looked to be in very poor condition.

Yep your right, most the contract ones were not looking good, if I would not had my pick of a several and all the time I wanted to choose, I would not have bought one at all.  Out of the several I had to choose from, one looked pretty good, but there was something about the timing of one chamber I did not like.  After checking the timing and everything I could check the one I picked was pretty ugly and scuffed up looking, but the timing was good and the same on all chambers, good bore and chambers.  It does shoot nice, for now, we'll see how long it lasts. When I popped off the side plate to give it a good cleaning I noticed what looked like a brand new main spring and trigger spring, and the hand did not look worn, maybe that one had been through the armorers shop?  Well, I don't have to worry about nicking it up, it looks like hell but it shoots straight,  the lanyard ring comes in handy sometimes...can hang it on a nail in the back shed if I want...   I paid just a little more than you did, but I kicked in 20 extra bucks for the trouble my friend went to for getting them all in his name to make it easier to sell,  sounds like you did a whole lot better geting one not so beat up.  I have never seen used 82's for sale in any of the gun shops around here.