Taurus Model 66 Revolver

Taurus Model 66 .357 Magnum Revolver

Taurus Model 66 with Simmons Red Dot Sight

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When I bought my Taurus Model 66, I didn't know much about their revolvers, but my poor old 9mm. PT92 had always been a workhorse, and the price was right, so I figured I'd give it a try.

The Taurus 66 is a very close clone of a Smith and Wesson, so I've been told, and exactly HOW close it is I couldn't say, but I suspect some of the parts may even interchange.

Somewhere I heard that the Taurus revolvers were built using the original S&W tooling, which Taurus had purchased from Smith & Wesson. If that's true or not, I don't know, but if any of you have more info, please leave a comment!

There are several different versions of the 66, different barrel lengths, materials, finishes, and some were six shot, and some were seven shot cylinders. I believe the old model 66's did not use a transfer bar, as is incorporated on the new model.

I've had people tell me the Taurus guns weren't much good, and no matter how hard you worked them over, they were still a Taurus, so you were basically wasting your time trying to make a good gun out of them. I've had other folks tell me that they were excellent quality, well made, and great value for the money. All I can say is that from my own experience, having three Taurus handguns, they have all been trouble-free, and seem to shoot better than I do!

The Taurus New Model 66 shown above was still in it's original box when I bought it, only slightly used. It is a nice looking gun, and there were no rough edges or signs of sloppy manufacturing anywhere to be seen.

Double action trigger pull, although not measured, was light and smooth, and single action was excellent. I suspected a trigger job had been done to get it so light and smooth. I have heard that some of the Taurus revolvers were "Dialed in" straight from the factory, perhaps this was one of them.

On disassembly, I wasn't able to see any signs of extra handwork or polishing, and there were a few places clearly smooth but unpolished which I would have polished if I was doing a trigger job.

The rear adjustable target sight was good, and had good solid clicks due to a little tiny ball and spring detent system on the elevation. Everything seemed to lock up tight and end shake was minimal.

I had shot this particular handgun numerous times, and entered it a few times in e-Postal matches with decent results, but with my lousy eyesight and iron sights, I wasn't doing justice to what the 66 could actually do.

Browsing through the Brownell's catalog, I came across scope mounts for the Taurus Model 66, both old and new models. I guessed that mine was a new model, and ordered the mount. Wrong guess! A couple of hours of milling machine time later, I re-machined it into an old model mount. I drilled and tapped two holes in the gun, and lock-tite'd it solidly in place.

I started out with a 25mm. Tasco red dot sight, but it just didn't feel right on the gun, so I took it off and mounted a Simmons 42mm. red dot sight instead. It felt much better, and I could actually bring it up and find the dot almost every time!

I was getting this all together at the last minute so I could take it to the Douglas Ridge Rifle club pin shoot in Portland to try it out and I didn't even have time to take it to the range, sight it in, and get in a little practice. I telephoned a friend of mine who lives a few miles away and lives far enough out in the woods that he can shoot in his back yard when he feels like it. He was home, so just before it got dark I headed over to his place and set up a target.

The target sits in front of his wood pile, and you shoot from inside of his tool shed and over the table saw! I loaded it up with some .38 Plus P hollow points. A couple of shots showed that I was not too far off, and a few more shots and adjustments and it was hitting where pointed. Shooting single action, of course! I am constantly amazed at shooters who can shoot double-action and hold their accuracy.

Putting the red dot sight onto the Taurus turned it into a completely new gun, especially for these tired old eyes. Now I could aim at things and actually hit them! I was REALLY getting to like the gun.

By now it was dark, so having put 18 rounds through the gun, I packed it in and headed home to get packed up for the drive to Portland the next morning. Portland would be a good test.

In Portland the Taurus worked flawlessly, and as the matches progressed I became more confident in it and gradually increased rate of fire. The last couple of matches it seemed like all I had to do was cock the hammer and when the red dot touched a pin the gun went off, sending the pin flying. Great fun!

The Taurus New Model 66 is rapidly becoming one of my favorite revolvers, right along side of my S&W Model 29 in .44 Magnum, and that's saying something!