Building on the success of the Taurus Raging Bull, this year we were treated to a new revolver built for the hunting market. The Raging Hunter, with all the features a handgun hunter needs.
World-famous hunter Fred Eichler was on hand to fill us in on the details. Fitting, since he had a hand in the development. You can also find a video of Fred harvesting an antelope with a Taurus Tracker in 357 Magnum, at 133 yards. It is always nice to have an expert end user involved in the development of a new gun.
SPECS:
- Cartridge: .44 Magnum
- Finish: Matte black
- Grips: Rubber w/ cushioned insert
- Capacity: 6 rds.
- Weight; 55 oz.
- Barrel length: 8.375 in.
- Height: 6.4 in.
- Width: 1.8 in.
- Action: DA/SA
- Front Sight: Fixed
- Length: 14.1 in.
- MSRP: $919
The Raging Hunter is chambered in 44 Magnum, which has proven capable of taking anything in North America. It features an 8.3-inch barrel to maximize both velocity and sight radius. A Picatinny rail is built in for red dots or magnified scopes, and the cylinder features a double locking mechanism.
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Impressions & Pricing
You are probably thinking heavy, given the barrel length and the profile. I know I was. But in a very smart move, Taurus built a steel barrel encased in aluminum. This gives rigidity and strength, with serious weight savings. Unloaded, the gun tips the scales at 55 ounces, far less than appearances would suggest. The barrel is ported from the factory, which should make 44 Magnum manageable in this weight class.
MSRP is $919, which is going to make this a winner in the Magnum revolver category. Keep your eyes peeled, these will be available in May.
For more information about Taurus, click here.
Negative posts like this, with no personal experience, do no one any good: ” I have never and will never own one.”
I’ve never owned a CZ, or a Smith, or a Kimber so I could not give a or honest report.
I have and do own Taurus 44mag SS 4″, a Raging Bull SS 6.5″, a 9mm Millenium Pro and my favorite, most fun to shoot and very accurate Raging Tracker SS in .17HMR. All have never given me any issue and where within my budget.
From the posts I noticed comment about “fast draw” for the 55 ounce 8 3/8″ barreled pistol???
Stay safe out there.
I own three Taurus Handguns. One is a Taurus Raging Bull .44 Mag. When I bought it, I had a Trigger job done on it at the gun shop I bought it from. Since purchasing it, I have sent 1000’s of rounds down range with it with never even a failure. I have hunted Deer and Hog’s with it. It has killed everything I have shot at with it. I also own a Tracker .357. Again… Trigger job done at purchase… And never so much as a hick up from it. Though it has not has nearly as many rounds through it, it is just as accurate. Neither of them have ever been to a shop for anything since I bought them. I also own a Taurus 9 mm Semi-auto. It remains the same as when it was purchased. Between my wife and I, we have shot hundreds of rounds through it. Never even an issue. My preferred Hand gun though, is my Glock .45. Would I purchase one of these? Probably not. If I was going to get another big bore handgun… it would be the S&W 500…
Interesting all the bad mouthing still about Taurus after all these years. I’ve had a Tracker for many years, its is a great gun, never had any problems. Every single time I have pulled the trigger it has gone bang and hits what I’m aiming at. But I decided to look at a new Ruger GP101, cause you know, the one I have is a Taurus and they are supposed to be crap and anything else is so much better, so I started looking at Ruger forums. What do ya know, they have plenty of guns going back for repair as because they aren’t perfect either. Now I’m deciding on paying more for a Ruger just cause it isn’t a Taurus, or just buying another Tracker.
I can’t wait until I find the gun produced by divine intervention that has no warranty because it is perfect and will never have a problem.
I meant GP100. Screwed that up.
I’ve got a model 44 that’s close to 20 years old and have never had any problems. It’ll shoot a 3 inch group at 25 yds. all day long. I had a local gunsmith slick up and lighten the trigger and he charged me $40 and it’s great and breaks like a glass rod. It’s not gaudy with the Raging crap all over it. I paid $300 for it brand new. I’ve also got a PT1911 that I bought new for $399 just to see if I liked the 1911 platform and I’ve never had any issues with it either.
I bought my first and only Taurus 15 years ago. A real POS, the PT-22. The magazine was bad, would not feed more than 2 rounds. I sent it to Taurus, believing their “lifetime warranty” spiel. Luckily I had it signed for upon receipt. 4 weeks after they rec’d it, I called to see what / where /why my replacement magazine was. I was told I never sent it, or they never rec’d it. I told them the name of their employee that signed for it, that helped very little. I felt like I was being treated as a thief or charlatan, trying to “steal” from Taurus. After about 5 minutes of accusations and insults from the so-called “Customer Service” rep, I asked to speak to her Supervisor. After a 10 minute wait, I got the same attitude from the “Supervisor”. I finally told him to either back up their warranty or return my magazine, his choice, but that he had lost a customer for life, and that I would never buy another Taurus. I did get a new mag, I’m guessing they couldn’t find my old one to return. I have stayed true to my promise and will never own another Taurus. I have also talked friends and perfect strangers(at local gun stores) out of purchasing Taurus products. I hope that $20(retail) magazine was worth all the business I have taken from them, and I see others with similar stories, some very recent. If I was reading these posts, I know I would never buy any Taurus, no matter what the price. Oh, and the PT-22 is so inaccurate that I have friends try it just for a laugh. You get more hits throwing it than you do shooting it.
the tearass that i owned flew apart when fired. after repair more parts flew off. kind of imbarressing in a gun fight.
when i finally got to speak to a real person at tearass a guy named carlos told me to kiss his ass.
said i was the problem. didnt know how to handle a gun.
P.S. i worked in law enforcement and tought firearms tactics for many years. know i write about them.
paul nickerson, wow what a lire you are. so many people making up bad reviews about Tauruses fine firearms. must work for one of the other manufacturers
What an obsequeous blurb of drivel, about this pistol… unfortunate as I have always enjoyed the authors prior contributions… not so much this time.
First off, covering up what appears to be a fish hook of a front sight in the photos, makes me think fast draw from a holster it will snag… not cool when a big bear is in full charge towards you..
Secondly, the porting effectively reduces the true length of usable barrel (which allows best velocity to be achieved) to that of a 6 in her in all respects… also, it clearly appears that Taurus is attempting to capitolize on a front crane lock, a la Dan Wesson’s tried and true design… one that I have always found superior…
Finally, the aluminum shroud, and multi color pistol, does not really make it anything more than eye candy..
My stand by reliable bear gun is a DW44VH6, and sports a stainless shroud, and bbl, on a blued frame.. specifically because of bbl shroud wear and rust when carried for hours in the field in inclement weather..
My fair weather side arm is the same combo, but chambered in .445 SuperMag. Both are tried and tru.
Seems big T finds a knockoff of both, for $ a grand, a bargain… I’ll keep using my DW’s for a long time to come,nas I have for the last 30+ years…
So, give a full review, show all the features, and all the shortcomings next go round please…
Thanks,
I have a 454 Casull and a 44 mag Taurus The 454 has timing problems and the 44 mag front sight was too low for any adjustment of the rear sight to help. Otherwise the guns were fine but Taurus customer service would not help with either problem. I will never buy another Taurus no matter how much any gun writer sings it’s praise.
I wouldn’t trust a Taurus as far as I could throw it and don’t bring it to my shop for that trigger work. I won’t touch them. You guys ever NOT like a gun? These are cast from some mystery metal and prone like the rest of their junk to crack. At least at 55 ounces maybe you could beat the bear to death. Buy American, get a Ruger or even a Smith or any of a dozen others that are far superior, Taurus, phaaaaa.
Got a local gun shop here that will not even carry Taurus. They got sick and tired of customers bringing them back for a number of problems. The guy at the gun shop told me that the Taurus customer service use to laugh at him when he calls to return a firearm. I have never and will never own one.
I’ve owned numerous Taurus pistols, everything from a .480 Ruger – Raging Bull to a .17 HMR – Tracker, and I can honestly say that I’ve never had even the slightest problem with any one of them. I also have a couple versions of their PT1911’s and I’ve never had any issues with either of them.
Nevertheless, I certainly wouldn’t say they’re the “highest quality” firearms on the market, but they definitely aren’t even close to being one of the “worst quality” manufacturers either.
Consistent with virtually every fledgling (firearm) manufacturing company, they had their fair share of quality control issues to overcome upon entering the market. However, as with numerous other manufacturing companies, they took action (a complete management change) to rectify the situation. They’ve also significantly cut back on the variety and calibers of firearms they manufacture to better concentrate on their products that’ve been most successful.
What they offer are reasonably well-made firearms at relatively good, sometimes great prices. Taurus generally serves many of the new, first-time firearm purchasers. A market-sector that’s been growing significantly over the past several years.
And Taurus’s are made in America having been manufactured in Miami for quite some time now.
In my opinion, weight with a hunting handgun is less of an issue than a heavy trigger and poor optics. Get a good carrying rig you can draw from easily (A Galco Kodiak Hunter in cross draw bandolier setup for example) and the weight stabilizes your shot. Louder with the porting is here nor there except for the poor observers at the range. I like wearing the electronic muffs when I hunt, they keep my ears warm.
Have you ever felt the trigger of an out-of-the-box Taurus revolver? Plan on adding $200 to$300 for a quality trigger job to make this thing shootable. I’ll stick with my Super Blackhawk thanks. What’s next a POS Hi-Point or Kel-Tek .454 Please !!!
Finding any Raging .44 in North Texas is all but impossible. I can only hope to be able to find one of these without paying a premium online.
porting is a bad idea on a bear revolver,,,
My hands ache just looking at this fine firearm…
I would assume this Taurus will have the same timing issues that most of the Trackers have..? I’m getting the Ruger Redhawk.
Cannot see this “Raging Hunter” having anything on the well established Ruger RedHawk or Blackhawk Hunter models?
Weights are similar (Blackhawn is slightly less), costs similar (Blackhawk, also slightly less), not sure how it grips or points compared to other hunting revolvers ? Porting, I think is a hunting disadvantage, as it already makes a loud firearm – louder.
S&W and Ruger both offer great hunting handguns, if you need something better – go with a FA83, they are awesome !
I’m curious, as a very long time handgun hunter with the Blackhawk, do you think the noise is a disadvantage for the hunter or the critter?
When hunting, I never remembered thinking about the sound of the shot, or even if my ears were ringing afterwards. I guess I’m caught up in the moment and focused on my game. The sound of a gun is only an issue for me when I’m target shooting. That’s when it hurts. Hearing protection on the range negates that issue. As far as the critter goes, I think noise from a gun that is pointed at it, is the least of the disadvantages.
If what you say is true (and it’s all 100% true) what would all the whiners/complainers who for some reason frequent this site have to complain about?
It’s a Taurus, it’s to heavy, it’s not heavy enough, it’s not the right color, it’s got a ported barrel, it doesn’t have a ported barrel, it’s not made in America (it is), I don’t like the trigger, I had one, or someone I knew had one that broke,
Long time handgun Hunter, primarily with a Blackhawk and FA83. Also have used T/C Contender and Encore single shots, a long slide 1911 as well. Have shot a couple different portred handguns- perhaps because I practice a fair amount- I didn’t find the porting to be that helpful. It just spewed extra noise and blast in the shooter’s face. Noise and blast are key components of flinching . Prefer the FA83 to all the others- it is comfortable to shoot, accurate, WELL made – if one is truly serious about hunting with a revolver, hard to top it.