RE: New handgun (.45 ACP!)
Yes, I have sat at a bench at an indoor shooting range with the Taurus and it is accurate out to 5 yards. The best investment I made was getting rid of the ridiculous wooden, thin, grips on the Taurus, and getting a nice beefy, finger grooved Pachmeyer grip for it.
My brother-in-law is an armed security guard and has shot the Taurus 85 with me at the range. He also agreed that it is best suited for close in, personal defense. (i.e.... image this scenario.... you're laying in bed late at night and someone breaks in. You reach for the .38spl snubnose. You sit tight and wait for them to enter the bedroom. You still sit tight while they approach your bed while weilding a switchblade.) Then, the true range and power of a snubnose .38 will become the best manner of defense. At least, that is what I was always told.
When shooting the snubnose .38 at the range at 5 yards, I can get pretty decent groups, but not anything like I would with a semi-auto, like my brother-in-law's Glock that he carries on the job. If I strung a target all the way out to 25 yards at the indoor range, I would end up getting 18" groups or worse.... [&o]