Another New Toy
 

Just picked this up last evening. A Taurus 44 mag Raging Hunter 8 3/8" ported barrel. What a beast of a revolver. It makes my S&W 29 look small. The heavy steel barrel is encased in an aluminum shroud that incorporates a Piatinny rail on top and protects the ejector rod below. Finish is a nice even matte finish, decent sights (undecided if I'm going to mount a scope or not), grips fill the hand nicely and have a nice soft non-slip texture. Another interesting feature of this revolver is that it has a dual lock up system. One in the usual place on the frame behind the cylinder and another in front of the cylinder.
I can't wait to get it out and run some of my full power loads through it.

I've been pleased with the Taurus revolvers I've owned and shot.

I first looked through a revolver with a scope last year while hunting with Tom S. He shot a doe with it, and having that scope gives quite the advantage over an open sighted revolver. It's just not as "cool" to me. But if hunting and killing game is the goal then adding some glass is definitely the way to go.

-Jake

I have a 4" Taurus lightweght 44 mag and that is a handful with full house loads in it even with the ported barrel. I normally shoot 44 spl or light 44 mag loads out of it.
This guy however will have a steady diet of the heavier stuff.

I remain to harbor mixed feelings for the dual manual lock up of the Raging Series Tauruses. Ruger also has dual lock up, fore and aft, but in the Ruger design, both are actuated by the same single manipulation. While I‘be never found myself demanded to throw a single handed reload of a Raging Bull or Raging Hornet, it does make my brain itch to have the additional manipulation required in the manual of arms.

It should be a very solid revolver, and sufficiently accurate for any reasonable use. An Ultradot Matchdot is a great upgrade to iron sights; albeit, a 2-8x scope is more capable than a red dot, although maybe not fun for everyone.

Really a shame Hornady removed the second cannelure from the 300grn XTP - big wheels like this can do some really fun stuff if you offer a little extra elbow room to H110!

This is going to be a hunting revolver so I may just add on a 2-8x or even a straight 2x on it. Some can't get use to shooting a handgun with a scope as they have trouble acquiring the target. I've hunted with Contenders before and have a 243 Encore and don't have an issue with that.
I just don't have a warm fuzzy hunting with a red dot. I often think what if the battery conks out at the wrong time? I have one on my turkey shotgun and another in the cabinet. We'll see after I shoot it with ooen sights.

I also don’t care much for red dots on... anything but shotguns... But I can get behind a red dot on a revolver, where the demand for precision is less than that of a rifle, but greater than which is easily promoted by iron sights (2-4moa dots vs. 16moa wide blades).

I don’t let myself get bothered by battery life issues. I replace my batteries regularly, and keep spares in my field kit. I’ve worn a battery powered watch for 30yrs, carried a battery powered phone for over 20yrs, used battery powered sights and battery powered LRF’s for over 25 years... folks get too worked up about batteries... replace a AAA, AA, or CR2032 once per year before season for a dollar or two, and it’s pretty simple.

But a scope is much, much more versatile.

Nomercy before I read your last post I had already put a MIllett 2 MOA red dot on it. I have it mounted on low rings and with both eyes open (which is how you should do it anyway) I have zero trouble picking up the dot and the target. That should be plenty good enough for almost any shot I can get around my neck of the woods. I'm hoping to get out on Tuesday morning before the temps start to climb. Its supposed to be hanging around 90* the next couple days.