Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum 5.12in Ported — Superb Hunter

Description

The Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum is a six-shot hunting revolver with a 5.12-inch ported barrel, a full-length Picatinny rail moulded into the top of the barrel shroud, and a matte black oxide finish over frame, cylinder and barrel assembly. It is the size of Raging Hunter that most people actually end up carrying in the field.

Five inches is the compromise that works. A ten-inch barrel wrings the last hundred feet per second out of a .44 Magnum load, but you have to lug it. The Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum keeps enough barrel to make the cartridge perform and stays short enough to ride in a chest rig all day without catching on every branch.

What is built into it

• A 5.12-inch ported barrel. The ports vent upward near the muzzle and hold the front sight down, which is the difference between a second shot and a second try.
• A Picatinny rail moulded into the barrel shroud along its full length — mount a red dot or a pistol scope anywhere along it, with no separate base to shoot loose.
• Six rounds in a heavy cylinder, with the crane locked at the front as well as the rear.
• A steel barrel inside an aluminium shroud, which is how the Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum keeps its weight sensible for a gun this powerful.
• A soft rubber grip with a cushioned backstrap that spreads recoil across the whole palm.
• Matte black oxide throughout, with an adjustable rear sight and a fixed front.

Living with a ported magnum

• The Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum is loud, and the ports throw blast sideways. Anyone standing beside you needs hearing protection as much as you do, on every shot.
• Recoil is firm but not punishing. Most shooters can work through a box of full-power .44 in a session with this gun, which is more than can be said for a light-frame magnum.
• .44 Special drops straight into the chambers and turns the Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum into a pleasant range gun for a fraction of the recoil and the cost.
• The rail is worth using. A .44 Magnum is capable of clean kills well past iron-sight range, and a low-power optic is what unlocks that.
• Bear country changes the ammunition. Hard-cast flat-nose bullets penetrate; expanding hunting bullets do not always do the same job on heavy bone.

Specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 2-440051RH
• UPC: 725327617525
• Calibre: .44 Remington Magnum / .44 Special
• Capacity: 6 rounds
• Barrel: 5.12 in, ported, with integral Picatinny rail
• Frame: large, steel, matte black oxide
• Cylinder: steel, matte black oxide
• Sights: adjustable rear, fixed front
• Action: double action / single action
• Grip: black rubber with cushioned backstrap

.44 Remington Magnum and .44 Special are both standardised cartridges, with dimensions and maximum pressures published by SAAMI. The Magnum case is the longer of the two, which is why the Special chambers in this revolver and not the other way round — and why it is worth scrubbing the front of the chambers after a session of Specials before going back to Magnum brass.

If you want more cartridge, MAG5 stocks the Raging Hunter in .500 S&W Magnum in both ten-inch and 5.12-inch barrels. For a lighter field revolver there is the Tracker 627 in .357, and for a service-size .357 the seven-shot Taurus 66.

Why the Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum earns its place

• The Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum has enough barrel to make the cartridge perform, short enough to carry all season.
• Factory porting, so follow-up shots are a realistic expectation rather than a hope.
• A rail that is part of the gun, not an accessory bolted to it.
• Two cartridges out of one cylinder — .44 Special for practice, Magnum for the field.
• Dual cylinder lock-up and a heavy frame, built for a lifetime of full-power loads.

This is a deer, hog and bear-defence revolver, and a good one for handgun hunting seasons where a scoped pistol is legal. It also makes sense as a trail gun in country where something large might object to your presence. It is not a concealed-carry revolver and not a first handgun — the Taurus Raging Hunter 44 Magnum rewards someone who already knows how to run a double-action trigger and is prepared to spend on ammunition.

In stock now at MAG5 Firearms in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Handgun sales ship to a licensed dealer in your state, where you will complete a Form 4473 and the background check before taking delivery.