Taurus 605 357 Magnum 2 in. Matte Stainless 5-Shot Revolver – Superb Everyday Carry Choice

Description

The Taurus 605 is the small-frame .357 Magnum that has been doing the same job for decades: five rounds, a two-inch barrel, an exposed hammer and enough steel around the cartridge to handle magnum pressure without complaint. This Taurus 605 is the matte stainless version, with a black finger-grooved rubber grip and fixed sights.

Matte stainless is the sensible finish for a carry revolver. It does not glare, it does not show holster wear the way a blued gun does, and sweat is simply not an issue. If this gun spends its life in a pocket holster or a glove box, the stainless version is the one to buy.

What the Taurus 605 offers

• The Taurus 605 holds five rounds of .357 Magnum, or .38 Special and .38 Special +P when you want less blast
• 2-inch barrel on a genuinely small steel frame, short enough for a pocket holster and light enough to forget you are wearing
• Matte stainless barrel, cylinder and frame, a finish built for sweat, damp pockets and neglect
• Exposed hammer, so you have the single-action option for a careful shot as well as the double-action pull
• Black finger-grooved rubber grip that spreads recoil over the whole hand rather than the web of your thumb
• Transfer bar safety: the firing pin cannot touch a primer unless the trigger is fully to the rear
• Fixed sights with nothing to snag, knock loose or adjust

An honest word about the Taurus 605 and .357 from two inches

• A two-inch barrel wastes a large share of a .357 Magnum load as muzzle flash and noise. That is physics, not a criticism of the gun
• The velocity gain over a good .38 Special +P out of the same barrel is smaller than the price of the ammunition suggests
• Recoil and muzzle blast, on the other hand, go up dramatically. Indoors at night a full magnum load is genuinely disorientating
• Most people who carry a Taurus 605 end up loading .38 Special +P and keeping the magnums for the range, and that is a sound decision
• The reason to buy the .357 anyway is that it gives you the option. A .38-only revolver never will
• Five rounds is five rounds. Practice reloading with a speedloader, because a snub revolver runs dry fast

Taurus 605 specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 2-605029
• Caliber: .357 Magnum, also fires .38 Special and .38 Special +P
• Capacity: 5 rounds
• Barrel: 2 in., matte stainless steel
• Cylinder and frame: matte stainless steel, small frame
• Grip: black finger-grooved rubber
• Action: single and double action, exposed hammer
• Safety: transfer bar
• Sights: fixed
• UPC: 725327203025

.357 Magnum and .38 Special are both standardised cartridges with published pressure and dimensional limits maintained by SAAMI. The magnum case is a tenth of an inch longer so it physically cannot be chambered in a .38-only revolver, which is a safety feature rather than an accident of design.

One maintenance point specific to this gun. If you shoot mostly .38 Special through a Taurus 605, carbon builds up in the front tenth of an inch of each chamber where the shorter case ends. Leave it long enough and .357 rounds will stop seating fully. A chamber brush and a few seconds per chamber prevents it entirely, and almost nobody does it until they find out the hard way.

Why this revolver earns its place

• A genuine magnum in a package small enough to carry every day
• Stainless construction that survives pocket lint, sweat and years of being ignored
• The Taurus 605 will fire wet, dirty or after a long spell in a drawer, which no semi-automatic can promise
• The exposed hammer gives you a precise single-action shot when you have the time to take one
• Steel frame rather than aluminum, so magnum recoil stays tolerable
• .38 Special keeps practice cheap enough that you will actually do it

Everyday carriers, backup-gun buyers, people who want a nightstand revolver that needs no thought, and anyone who wants the simplest possible defensive handgun. The Taurus 605 is not complicated and that is precisely the point.

If you prefer matte black, the 2-inch black 605 is the same gun in a darker finish. For tritium night sights and a three-inch barrel, look at the 605 with night sights, and for a factory optic cut the 605 TORO.

If you want a hammerless snub instead, the Taurus 650 seals the hammer inside the frame. For cheap practice on the same frame size, the eight-shot 942 in .22 LR is the matching rimfire trainer.

Two cartridges in one Taurus 605 cylinder

Sports South record this one as chambered for .357 Magnum and .38 Special +P, and that dual capability is the practical heart of the gun. A .357 cylinder is longer than a .38 cylinder, so it will accept both; a .38 revolver will not take .357 and should never be made to.

What that means in daily use is that you can practice all afternoon on cheap .38 and load .357 when it matters. On a 21-ounce class snub that is not a convenience, it is close to a necessity — nobody shoots a box of full-power magnums through a gun this small and still shoots well by the end of it.

The transfer bar, and why an exposed hammer is fine

Every Taurus 605 has an exposed hammer and a transfer bar safety. The transfer bar sits between the hammer and the firing pin and only rises into place when the trigger is fully pressed. Drop the gun, strike the hammer, do whatever you like: with the trigger forward there is nothing connecting the two.

That is what makes an exposed-hammer revolver safe to carry fully loaded, and it is also why the single-action option is worth having. Thumbing the hammer back gives you a short, light trigger for a deliberate shot, which is something no hammerless snub can offer.

The trade is the spur itself. It will catch on a pocket lining. Use a holster that shields it, or buy the hammerless alternative and give up single action.

Ammunition for a Taurus 605

CCI Blazer Brass .357 158gr is the affordable magnum load for confirming zero and learning the recoil. CorBon .38 Special +P 125gr is the gentler carry option, and a great many experienced snub shooters carry exactly that rather than full magnums, because what leaves a two inch barrel matters less than what you can put on target twice.

Every Taurus 605 ships with the factory case, the manual and a lock. Transfers go through your FFL and our end of the paperwork is done the same day.