Taurus 605 Poly Protector Black 357 Magnum 2 in. 5-Shot Revolver – Superb Lightweight Carry

Description

The 605 Poly Protector Black takes the small-frame .357 Magnum and wraps a polymer shell around the alloy steel frame, which takes several ounces off a gun that is already small. Five rounds, a two-inch barrel, a matte black oxide cylinder and a bright orange fibre-optic front sight.

The 605 Poly Protector Black is the all-black version. The cylinder is black oxide rather than stainless, so there is nothing on the outside of the gun that reflects light — which is the point of choosing it over the two-tone.

What the polymer frame changes

• Weight. On the 605 Poly Protector Black a polymer shell over the steel frame insert is noticeably lighter than an all-steel 605
• The 605 Poly Protector Black still has a steel frame insert carrying the barrel, cylinder and lockwork, so it is not a plastic gun
• Ridged rubber grip moulded to the frame, which spreads recoil better than a hard panel on a light revolver
• Orange fibre-optic front sight, which finds the target far faster than a plain black ramp in low light
• Matte black oxide cylinder and black stainless barrel, with no bright work anywhere
• Exposed hammer, so you still have the single-action option for a deliberate shot
• Transfer bar safety, so the firing pin cannot reach a primer until the trigger is fully back

The honest trade on a light magnum

• Less weight means more felt recoil. That is physics, and it applies to every lightweight revolver ever made
• Full-power .357 Magnum out of a two-inch barrel in a light gun is genuinely unpleasant, and most people shoot two cylinders and stop
• A good .38 Special +P load gives up far less than the price difference suggests and is much easier to control
• The sensible answer most owners reach is +P for carry and a few magnums a year to confirm the gun handles them
• What you buy with the 605 Poly Protector Black is a gun light enough that you will actually carry it every day
• A gun in your pocket beats a heavier one in the safe, and that is the whole argument

Specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 2-605021PLY
• Caliber: .357 Magnum, also fires .38 Special and .38 Special +P
• Capacity: 5 rounds
• Barrel: 2 in., black stainless steel
• Cylinder: matte black oxide
• Frame: black polymer over alloy steel, small frame
• Grip: black ridged rubber
• Action: single and double action, exposed hammer
• Safety: transfer bar
• Sights: orange fibre-optic front
• UPC: 725327609681

.357 Magnum and .38 Special are both standardised cartridges with pressure and dimensional specifications published by SAAMI. The magnum case is a tenth of an inch longer, which is why .38 chambers in this cylinder and .357 will not fit a .38-only gun. If you shoot mostly .38, brush the front of each chamber occasionally or the longer rounds will eventually stop seating.

One thing worth knowing about the polymer frame. It is a shell over a steel insert rather than a load-bearing polymer structure, so the parts that matter are the same steel as any other 605. The frame will scuff where a steel one would wear bright, and a scuff on black polymer is far less conspicuous than a shiny wear line on a carry gun.

Why this revolver earns its place

• Magnum capability in a package light enough to forget you are wearing
• A fibre-optic front sight, which on a defensive revolver is worth more than any other single upgrade
• No bright work anywhere on the 605 Poly Protector Black, so nothing catches light through a shirt
• The simplicity of a revolver: no magazine, no slide, nothing to fumble under pressure
• .38 Special for affordable practice out of the same cylinder
• Cheap enough to buy as a pocket gun alongside something larger

Everyday carriers, people who have found a steel snub too heavy to wear consistently, and anyone who wants a backup gun that disappears. The 605 Poly Protector Black is a carry gun rather than a range gun, and it should be bought on that basis.

If you want the stainless cylinder instead, the two-tone Poly Protector is the same gun. For an all-steel 605, the matte black and matte stainless versions are heavier and softer shooting.

If you would rather have nothing to snag at all, the enclosed-hammer Taurus 650 is the .357 answer. For six rounds of .38 Special on a similar frame, the Taurus 856 is worth handling alongside it.

Every Taurus we ship comes with the factory case, the manual and a lock. Transfers go to your FFL and our end of the paperwork is done the same day.