Taurus 66 357 Magnum 4in 7-Shot Revolver — Superb Black Oxide

Description

The Taurus 66 357 Magnum is the seven-shot, four-inch medium-frame revolver Taurus has built in one form or another for decades, and this is the plain-working version of it: alloy steel barrel, cylinder and frame under a matte black oxide finish, a finger-grooved rubber grip, an adjustable rear sight, and a transfer bar between the hammer and the firing pin.

Seven rounds is the whole argument. A .357 of this size almost always holds six, so the Taurus 66 357 Magnum buys you one more round without a larger frame, a longer cylinder or extra weight on the belt. It also feeds .38 Special and .38 Special +P, which is what most owners actually shoot most of the time.

What you are getting

• Seven rounds of .357 Magnum or .38 Special +P in a swing-out cylinder, released by a thumb latch on the left side of the frame.
• A 4-inch alloy steel barrel with a full-length shroud over the ejector rod, so the rod cannot get bent against a hard surface.
• An adjustable rear sight and a serrated ramp front — the Taurus 66 357 Magnum is one of the few revolvers at this price that still lets you zero for a specific load rather than living with whatever the factory set.
• A black finger-grooved rubber grip that wraps the backstrap. That grip is the reason full-power loads stay civil in a gun this size.
• An exposed hammer: single action for a deliberate shot, double action for everything else.
• A transfer bar safety, so the gun fires only when the trigger is pulled all the way through.

Four inches is the honest sweet spot

• A 4-inch barrel burns most of a .357 charge. The same cartridge out of a 2-inch snub throws a large share of that powder out the muzzle as flash and noise, punishing the shooter more than the target.
• On the Taurus 66 357 Magnum the weight sits forward, so the muzzle settles back down between shots instead of flipping.
• It is a belt gun, not a pocket gun. A four-inch medium frame rides well on a stiff belt under a jacket and poorly under a t-shirt — be honest with yourself about how you dress.
• .38 Special makes it cheap to shoot. Practise on .38, load .357 when it matters, and the sight picture never changes.
• Black oxide is a finish, not stainless steel. Wipe the gun down and oil it after a humid day or a sweaty holster, or it will show you exactly where your fingers were.

Specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 2-660041
• UPC: 725327200130
• Calibre: .357 Magnum / .38 Special +P
• Capacity: 7 rounds
• Barrel: 4 in, alloy steel
• Frame: medium, alloy steel
• Action: double action / single action, exposed hammer
• Sights: adjustable rear, serrated ramp front
• Safety: transfer bar
• Grip: black finger-grooved rubber
• Finish: matte black oxide

Both chamberings are standardised cartridges with published dimensions and pressure ceilings, maintained by SAAMI. That standard is why a .38 Special drops straight into a .357 chamber and headspaces correctly, and why the reverse is never true. If you shoot a lot of .38 through it, scrub the front of the chambers before switching back to Magnum brass — the carbon ring a shorter case leaves behind is what makes the longer case stick.

If you want the same cartridge in a different package, MAG5 also stocks the fixed-sight Taurus 65 in .357 Magnum, the two-inch Taurus 605 for carry, the ported Tracker 627, and the 692 Convertible, which swaps its cylinder to 9mm.

Why the Taurus 66 357 Magnum earns its place

• Seven rounds instead of six, at the same size, the same weight and the same money.
• Adjustable sights on a working revolver, which is increasingly rare below the custom shops.
• Steel construction that will shoot .38 Special all week without complaint.
• The Taurus 66 357 Magnum is mechanically simple. Under stress there is nothing to forget except the trigger.
• A four-inch barrel that gives the cartridge the space it needs to do what it was designed to do.

This is a house gun, a truck gun and a woods sidearm before it is a concealed-carry gun, and it makes a good first centre-fire revolver for exactly that reason: you can feed a Taurus 66 357 Magnum mild .38 wadcutters while you learn the double-action trigger, then step up to full Magnum loads once the fundamentals are there. Hunters in states that allow handgun seasons will find the Taurus 66 357 Magnum four-inch tube and adjustable sights enough for close-cover whitetail with a heavy hard-cast load.

In stock now at MAG5 Firearms in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. All handgun sales ship to a licensed dealer in your state for transfer, and you will complete a Form 4473 and the background check there.