Anyone know anything about the Taurus ultra light in .38?

[packinnova]

Anyone know anything about the Taurus ultra light in .38? Looking for opinions/ experience good/bad/otherwise. A friend recent picked one up for his wife. Just looking to see if anyone knows of any issues to look for later on down the road. I don't know anything about them.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Broken]

I know one blew up in my friends hand and made me nearly crap in a bag for the rest of my life? I know my belt saved me? I know I wouldnt get one of these... IMO... sorry :(

[Broken]

Just tell your friends wife to put nothin to hot through it....nothin +p....be careful! The one my friend had that I sold him was blued with gold accents.

[Jeff F]

My wife absolutely loves her 85. Several hundred rounds and never a problem and it's extremely accurate. She likes it much more than her much more expensive S&W 638. Between my wife and myself we own four Taurus firearms and they all are great guns, and no I'm not a kool aid drinker when it comes to a particular gun. We also own Kimbers, Glocks, Smiths, Rugers, Charter Arms, and some others.

[gasmitty]

I'll speak up as an actual owner of one (well, two):

I've had a Taurus Ultra-Lite for about 8 years now; Model 851SSUL. This has the shrouded hammer and adjustable rear blade. It's also ported - don't care for that - but this gun had a better trigger than any S+W snubby available at Hoffman's when I bought it.

Of course as a snub it gets carried a lot and shot relatively little - it's not what I would call a "recreational" gun. But with well over 1500 rounds through it - including several hundred +P rounds - the gun is solid and robust. The action locks up tight and the timing is perfect. I would absolutely trust my life to this gun. Is it an heirloom? No, but few of my guns are. Will it hold up like a Ruger SP101? Unlikely - but it also doesn't get constant use, maybe 300 rounds a year. It also didn't cost as much as the Smiths and Rugers

The snub that preceded this one is a stainless M85, 1992 vintage. A solid gun which remains with a friend back east for use when I visit. Said friend and his wife took a 2-day snubbie course at the S+W Academy last year, and brought a pair of S+W snubs plus my M85 as a backup. After the vaunted S+W 340 broke (cylinder FELL OUT), my shabby little M85 from that cheesy manufacturer Taurus was pressed into service and finished the course admirably. The 340 stayed behind in S+W's sick bay.

There is a lot of Taurus bashing that permeates this forum. They are not high-class, high-dollar guns, and no gunsmith uses them as a base for custom projects. But I own three - the two snubs mentioned plus a compact 9mm (PT111), collectively with just thousands or founds through them. The autopistol developed a problem, was sent back for warranty repair, and came back three weeks later all better.

One owner, three Tauruses (plus a couple dozen other guns to choose from), lots of rounds, one repair. Hard to consider my good experience as just a cosmic coincidence.

If you can afford it, definitely buy a S+W snub; or search the used market and get a Detective Special with 20% higher capacity. But if you need something more affordable, I vote for the Taurus.

[Broken]

Be aware of Taurus's less than outstanding customer service..