Taurus Raging Bull 44 Magnum
Oleg Volk 08.05.14
Colt Walker, introduced in 1847, was the first revolver of military significance. Sometimes called a “cavalry 4-pounder,” it was a large .44 caliber percussion revolver with loaded weight actually approaching five pounds. It held six 140-grain round balls and achieved velocities of 800 to 1,200 feet per second, depending on how much the user wanted to push his luck with heavy loads. Thanks to its heft, the revolver actually had modest felt recoil and could be safely fired one-handed–provided the user was strong enough to aim something as heavy as a modern AR15 pistol.
As the metallurgy and the powders improved, the guns got lighter and more powerful. The famous S&W29 of Dirty Harry was half an inch shorter, a pound lighter, and tossed a bullet almost twice as heavy at 1,500 fps. Firing it with two hands for recoil control was prudent. More recently, 44 Magnum revolvers made of lightweight alloys created arms that killed on the muzzle end and maimed on the other end, with painful recoil discouraging regular practice. Taurus Raging Bull was designed counter to that trend.
M444 is a large revolver. An ounce short of four pounds, it sports an 8.375″ ported barrel with full underlug and a big squishy grip. The size puts it halfway between conventional belt guns and the horse saddle pistols of old, making cross-draw holsters like Galco Kodiak a good carry option.
For size reference, the person pictured above is 6 foot 5 inches tall and has the build of something that eats cave bears for breakfast. M444 is just another side arm to him.
The revolver holds six shots. While swing-out cylinder makes reloading quick, it takes both hands to disengage the twin latches, one under the thumb and the other forward of the cylinder.
The gun has a smooth double action pull and crisp, light single action. Subjectively, it resembles a very well broken-in S&W10 or a Colt Diamondback. Adjustable sights are helpful for dialing in the point of impact because a great variety of 44 Magnum loads is available.
While hardcast lead bullets work fine in this revolver, less cleaning around the compensator ports is required with jacketed ammunition. Swaged lead bullets are too soft for the high velocity developed. 240gr Federal Hydroshocks come out at around 1500fps!
Good trigger pull, clear sights with a long radius, and very mild recoil add up to good accuracy. In my experience, the gun was well capable of overlapping the bullets at 10 yards, and only the shooter’s lack of consistency would give larger groups. Fortunately, the mild behavior on recoil doesn’t induce flinch.
In theory, I am not a fan of ported revolvers, especially those with a defensive utility. In practice, the long barrel moves the port flame so far forward that the extra noise and blast aren’t very noticeable. The side angling of the ports also cuts down on the flash in the sight picture. Between the full underlug and the ports, M444 doesn’t rise very much in hand and can be easily controlled. The backward push is mitigated by the gel insert in the grip. The main challenge for long range sessions is the weight of the gun rather than its kick.
Raging Bull may be loaded from a six-shot speedloader or with loose cartridges. For field use, I would strongly prefer speedloaders as they are easier to manipulate in gloves. The spare ammunition riding on the holster would be preserved for emergencies.
For best accuracy, the gun may be scoped using the slots above the barrel to attach the optic mount. A red dot sight or a low-power pistol scope would make it a viable hunting weapon past fifty yards. Used with 44 Special ammunition, Raging Bull becomes a pleasant plinker. Even with full-power heavy-bullet loads, M444 allows comfortable practice and considerable effectiveness on target. It’s long, it’s heavy, but it delivers proper .44Magnum performance on the muzzle end without punishing the shooter for the choice of the potent caliber.
