The fact that the sage.22 Hornet is still in use in the twenty-first century defies sense. Modern arrivals like as Hornady’s.17 Hornet and Armscor’s.22 TCM easily eclipse it. Even so, when Taurus introduced the Raging Hornet revolver in 2002, I knew I had to have one. It took a long time to find one because just a few thousand were created (I’ve heard 1,000, but never confirmed). That alone would make this test series obsolete if it weren’t for the fact that there are uncountable numbers of.22 Hornet single-shot T/C Contender barrels available, for which these handloads should work fine.
The Raging Hornet was based on the Raging Bull frame, which was designed specifically for the.454 Casull. The issue with the Raging Hornet isn’t strength – it’s more than capable of handling the hottest factory loads but rather respectable case ejection and, more importantly, accuracy. Shooting a few hot rounds through the Raging Hornet can result in sticky ejection, but knocking out an entire eight-round cylinder requires something more durable than the heel of your hand. Furthermore, heavy muzzle flame is not favorable to superior accuracy. Handloading is required to get the most out of this weapon and Contender single shots.
Because I use my Raging Hornet to hunt burrowing rodents, I need the right rounds. To get the most out of my, I utilized long, polymer-tipped rounds. To generate a suitable overall loaded length (OAL) for the revolver cylinder, the 22 Hornet rifle must be seated into the ogive. This revolver’s maximum OAL is 1.77 inches; a safer baseline is 1.68 to 1.70 inches. With only 10 inches of barrel to generate pressure and the Hornet’s already slow speed, bullets must expand sufficiently at lower speeds to be effective against varmints. This suggests hollow or stumpy polymer-tipped needles in lesser weights to increase velocity. The 35-grain Ballistic Tip Varmint and V-MAX from Nosler and Hornady, respectively, have proven to be excellent Raging Hornet options. They’ve also helped me catch coyotes and a few medium-sized hogs. Barnes’ 30-grain Varmint Grenade, MidwayUSA’s 34-grain Dogtown HP, Sierra’s 40-grain Varminter Hornet, and Hornady’s 45-grain HP/BEE were added to see if I was missing anything.
There are numerous standard.
Hornet handguns are served by 22 rifle powders, with a few true pistol powders providing more versatility by burning completely in shorter barrels. Winchester 296, comparable Hodgdon 110, Vihtavuori N110, and Alliant 2400 are Hornet standbys (technically pistol powders). Accurate Enforcer, No. 9 and No. 11FS pistol powders, as well as fast-burning rifle powders like Hodgdon’s Lil’Gun and IMR-4227 and IMR-4198, were included. Out of curiosity, course-grained Accurate 5744 was added.
Even in rifles, the.22 Hornet is usually regarded as innately inaccurate. In fact, consistently loading this cartridge is exceedingly difficult. Because small powder charges make even a tenth of a grain matter, each load must be meticulously hand-trickled to achieve gratifying accuracy. Due to the lower charges of hotter powders in handgun loads, this problem is exacerbated. Primer selection is also important. The Remington 71/2 Bench Rest Primers used here have shown to be reliable on average, but there’s no doubt that better accuracy may be achieved by utilizing various spark plugs with different powders, loads, brass, and weapons. Small pistol or even magnum small rifle primers work well in some combinations. Because little differences in brass thickness affect results, always match brass headstamps. In my experience, Remington and Winchester have the narrowest walls, Hornady slightly thicker, and PPU has the thickest walls. As the thickness of the wall grows, so do the pressures generated by the same weight powder charges.
The sloping shoulders and slender necks of the Hornet flow freely, necessitating frequent trimming to preserve appropriate specs (trim-to specs 1.393 inches). Note that necks can be shortened to create a case length of 1.37 inch, allowing longer bullets to be used without seating in the ogive. Finally, because the Hornet headspaces off the conspicuous rim, seating bullets so they just touch the lands helps align them straight down the barrel a luxury that a revolver with its backset cylinder and forcing cone does not have. When you consider all of these issues, it’s simple to see why no one ever brags about their one-hole-group. 22 Hornet. Despite these factors, I’ve had good luck with my Taurus revolver on spring ground squirrels as long as I utilize a rock-steady rest and keep shots under 100 yards (a Contender single-shot pistol would likely extend this range 50 yards). All revolver load testing was done at a distance of 75 yards.
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Is the Taurus Raging Bull 44 Magnum still available?
The Taurus Raging Bull revolver series is still one of America’s most popular hunting pistols. The Raging Bull is available in three versions, each with either a 6-shot 44 Magnum or a 5-shot 454 Casull.
What is the distinction between the Taurus Raging Bull and the Taurus Raging Hunter?
Feral pigs may be the ideal target for putting a new hunting weapon to the test. Whether you call them wild boars or pigs, these pests are quickly becoming one of the most popular targets for hunters of all types. When Taurus debuted its Raging Hunter at SHOT Show this year, I knew I had to get my hands on one and put it to the test by going hunting with it.
I’ve been hunting with revolvers for many years and find it quite satisfying. Bow hunting techniques are extremely similar. To accomplish a clean ethical kill, you must come quite close, concentrate, and execute the shooting motion. The most important distinction between pistol and bow hunting is that one is substantially louder at the shot than the other. With my handguns, I’ve been fortunate enough to take both whitetail and feral hogs. Feral hogs, in particular, are a good test for any pistol. They’re abundant, tricky to stalk, and difficult to take out without precise bullet placement. So, when the opportunity to visit Osceola Outfitters and test the new Taurus Raging Hunter arrived, I leaped at the chance to put it to the test.
We spent a lot of time at the range getting acquainted to the rifle before going out on the field with it. Taurus places a premium on safety, and their officials insisted that we understand this particular rifle, how it works, and how the trigger pull feels before using it in the field. The Raging Hunter has an 8.375″ barrel and weighs 55 ounces, making it heavier than the Raging Bull in the same caliber. The ammunition is stored in the six-shot cylinder, which is opened with two release levers. This revolver’s safety function is one that I appreciate. Initial shots are normally fired in single action on a double-action/single-action revolver, with the potential to fire fast follow-up bullets in double action if necessary.
Shooting dozens and dozens of rounds at the range is a lot of fun, especially when there is some friendly competition among the shooters. All of this time at the range helped me gain confidence in the Raging Hunter. The trigger pull, grip feel, loading and unloading all became second nature as we fired them more. This gave me the confidence to go into the field. A TruGlo red dot sight set on the integrated Picatinny rail topped the Raging Hunter. The Raging Hunter comes in a matte black finish or a two-tone stainless steel and blue finish that really stands out.
This six-shot revolver is chambered in the popular.44 Remington Magnum cartridge and is suited for close-range big game hunting. With the correct optics and rest, shots out to one hundred yards are possible with practice. Most handgun hunters, on the other hand, will limit their shots inside that range, with a maximum range of roughly 80 yards. The revolutionary barrel arrangement uses a steel sleeve encased in an aluminum housing to reduce overall weight and provide excellent balance in the hand. Cushioned inserted grips and factory porting aid lessen felt recoil and enable for faster follow-up shots, adding to the functionality and beauty. The Raging Hunter is a gun that is both beautiful and functional, and it joins the Raging Bull lineup. The integrated Picatinny rail, which is designed to accept nearly any and all optics, is the gun’s most prominent feature. We used the TruGlo Tru-TecTM 20MM red dot sight on our hunt, which is a wonderful treasure to complement this great firearm.
When it was time to put the gun to the test, we tried spot and stalk, running with dogs, and treestand hunting. I chose the treestand for two reasons: 1) I had never hunted from a palm tree before and wanted to try it, and 2) I felt I could get a nice rest and make an ethical shot from the treestand.
I observed a nice-sized hog sleeping in the shaded sand near the feeder that is intended to draw the hogs into key spots as I eased into my stand placement. The hog bolted away, apparently startled by my presence. I climbed to the stand gently and quietly before settling into my place. The hog reappeared five minutes later, vigilant as ever. He moved at a glacial pace. I cocked the hammer on the Raging hunter and waited for my shot when he got to approximately fifteen yards. The hog presented me with a decent clean shot after a few minutes, and the.44 Remington Magnum cemented him in his tracks. The Raging Hunter delivered a perfect performance.
You can’t go wrong with Taurus’ Raging Hunter range if you’re a dedicated handgun hunter or novice to the sport. It is one of the most cheap, elegant, and powerful hunting pistols available today, with a price tag under $900.
Can a Raging Bull fire 410 rounds?
The Taurus Raging Judge, with its massive 6-round cylinder, fires the 454 Casull round in addition to the 45 Colt and 410 shotshell combo used in the original Judge models. The Raging Judge boasts the distinctive red Raging Bull backstrap for extra padding, in addition to increased capacity.
What is the range of a 22 Hornet?
Performance. The Hornet is a good varmint cartridge with a low report and a comfortable shooting experience. It has a range of around 150 yards.
Is there a Taurus 500 magnum?
Back in 1930, the Brazilian corporation Taurus International intended to address the demand for buffalo hunting in the United States. Because it was designed primarily for hunting enormous game like bison, elephants, and rhinos, the emblem of this pistol is a bison’s head.
The Model 500 is the pistol that Taurus International is designing for the.500 S&W Magnum revolver cartridge. “Its Brazilian brother” boasts serious firepower, just like the original handgun from the American firm. The presence of a front cylinder clasp distinguishes this weapon from other double-action revolvers. Remember that the Brazilian pistol and its manually operated clasp require two hands to operate due to its tightness and weight. When utilizing the.500 S&W Magnum revolver cartridge in weapons designed to kill anything, however, everything should be robust.
A Taurus Raging Bull is what caliber?
Caliber 44 Taurus Raging Bull (M-444) 44 Magnum (M-480) 480 Ruger, 454 Casull (M-454), 500 Magnum (M-500). 6 shots capacity 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 inch barrels are available.
What company creates the Raging Bull?
Taurus International produces the Taurus Raging Bull, a Brazilian double action revolver. The Raging Bull is capable of firing a wide range of calibers, from the little. 218 Bee to the massive. S&W Magnum 500
What is the Taurus Raging Hunter’s frame?
While pistols continue to dominate the handgun market, American shooters’ interest in and, dare we say, nostalgia for traditional revolvers remains unchanged. In fact, there appears to be a nagging feeling in the air that revolvers are making a resurgence, particularly in the realms of personal protection and hunting.
The latter is clearly supported by the fact that more hunters are turning to pistols to add variety and challenge to their large game hunting. Wheel guns are increasingly being used by deer and hog hunters to inject excitement to what has become a habit for many. With a good rifle, you know you can sit in your stand and drop that buck at 150 yards. Pursue whitetails with a revolver, on the other hand, and you change a slam dunk event into a close game of wits, strategy, and higher abilities with no certainty of a positive conclusion.
That is the allure of large game hunting with a handgun. It’s also pretty nice to go into the field with a hog leg draped across your chest rather than a rifle.
Taurus, a long-time challenger and now a leader in the special-purpose revolver market, unveiled its Raging Hunter series of revolvers in 2019, totally committed to the expanding hunting handgun trend. Originally chambered in.44 Magnum, the Raging Hunter line has expanded in recent years to include.357 Magnum and.454 Casull chamberings, as well as three distinct barrel lengths for each caliber: 5.12, 6.75, and 8.37 inches.
Taurus continues to ride the hunting revolver wave in 2021 with the addition of the Raging Hunter 460 S&W to its portfolio.
Despite not being the first “super magnum” to bear the Raging Hunter appellation, the Raging Hunter 460 leaps ahead of the.454 Casull model in terms of power. How much more power does the.460 S&W provide? Let’s compare two Hornady loads that feature the company’s 200-grain MonoFlex tip bullet and are shot from an 8-inch barrel:
As you can see, there’s been a significant improvement in terminal performance, especially in the category that hunters worry about the most: impact energy. At 100 yards, the extra 588 ft/lbs of SMACK demonstrates why a super magnum cartridge isn’t afraid to confront the biggest and hardest game creatures.
The new Raging Hunter 460 S&W is a carbon copy of its forerunners. The design of the barrel reveals this DNA. The barrel itself is stainless steel, with an angular aluminum shroud sleeved around it. The barrel is ported and the shroud is vented to lessen muzzle rise, however I suppose muzzle rise is a subjective metric when propelling loads of the magnitude of the.460 S&W. A front sight post and a Picatinny rail are built into the shroud, ready to hold a red dot or magnified optic. The Taurus Raging Hunter 460 S&W is available right away in the three regular Raging Hunter barrel lengths of 5.12, 6.75, and 8.37 inches.
The Raging Hunter 460 S&W is built on a stainless-steel frame with a matte or matte black oxide finish. For optimal concealment, hunters may prefer the all-black color scheme, but there’s something seductive about the two-tone variant that begs for style above function.
Of course, the back sight can be adjusted for windage and height. It has a square notch that complements the squared front sight post nicely. I’ve used a Raging Hunter.44 Magnum for close-range hunting with open sights on both hogs and deer, and I like the quick sight alignment this arrangement provides for my aged eyes.
The Raging Hunter 460 S&W has a double-action/single-action design and a transfer bar safety system, as expected. The hammer spur has a broad footprint (thumbprint?) and strong knurling that ensures positive, no-slip engagement even while wearing gloves.
The.460 S&W variant, like all Raging Hunters, features double cylinder locking, a safety feature we welcome in a handgun designed to handle the SAAMI max average pressure of 65,000 psi for this cartridge. To open, push forward on the thumb piece and down on the front clasp at the same time. Now you may spin the cylinder out of the frame.
I discovered no problems with the cylinder timing or action during my testing. The cylinder operation is smooth and precise, as one would expect from well-executed machining and tolerance fitment.
Exact engineering and machining can also be seen in the extractor rod and crane assembly. Nothing is strewn about! The top of the crane has a forward cylinder lock that contacts a recess in the frame.
The Raging Hunter 460 S&W has a 5-cartridge cylinder, just like the.454 Casull variant. The 6-shot.44 Magnum Raging Hunters and the 7-shot.357 Magnum Raging Hunters provide extra options.
Taurus’ Raging Hunter doesn’t come with a factory trigger pull weight, so I put it to the test. The pull weight exceeded the Lyman scale’s 12-pound maximum in double-action mode, as expected. I ran three ten-pull tests to establish a good average before moving on to single-action. The average weight of the first 10-pull string was 7 lbs. 1.5 oz. ; the second pull was 6 pounds. 14.4 oz. ; and the third draw was 7 lbs. 1.8 oz. This Raging Hunter will have a 7 pound trigger pull weight.
I wouldn’t call the trigger performance spectacular.
It’s not very smooth or crisp in the traditional sense. Throughout the length of the pull, I could feel the sear go across the hammer engagement surface, with enough friction to allow me to stop in the middle. A modest cleaning by a trained gunsmith would go a long way toward improving smoothness of operation. If you plan to use a magnified optic to take advantage of the.460 S&W’s reach capability, I would also recommend a lighter spring improvement. As you can see from this project we did on a.44 Magnum model, that’s a rather simple task on a Raging Hunter.
If you’ve never fired a “super magnum” handgun before, be prepared to be surprised. A padded grip insert along the backstrap of the Raging Hunter helps to reduce recoil. Still… I left my shooting gloves at home on my test day, so with the chilly, bare skin and the substantial recoil inherent in the.460 S&W, I got a little sting with each shot.
Federal Premium and Hornady provided the test ammunition. The results of each four-shot string were as follows:
I’m going to blame a lot of the blur on the extremely cold wind that made my eyes water as I tried to line the red dot with an orange dot on the target…lots of blur! We’ll declare it a tie because the Federal Premium Barnes Expander (275-grain) and the Federal Premium Swift A-Frame (300-grain) are only.038 inches apart. The Raging Hunter 460 S&W, at least this 8.37-inch barrel, clearly prefers a larger bullet weight.
I decided to give the Bushnell RXS 250 Reflex a go for our test, and I must say, “I enjoy.”
The RXS 250 has a 4 MOA dot that is ideal for a hunting handgunlarge enough to obtain a sight picture in a fast-paced, close confrontation like in the hog swamps, but small enough to take down a whitetail 150 yards away in a bean field. The item has a machined aluminum enclosure and is dust and water resistant to IP67 standards. It has also been impact-tested to MIL-STD-810H standards.
The RXS 250’s design and feel radiate utilitarian sturdiness and simplicity, despite its squarish profile. The ten illumination settings are controlled by push buttons on the left and right sides, which I prefer to buttons on a tiny red dot platform that are placed side by side. The top and side of the housing also have simple windage and height adjustments. When compared to some red dots that have the zero adjustments on the housing facing the rear sight, this is smart positioning because it gives the adjustment tool enough room. When it comes to adjustments, one click equals one MOA.
Another feature I like is the battery position. The battery cover is located on the top side of the housing, allowing you to remove and change the battery without having to remove the sight from the pistol and risk losing your zero (as with some red dot models on the market). The RXS 250 circuit, on the other hand, is designed to provide 50,000 hours of battery life at mid-level brightness, making battery changes rare.
The RXS 250 comes with a Picatinny/Weaver-style mount base, so it’s ready to use on the Raging Hunter right out of the box. This optic uses the Deltapoint Pro mount pattern for direct attachment without the base.
Super magnums may not provide the hours of shooting fun that less powerful caliber revolvers can, but they have no counterparts in the handgun world for definitive knockdown power on the largest game animals you’ll ever encounter. Check out the Taurus Raging Hunter 460 S&W if that’s your new game.
