Welcome back to TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday. Today’s installment is a new product announcement: Taurus has added a shorter 8 3/8" barrel to its 350 Legend Raging Hunter that joins the 10-inch and 14-inch versions already in the line. TFB covered the 350 Legend Raging Hunter in another Wheelgun Wednesday, and this is the version that finally looks like a revolver rather than a carbine that lost its stock.
Wheelgun Wednesday: 8 ⅜ Inch Barreled Taurus Raging Hunter 350 Legend
At 14.8 in (37.6 cm) overall, it is still a substantial handgun, but it is one you can holster, carry through brush and swing onto a target without the muzzle arriving a second after you do. Taurus says the shorter model came directly from customer feedback asking for a more manoeuvrable version, which is the sort of product development you can believe without much effort.
The 350 Legend cartridge was designed for straight-wall-only deer states, where rifle hunting is restricted to straight-walled cases, and it was built around 16 to 20 inch rifle barrels. Putting it in a six-shot revolver gives hunters in those states a handgun option in a cartridge they are already buying ammunition for. Because 350 Legend is rimless, the Raging Hunter uses full moon clips, which have the side benefit of making reloads quick.
Worth being clear about one thing: a cartridge developed for rifle-length barrels will not produce rifle velocities out of 8 3/8 inches, and the shorter you go, the more you give up. Taurus does not publish velocity figures, and that number might be worth having.
The recoil management is where the Raging Hunter design earns its keep. The factory porting and a gas expansion chamber cut muzzle lift, and the cushioned insert grip spreads the impulse across maximum contact area. The Taurus Double Lock System secures the cylinder at both ends, great on a frame designed to handle the heaviest magnums in the line.
The revolver weighs 55 oz (1,559 g) unloaded, is 1.80 in (4.6 cm) wide and 6.6 in (16.8 cm) tall. Sights are a fixed front and a fully adjustable rear; the action is DA/SA, and safety is handled by a transfer bar. The frame and cylinder are alloy steel in matte black and matte black oxide, with a stainless steel barrel in matte stainless on the two-tone version.
The 2019 American Hunter Handgun of the Year Golden Bullseye Award sits behind the Raging Hunter line, which Taurus is reasonably keen to remind people of.
Taurus Raging Hunter 350 Legend 8 3/8" specifications:
- Item number: 2-35085RH, UPC 725327639039
- Caliber: 350 Legend, 6 rounds, full moon clips
- Action: DA/SA
- Barrel length: 8 3/8 in (21.3 cm)
- Overall length: 14.8 in (37.6 cm)
- Overall width: 1.80 in (4.6 cm)
- Overall height: 6.6 in (16.8 cm)
- Weight: 55 oz (1,559 g) unloaded
- Frame: large, alloy steel, matte black
- Cylinder: alloy steel, matte black oxide
- Barrel: stainless steel, matte stainless (two-tone), with factory porting and gas expansion chamber
- Sights: fixed front, fully adjustable rear
- Safety: transfer bar
- Taurus Double Lock System
- Cushioned insert grips
- Finishes: two-tone or black
- MSRP: $1,421.99
Would you take the 8 3/8 inch for handling, or stay with the 10- or 14-inch for velocity?
If this post has you ready to hit the range, head over to gunranges.com - a free directory to help you find shooting ranges near you, wherever you are in the United States.
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