Taurus Raging Bull

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The Raging Bull is a revolver manufactured by the Brazilian Taurus International firearm company.

In its larger calibers, the Raging Bull is a potent weapon with plenty of stopping power. For this reason, it is marketed as a hunter's sidearm. The .454 Casull cartridge has even been used to hunt animals as large as Cape Buffalo^[1] and African elephants ^[2].

The Raging Bull is easily distinguished by its unique ported barrel and by the red rubber strip along the back of its grip, which cushions the shooter's hand and lowers perceived recoil. Functionally, the Raging Bull is unique in that it has a manually operated front cylinder latch, whose release can be seen on the crane in the picture. Front cylinder latches are required for such high powered double action revolvers, and are found on the Ruger Super Redhawk and the Smith & Wesson Model 500 revolver, but they are actuated by the rear cylinder latch. The manually operated latch on the Raging Bull is simpler (and thus less expensive to produce) yet equally as strong, but requires two hands to open the cylinder.

Taurus Raging Bull in .454 Casull, with blued finish. Note 5 shot cylinder and distinctive red grip insert

[edit] Variants

The Raging Bull comes in several models, classified by caliber. Additionally, each model has its own barrel length and metal finish options.

Model 22H (Raging Hornet) 

.22 Hornet caliber, 10" barrel. Stainless steel only.

Model 30C (Raging Thirty) 

.30 Carbine caliber, 10" barrel. Stainless steel only.

Model 416 

.41 Magnum caliber.

Model 444 

.44 Magnum caliber, can also fire the shorter .44 Special.

Model 444 Ultralite 

compact .44 with a 4" barrel. Blued and titanium only.

Model 454 

.454 Casull caliber, can also fire the less powerful .45 Colt.

Model 480 

.480 Ruger caliber.

Model 500 

.500 Magnum caliber.

Optional finishes include stainless steel, matte stainless steel and blued. Barrel options include 5", 6" and 8". Not all finishes or barrels are available for every model. All models have ported barrels, except for the 22H, 30C and Ultralite. All models have fixed front sights and adjustable rear sights.

The Raging Hornet and the Raging Thirty have yellow rubber insert strips, as opposed to the typical red strip.

Most Raging Bull variants can mount commercial optical sights or lasers with the aid of an optional screw-on Picatinny rail.

[edit] References

1. ^ Freedom Arms: Success Stories
2. ^ Badenhorts, Sarel: African Cast Bullet Hunt

[edit] External links

• Taurus USA - list of all Raging Bull variants