Taurus Raging Hunter: .44 Magnum Hunting Revolver

Taurus announced its latest addition to its hunting revolver line: the Raging Hunter. It will be officially unveiled at the 2018 SHOT Show.

This massive .44 Magnum is a 6-shot wheelgun with a traditional double action/single action trigger. However, the gun has a distinctly non-traditional look about it.

To start with, the 8.375″ barrel is a two piece design with a steel sleeve inside of an aluminum housing. The housing has an octagonal shape with a large slab sides. “TAURUS” is spelled out along the side. The barrel housing also has a deep black finish that contrasts the matte stainless frame. An all blued version of the gun is also available.

Lest you think the barrel assembly is purely for show, it does have some features that may appeal to you. For example, the aluminum housing helps to lighten the load to provide a better balance to the gun. Also, the top of the barrel housing has a Picatinny rail for the addition of a scope or red dot optic.

Taurus also elected to port the barrel of the Raging Hunter. This should help tame the power of the .44 Magnum so that us older shooters who have begun to develop arthritis don’t feel quite as much of the recoil impulse. The porting should help keep muzzle rise down and improve the ability to get on target.

Also helping to tame recoil is the “red stripe” grip that Taurus uses on its heavy recoiling guns. This grip is made of a soft rubber with a red cushioned insert along the back. I’ve found these grips to be fairly good at lessening the impact into the hand when shooting.

Using an aluminum barrel housing may help reduce weight as compared to an all steel system, but this gun is not a featherweight. Unloaded it weighs 55 ounces. That’s about 3.5 pounds.

Taurus set the suggested retail price at $919 for the handgun. Your dealer may be willing to sell it for less.

caliber	.44 Magnum
capacity	6 rounds
action	double action/single action
barrel length	8.375"
overall length	15.75"
weight	55 ounces
height	7.1"
width	1.8"
sights	pinned front, adjustable rear, Picatinny rail for optic
grip	rubber with cushioned insert
finish	blued and matte stainless or all blued
MSRP	$919

The “Raging” moniker is not new for Taurus. Several of the company’s more powerful revolvers have had Raging as part of the name. For example, the Raging Judge Magnum was a wheelgun that expanded the .45 Colt/.410 bore Judge revolver line to include the .454 Casull cartridge.

Probably my favorite Raging revolver was the ill-fated Raging Judge XXVIII. It was a revolver chambered for the 28 gauge shotshell. Alas, it appeared Taurus could not make the design work under the legal constraints of the US government and had to shelf the project. At least I got to see one before it was pulled from public view. I imagine it is stored in the same warehouse where the Ark of the Covenant is kept after Indian Jones rescued it from Nazi Germany.