Taurus 856 38 Special Double-Action Matte Stainless Revolver

Size/Purpose

As stated earlier, this gun is definitely in the self-defense category.

It would make a good carry gun as well as a good glovebox, work truck gun.

The Taurus 856 is sized similar to the Smith & Wesson J-Frame. The most notable difference is going to be the wider cylinder.

The Taurus 856 holds six rounds in a 38, as opposed to five rounds in a J-Frame.

The cylinder does seem a lot wider when you have the gun.

That said, it’s not that big of an issue for concealment when it comes to carrying.

You could easily tuck this gun in a purse designed for on-body carry or into a small IWB holster.

Weight

Weighing in at a pound unloaded, the Taurus 856 isn’t what you would call heavy.

It’s light enough that you can carry this gun jogging or doing other physical activities. That said, this will be just a little bit heavier than I would like for those activities.

I want my gun to weigh under one pound loaded when doing those types of activities.

While this lightweight is a plus for carrying a gun in a Taurus 856 Holster, it is a downside to shooting a gun.

We’ll cover that later.

Taurus does make a steel framed 856 that weighs significantly more. Much better to shoot but not good to carry unless you’re wearing a supportive belt.

Frame

The frame on the Taurus 856 is your standard revolver frame. Overall, the quality and fit, and finish seem good.

I’m impressed with how far Taurus has come over the last couple of years.

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There are no sharp edges on the frame of the Taurus 856.

Instead, everything seems well-rounded, and I really can’t see any immediate design flaws when looking at this firearm.

Caliber & Barrel Length

Right now, the Taurus 856 is only available in 38 Special. The upside is they do offer this gun in both a two-inch barrel and a three-inch variant.

Three-inch variants are very awesome and a gun I’m thinking about picking up.

I currently own the two-inch Taurus 856.

The two-inch guns seem to have a more recoil than the three-inch variants, even though the three-inch variants only add a little bit of weight.

There aren’t a lot of three-inch revolvers out there, and I’m thrilled to see Taurus offering this with the Taurus 856.

The Taurus 905 is another Taurus offering that is similar in size but chambered in 9mm.

Versions of Gun

As stated earlier, the gun is available with both two and three-inch variants, but Taurus also offers a couple of different finishes.

For example, you can get the gun in two-tone finishes as well as black or stainless.

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Taurus has never been known for having great finishes on their guns.

That said, I’m impressed with the finish on this Ultra-Lite. It’s not the prettiest finish in the world, but it does seem to be durable.

I didn’t expect to be saying that in this Taurus 856 review.

I’ve scratched this gun up quite a bit, and it’s not showing.

However, I don’t baby my guns by any means, and this finish seems to be holding up quite well.

I have friends who have stainless Taurus revolvers of new production, and their finishes also seem to be durable.

Capacity

The capacity of the Taurus 856 being six rounds is a major plus in the small revolver world.

Most small revolvers, such as the J-Frame and Ruger LCR, tend to have five-round capacities when chambered in 38 Special. However, there are guns such as the Kimber K6s that have six-round capacities.

That said, that gun comes in at a much heavier weight since it’s an all-steel gun.

The Taurus 856 is the only revolver I’m aware of to be this small and light while still offering a six-round capacity.

Going from five to six rounds may not seem like a lot, but it’s significant if you look at it from a percentage increase.

Cylinder Latch

The cylinder latch on the Taurus 856 is very nicely rounded and very well designed.

It’s a standard Smith & Wesson style latch that you have to press forward to disengage.

However, it’s ergonomically placed when pushing it I don’t have to break my grip to drop the cylinder out.

The cylinder itself seems well-built, and the ejector is relatively thick.

So I don’t have any durability concerns with this gun over the long term.

Sights

The original Taurus 856 guns came with a front sight milled into the gun. Now guns seem to be shipping with pinned front sights.

These are an improvement because they can be replaced.

You also have the Taurus 856 Toro Red dot revolvers. We’ve tested all of them and have our thoughts below.

Pinned Tarus 856 Sights

For revolver sights, they aren’t bad. But the rear trough still isn’t good. Naturally I tend to shoot high right when shooting fast because there is very little light gap between the front and rear sight. That makes it hard for me to get a solid sight picture quickly.

Original Taurus 856 Sights

The sights on the Taurus 856 leave a lot to be desired. If anything is going to get a negative on this Taurus 856 review, it will be the sights. But this is going to be limited to lightweight models.

The lightweight models have standard revolver sights, so I can’t complain that much as they’re on par with just about everything else out there. The front sight is milled into the gun so you’re stuck with what you got.

The steel-framed models have the ability to replace the front sight. The some of the guns ship with an Ameriglo front night sight with an orange outline. It’s pretty darn good for a revolver sight.

You’ll have to use multiple ammo types and find one that works well with this gun, not only the Taurus 856 but also your specific Taurus 856 in general, to account for manufacturing intolerances.

The rear sight on this gun is also way too narrow for my taste.

I’ll likely take some high-contrast nail polish or paint and paint the front sight just to provide a little more contrast when shooting this firearm.

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Taurus 856 Taurus Dot

These guns are a mixed bag. The dot makes the gun considerably easier and faster to shoot.

At 7 yards, I can shoot the iron-sighted guns and keep rounds in an A zone target with .35-.40 split times.

With the Toro I can get the same accuracy but with a split time of .25-.30 seconds.

A split is the time between shots. An improvement of approximately 25% is really impressive.

Originally I thought the double action trigger was the main limitation on shooting a revolver fast but it’s actually the poor sights.

The downside is the placement of the dot makes the gun much harder to carry and conceal. The dot forces you to carry the gun much higher, unlike dots mounted on semi-automatics which have a minimal effect.

Trigger

The trigger on the Taurus 856 is available in a double-action-only variant or double-action, single-action. My variant has a hammer, so it is a double-action, single-action gun.

The trigger itself is pretty heavy and, really, your standard revolver trigger. That said, it feels like it’s on par with most Smith & Wesson J-Frame triggers I’ve felt.

It’s relatively smooth and easy to operate.

The trigger has just a slight bit of creep in the single-action before a nice soft rolling break. It’s a concise and easy use single-action trigger.

No complaints there in the Taurus 856 review.

Hammer

The hammer on the Taurus 856 is nicely rounded and doesn’t have any sharp edges. It also has nice aggressive texturing on the top of the hammer, making it easier to cock it back.

The hammer is also wide, further making the gun easier to cock.

I think Taurus is paying attention to this gun’s little details, and I’m pretty pleased with it.

Grip

From the factory The Taurus 856 comes with multiple options. There are multiple aftermarket 856 grips as well.

Factory Taurus 856 Grip Options

The factory grip on the Taurus 856 is good. It’s small enough to conceal well and big enough to fill your hand.

This grip does help with recoil a little bit, but not as much as I would like. So I’ll probably replace this with something a little softer, like a Hogue grip which should give me more control over recoil.

They’re also tacky. This is great when shooting the gun, but it can be annoying when carrying the gun.

This can be fixed with a little Goon Tape but you’ll need to reapply the tape periodically as it’ll wear out with use.

Houge Monogrip

Some of the guns come from the factory with these grips.

They work okay but don’t do a great job of reducing felt recoil. But they are still better than the factory rubber grips Taurus makes.

They are very tacky and definitely benefit from an application of goon tape.

VZ Grip

These are G10 grips, and I really didn’t care for them. They don’t allow you to get a high grip on the gun and transfer a lot of felt recoil into your hand.

VZ also makes J frame grips which I’ve used and they don’t have the same affect.

It’d be nice to see them take those designs and make them for the Taurus Small frame guns.

Taurus 856 Viridian Laser Grips

I’ve mounted these on one of my guns but I haven’t shot them much. They do decent with recoil.

They aren’t very good in full light but they work great in low light.

Aftermarket Taurus 856 Grip Options

These grips offer quite a few alternatives.

Pachmayr Grips

They look good, and the fitment is excellent, but they seem to fall short like the other options. They have a considerable amount of recoil, and it is really thin at the top.

That thin portion really transfers felt recoil into your hand. If they’d change the shape a bit the grip would be a lot better.

Amazon Taurus 856 Wood Grips(Handigrip)

Poor fitment and lots of felt recoil makes these a disappointment. For what they cost, I would expect a lot more. They were $65 and at $10, they would have been too expensive.

Altamont Taurus 856 Grips

I haven’t had the opportunity to try these. They do look promising.

Uncles Mikes grips

In concealment and profile, they look similar to the Hogue Monogrips, but cover the backstrap as well.

They work and have a good texture.

You don’t need to wrap them in goon tape, and they handle recoil very well. Unfortunately, they’re no longer being made, so you have to try and find one used.

If you can find one, it’s not cheap.

Aftermarket

The aftermarket for the Taurus 856 is almost non-existent.

Currently, there aren’t many holster options, and that’s something we’re working on rectifying. There aren’t a lot of accessories for this gun besides the grips.

The sights are milled into the gun, so you can’t replace those. And the only natural area for improvement is the grip and the trigger.

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You can have a gunsmith work on this gun to smooth it up slightly. Not many people will do that. So I doubt the company will come out with aftermarket springs kits and trigger parts to smooth out the trigger on the Taurus 856.

Aesthetics

Aesthetically the Taurus 856 is going to differ depending on the finish and variant again.

But, in my opinion, the three-inch guns are beautiful. They’re just very proportional, and they look great.

The black finish isn’t the best-looking out there. And if I had the option, I probably would have gone with the stainless finish.

The stainless finish on the Tauruses just looks better, in my opinion.

Shooting

Shooting the Taurus 856 ultra-lite is a handful but the steel-framed Taurus 856 Defender is much more reasonable.

Shooting the Taurus 856 Defender 3 inch

This gun isn’t a joy to shoot but it’s not bad. With its weight, I expected felt recoil to be similar to or less than my Smith and Wesson 640 Pro this stock grips.

I can’t come up with a reasonable explanation but why this is as the 640 pro is barely lighter than the 856.

Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case. It’s still manageable to shoot, but after 1 box of 158-grain ammo or 3 boxes of 132-grain, you’ll be ready to end your range day.

There are a lot of grip options, but the 856 series just aren’t that good for felt recoil.

Ultra-Lite

Recoil is reasonable, and it’s something I can deal with.

That said, this is not a fun gun to shoot.

You’re going to shoot this gun just enough to remain proficient. This is not a gun you’ll want to learn to shoot revolvers with.

This is not a gun you’ll want to sit there and put a couple of hundred rounds through in a day’s range session.

I really would like to get my hands on one of the three-inch variants as I have a feeling those might be a little bit easier to shoot.

One of my favorite guns out there is the Ruger LCR in 38 with a three-inch barrel.

The reason for this is that a three-inch barrel helps tame the recoil on such a lightweight gun. I’m hoping that the three-inch barrel on the Taurus 856 will do the same.

Price

MSRP on the Taurus 856 varies from $341 up to $440. You can usually find these guns for 50 to $75 below MSRP.

At that price, these guns are an exceptional value. When Taurus’s quality control wasn’t quite there, I don’t think these guns had a lot to offer over something like the Smith & Wesson J-Frame or other lower-priced Smith & Wesson offerings.

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That said, when the Taurus 856 comes in much lower than Smith & Wesson and Ruger models with a similar setup, it’s hard to ignore the Taurus.

If you’re on a budget and you were looking for absolutely the most value for your dollar, then I would check out the Taurus 856.

Concluding Thoughts

The Taurus 856 is a good option if you’re looking for a lightweight revolver with a six-round capacity. Understand it still has the downsides of a lightweight revolver.

This gun is going to have a fair amount of recoil for its size. The quality of Taurus products seems to be improving.

That’s giving me a lot to like about this gun.

My biggest complaint is going to be the sights. There’s nothing you can do to improve them, except to paint the front sight.