Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 21
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Reading, Pennsylvania
    (Berks County)
    Age
    39
    Posts
    1,137
    Rep Power
    191

    Default Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    Had my (relativley) new Taurus 85 stainless LiteWeight in the shop today for a good sound cleaning. Long story short, I kept cleaning and cleaning until I had the entire gun broken down to the part-by-part level (someone put axle grease in it ). I figured since I had it stripped anyway, I'd do a little work to it.

    Accomplished so far;
    -Chamfered all the porting holes, as it looked like they did a sloppy job at factory, just wanted to clean them up a bit.
    -Smoothed trigger. No, literally had to smooth out the face of the trigger, gnarly machining marks where they ground on the edges.
    -90% complete on mirror polishing all SS portions of the gun (barrel, cylinder, hammer)
    -Light dehorning of the major corners, just a couple thousandths to make them smooth to the finger.

    Planning to;
    -Mild chamber chamfer.
    -Clean up contact faces of trigger group, just to slick it up.
    -Install some light Wolff springs, 9 pound hammer, 6.5 trigger. Will also try and get Taurus to send me a full spring kit for the plungers and whatnot.

    Any other suggestions or ideas for me to do while its on the bench? Gun's primary role is carry defense. Ive considered doing a hammer bob, but Im worried about making an already diminutive hammer too light. Same with a heavy dehorning, don't want to weaken the aluminum frame, even though the gun will never see +P loads.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Warminster, Pennsylvania
    (Bucks County)
    Posts
    44
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    Got any pictures?

    I've been considering a hammer bob on mine too. I didn't give much thought to the hammer being lighter though. Is there much difference between the factory bobbed and non-bobbed hammers with regard to weight and function?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Reading, Pennsylvania
    (Berks County)
    Age
    39
    Posts
    1,137
    Rep Power
    191

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    Quote Originally Posted by Jeep274 View Post
    Got any pictures?

    I've been considering a hammer bob on mine too. I didn't give much thought to the hammer being lighter though. Is there much difference between the factory bobbed and non-bobbed hammers with regard to weight and function?
    Oh, there will be pictures.

    As far as the bob, all the 85s Ive seen with bobbed hammers, the entire back face of the hammer is flush with the frame. My hammer has a good portion that is recessed below frame level, so there would be even less metal there than the factory bobbed.

    Ill take a look when I work on it today, maybe I can get creative and do a semi-bob, and leave enough metal behind to have a heavy hammer.

    (and if that works, I might have to patent it as a 'nipple bob job')

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Warminster, Pennsylvania
    (Bucks County)
    Posts
    44
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    Quote Originally Posted by CommonHighrise View Post
    Oh, there will be pictures.

    As far as the bob, all the 85s Ive seen with bobbed hammers, the entire back face of the hammer is flush with the frame. My hammer has a good portion that is recessed below frame level, so there would be even less metal there than the factory bobbed.

    Ill take a look when I work on it today, maybe I can get creative and do a semi-bob, and leave enough metal behind to have a heavy hammer.

    (and if that works, I might have to patent it as a 'nipple bob job')
    I forgot about the hammer being flush on those, you're right. I like the 'nipple bob job', quite catchy. My thought was to do the same. Just remove enough material (maybe half of what is there) to make the hammer less of a protrusion and round it off more.

    Have you ever looked into buying a factory flush hammer and replacing it? I wonder if they are even available.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Reading, Pennsylvania
    (Berks County)
    Age
    39
    Posts
    1,137
    Rep Power
    191

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    Ended up modifying the existing hammer by taking it from square, to a tapered teardrop look, ala Colt, which shortened it up by about 3/16", and took a little less than 1/16" off each edge.

    Its a nice look. Ill take pics in a bit while I'm on lunch break.

    CommonlovethesmellofbuffedsteelinthemorningHighris e

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Reading, Pennsylvania
    (Berks County)
    Age
    39
    Posts
    1,137
    Rep Power
    191

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?





  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Warminster, Pennsylvania
    (Bucks County)
    Posts
    44
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    Looks great. I really like the hammer mod. I would love to see a side picture of the gun and one looking down on it for a better view of the hammer if you get a chance some time. Thanks for posting the pics.

    That's the first ported 85 I've seen. Do you get a lot of flash from the ports while shooting? Is there a significant difference in recoil with the ports?

    I'd be interested in reading a range report on all the mods, especially the trigger smoothness.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Reading, Pennsylvania
    (Berks County)
    Age
    39
    Posts
    1,137
    Rep Power
    191

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    Ill get around to doing some decent pics of the hammer dimensions, just wanted to do some quickie snapshots.

    Yeah, haven't seen any other 85s ported other than online either. The flash isn't huge, since snubbies get a lot of it anyway. I haven't been able to compare the recoil directly to another Lite 85, but the muzzle flip for a gun this size and weight is fairly low, especially with the two-finger grips that are on it.

    The trigger smoothness in DA still isn't in the 'sweet spot', but good enough. Ill wait till the light springs come in to really rework it. I think a lot of the 'grit' I'm feeling in it comes from the cylinder rotation pawl's spring plunger hole, so we'll see.

    So far this has been a fun gun to work with. Ive always been of the mindset that you can always make something that came out of a mass-production factory better, just by doing a basic fit and polish that they weren't able to do in production.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Northern, Virginia
    Posts
    32
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    I like what you've done. I have a Taurus 85 SS UltraLite. I especially like the hammer and the ports. Oh, and the rubbed finish too The ports are factory on the model you have?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Warminster, Pennsylvania
    (Bucks County)
    Posts
    44
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Taurus 85 Mod. Ideas?

    I'm really interested in the trigger improvement you get.

    Another mod I've been wanting is to add a fiber optic or tritium insert to the front sight. I don't know if it is feasible, but it would really help me acquire the sight picture quicker.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. We want your ideas!
    By danp in forum Support & Suggestions
    Replies: 114
    Last Post: April 1st, 2009, 08:33 PM
  2. AR Ideas
    By FireGS in forum General
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: December 26th, 2008, 12:16 AM
  3. Open for ideas !
    By dman in forum General
    Replies: 45
    Last Post: November 13th, 2008, 12:00 AM
  4. Ideas needed
    By larrymeyer in forum General
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: May 8th, 2008, 05:00 PM
  5. HELP! Need movie ideas
    By Mrs. Pa Patriot in forum General
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: May 2nd, 2008, 09:13 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •