I have a decent amount of firearms. I haven't bothered to count recently, but I'd say I have between 15 and 20. Today, I was thinking: if I could only keep one, which would it be? While I would have a hard time making a 100% call on this, it would probably be my Taurus.
When I was 16, me and a friend went to work on his aunt's ranch in Texas. We came back with tans, muscles, sore backs, and a $850 cash, which was a lot of money for a 16 year old. I decided I needed a good woods gun, and settled on a Taurus Tracker in .357 mag. It's a 4 inch, 7 shot revolver with a heavy underlug and a ported barrel.
It shoots full house magnum loads without torturing your hands, and is a great target gun with .38 wadcutters. With a hot .357 magnum load, you can drop the smallish whitetail that grow in my area- in fact, I would have once, when I was 17, if I hadn't got buck fever and started shaking like a leaf in a high wind. That buck had a HUGE rack.
It's a perfect woods gun, is highly versatile in what applications you can use it in, and takes a common round (or 2 common rounds, depending on how you look at it). It's matte stainless finish won't rust, even in sultry Louisiana summers. I have even carried it concealed during the winter with a shoulder rig.
I've pawned a few guns when times got tough, but I've never gotten rid of that Taurus. It was the second gun I ever bought, behind my old 20ga. Mossberg pump. I'll probably keep it forever, because while I have plenty of guns that are better for specific applications (hunting, concealed carry, target shooting) I don't have another one that is as versatile, and can do all of these things as easily.
2 comments:
Very true. Everyone needs a 4" revolver in .357. That Taurus is one of the best.
I remember when I lived at the Bayou Derbonne house with you after high school, and you weren't home a lot. One day you put that gun in my hands, told me it was loaded, and the first two bullets were rat shot. You said, "If anybody comes in this house and you are alone, pull the trigger and if he keeps coming, you keep shooting. The first two rounds are rat shot, and not a jury in the world would convict you." I have always remembered the way it made me feel knowing that my little brother was worried about his big sister. I love you, Joey, and I am proud of the man you have become.
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