G’day

Here in most parts of Australia, handgun hunting is either banned outright or is heavily restricted. With luck we will eventually get the laws changed. We are mainly restricted to competitions such as Metallic Silhouette which to a degree simulates the skills.

I have been thinking of using a .22 Hornet for Field Pistol. Maybe it’s just me, but I never liked single-shots, so a Contender is out. Has anyone had experience with the Taurus Raging Hornet? If so what sort of accuracy are they capable of and are there any problems with cases backing out to cause hang-ups?

Regards
H

I've heard a lot more negative than positive, one particular story from a fellow on another forum has negated any thoughts I might have had about any Taurus product.

you might see what is available in a custom built revolver from one of the custom builders here in America, it might cost you a little more up front but in the end you'll probably be happier. just my opinion by the way is there any place left in your country where an American can bring his handgun in to hunt the water buffalo?

you may want to reconsider the contender. they have a great trigger which will help you shoot better. and they are usually quite accurate although i've never shot one in 22 hornet.

Welcome to the forum H!
I'd love to get into sillywet myself, but there is no place local to me that shoots it.
As far as the Taurus handguns go, it seems some guys swear by them, & some swear at them. As far as quality goes it also seems that there are REALLY good ones, & REALLY bad ones with most in between. Just my opinion, but I woulkd say if you can handle it before the purchase to see the overall quality, & the gunshop will stand behind the quality for the first week or so, go put a few hundered rounds thru one & see what you think! Maybe you'll get one of the great ones. If the TC is out, how about a repeating bolt gun. Did they make the Savage Stryker in that caliber? You could have one of their other .22 cals rechambered. Of course that wouldn't be production class if you care.

I have a taurus 218 Bee in a 12" silhouette model.

I'm going to be very nice about my responce, after the gun went back twice and then the new one went back again and months of waiting..... The final responce from taurus was; too bad it's what it is and we are not going to try and keep the customer happy. So I have a gun I don't want, don't really feel is safe to shoot, and makes the brass tought to reload.


I know I will never own another taurus.

Thanks Wapitirod. A custom gun would be the way to go; only IHMSA rules don’t allow either non-production guns or bolt action guns for the Field Pistol match (bugger!). As for coming over to hunt water buffalo, I think its no go. The water buffalo are found up the Top End (Northern Territory). Prior to John Howard becoming Prime Minister it was allowable to go handgun hunting up there. Being extremely anti-gun Howard forced the all the States & Territories to ban recreational handguns for anything other than a small range of “approved” target matches. This hasn’t impressed the NT government which has seen a major fall in tourism related to hunting. Some of the outfitters still carry handguns, but this is for their Occupational Health & Safety obligations re croc attacks etc. I’ll email a few of the outfitters to check that I’ve got it right but I doubt that there’s much hope in the short term.