Taurus, Rossi Snubbies Get ‘F’ Grades—Unless You’re Handy

We were recently informed by a friend of Gun Tests in the ammo-making business that .38 Special and .380 ACP ammunition are some of the best-selling types out there, so we decided to immediately give our readers a look at a few of the snubbies available in .38/.357. We secured a blued five-shot Taurus Model 605B2 ($391), and a stainless-steel six-shot Rossi Model R46202

We tested with, from left, .38 Special Independence 130-grain full-metal-jacket flat-nose bullets, Ultramax’s 158-grain swaged semi-wadcutter, and with Federal Hydra-Shok jacketed hollowpoint .357 Mag. We also tried a few shots with Buffalo Bore’s hot plus-P .38 Specials loaded with a cast Keith-type hollowpoint, and with 180-grain Federal Hi-Shok jacketed hollowpoint, far right. The .357 Mag loads were fierce in these snubbies, the Hydra-Shoks coming out at 1100 fps. The Buffalo Bore or 180-grain Federal loads would be excellent alternatives if you can’t take the smash of the Federal 158s.

Though both guns were made in Brazil by Taurus, there were significant differences and, as we found, similar problems. The street prices of these two were within $40 of each other, so we chose to test blued five-shot…