Ok, I’ve gotta admit it. I lusted after this revolver from Taurus. There was just “something” about this handgun that called out to me – all the time! I can’t explain it. When my FFL dealer called and told me the 444 had come in, I know I broke one or two traffic laws getting into town to pick up this handgun. I was more than a little pleased when I walked in the door at Fast Cash Gun & Pawn in Lebanon, OR to view my new “toy” I waited so long for. It was love at first sight, too. Ok, I know all you gun owners know what I’m talking about, and don’t deny you’ve never fallen in love with a new gun – come on, admit it!
What is immediately apparent when you handle the 444 is its light weight, extremely light weight. It tips the scales at a mere 28.3 oz – PERIOD! It almost felt like the gun was going to float out of my hand when I held it. I’ve handled quite a few of the Taurus Raging Bull .454 Casull revolvers, and they are heavy brutes – they have to be, in order to handle that massive round. The 444 Ultra-Lite is built on the Raging Bull frame, but it’s made out of a Titanium multi alloy – super strong stuff, no doubt about it. This Titanium multi-alloy not only gives the 444 Ultra-Lite the light weight, but also makes it extremely strong. Huh? Light weight, but super strong – yeah!
The Taurus .454 Casull Raging Bull holds 5-rounds in the cylinder – the walls of the cylinder are thick – they need to be – to contain the pressures the .454 Casull rounds generate. The 444 Ultra-Lite holds 6 rounds of .44 Mag. The forged Titanium cylinder is strong enough to allow 6 rounds of .44 Mag. instead of 5-rounds. The Titanium is also 10-times stronger than steel – what’s not to like here, stronger than steel, and light weight?
Ok, I gotta admit, I got caught up in a senile moment when I first handled the 444. I pushed on the latch to unlock and open the cylinder, and it wouldn’t budge. I thought to myself, did Hunt send me a defective gun, or somehow lock the cylinder closed on me – just to be funny – it’s not beyond her abilities to pull a fast one on me. Duh, took me a moment to realize that the 444 is not only locked at the rear of the cylinder, it’s also locked at the front. No way this cylinder is gonna accidentally open up on you when you’re firing. A quick glance around the gun shop revealed that no one noticed I was having a difficult time opening up the cylinder – whew!
Personally, I think that a 4” Bbl. .44 Mag revolver is just hard to beat as a back-up gun to your big-game hunting rifle, when hunting dangerous game. Or, for that matter, whenever you are out in the woods hunting anything. These days, I’m more than content shooting a .44 Mag – another bigger caliber is just a handful for me, and not a whole lot of fun to shoot during an extended range session.
When I was a cop up in Alaska, I wish the Taurus 444 Ultra-Lite would have been available – but it wasn’t even on the drawing board at that time. I was in a very rural, fly-in only Native Village. And, the sight of a large moose, or brown bears was not uncommon there. Somehow, my .40 S&W pistol seemed so small and puny when faced with big game like moose or brown bear. The 444 would have been a most welcome second gun during those days.
I really like the high-visibility red fiber optic front sight on the 444 – fast to pick up. The rear sight is adjustable for windage as well as elevation, too – and it’s a very strong sight, too. The 4” Bbl. is fully shrouded – looks cool, if you ask me. The double-action trigger pull was very smooth and let off at around 11-lbs. The single-action trigger pull was right at 4 lbs. – can’t ask for better than that.
What catches your attention when you handle the 444 are the well-designed rubber grips, with the red cushion insert in the back strap. I don’t know what Taurus is making the red cushioning material out of, but it’s very soft and recoil absorbing, to say the least. I’d like to see similar material used in other light weight .44 Mag handguns – it really helps when shooting full-power .44 Mag loads.
I couldn’t wait to get home to clean and inspect the 444, I mean, I’d waited over 4 months for this sample, so I was anxious to get and shoot this baby. I had a small selection of .44 Mag ammo to shoot – would have had more, but we were fast approaching the 2008 Prez elections, and people were already hoarding ammunition in all calibers. I had the Black Hills Ammunition 240-gr JHP and 300-gr 300 JHP loads. I also had several boxes of Winchester’s USA-brand 240gr JSP load, and a partial box of the Winchester 210-gr Silvertip HP load. I was ready for the range!
Laugh at me if you will, but I was more than a little “concerned” about this Ultra-Lite .44 Mag revolver before touching-off the first round. I just knew that this puppy was gonna “kick” and kick hard, too. I had my target box at 25 yards – I touched off the first round of the USA 240-gr – missed the target, completely! I have no idea where that first round went, or the second, third or fourth. The fifth round hit the paper, as did the sixth round. It wasn’t a “group” by any definition, but at least I was on paper. I suddenly realized, that I had just fired-off 6 rounds of full-power .44 Mag ammo in this super-lite revolver, and my wrist didn’t break, my shoulder wasn’t dislocated, and I was still standing on my feet. Hey, I thought to myself, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – not even close!
The 444 was shooting high – real high. I cranked the rear sight down a bit and was ready for another go at it. The next cylinder-full all hit the paper target – it wasn’t a group I was proud of, or a group I care to mention – but I was on the target for all 6 rounds. It was getting interesting, now. After getting a good feel for the gun, and lowering the rear sight all the way down as far as it would go, I was starting to get some decent groups in the 4” range. I had used-up a full box of the USA .44 Mag fodder, and I was starting to flinch – it happens when shooting big-bore handguns after a box or so of ammo over the hood of my SUV. Time to call it a day.
My next outing with the 444 was better, I was starting to get some groups around 3”, and I was really getting a feel of this gun. The Black Hills Ammunition 300-gr JHP load was shooting too high for this gun – it was about 4 inches above the bull’s-eye at 25 yards. It was grouping, but it was too high. The 240-gr JHP BHA fodder was hitting a bit high, too – as was the Winchester USA 240-gr JSP. All the 240-gr loads were printing about an inch-and-a-half high at 25 yards, with the rear sight cranked as low as it would go. This was plenty good enough for hunting purposes – just aim a tad low, and hit dead-on, not a major problem. It’s not a big problem as I see it. The front sight can be replaced with a higher one, if you care to go through the hassles of doing so. I didn’t!
The Winchester 210-gr Silvertip HP shot to point-of-aim, and would make an excellent carry load for self-defense if you ask me. It was also very manageable in the recoil department as well. I only had a very limited supply of this ammo, and I’m still trying to locate some more for more testing. Ammo is hard to find these days – has been for a year now! Thank you very much Mr. Obama!
In all, I fired a little more than 200-rds of various .44 Mag fodder through the 444, and I had zero problems. The gun always went “bang” when I pulled the trigger, and after getting over the fear of the gun’s recoil, it was hitting where I was aiming – albeit a tiny bit high at 25 yards. I carried this gun during the 2008 big game season in Oregon – hoping to get a shot at a deer or black bear. I didn’t get a shot at anything with rifle or pistol – it was a terrible season in my area of Oregon.
The 444 did accompany me on numerous logging road trips over the year. I carried it in a generic Nylon holster, and never knew the gun was there because of its light weight. I did get a couple shots off at some coyotes – but they were more than 100 yards away – too far to shoot with open sights. A scope is needed for shooting a handgun that far for my aged eyes. But I did manage to make those coyotes take notice of me.
As with all Taurus firearms, the 444 Ultra-Lite comes with a lifetime warranty. It also has the Taurus Security System and the gun can be locked so unauthorized hands can’t fire the gun. Anything not to like about the 444? Well, I wish I had asked for the black model with the silver colored cylinder – I got the all-silver model. To my eyes, the black gun, with the silver-colored cylinder just looks a lot cooler to me. Anything I’d change on the 444? Nothing that comes to mind – seriously! The 444 was everything I was expecting, and then some. The recoil, while “stout” was manageable – it really was. I just had to get it firmly implanted in my mind that the gun was not gonna hurt me when I pulled the trigger – and it didn’t! I’ve had some all-steel .44 Mag handguns bite me a lot more with full-powered loads. My best group with the 444 was with the Winchester 210-gr Silvertip HP load – I managed one group that was 2 ½” – and as they say, you’ve got to know when to put the gun down, and when to pick-up the camera – I did!
The Ultra-Lite 444 revolvers are hard to come by, they really are. I just did a search on gunbroker.com and there were a grand total of zero 444s to be found for sale. So, if you want a 444 of your own, you’d better start hounding your own FFL dealer into finding one for you. Once you get a 444, you’ll love it. Just be sure to fire it enough times to get a good feel for it. It’s gonna “kick” a bit, but not nearly as much as you might imagine. Taurus did a great job on the black rubber grips with that red cushion insert in the back strap. If you spend any time out in the boonies, the 444 will protect your hide from 4-legged, as well as 2-legged predators – count on it!
Light weight, strong, big-bore, accurate and priced right – what more can you ask for?
