Model 94 .22 Lr Revolver In Blue Steel

[j.chappell]

Does anyone have an opinion or experience with the Taurus 94B4? I am in the market for a 4" 22LR revolver for basic fun and plinking and was wondering how this revolver performed.

I'm sure your opinions will be straight forward and informative.

Thanks fellas.

J.

[NGIB]

Roll of the dice on this one. I had one that was very reliable and shot well. The DA trigger pull was not very good at all though and couldn't do much to fix it. It got a little smoother the more I shot it but nowhere near a K-frame S&W. Like the J-frame S&Ws, the Taurus uses a coil mainspring and these will never be as nice as a leaf-spring powered gun. I've heard a lot of bad reports regarding reliability as well although the one I had was fine. Notice I say "had" as I traded it away, saved my pennies, and bought a S&W...

[Don P]

What I have is a little different. Its the 941UL 22 mag. Works fine with no problems with regards to function or fit.:cool:

[azredhawk44]

Meh.

I have a 5" model 94, blued and I cannot recommend it. The trigger pull is horrific and the cylinder lockup could certainly be better.

Accuracy is okay, though.

I replaced the springs with Wolff springs intended for the Taurus model 85. With cheap walmart bulk-box ammo I get about 5-10% misfires, but if I step up to Federal Automatch or CCI Stingers/minimags I get around 95-98% ignition. The DA pull is a heck of a lot smoother as a result.

It still isn't anything near Smith K-22 or even a Ruger single six though. If you want a .22 and it has to be a revolver and you're picky at all... you should get one of those two. If your price ceiling is around $300 and you just want a .22... get an automatic instead of this one. Browning Buckmark or Ruger Mark II or Mark III variants. You'll be much happier.

[Master Blaster]

I have one, mine was bought new in 1995, and is an excellent little revolver, as noted the trigger pull is typical for a j frame size gun with a stiff coil spring. I think my example has an excellent trigger pull, just lucky I guess.
Mine is accurate and reliable, and the gun I use to introduce new shooters to the sport. I like my 4" 94 very much, its probably fired 20,000 rounds since it was new without issue. If you do get one remember you have to clean the cylinder with a brush every 3-500 rounds or you will get misfires.

[DMZX]

I have a M94B4 and have found it to be a great little gun.

The DA trigger is heavy, but, since it is a .22LR, after shooting a brick, not only does the trigger lighten a bit, but one gets use to the heavy pull and learns that trigger. The let off is very crisp.

The gun is nicely balanced and points naturally.

The sights are a bit crude, but work. There is no after-market replacements that I am aware of.

Fit and finish is ok. The blueing scratches easily as it not very deep. Not a big deal to me as I consider it a heavy use kit gun.

Accuracy is very good with everything but the "hyper vel'" stuff.

Mine sees a good deal of range time and I liked it so much I purchased the 5" version.

Note - after learning to shoot a M94 DA well, you will find that your DA shooting with any other revolver improves significantly and the triggers feel much lighter.:D

[Locoweed]

Had one for awhile but sold it because I could never get used to the terrible trigger pull. No problems with reliability.

[j.chappell]

I have only ever had S&W and Ruger revolvers. I was just looking for a plinker and a good price. I am a little leary now that I have read some of the posts.

I wish you could try out all handguns before buying them, lol. I just hate to take a chance and then be disappointed you know. Better sometimes to bite the bullet so to speak and pay the extra money for a more reliable name.

Keep them coming!

J.

[Smaug]

How about a used one at a great price, then send it to a gunsmith to make it right?

It would probably come back better than a factory S&W and would end up costing about the same.

In my neck of the woods, a S&W 617 costs $620 new. (+ tax) A used Taurus for around $200, (no tax) then an action job for... I don't even know what they go for, but I'm sure you could get it done for under $400.

It is worth thinking about.

[rogertc1]

Come on now Smaug. The Taurus is junk.

[Colt46]

Extremley heavy trigger pull. Lightening the trigger pull by changing springs leads to unrealiable ignition. I wouldn't recommend one based on my particular experiance.

[JollyRoger]

I had a 3 inch 94 in stainless. As stated before, the DA trigger pull is a bit heavy. In all fairness, the hammer is small and doesn't have a lot of mass, so the mainspring has to be heavy to ensure reliable ignition. I tried a reduced power Wolff spring kit, but kept getting misfires. I think S&W has the same problem in their small frame .22's. By contrast, I had an old H&R that had a pretty decent trigger pull, but the hammer was a lot more massive, so they could put a decent mainspring in it and still get reliable ignition.

Another feature of the 94 I had was a weird little adjustable rear sight. It was quite small, so instead of the usual click adjustment for windage, it had two opposing screws. To move the sight blade you had to loosen one screw and tighten the opposing screw. What a pain.

Other than that, the gun shot well and accurate. Single action was very good.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I had an SS one. The cylinder bound up tight - had to be sent back. Then the adjustable sight blade could not be fixed in place.

Sold it.

However, I had two Smiths that went belly up early in their career and had to go to the shop.