Iv got a problem with the taurus ultra-lite 44mag, any suggestions?

texasaggie2012 · October 14, 2011, 02:40 PM

got a question that im hoping someone on here has an answer to. i have a ultra lite 44 mag that i havent had any problems with until recently(granted, i dont shoot it much probably about 100 rounds) i keep it as clean as possible usually after every shooting session. last time after one shot, when pulling the hammer back about the last 1/4 of the way down it gets alot tougher to pull. it almost feels like powder got somewhere back there. iv tried to clean every millimeter but i cant solve the problem. i know these guns put alot of force on the whole gun and maybe its just something i have to deal with, but i was hoping it might be an easy fix.

thanks for the help

black mamba · October 14, 2011, 03:00 PM

The most likely place for crud to remain undetected is under the extractor star. If the cylinder turns freely when it's unloaded, then that may be the culprit. If it cocks hard even when unloaded, then something is probably bent and needs to be looked at by a competent gunsmith, or sent back to Taurus.

JohnMoses · October 14, 2011, 03:08 PM

Mine has been back for repair twice. The cyliner just locked up & would not rotate. I like the gun, it looks good & is feather light, and I intended to carry it deer hunting as a backup gun, but I just can't trust it. I'm not a Taurus basher, but they seem to have problems with thier Ti guns.

Webleymkv · October 14, 2011, 03:15 PM

As has been mentioned, check for dirt under the exctractor star. Also, if your revolver uses a threaded-in extractor rod ala S&W (I know some of the older Taurus revolvers did, but I'm not sure about the new ones) check to make sure that it isn't backing out (it would most likely be a left-hand thread). Finally, have you cleaned the front face of the cylinder and forcing cone? The one Taurus revolver I've owned (M445 .44 Special snub) would have the same problem as you describe after about 50 rounds or so. The issue was that the barrel-to-cylinder gap wasn't quite right and powder fouling was causing the cylinder to rub against the forcing cone. A quick cleaning with powder blast or another such product would fix it for another 50 rounds or so, but from what I've heard that is a fairly common problem with Taurus revolvers.

Adamantium · October 15, 2011, 12:44 AM

Have you taken the side plate off your revolver and looked in the internals as well? It should just be the bottom screw on the grip and the 3 side screws for the side plate. You can find a diagram on page 25 of this manual. http://www.taurususa.com/pdf/revolver-manual.pdf

Don't dry fire the weapon when you get the side plate off though, no matter how tempting it looks. I did that with my model 94 and the sear spring popped out. Took me 15 minutes to find it on the carpet!

9mm · October 15, 2011, 02:02 AM

Yeah, never dry fire it or poke around with a cleaning brush while its apart. TRUST ME I know these things.

Slugthrower · October 17, 2011, 10:47 PM

I had a similar problem quite some time ago now. Don't recall how far back this was, but it was a Taurus revolver. A stainless steel model 617, snub nose 7 shot.

Just as Webleymkv had a binding problem after about 50 rounds, so did I. Once the revolver was cleaned it was fine. I decided to figure out what the problem was and it turned out to be the flash gap was way too tight. Powder residue and some expansion of the cylinder from it heating up would lock it up pretty good.

When I measured it was was .0015 inches. That is not a typo. By way of comparison most guys that want a revolver to be exceptionally well fitted expect the flash gap to be at .003 inches at most and .004 is better still for a fighting gun. Anything more than that and you begin to lose velocity to a much greater degree and with a snub nose this really does matter.

The flash gap will eventually widen as you shoot the pistol anyway. Taurus considers there pistols to be within spec up to .006 to .007. That is too much IMO. For me it was a simple fix. A set of feeler guages and a set of flat hones and I was off to work. Stoning the forcing cone back till it reached .003 and now she will run for severeral hundred rounds before needing a cleaning.

Firing off 200 -300 rounds at a time in such a small pistol can be tiresome and for me serves no real purpose other than making noise. After about a 100 rounds I tend to tire and not do my best. With .38 rounds not so much, but magnums can wear on you. So for defensive purposes it is good to go after a little elbow grease and attention to detail was put to the task at hand.

Here is a simple test you can do that will give you an idea if this is the problem you are facing as well. First clean the cylinder face as clean as possible and the face of the forcing cone as well.

Now take a piece of common note book paper. Don't use printer paper, it can often be too thick. Use a thin strip no wider than the forcing cone itself. Open the cylinder and place the strip of paper on top of the forcing cone face and close the cylinder, all while making sure that the paper isn't kinked in any way and is trapped perfectly in the flash gap. Now thumb back the hammer it should rotate the cylinder without any binding. If it binds on this first part it really needs to be opened up.

Take that same strip of paper and double it over on itself. Do the same thing again. This time you should notice a bit of friction but not so much as to not be able to rotate the cylinder. If your revolver will not do this, the flash gap is too small and needs to be made wider.

You can hone it yourself, let Taurus fix it, or send it to a smith to be stoned to a .003 or .004 gap and your revolver will be in working order. If you choose to hone it. Be very careful to not burr the face, let it get out of square, or take too much off. The paper test will work to check your progress. Once it is where it just ever so slightly drags on the doubled over piece you are good to go. This will give you a gap of .003-.004. You could also buy a set of feeler guages from an auto shop as well. Just don't cheap out on a decent set if you go that route. You would be surprised how accurate a piece of note book paper can be though.

Either way, good luck with your revolver and I hope that it is something simple and not a major problem for you.

skidder · October 17, 2011, 11:46 PM

It's not just their Ti guns. Their revolvers suck and that is the truth. send it to their CS department and see what happens. Good luck, you are now the proud owner of a piece of ****.

texasaggie2012 · October 18, 2011, 02:56 PM

I appreciate all the responses! Alot of good info!

October 14, 2011, 02:40 PM	#1
texasaggie2012 Junior Member Join Date: October 14, 2011 Posts: 4	Iv got a problem with the taurus ultra-lite 44mag, any suggestions? got a question that im hoping someone on here has an answer to. i have a ultra lite 44 mag that i havent had any problems with until recently(granted, i dont shoot it much probably about 100 rounds) i keep it as clean as possible usually after every shooting session. last time after one shot, when pulling the hammer back about the last 1/4 of the way down it gets alot tougher to pull. it almost feels like powder got somewhere back there. iv tried to clean every millimeter but i cant solve the problem. i know these guns put alot of force on the whole gun and maybe its just something i have to deal with, but i was hoping it might be an easy fix. thanks for the help

October 15, 2011, 12:44 AM	#5
Adamantium Senior Member Join Date: June 6, 1999 Location: El Paso, TX Posts: 1,021	Have you taken the side plate off your revolver and looked in the internals as well? It should just be the bottom screw on the grip and the 3 side screws for the side plate. You can find a diagram on page 25 of this manual. http://www.taurususa.com/pdf/revolver-manual.pdf Don't dry fire the weapon when you get the side plate off though, no matter how tempting it looks. I did that with my model 94 and the sear spring popped out. Took me 15 minutes to find it on the carpet! __________________ New gun, same ol' shot.

October 17, 2011, 10:47 PM	#7
Slugthrower Senior Member Join Date: October 22, 2006 Posts: 823	I had a similar problem quite some time ago now. Don't recall how far back this was, but it was a Taurus revolver. A stainless steel model 617, snub nose 7 shot. Just as Webleymkv had a binding problem after about 50 rounds, so did I. Once the revolver was cleaned it was fine. I decided to figure out what the problem was and it turned out to be the flash gap was way too tight. Powder residue and some expansion of the cylinder from it heating up would lock it up pretty good. When I measured it was was .0015 inches. That is not a typo. By way of comparison most guys that want a revolver to be exceptionally well fitted expect the flash gap to be at .003 inches at most and .004 is better still for a fighting gun. Anything more than that and you begin to lose velocity to a much greater degree and with a snub nose this really does matter. The flash gap will eventually widen as you shoot the pistol anyway. Taurus considers there pistols to be within spec up to .006 to .007. That is too much IMO. For me it was a simple fix. A set of feeler guages and a set of flat hones and I was off to work. Stoning the forcing cone back till it reached .003 and now she will run for severeral hundred rounds before needing a cleaning. Firing off 200 -300 rounds at a time in such a small pistol can be tiresome and for me serves no real purpose other than making noise. After about a 100 rounds I tend to tire and not do my best. With .38 rounds not so much, but magnums can wear on you. So for defensive purposes it is good to go after a little elbow grease and attention to detail was put to the task at hand. Here is a simple test you can do that will give you an idea if this is the problem you are facing as well. First clean the cylinder face as clean as possible and the face of the forcing cone as well. Now take a piece of common note book paper. Don't use printer paper, it can often be too thick. Use a thin strip no wider than the forcing cone itself. Open the cylinder and place the strip of paper on top of the forcing cone face and close the cylinder, all while making sure that the paper isn't kinked in any way and is trapped perfectly in the flash gap. Now thumb back the hammer it should rotate the cylinder without any binding. If it binds on this first part it really needs to be opened up. Take that same strip of paper and double it over on itself. Do the same thing again. This time you should notice a bit of friction but not so much as to not be able to rotate the cylinder. If your revolver will not do this, the flash gap is too small and needs to be made wider. You can hone it yourself, let Taurus fix it, or send it to a smith to be stoned to a .003 or .004 gap and your revolver will be in working order. If you choose to hone it. Be very careful to not burr the face, let it get out of square, or take too much off. The paper test will work to check your progress. Once it is where it just ever so slightly drags on the doubled over piece you are good to go. This will give you a gap of .003-.004. You could also buy a set of feeler guages from an auto shop as well. Just don't cheap out on a decent set if you go that route. You would be surprised how accurate a piece of note book paper can be though. Either way, good luck with your revolver and I hope that it is something simple and not a major problem for you. __________________ History is a freak show and a dark comedy. Mankind is a spectacle all to itself. Play your role, let the jesters play theirs. In the end...who has the last laugh?

October 17, 2011, 11:46 PM	#8
skidder Senior Member Join Date: August 17, 2008 Location: Montana Posts: 640	It's not just their Ti guns. Their revolvers suck and that is the truth. send it to their CS department and see what happens. Good luck, you are now the proud owner of a piece of ****. __________________ Gun permit?? A bread crumb tossed to a sleeping society awoken by the sound of complacency. "They are for your own good", and "you will understand when you see all the lives they save". Yes master, what else will you toss me from your bag of infringements?? Do you want me to roll over and play dead? I do that very well. --skidder

October 14, 2011, 03:00 PM	#2
black mamba Senior Member Join Date: September 13, 2011 Location: SW Florida Posts: 890	The most likely place for crud to remain undetected is under the extractor star. If the cylinder turns freely when it's unloaded, then that may be the culprit. If it cocks hard even when unloaded, then something is probably bent and needs to be looked at by a competent gunsmith, or sent back to Taurus.

October 14, 2011, 03:08 PM	#3
JohnMoses Senior Member Join Date: April 11, 2008 Posts: 197	Mine has been back for repair twice. The cyliner just locked up & would not rotate. I like the gun, it looks good & is feather light, and I intended to carry it deer hunting as a backup gun, but I just can't trust it. I'm not a Taurus basher, but they seem to have problems with thier Ti guns.

October 14, 2011, 03:15 PM	#4
Webleymkv Senior Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 10,446	As has been mentioned, check for dirt under the exctractor star. Also, if your revolver uses a threaded-in extractor rod ala S&W (I know some of the older Taurus revolvers did, but I'm not sure about the new ones) check to make sure that it isn't backing out (it would most likely be a left-hand thread). Finally, have you cleaned the front face of the cylinder and forcing cone? The one Taurus revolver I've owned (M445 .44 Special snub) would have the same problem as you describe after about 50 rounds or so. The issue was that the barrel-to-cylinder gap wasn't quite right and powder fouling was causing the cylinder to rub against the forcing cone. A quick cleaning with powder blast or another such product would fix it for another 50 rounds or so, but from what I've heard that is a fairly common problem with Taurus revolvers.

October 15, 2011, 02:02 AM	#6
9mm Senior Member Join Date: January 9, 2011 Location: Land of the Free Posts: 2,834	Yeah, never dry fire it or poke around with a cleaning brush while its apart. TRUST ME I know these things.

October 18, 2011, 02:56 PM	#9
texasaggie2012 Junior Member Join Date: October 14, 2011 Posts: 4	I appreciate all the responses! Alot of good info!