What's in a name? In this case, I am referring to the wholly unambiguous intended purpose of the award-winning Taurus USA Raging Hunter series of double-action revolvers. Their feature set and frame sizes make it clear that these massive wheel guns have been built from the ground up for harvesting medium and large game.
The 350 Legend long-framed version of the Raging Hunter (Top) dwarfs the author’s customized short-frame model chambered in .44 Mag. (Bottom).
In production since 2018, the first Raging Hunter was chambered in .44 Magnum. It would go on to win the coveted 2019 American Hunter Handgun of the Year Golden Bullseye Award. It also proved to be an ideal base gun for this custom revolver review. Since then, the lineup has continued to diversify with the inclusion of additional caliber and barrel-length options.
The 10.5-inch barreled models share the same aluminum shroud length as the 5.12-inch barrel models.
Near the end of 2025, Taurus added a sixth caliber and a new barrel length, with the introduction of two long-framed, 6-shot models chambered for the straight-walled 350 Legend rifle cartridge. Sporting a 2-tone finish, they are available with either 10.5-inch or 14-inch barrels fitted with effective muzzle brakes. This evaluation takes a closer look at the 10-inch version.
Perhaps the most notable change to the 10.5- and 14-inch guns is the configuration of the barrels. The Raging Judge models with shorter 5.12-, 6.75- and 8.37-inch ported stainless steel barrels are set into a flush-fit hard-coat anodized-aluminum shroud. This shroud is secured with a barrel nut at the muzzle and milled to either side of the front sight in order to accommodate the barrel porting. The top of the shroud features a milled-in, Picatinny-compatible optics rail. This makes it quick and easy to install a magnified handgun scope, or a red-dot optic, without having to remove the rear sight assembly.
The sophisticated compensator doubles as a support for the fiber optic front sight.
But Taurus has taken a different approach with the longer barrels. While the 350 Legend version is fitted with the same shroud as the 5.12-inch model, the 10.5-inch stainless barrel protrudes well past the end of the shroud and is stabilized with a modified barrel nut. The sides of the round barrel feature a total of four matte flats (or shallow flutes) to reduce weight and barrel flex.
The barrel shroud’s integral top rail was used to support this Swampfox Liberator II red-dot optic.
The muzzle is fitted with a compensator sporting six top-side ports positioned to reduce muzzle rise, and eight angled side ports (two of which are quite large) to mitigate felt recoil. Incorporated into the compensator is a pinned front-sight blade fitted with a bright orange fiber optic. It is paired with a fully adjustable, square-notch fiber-optic rear sight.
The two-tone version is built around a frame made of satin-finished 410 stainless steel with a carbon steel, matte-black finished cylinder that matches the barrel shroud. In order to better stabilize the cylinder, Taurus installs a second cylinder release into the cylinder yoke. This forward release is styled after the Dan Wesson revolver configuration, meaning, it is pressed downward to open the action.
The receiver is fitted with front and rear cylinder release latches for a sturdy lock up.
The typical rearward release is a Smith & Wesson configuration set into the frame, behind the cylinder, which is pressed forward. This makes opening up a Raging Hunter a two-handed affair, with the support hand working the forward release and the shooting hand actuating the rear. It's not exactly a high-speed, low drag setup, but it provides the sturdy lock-up needed for a rifle-caliber revolver.
Designed for bullets up to .50-caliber in size, the Raging Hunter’s 6-shot cylinder provides plenty of support for the slim 350 Legend cartridge.
The trigger is wide, smooth and deeply curved like those found on other handgun hunting revolvers. The double-action trigger pull was long, smooth and consistent. But it was also fairly heavy. The Lyman's digital trigger gauge I used maxes out at 12 pounds and this trigger was slightly past that weight.
The spur of the exposed hammer is deeply checkered for plenty of purchase when manually cocking this gun for single-action fire. When cocked, the trigger's arch of travel is shortened to about 1/8 of an inch. It exhibited a crisp, clean break with just 3 pounds 10 ounces of trigger pull. The revolver is completed with a finger grooved and textured soft rubber grip. It is comfortably hand filling and has an effective recoil-absorbing strap to protect the shooting hand from the Smith & Wesson-style grip frame's backstrap.
Taurus provides a total of five, 6-shot full-moon clips with this model.
A few years back, I had an opportunity to test drive one of the first 6-shot, 7.5 inch barrel Magnum Research BFR revolvers chambered in .350 Legend (you can read the full review here). Although that was a useful experience for gauging the Raging Hunter's handling and performance characteristics in this caliber, the guns have notable differences. The Raging Hunter is only 1.5 ounces heavier than the BFR. However, it has more padding in the grip, a 3 inch longer barrel and a compensator. Last but not least, this double-action revolver requires the use of moon clips in order to eject the rimless 350 Legend cartridges. Taurus kindly provides five clips with the gun.
Despite the impressive muzzle blast, this particular Raging Hunter generates more moderate levels of felt recoil.
I've shot this compensator before with it attached to a 10.5-inch Raging Hunter chambered in .460 S&W. When compared to the 5.12-inch model with the ported barrel, the compensated version reduced the levels of felt recoil by at least 30 percent or more. I was quite curious to see what it would do for the 350 Legend.
As it turned out, this gun and ammunition combination generated levels of recoil that were surprisingly moderate, verging on modest for a big-bore revolver, let alone one chambered for a rifle cartridge. Although the report was ear-poppingly loud and the muzzle flash impressive, especially within the confines of an indoor range, the bench-rested levels of recoil were all-day comfortable to work with. From a rest, it's suitable for a wide range of experience and recoil-tolerance levels.
A Garmin Xero C1 Pro Chronograph was used to measure bullet performance.
The formal bench-rested 3-shot group testing was conducted at 25 yards using a fully enclosed, rifle-style Swampfox Liberator II with a compact 6061 aluminum housing, hydrophobic coated lenses and a 2 MOA red-dot aiming point. Group sizes ranged from 1.07 to 1.95 inches in size for an extreme spread of 1.59 inches.
The smallest individual 3-shot group of 1.07 inches was printed using the Federal Power Shok load.
The muzzle-energy levels were comparable to those of the 7.5-inch barrel BFR. Which is to say, they hovered around the lower end of the .454 Casull performance scale. This is due in part to the relatively light 145- to 180-grain .357-caliber bullets that were fired. The test ammunition used included Federal Power Shok 180-grain, Hornady Custom 165-grain and Winchester USA 145-grain loads.
But before moving on, it’s worth noting the differences in ammunition prices. As of this writing, 350 Legend practice-grade ammunition was starting at around $0.65 per round. At the low end of the .454 Casull scale, prices were about $1.30 per shot and went up from there. A .454 revolver will give you a broader performance range, but at a steeper price and with more recoil. Here are the complete test results:
After spending quality time at the shooting range with the Taurus Raging Hunter chambered in 350 Legend, I've dubbed it The Gentle Giant. Are there more powerful options out there? Certainly. But shooting them comes with levels of felt recoil that start at intense and top out somewhere around painful. This revolver offers a balance of performance and softer-shooting characteristics that is uncommon for this revolver class. It's an ideal option for new handgun hunters and those who prefer more control. The muzzle blast will blow your hair back but this gun won't crimp your wrist's style. For more information, visit taurususa.com.
Taurus Raging Hunter Revolver Technical Specifications:
- Type: double-action/single-action revolver
- Caliber: 350 Legend
- Capacity: 6 rounds
- Barrel: 10.5-inch fluted stainless steel; satin finish, 1:10-inch RH twist, factory installed muzzle brake
- Trigger: double-action, ~12 lbs.; single-action, 3-lbs. 10-oz. as tested
- Sights: fiber-optic front, fully adjustable square notch fiber optic rear
- Grip: textured black rubber
- Metal Finish: two tone, matte black and satin stainless steel
- Overall Length: 16.5 inches
- Height: 6.6 inches
- Cylinder Width: 1.92 inches
- Weight: 4 lbs. 15.5 ozs. unloaded
- MSRP: $1159; taurususa.com
