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Forjas Taurus, SA, Porto Alegre, Brazil. Forjas Taurus is a Brazilian manufacturing conglomerate based in São Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul. Founded in 1939 as a tool and die forging plant, the company now consists of Taurus Armas, its firearm division, as well as other divisions focusing on metals manufacturing, plastics, body armors, helmets and civil construction. Taurus produced its first revolver, the Model 38101SO, in 1941 and began exporting its revolvers to the U.S. market in 1968 through a series of importers. In 1970, the Bangor Punta Corporation, then the parent company of Smith & Wesson, purchased 54 percent of Forjas Taurus, allowing the two firearms manufacturers to easily share information regarding design and manufacturing. In 1977, Taurus was purchased from Bangor Punta by its current owners, and its ties to Smith & Wesson were severed. In 1980, after Italian arms manufacturer Beretta had completed its contracts to produce firearms for Brazil's military, Taurus purchased Beretta's São Paulo manufacturing plant along with the tooling, technical drawings, and work force necessary to produce several different pistol designs. In order to more effectively tap the U.S. market, the company created a subsidiary, Taurus International Manufacturing Incorporated, also known as Taurus USA, in 1984. The Taurus Model 85 is a small-frame revolver manufactured by the Brazilian firearm company Taurus International. In the United States, the guns are marketed for concealed carry and personal protection. Popular OLD models The Taurus Model 82 is a 6-shot, .38 Special, medium frame revolver manufactured by Taurus. Some variations of the Model 82 feature a lanyard loop to secure the revolver. The revolver is the same size of the Smith & Wesson Model 10 which at one time was the mainstay of law enforcement agencies in the United States, but unlike the Model 83 in this collection (Older? S&W mechanism), it functions on a different mechanism similar to Ruger revolvers. The Model 82 is the standard issue sidearm of Indonesian National Police and in Brazil, it was the standard issue police firearm for many years, but has been replaced by .40 S&W pistols (also made by Taurus) in last years. However, is still in use by private security firms and municipal guards. Carabineros de Chile, the Chilean uniformed police also uses the Taurus 82 as standard issue firearm. The small frame variant of the Model 82/83, the Model 85 is available in several configurations. These include blued steel, stainless steel, polymer frame, and "Ultralite" variants constructed of aluminum and titanium, with steel lockwork components. Model 85s can come equipped with exposed, "bobbed" (850), or shrouded (851) hammers. However, there are a number of significant internal differences between the Taurus 85 and similar Smith & Wesson revolvers. Because of these differences, Taurus has been able to keep costs relatively low. However, those same differences can make customization of the Model 85 more expensive. There are numerous cosmetic options, including gold-plated hardware and grips of wood or pearl. The Model 85 is available with either 2" or 3" barrels, is capable of firing +P rated .38 Special rounds, and utilizes a transfer bar safety. The Model 65 .357 Mag and the 7 shot brother, Model 66 seem to come from the late ‘70s and have a cult following. The owners rave other the good trigger pull and accuracy. Models manufactured after 1997 feature the Taurus Security System, which consists of a keyed, quarter-turn style socket-head screw which can be set to prevent the hammer from pivoting back into the frame, thus rendering the weapon inoperative. In 1997 Forjas Taurus purchased the rights & equipment to manufacture Rossi brand revolvers. They currently manufacture three .38 Special models and four .357 Magnum models under the Rossi name, manufactured in São Leopoldo, Brazil. In 2012, Heritage Manufacturing was also purchased and its production later moved to Taurus' Miami, Florida plant named BrazTech. The current product line includes steel-frame pistols, polymer-frame pistols, revolvers, and law enforcement weapons (submachine guns and rifles), the latter intended for the domestic Brazilian market. The company manufactures and sells its firearms for generally less than other manufacturers due to low labour costs, as well as having the facilities available to build virtually every part themselves. Taurus was originally known for manufacturing revolvers similar in appearance to those offered by Smith & Wesson. The company moved away from this realm by offering larger framed models such as the Raging Bull (.454 Casull) and Raging Hornet (.22 Hornet) revolvers as well as the Judge 5-shot revolvers (.410 bore and .45 Colt). One of Taurus' most successful semiautomatic handguns has been its PT92, a model similar to Beretta's model 92 line, but with the addition of an ambidextrous frame safety, rather than the Beretta's slide-mounted safety. The most recent addition to the Taurus pistol lineup is a copy of the Colt 1911 .45 ACP pistol, the PT1911. This slightly redesigned and updated design offers many features. Technological: This model is a medium frame revolver with a 4 inch barrel. The ramped front sight is integral with the barrel and the rear sight is a groove machined into the top strap. It fits 6 rounds of .38 Special Cartridges in the roll that swings out to the left, released by an S&W style (push forward) catch also on the left side. The firing pin is mounted in the frame, with a flat hammer and there is a passive transfer bar, activated at the end of the trigger stroke. This feature was invented by Iver Johnson and is used by Ruger on their revolvers. (So apart from the size, the mechanism of the Taurus is in no way comparable to the internals of a S &W revolver – These erroneous comparisons are often made) The Taurus functions via a double action/single action system. The action uses coil springs and triggers sre not as smooth as a Colt or S&W, but it improve with use. The .38 Special round is a blast to shoot in these medium frame revolvers. The grips on this Taurus model revolver (not shown) are checquered, lacquered, well finished Brazilian wood. (Ref. ‘Pistols of the world’ by Hogg and Weeks p239, https://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/taurus-revolvers/88724-model-80-bread-butter-sixgun-taurus-during-1970-s.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_(manufacturer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_Model_82#/media/File:Taurus-82.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus_Model_85#/media/File:Taurus_Model_85_Ultra-Lite_(32616896880).jpg https://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/taurus-revolvers/103380-taurus-model-83-357mag.html https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/just-got-an-old-taurus-38-need-advice.455297/ https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/taurus/revolvers-tau/85-2 https://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/smithing/22219-taurus-revolver-disassembly-pictorial-guide.html )

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