Taurus 905 Review

In this Taurus 905 Review we’re covering the 5 shot 9mm Taurus 905 revolver. If you’re looking for a 9mm revolver there aren’t a lot of options. 

We’ll cover Taurus 905 grips, trigger, sights, shooting and more.

The 905 comes in at an affordable price point but is it a great value for a fun unique gun or an overpriced paperweight?

What is the Taurus 905 For?

The Taurus 905 is a small frame revolver for concealed carry or just fun at the range. 9mm is cheaper than 38 special and other revolver caliber so the savings can really add up.

It’s a great training option for your 38 carry gun. The trigger pull and recoil are a bit different. 

It’s also fed from moon clips since the 9mm is a rimless cartridge. They’re required to hold the rounds in.

Loading with moon clips is drastically different as well but you can still get some good reps in with it.

Is its weight a good thing?

These guns are your typical lightweight small frame revolvers. The 2 inch models weigh 21 ounces and the 3 inch model weighs right under 24 ounces.

The 3 inch Taurus 905 we reviewed got a little heft to them but they still aren’t heavy.

9mm can be a bear out of a revolver so the weight does help with recoil.

For concealed carry this is a good weight when wearing a belt. But if you’re carrying this with athletic clothing and not using a belt it’s probably too heavy.

I’d suggest a gun like the Smith and Wesson 642 or Taurus 856 ultralight if weight is a concern.

What frame does the Taurus 905 Use?

Built on one of Taurus small revolver frames the 905 fits in our 856 holsters. I assume it’ll work in other 856 holsters as well.

Taurus’s small frame is just a good convenient size. Especially for concealed carry. With the 3 inch barrel it’s large enough to shoot well but small enough to carry.

Versions of Gun

At the time of this Taurus 905 review Taurus has a 2 inch DA/SA snub and 3 inch DOA gun. 

The Snubs are available in black oxide and matte stainless and the 3 inch is a black cerakote.

The Taurus 905 DOA has an exposed but bobbed hammer.

It’d be nice to see DAO hammerless offerings for all the guns. I’ll have to deduct a few points in this Taurus 905 review for that reason.

For a defensive revolver DA/SA doesn’t add much utility over a DOA while introducing more potential failure points.

An bobbed hammer is less likely to snag but has all the other downsides of an DA/SA hammer. Enclosed hammer revolvers better known as hammerless revolvers keep dirt and debris out of the action and can’t be pinned back in a defensive encounter.

DA guns are much faster to fire inside 25 yards. SA triggers are only an advantage when you have plenty of time to take an accurate shot. This rarely happens in defensive encounters. 

Capacity

With only 5 rounds of 9mm in the moon clips the Taurus 905 revolver does run dry quickly. The short and rounded 9mm rounds tend to be very quick to get into the gun. 

That’s definitely an advantage over most rimmed revolver calibers. The longer revolver calibers can be slower to line up and the shape of the bullet is often more squared and harder to get in the chamber.

Cylinder Release

The cylinder release on the Taurus 905 is exactly like a Smith and Wesson Release. It’s located on the left side of the gun right behind the cylinder. 

With its position any right handed shooter should be able to reach it without breaking their grip.

A left handed shooter will have to break their grip or use their other hand.

Sights

With any revolver review the sights are usually not great and this Taurus 905 review is no different.

The version I have has a pinned front sight with the rear sight milled into the gun. Rear sights on guns with milled rear sights are better when the gun is black.

Black makes the rear sight easier to pick up than the stainless guns. 

The front sight is a night sight with an orange outline. The front sight is pretty good. It’s a little wide considering how narrow the rear notch is. 

If you’re willing to go with black front sights, Taurus offers different sight heights so you can change the point of impact to match your chosen ammo. This is unique and cool for a price point revolver.

If this gun had a wider rear notch it’d be preferable.

When you line up the sights the night sight is not visible. 

The theory behind this is in low light you’ll be aiming for the center of mass and tipping the gun up slighting to view the tritium will put rounds slightly higher in the chest area.

The 2 inch guns that are currently shipping have milled in front sights. The black gun probably isn’t bad but the stainless gun’s sights will be hard to pick up.

The only way to improve these sights is to paint the front sight. Hopefully Taurus will update future models to the pinned front sight.

Trigger

The 905 series uses a heavier mainspring than the 856 series so the trigger is a little heavier. For the price of these guns the triggers are surprisingly good. 

I’m not sure why but I’ve found the double actions triggers on the DA/SA guns to be better than the DOA triggers. 

On the DA/SA guns the single action triggers are short and crisp as you’d expect.

The double action triggers are smith and consistent but you can feel a wall at the end of your trigger stroke.

Taurus 905 Grip Review

The grips that come on the 905 3 inch are worthless. They’re really small and make the gun painful to fire.

The gun does ship with Taurus rubber grips which are small, concealable and acceptable in the recoil department. They will grab clothing and skin so if you’re carrying the gun concealed I’d add Goon Tape to the grips.

You just need to install the Taurus 905 grip with a punch and hammer. I wish this attached with a screw as that’d be easy for most people. 

If you have a hammer and punch it’s really easy. Not everyone has a punch set.

Aftermarket Grips for the Taurus 905 Review

There are multiple aftermarket Taurus 905 grips depending on what you’re looking for.

Hogue Monogrip

The Hogue monogrip allows you to get a full grip. 

They do an okay job with recoil but don’t do as good as you would expect for a 3 inch steel gun.

I’d attribute this to the exposed backstrap. They won’t work well for concealed carry unless you’re using a holster like our Icon with a Claw. They’re just too long and will print if your holster doesn’t have a wing or claw.

They’re tacky, so I’d cover them in Good tape. This might also help you get a little more cushion on the backstrap.

VZ G10 Taurus 905 Grips

VZ makes G10 grips for the Taurus 905. The texture is good, and they don’t grab clothing. 

They don’t allow for a high enough grip, and it really can beat your hand up when firing the gun. 

I’m not a fan but for some reason their Smith and Wesson Grips work a lot better.

Taurus 905 Laser Grips

Both Viridian and Crimson trace make laser grips for the Taurus small frame revolvers. 

They’re on the longer side which gives you a good full grip but also makes concealment more challenging.

Pachmayr Grips

They’re really thin at the top and wide on the bottom. 

They look good, and the fitment is excellent. Unfortunately like the other options, they fall short. 

They just don’t do anything to reduce recoil. The thin portion at the top really digs into my hand. If they were a little more proportional I think they’d be a great option. 

These are the grip pictured on the gun and they look great.

Amazon Wood Grips

Poor fitment and lots of felt recoil makes these a disappointment.

They were also the most expensive of everything I’ve bought. For what they cost, I would expect a lot more. They were $65 and at $10 I would have been disappointed. 

Uncle Mike’s Combat Grips

Similar in concealment and profile to the Hogue Monogrips, but they cover the backstrap.

They work and have a good texture. You don’t need to be wrapped in goon tape and they handle recoil very well.

Unfortunately they’re no longer in production, so you have to try to swipe a used set. They normally aren’t cheap if you can find them.

Aesthetics

I actually really like the way my 3 inch Talo edition Taurus 905 revolver looks. I’ve installed the wooden Pachmayr grips which look awesome. 

I’ll likely switch them out to the Hogue monogrip or another set of the Uncle mikes. That’s if I can find them. 

Wrap some goon tape and I’ll have an awesome post apocalypse looking gun. This is a gun you can dress up or down depending on the grips.

The standard 2inch DA/SA guns are pretty basic and not as elegant due to the finish.

Finish

The standard 2 inch guns ship with a black oxide or matte stainless finish. These finish hold up and prevent rust well in my experience but they don’t look great. 

They’re somewhat porous so expect them to gather Kydex and carbon from shooting and carrying your gun.

Shooting

9mm revolvers tend to have a little kick and this 905 is no exception. Your shooting experience will really depend on what grips you’re running. 

The trigger is definitely good enough to get some good hits. I was able to hit a golf ball at 10 yards shooting 115 grain CCI Bulk ammo.

Sights are going to be a limiting factor especially when shooting for speed. 

Price

MSRP is just under $500 and street prices tend to run around $400 for the Talo edition Taurus 905 revolver and about $50-$75 less for the standard 2inch DA/SA guns. 

In my opinion the 3 inch guns offer a lot more value. I’m using this mostly for a trainer due to the cheaper full power ammo. For that it presents a great value. With the current ammo price I’ll have paid for the gun in 2000 rounds of ammo. 

So I can’t complain there. 

The biggest downside is I wasn’t set up to shoot and use moon clips. I had to buy the tools to use them. That cost me almost $200 for the loading and unloading tools plus 15 moon clips. 

You can make your own unloading tools but without it you run the risk of damaging the clips. That just added another 1000 rounds of ammo to break even.

The finish and sights plus the ability to shoot 9mm are quite a value.

Concluding Thoughts

There is one issue I’ve had with this gun so far. The ejector rod sticks. It’s supposedly because of a small spring that wasn’t assembled right.

I’m going to take it apart and see if I can fix it. Because of that at this time the gun won’t go into my carry rotation. 

I’ve got a lot of guns so having one that isn’t 100% isn’t an issue. But for many others I could see how this is a deal breaker.

It is concerning that this gun make it out of the factory with this issue. Hope you’ve found our Taurus 905 review helpful. 

Let us know your thoughts on the Taurus 905 below.

Pros

• Price
• Finish
• Front Sight Options

Cons

• Rear Sight
• Heavier Trigger
• Grip options