Has the world gone slightly mad? Is Taurus releasing a revolver with an MSRP of over a grand that’s not some behemoth hunting revolver? Yes. In fact, they already released it. I missed the big reveal in September, and the Taurus is pushing the new TX9 hard right now. However, the Taurus 66 Combat captured my attention even more. 

Caleb Giddings used to run a website called Gun Nuts Media, but it hasn’t been updated in a while. I was a long-time reader, and in 2014, he published an article about his views on the Modern Defensive Revolver. Reading that now and looking at the Model 66 Combat tells me he might have had a hand in this gun. 

The rules were simple. 

• It needs good sights. 
• It must be DAO with a bobbed hammer. 
• It must have a good trigger. 
• It should not require moonclips to function. 
• It has to be comfortable to shoot .38 Special. 
• It must be chambered in a caliber for which modern defensive ammo is available.
• It must have a laser. 

Taurus 66 Combat – The Modern Defensive Revolver

The Taurus 66 Combat meets all those standards, well, except for the laser, but that’s not hard to add. Although the sight setup might make the laser moot. The 66 Combat comes with a high-visibility front sight, and while it lacks a rear sight, it can mount an optic. 

Specifically, an RMSc optic via an optics plate screwed into the top strap. The same plate was used on the Judge Toro. That seems to cover the good sights requirement, and seems to cover the laser requirement since we have a target focus setup with a red dot. 

The trigger of the 66 Combat feels fantastic. It’s smooth and feels tuned. For a stock trigger, it seems to beat the Executive Grade, although I didn’t try them side by side. The design is a DAO with a bobbed hammer, so that rule is met. 

It doesn’t need moonclips, and at 3.65 ounces with a three-inch barrel and medium frame, it’s going to handle .38 Special quite well. The gun is a .357 design, so it meets the caliber for which modern defensive ammo is available. 

The 66 Combat – A New Leaf 

The Taurus 66 Combat seems to meet Caleb’s proposed requirements outside of the mandatory laser. That doesn’t even mention the fact that it holds seven rounds instead of six or five. The 66 Combat can utilize 686+ speed loaders and will fit most 686+ holsters with a similar barrel length. One thing to look out for holster wise is red dot compatibility. 

The sight can be swapped and uses the same pattern as the Taurus 856 front sight. That makes plenty of options available. The gun also has a full-length ejector rod with a three-inch barrel. This makes it easier to reload since the cases will drop free rather than me half pressed out of the cylinder. 

The grips are rubberized and fairly compact. The goal seems to be to increase concealment, but Taurus 66 grips aren’t hard to come by if you don’t like the compact grips. 

The Bull

Taurus has been on this road to increasing the quality of their guns. They’ve made big strides, and this has given us both budget-minded defensive firearms and guns like the Tarus 66 Combat. Color me impressed. I’m excited to hopefully get some trigger time with the 66 Combat in the coming year.