Grumpy, Author at You Will Shoot Your Eye Out

By J. Scott Rupp

About a year ago, I reviewed the 856 Ultra-Lite—a successor to the Model 85 with six shots instead of five—and came away impressed by the inexpensive but good-shooting snubnose revolver. Recently, Taurus came out with a three-inch version, the Defender, and it is equally impressive.

This particular model is an aluminum-framed Ultra-Lite, one of two such guns in the sixgun 856 Defender lineup. These weigh 17.5 ounces, half of what the four all-steel models weigh. Overall length is 7.5 inches, and the width across the fluted steel cylinder is 1.4 inches.

I think the most outstanding feature on the 856 Defender is the front sight. While the rear is simply a gutter milled into the backstrap, the front is a day/night sight, which is not something you expect to find on a revolver with a suggested retail just north of $400. It’s an AmeriGlo, marked “H3 FJ,” for which I could find no details on AmeriGlo’s site. But no matter. It features a bright orange stripe into which a small tritium vial is set. It’s a sight that’s very quick to pick up in any lighting condition. It is pinned in place.

Taurus-856-Defender — The 856 Defender comes with a day/night sight from AmeriGlo: a tritium vial set in a broad, bright orange stripe. It’s a good, highly visible setup.

The three-inch barrel is of one piece and fully shrouded. The muzzle sports a slight crown to protect the rifling. It, the crane and the cylinder are matte stainless.

When I posted a range photo of the 856 Defender Ultra-Lite on Facebook, one visitor commented that I must’ve shot the gun really hot because the cylinder was discolored. While some of what he noticed was simply fouling, the gun’s appearance was also due in part to the fact that the steel parts are slightly darker than the anodized finish on the aluminum frame. It’s not quite two-tone, but I think it gives the gun a unique look.

The right side of the frame features the Taurus bull logo and “Taurus Int’l Mfg Miami, FL-USA” along with the serial and model numbers. The left side is stamped “Ultra-Lite” and “Taurus Armas Made in Brazil.”

The cylinder release is nice and big, and it’s serrated so your thumb won’t slip. The exposed hammer’s spur is likewise serrated.

The rubber grips come from Hogue. They have a pebbled texture, finger grooves and a dish at the top where your firing-hand thumb rests. They’re not full wraparounds, so a thin strip of the frame’s backstrap is exposed.

I actually prefer this in handguns that don’t have a lot of recoil because the lack of extra material at the back makes the grip a bit smaller. Even though I have medium-size hands, I almost always find that slimmer, smaller grips shoot better for me.

The trigger is what you’d expect. The double-action pull is relatively smooth, with typical stacking, and it breaks at nine pounds, 14 ounces on average. The single-action pull has a wee bit of creep and grit, and it breaks at three pounds, seven ounces.

I own one revolver with a three-inch barrel, a Ruger GP100 in .44 Special, and I’ve come to appreciate this barrel length. The extra inch of sighting radius over a snubby is a big advantage to my astigmatic eyes. Shooting with bifocals is hell, as some of you know.

The longer tube gives just a bit more weight out front, which tames muzzle rise a bit. The 856 Defender is chambered to .38 Special +P, and I found +P loads to be nicely controllable even though it’s such a light gun.

While the Black Hills HoneyBadger ammunition wasn’t the most accurate of the four loads I tested from the bench, it sure was the nicest to shoot because its light 100-grain bullets don’t generate a lot of recoil, making fast follow-up shots no problem. And from what I’ve read, this bullet design, with its fluted “fins” produces excellent terminal performance.

I thought the gun shot great from the bench. While it’s not apples to apples because I didn’t test the same ammo in both guns, but the longer Defender outdid the standard 856 by about a half-inch on average. And regardless of what ammo I fed it, the Defender acquitted itself really well in defensive-type drills.

The beauty of the snubnose revolver is that it makes a great carry gun for those who prefer revolvers. Yes, the Defender has a longer three-inch barrel, but unless you’re carrying it in a pocket—in a proper pocket holster, of course—the extra length isn’t going to affect concealability. Because it’s a lightweight aluminum frame, you’re bearing hardly any burden in terms of weight.

In the final analysis, I think the 856 Defender has a lot going for it. It has that useful night sight, it doesn’t weigh much, and it’s easier to shoot than a two-inch snubby. Couple that with its $425 suggested retail price, which will bring mid-to-high $300s at dealers, and you’ve got a dependable, shootable and affordable concealed-carry revolver.

Taurus 856 Defender Ultra-Lite Specs

Type: Single-action/double-action centerfire revolver
Caliber: .38 Special +P
Capacity: 6
Barrel: 3 in.
OAL/Height/Width: 7.5/5.0/1.4 in.
Weight: 17.5 oz.
Construction: Matte stainless barrel, cylinder, crane; anodized aluminum frame
Sights: Gutter rear, AmeriGlo day/night front
Trigger: Double action, 9 lb. 14 oz.; single action, 3 lb. 7 oz. (measured)
Safety: Transfer bar
Price: $425
Manufacturer: Taurus, TaurusUSA.com

Taurus 856 Defender Ultra-Lite Accuracy Results

Soviet 122mm D30 Cannon (Firing)

Israel to Expedite Civilian Gun Licenses After Jerusalem Attacks

Saeed Qaq/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty

by DEBORAH BRAND

Israel’s security cabinet approved measures to curb terrorism following deadly attacks in Jerusalem, including making it easier for Israeli civilians to carry guns and revoking residency and citizenship of terrorists.

“We will exact a price from those who carry out terrorist attacks and from their supporters,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting after two terror attacks rocked the capital.

The security cabinet passed a measure to make it easier for law-abiding Israeli citizens to procure licenses for carrying firearms, which in Israel is notoriously difficult.

“When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves,” National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, told reporters on Saturday night.

Netanyahu also said Israel would “strengthen [Jewish] settlements” in the West Bank “in order to make it clear to the terrorists who seek to uproot us from our land that we are here to stay.”

In perhaps the most controversial measure, Netanyahu said the cabinet would discuss “revoking Israeli identity cards and residency of the terror-supporting families of terrorists.”

An injured man is taken to ambulance as the police take security measurements around the shooting area after two Israeli settlers were injured in a new shooting attack in Jerusalem. (Saeed Qaq/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The Prime Minister’s Office said that Israel’s acting interior minister as well as its attorney-general would submit draft legislation on “revoking residency and citizenship of terrorists and removing them to the territory of the Palestinian Authority.”

Seven people were murdered, including a minor, in a terrorist shooting attack on Friday evening in Jerusalem’s Neve Ya’akov neighborhood while they were leaving a synagogue after Shabbat services. The attack occurred on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The terrorist, identified as Alqam Khayri, a 21-year-old resident of eastern Jerusalem, was shot dead by police while attempting to flee.

A second attack took place the morning after when a 13-year-old terrorist opened fire on a group of Israelis outside the Old City of Jerusalem, severely wounding two people, a father and son. The younger victim, an off-duty soldier, managed to shoot the terrorist, as did another member of the group, wounding him.

Mourners gather during the funeral of Eli Mizrahi and his wife, Natalie, who were victims of a shooting attack in east Jerusalem on January 27, 2023, in Bet Shemesh, Israel, on January 28, 2023. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed “strong” and rapid action on January 28 following two attacks in annexed east Jerusalem carried out by Palestinians, one of which killed seven people outside a synagogue. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty)

Both terrorists were from neighborhoods eastern Jerusalem, and as such have Israeli residency permits which grant them access to Israeli social security benefits including healthcare, welfare and unemployment payments and a range of other services.

A number of terrorists who carried out the attacks over the past year, which have left more than 30 Israelis dead, are Arab-Israelis with full Israeli citizenship. Such a move would see Israel stripping them of their rights.

Netanyahu called for arming more emergency response workers, who are often among the first people on the scene of a terror attack.

“Imagine if they … were armed,” he said, noting that history has shown “time and time again that heroic, armed, and trained civilians save lives.”