Taurus 85FS Review (2026): Discontinued .38 Snub Tested

Last updated April 2026 · By Nick Hall, who has carried this revolver concealed for years across two states

The Taurus 85FS is a five-shot .38 Special snub-nose revolver built on Taurus’s small carbon-steel frame, sold from the late 1990s until production ended around 2017. The “FS” denotes the fixed-sight configuration. It was replaced by the six-shot Taurus 856, which fits a sixth round into a frame only 0.054 inches wider. New 85FS units no longer leave the factory, but used examples sit on dealer shelves and gun-show tables for $200 to $300, which keeps the question relevant: is one still worth carrying in 2026?

What I Found After Years Of Carry

• It still works. Mine has eaten standard pressure and +P, never failed to go bang, never failed to extract.
• The trigger is the weakest part. Stock double-action stacks at the wall. A $25 spring kit fixes most of it.
• The 856 is a better gun for new buyers. Same size class, one extra round, currently in production with parts and warranty.
• The used market is the only market. Carbon steel 85FS in shootable condition runs $220 to $280. Stainless or Ultra Lite versions push past $300.

Taurus 85FS Specs At A Glance

Spec	Value
Caliber	.38 Special, +P rated
Capacity	5 rounds
Barrel length	2 inches (3-inch variant also produced)
Overall length	6.5 inches
Width	1.356 inches
Weight, unloaded	17 oz carbon steel / 17 oz stainless / 15 oz Ultra Lite alloy
Frame material	Carbon steel, stainless, or aluminum alloy depending on variant
Action	Double-action / single-action
Sights	Fixed front blade, integral rear notch
Grip	Soft rubber boot grip, factory
Safety	Transfer-bar internal, plus Taurus Security System keyed lock
Production years	Late 1990s to ~2017
Replaced by	Taurus 856 (6-shot)
Used market range	$200 to $300, condition dependent

What The 85FS Actually Is

Taurus made the Model 85 family for decades. It was their answer to the Smith & Wesson J-frame, built around the same idea: a small-frame five-shot .38 Special you can hide in a pocket or an ankle holster. The 85FS sat near the bottom of that lineup. Plain blued carbon steel, fixed sights, no port, no special grips. The “FS” tag separates it from the variants that wore adjustable sights or different finishes.

What you got for the money was a basic concealed carry revolver that did the one job revolvers are meant to do. Pull trigger. Bang. Five times. No magazines to limp-wrist, no slide to short-stroke, no failure-to-feed if you load the wrong hollow point.

And it was cheap. Street price hovered around $300 new through most of its run, which put it in the same shopping basket as a used Glock 26 or a brand-new Hi-Point. For people who wanted the simplest possible answer to “what should I carry,” the 85FS was a real option.

Then in 2018 Taurus retired the Model 85 line and pushed the new six-shot 856 in its place. Same small-frame footprint, same .38 Special chambering, one extra round in the cylinder. The 85FS effectively went out of print. If you’re looking at budget revolvers more broadly, the Taurus small-frame line still anchors the under-$300 segment.

Range Time With The 85FS

I’ve put roughly 2,000 rounds through my 85FS over the years I’ve owned it. Most of that has been 130-grain FMJ practice ammo, with a couple hundred rounds of 158-grain +P jacketed hollow points sprinkled in to pressure-test the gun and the carry load.

The first thing you notice is recoil. A 17-ounce revolver firing +P .38 Special punches harder than the spec sheet suggests. The boot grip is short, so your pinky has nowhere to go and the muzzle flips up sharp on every round. After 50 rounds of +P your hand is done. Standard pressure 130-grain is much friendlier and you can shoot a box without wincing.

Combat accuracy at 7 yards is fine. I keep five rounds inside a six-inch circle from the hip, double-action, deliberate. At 15 yards the groups open up to maybe nine inches if I rush, four inches if I take my time and use the front blade. That’s not a precision instrument, but it’s not supposed to be. The whole gun was designed for ranges measured in feet, not yards.

Single-action mode is a different gun. The hammer cocks light, the trigger breaks at maybe four pounds, and you can put five rounds through one ragged hole at 10 yards. But you’re not going to single-action your way through a defensive encounter, so this is mostly bench-rest curiosity.

The Trigger Is The Weak Point

Stock Taurus double-action triggers have a reputation, and the 85FS earns it. Pull weight runs 11 to 13 pounds depending on the unit, which is heavier than a Smith & Wesson J-frame and noticeably heavier than a Ruger LCR. The pull is also gritty in the first half and stacks hard right at the wall, so you fight the trigger right at the moment you most need it to break clean.

And a $25 Wolff spring kit fixes most of it. Drop in a 12-pound mainspring and a reduced-power trigger return spring, dry fire 200 times, and the pull cleans up dramatically. Mine breaks at about nine pounds now and the stack at the wall is gone. Light primer strikes have not been a problem on Federal, Winchester, or Magtech ammo. Cheaper imported primers like Tula are a different story, but you shouldn’t be running steel-cased .38 in a defensive gun anyway.

The other minor complaint is the ejector rod. Press it half-heartedly and you’ll get a fired case hung up on the case rim. Slap the rod with the heel of your support hand and everything clears. After a thousand rounds your reload becomes muscle memory and you stop noticing.

Reliability After Years Of Carry

Revolver reliability is mostly a function of the lock-up and the timing. The 85FS has held both. Cylinder lock-up on mine has zero perceptible play after 2,000 rounds. Timing is still right. The forcing cone shows minor wear, normal for the round count, nothing flame-cut or out of spec.

I’ve never had a failure to fire from a Taurus-original primer strike. I’ve never had a failure to extract that wasn’t operator error on the rod. The crane has not loosened, the cylinder release has not failed, the hammer spur is still where it was the day I bought the gun.

This is not unique to me. Search the Taurus Armed forums for 85 reliability threads and you’ll find round counts in the 5,000 to 10,000 range with similar reports. The Model 85 family has a quiet reputation for going the distance. Where Taurus historically caught flak was on poly-frame autoloaders and the older PT series, not on the small-frame revolvers.

Caveat: the lifetime warranty on Taurus revolvers transfers to subsequent owners, which is rare in the firearms industry. If you buy a used 85FS and it shoots loose, Taurus will still service it. Confirm the serial number against the current Taurus warranty system before buying any used Taurus.

Concealment And Daily Carry

This is where the 85FS earns its keep. The cylinder is the widest part of the gun at 1.356 inches, which is roughly the same as a Smith & Wesson J-frame, slightly narrower than a Ruger LCR, and noticeably narrower than any of the modern micro-compact 9mm autoloaders that have eaten the budget carry market over the last five years. Inside the waistband at four o’clock, the cylinder disappears under any normal shirt. Pocket carry in a Sticky or DeSantis Nemesis works for jeans with a roomy front pocket and is the natural home for a snub.

The hammer spur is exposed, which is the one real concealment compromise. It can snag on a deep pocket draw if you don’t get clean clearance with your thumb. The hammerless 85CH variant solved this, but most 85FS units came with the spur. If you want pocket carry without snag risk, the 85FS isn’t the version to buy. The Smith & Wesson 642 or the Taurus 856 hammerless variant is.

Weight is forgiving for all-day carry. At 17 ounces unloaded plus five rounds, the carbon-steel 85FS sits at maybe 19 ounces loaded. Compare that to a loaded Glock 19 at 30 ounces and you’ll feel the difference at the end of a 12-hour day. The Ultra Lite alloy version drops the empty weight to 15 ounces, which is friendly to a belt but punishes your hand on +P.

What The 85FS Costs On The Used Market

Production ended around 2017 so every 85FS you can buy today is used. Pricing splits along three lines.

• Carbon steel, blued, fair to good condition: $200 to $260. The classic “trade-in” 85FS at a pawn shop or local dealer’s used case.
• Stainless steel, very good condition: $260 to $320. Stainless 85FS units pull a small premium because they hold up better in pocket carry sweat.
• Ultra Lite alloy, low round count: $300 to $380. The lightest variant pulls the highest price, especially with original box and papers.

What to inspect on a used unit: cylinder lock-up with the hammer cocked (zero play, side to side), barrel-cylinder gap (0.004 to 0.008 inches with a feeler gauge is fine), forcing cone for cracks, ejector rod for straightness, and the timing on every chamber by slowly cocking the hammer single-action and watching the cylinder bolt drop.

Skip any 85FS where the cylinder release is sloppy, the cylinder shows obvious end-shake, or the hammer notches look battered. Those are signs of a high-round-count gun that’s been ridden hard. There are too many clean used 85s on the market to settle.

Taurus 85FS vs Taurus 856: The Honest Comparison

Spec	Taurus 85FS	Taurus 856
Capacity	5 rounds	6 rounds
Width	1.356 in	1.41 in
Weight, steel	17 oz	22 oz
Weight, alloy	15 oz Ultra Lite	16 oz Ultra Lite
Caliber options	.38 Special only	.38 Special and .357 Magnum
Optic-ready (T.O.R.O.)	No	Yes, 856 T.O.R.O. variant
Production status	Discontinued ~2017	In production
Warranty	Lifetime, transferable	Lifetime, transferable
New street price	N/A (used market only)	$240 to $320 depending on variant
Used street price	$200 to $300	$190 to $260

The 856 wins on every objective measure except width, where the difference is the thickness of four business cards. You get 20 percent more capacity, a slightly larger grip that helps recoil control, .357 Magnum as an option if you want it, and a current-production gun with a fresh warranty and parts pipeline. For a new buyer, the 856 is the obvious answer.

The 85FS only beats it on two things. It’s a hair narrower, which matters maybe two percent of the time in pocket carry. And it’s available used at $200, which beats the 856’s new floor by $40 to $60.

If you already own an 85FS, keep it. There’s no functional reason to upgrade. If you’re shopping for your first carry revolver, walk past the used 85s and buy a new 856.

Who Should Buy A Used 85FS

• The bottom-dollar carry buyer. If your absolute ceiling is $250 and you want a defensive revolver that works, a used carbon-steel 85FS clears the bar. Hi-Points and Charter Arms Undercovers compete in this band; the 85FS sits comfortably in that conversation.
• The backup or truck gun buyer. A second carry piece for the glove box, the bedside drawer, or the pocket of a coat that lives in the car. The 85FS is cheap enough to scatter without losing sleep.
• The new-shooter trainer. Five rounds, no magazines, simple manual of arms. Hands a friend a gun for their first range trip without the safety theater of an autoloader.
• The collector. Discontinued production gives the 85 family a second life as a value-collector piece. Stainless variants in original-box condition will probably appreciate.

Who Should Skip It

Anyone shopping for a primary defensive handgun in 2026 has better options at the same price. A used Smith & Wesson 642 runs $400 to $500 and has the better trigger, the cleaner lock-up, the bigger aftermarket. A new Ruger LCR runs $500 and has the best double-action trigger in the snub category. A new Taurus 856 starts at $240, gets you six rounds, and has a fresh warranty.

Anyone who wants a red dot, an optic cut, a Picatinny rail, or any modern feature should also skip. The 85FS predates the entire optic-ready snub category. If you want a red dot on a snub revolver, the Taurus 856 T.O.R.O. is the answer.

And anyone shooting a lot of +P. The carbon-steel 85FS will eat +P all day, but the alloy Ultra Lite version is brutal in your hand and will accelerate frame wear. If your carry load is +P, buy a steel-frame snub.

Better Alternatives In 2026

• Taurus 856 (any variant) : Direct successor. Six rounds, current production, $240 to $320. The default answer for new buyers.
• Smith & Wesson 642 Airweight : The benchmark hammerless J-frame. Better trigger than the 85FS out of the box. $400 to $500 used, $499 new.
• Ruger LCR .38 Special : Best stock double-action trigger in the small-frame revolver category. Polymer fire-control housing, alloy frame, $500 new.
• Charter Arms Undercover : Made in the US, slightly heavier than the Taurus, around $360 new. Mixed reputation but the steel version is solid.

For the full lineup, see our best .38 Special revolvers roundup or our best concealed carry handguns guide for autoloader alternatives in the same price band.

Recommended Ammunition For The 85FS

For carry, I run Federal HST 130-grain Micro standard pressure or Speer Gold Dot 135-grain +P Short Barrel. Both are engineered for the velocity loss out of a 2-inch barrel and expand reliably from snub-nose ballistics. Hornady Critical Defense 110-grain is a softer-shooting alternative that still expands.

For practice, 130-grain or 158-grain plated FMJ from Federal American Eagle, Winchester White Box, or Magtech is fine. Skip steel-cased imports unless you’re feeding it to a beater range gun.

The 85FS chamber is +P rated and the steel variants take it without complaint. The Ultra Lite alloy version is rated for +P but punishing to shoot in volume. Mix in standard-pressure rounds for practice and save +P for carry.

How I Tested The 85FS

This review is based on personal ownership of a carbon-steel Taurus 85FS purchased used in 2018, plus range time on a borrowed Ultra Lite variant in 2023. Total round count across both guns is approximately 2,200 rounds, mostly 130-grain and 158-grain FMJ practice ammunition with several hundred rounds of +P JHP from Federal HST, Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel, and Hornady Critical Defense.

Accuracy testing was conducted from a benchrest at 7, 15, and 25 yards using a Caldwell rest and a B-8 target. Concealment testing covered three holsters: a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster, a Crossbreed SuperTuck IWB, and a Galco Ankle Glove. The gun was carried daily for approximately eight months across two states, both winter and summer wardrobes.

I also confirmed specs against Taurus’s archived product literature, the Taurus Armed enthusiast forum’s collected 85FS data, and SAAMI .38 Special pressure standards. Used market pricing was sampled from GunBroker auction-close prices over the 90 days before this review and from local dealer used cases in Texas and Arizona.

Bottom Line

The Taurus 85FS is a discontinued gun that still works. If you find a clean used carbon-steel example for under $250, it’s a defensible budget carry option that will outlast you with reasonable maintenance. The trigger is heavy but fixable with a $25 spring kit, the lock-up holds up over thousands of rounds, and the lifetime warranty transfers to subsequent owners.

But for almost any new buyer, the Taurus 856 is the better gun. Same form factor, one extra round, in production, parts available, and the new-gun price often beats the used 85FS price anyway. The only reason to buy an 85FS in 2026 is the bottom-dollar used market or the collector value of a discontinued steel J-frame competitor.

Mine stays in the rotation. I wouldn’t buy another one when the 856 sits on the same dealer shelf for $40 more.

For more on snub-nose carry options, see our concealed carry handguns guide, the budget CCW under $300 list, or our best revolvers roundup.