I recently bought a used Taurus 431,blued, 5 shot, K frame size, 3" barrel, fixed sight, .44 special revolver and I like it. This is the 5th .44 special I've had over the years (Charter Arms Bulldog, S&W 24, Charter Arms Bulldog, Rossi 720 and now the Taurus). I reload for almost every chambering I have so ammo is not a problem. I really like the .44 special cartridge for plinking and defense.
My favorite gun is an old beater Taurus 431 stainless steel revolver in .44 Special. I'm a cedar rat in the Southwest high desert—I guess you'd call me retired—and several years ago it became came clear that I needed something with more authority than my Marlin .22. So I traded a fellow some tractor work for this old revolver.
Hello. Some years ago, I bought this revolver as the price was right and examination in the gun shop showed it had a pretty good single-action and a usable double-action, though certainly not that of a Smith & Wesson. Unfortunately, S&W did not offer a .44 Special this size. The M431 is a fixed sight, 5-shot double-action revoler, having a 3" shrouded barrel. It is made of stainless steel with trigger, hammer, and internal parts appearing to be hardchromed steel. The pistol came with checkered, wooden grips. (I think they are Goncala Alves, but don't remember for sure.) I quickly replaced them with the black, checkered rubber ones offered by Uncle Mike's, now Butler Creek. The gun is very similar in size to an S&W K-frame.