Welcome back everyone! Today I just wanted to take a quick minute and do an update for you all on the review guns we have on the channel. If you're interested in any of these, you can pick them up at Brownells: Walther PDP Taurus 856 Taurus G3
For those of you that have been with me for a while, you know that the first gun we got in for review is the Walther PDP. My particular version is the 4.5 inch, full sized frame and is what Walther I think is calling the "V2" version with the updated slide pocket cut with reinforcements for optic mounting plates. We did an initial impressions video of it then got it out to the range to put some rounds through it. More recently I did a detailed optic mounting video with it where I mounted this Swampfox Justice and Ironsides protective shield combination.
Since you've seen it last, its been spending quite a lot of time at the range and pulling duty as one of my home defense guns. I have an Olight PL-Pro mounted on it now, and the Swampfox combo is still on there as well. To date I have a little over a thousand rounds through it and overall, I'm very happy with how it has performed. I've had no malfunctions with it shooting any kind of ammo, including commercial range ammo, my personal reloads for range ammo, and various self-defense loads. I have found one or two very small things that I don't quite love about it, but I'll save those for another time
Next we have what is probably the most popular gun in the safe, going by the sheer number of views and comments I get on videos of it...you all just seem to really like this thing. It is of course the Taurus 856 revolver, which is one half of our "Budget Defense" series. We did a first impressions video on it, took it out for some first shots, and then a second video where we replaced the grips, hammer spring, and trigger spring with aftermarket parts.
To date this 856 has a little over 300 rounds through it; I'm not quite getting through the rounds as fast as I'd like / progress is slower because I'm going through it 6 rounds at a time! .38 special is also a caliber that I don't have reloading dies for, so I'm much more at the mercy of market pricing and availability with regards to ammunition for this gun. I'm happy to note that even with the reduced power springs in it, I have not experienced any failures to ignite with any kind of ammo I've put through it. Since the last time you saw it, the only real change has been the addition of a factory Taurus night sight from the 856 Defender to it, which I really like. (I can do a video on it if you all want, let me know if that's something that you'd be interested in!) Overall I'm really enjoying my time with the 856; Its the first revolver I've ever personally owned, and I've learned quite a lot about revolvers from owning it.
Last but certainly not least, is the other half of the Budget Defense series, the 856's semiautomatic brother: the G3. This gun surprised me in a number of ways: first in how much I liked it, and second in the reaction it got....compared to the 856, it's been decidedly lukewarm. I expected videos on this to blow the 856 out of the water, but apparently the 856 is the more interesting of the two. Anyways, we did an initial impressions video of this as well, and the most recent video on the channel is the upgrades we did to this.
There haven't been any notable changes to speak of since that video, other than me swapping out the Streamlight for something more in keeping with the G3's "performance on a budget" ethos, another Olight. This one is a PL-2 Valkyrie that I've had laying around for a while with nothing to mount it to. Otherwise it's just been trips to the range for this guy; we're just about to hit 600 rounds. There have been no malfunctions or stoppages, though there have been 2 incidents where the slide has come off of the slide lock when seating a new magazine. It is worth it to note here that it happened both times with the extended magazine, which is the one that looks like it is NOT made by Mec-Gar, and it has only happened twice. I'm going to keep shooting it until I hit 500 rounds with the 856, and then I think that I might do the next video on them as a head-to-head overall comparison.
So that's the big update! The final thoughts on the PDP is in the works, and the finale for the Budget Defense twins will happen as soon as we can get some more rounds through the 856. Again I'm going to link to all the videos I mentioned below.
If you're interested in the PDP, the 856, or the G3, you can check those out at Brownells. That's all I've got for you this time, so until next time: stay safe!