The Taurus Expedition
I must say, Taurus engineers made some good decisions about this rifle’s design. If I were going to put together a rifle for hunters, I probably would do it in much the same way.
The Expedition is obviously focused on the hunting public, based on the large hunt graphic on the box it came in. But the rifle appears to offer more than just a companion for your hunting trip, boasting a bunch of features that most hunting rifles don’t.
Related: Taurus Shows off an Affordable 10mm, New Revolvers, and its first Bolt-Action Rifle
As a fanatical enthusiast of both hunting and precision riflery, I was impressed at the list of characteristics of this initial offering from Taurus. I was optimistic and hopeful that the rifle would produce results just as impressive.
Action
The Expedition is a bolt action that uses the popular Remington 700 pattern, which automatically gives it a leg up in the aftermarket. The action of the Expedition uses a three-lug bolt instead of the traditional two-lug. This results in a shorter bolt throw – something I’ll go into more later. It also uses an M-16 style extractor and dual plunger ejectors.
Keeping the bolt secured in the action is done by a left-side spring-loaded stop, very much like those found on custom actions. I like and prefer this design over other designs due to its higher strength. The bolt handle is skeletonized, which reduces weight, and it also appears to have a removable bolt knob for customization.
Inside, you’ll find a single-stage trigger and safety very much like the Remington design. I assume, but intend to confirm, that aftermarket 700 triggers will also fit the Expedition.
The rifle is fed by detachable AICS box magazines, which are basically the standard for precision rifles. The rifle comes with a polymer five-round magazine, but I also planned to try some 10-round poly and metal magazines.
Stock & Barrel
The rifle stock is synthetic material and incorporates a few secrets as well.
Underneath the forearm area are flush M-LOK slots for attaching accessories like bipods or other support items. There is also a Spartan Precision tripod receiver mount in the forearm, allowing rapid attachment or removal from a Spartan bipod or tripod.
The barrel for the Expedition is quite compact. The .308 Winchester, in my experience, does well with short barrels like this one, cut and threaded at 18 inches. Inside the barrel is a 1:10 twist rate, which does well for most common .308 Winchester ammunition offerings.
Related: Happy .308 Day – Why The Mighty .308 Round Is Still Relevant
Externally, there is a handsome helical finish detail that almost looks like fluting, which adds to the sharp look of the rifle. The muzzle is threaded 5/8x24 to fit most .30-caliber muzzle accessories and suppressors, which I intended to add.
Range Expedition
Before heading to my mountain shooting spot, I prepped the Expedition with all the accessories it would need. I attached a Nightforce 20-MOA scope base, to which I attached my Kahles 318i riflescope in Vortex 34mm low rings. This was a perfect fit for the little Taurus and a good match for the kind of shooting I would do with such a rifle.
I also attached a Harris bipod to the front sling stud and grabbed my Yankee Hill Machine R9 suppressor. Shooting the rifle suppressed as well as with my PVA Jetblast self-timing muzzle brake would make it soft shooting, whether loud or quiet.
I grabbed a few boxes of some different ammunition for testing, including some inexpensive PPU 150 FMJ ammo for rough zeroing the rifle as well as some Hornady 168 Match and Desert Tech 175 Match for accuracy testing.
Shooting the Taurus Expedition
With the rifle ready to shoot, I laid on my shooting mat looking downrange. With the rifle shouldered, I ran the bolt a few times, and in that I found the only thing so far I found to nitpick about the rifle.
Most bolts, when you close them, have a feel. You can feel the cocking piece hang up on the sear, and you can feel the lugs engage as the bolt knob is pushed down. This bolt clearly had two different sensations of friction. The first feels quite normal, while the second has a bit of a spike in tension but immediately drops off.
I disassembled the bolt out of curiosity and was rewarded with a fix. The bolt handle is affixed to the bolt body using two machine screws. I found that one of them was not seated completely in its bore. After cleaning and Loctite-ing both screws, the bolt sensation was gone.
While shooting the rifle, I also noticed that it was really easy to accidentally engage the safety. I think my fat handling the bolt is likely to blame, but those are basically the only things on this rifle that gave me any issues.
The feeding of cartridges through the rifle is fantastic. Empty cases are thrown well clear of the action so consistently that you could fill the box back up. I mounted a tripod foot to the M-LOK stock so that I could shoot the rifle from an elevated angle. I also really like the butt-hook that was added to the bottom of the buttstock profile, a perfect place for support hand.
Recoil & Accuracy
The factory trigger on the Expedition felt fine to me – nothing out of this world but certainly as good as most rifles in this price category. And since this is a Remington copy, I expect I can fit one of my aftermarket triggers in it.
This rifle weighs in at almost exactly 7 pounds, which is great for hunting, but it also makes the felt recoil a little stouter than a heavier rifle. Don’t take that as bad. It’s just that when you are used to 10 and 12-pound rifles, this one will kick a bit more. The rifle was very pleasant to shoot, especially suppressed.
My biggest concern for this rifle was accuracy, because without accuracy I’d have no further interest. After a few boxes of ammo were spent, I set up a target at 100 yards. Shooting the DTM 175 match ammunition, I fired two five-shot groups. The first one included a cold bore shot that hit about .75 inches high. If you were to throw that shot out, the following nine shots would have still gone in around .5 MOA. That is pretty good, in my opinion, and exactly what I was hoping to see from this rifle.
Shooting the Taurus Expedition at long ranges also proved it to be very useful as a hunting rifle. Picking off targets at distances like 400 to 600 yards was easily repeatable. Milk jug-sized targets were completely unsafe within the range of the little Expedition and I. Hitting similar targets even at 1,000 yards soon proved to be quite doable.
Pros & Cons
I already went into detail on the few things I disliked about the rifle, so I don’t feel the need to drive it home any further. The things I like about this rifle are far more interesting.
The stock of the Expedition may not win any beauty contests, but it does have some great advantages, like the M-LOK slots, the Spartan tripod mount, and the AICS magazine system. The only thing I might suggest is either an adjustable comb or a good stock-pack. The included five-round magazine worked flawlessly, but I think I will use my MDT mags more often.
The attractive finish of the barrel looks great, and it performs in kind. The bonus of a threaded muzzle is a must-have nowadays. The accuracy of the rifle is great, and the fact that all my Remington accessories will drop into the rifle is another huge bonus. So is the use of AICS magazines, which also makes me think that the logical next step from Taurus is a competition model.
Final Thoughts
Taurus’ Expedition is jumping into a competitive space in the rifle market, with other manufacturers offering affordable accuracy as well. Rifles from Tikka, Ruger, and Savage will all undoubtedly give the Expedition a run for the money. This rifle has a lot going for it, though, and I liked it even more than I expected to the first time I picked it up.
I intend to endure with this little Expedition for as long as possible. Long-term endurance over the course of a couple hunting seasons will surely show if this rifle is worth its asking price. If you are looking for a rifle in this price point, it is worth a look. Taurus has changed my mind once already, so it could happen again.
