Taurus Expedition 3-EXP308181 308 Winchester

Several major manufacturers are producing new firearms totally outside their normal niches, examples of which include the new Expedition rifle from Taurus and the new CBX Tac Hunter, a bolt gun from Colt. 

That’s right, a rifle from Taurus, the handgun specialist. Their new bolt gun is one of the newest examples of lightweight, short-barreled hunting rifles so popular today. It is chambered in 308 Winchester and sports a polymer stock that is easy to carry and use, while also being set up for easily attached tripods and bipods. MSRP is $985, but we are seeing street prices around $765. 

Long famous for their AR-15s, Colt is making the CBX bolt gun, $843, with a flat-bottomed fore end along with an angled pistol grip, a short-cycling bolt and controlled cartridge feed. These design elements should appeal to the hunter as well as a precision shooter. 

How We Tested

Based on their dimensions, we can see that both rifles are short and handy, but can they shoot? We found out by firing the rifles at American Shooting Centers in Houston, using the same three loads we did with similar 308s in the August 2024 issue. The first was a Hornady Custom Lite 125-grain SST reduced-recoil load. Next were 150-grain Power-Shok rounds from Federal. Last came a load from Black Hills Ammunition featuring the 168-grain open-tip match bullet (OTM). As with our previous test on two other handy 308s, we used the excellent Eotech Vudu 1-10x scope for our optic. The size and magnification of the Eotech seemed to be a perfect match for our imagined uses of these rifles. 

Taurus Expedition 3-EXP308181 308 Winchester,

$765

Gun Tests grade: B

We really liked the stock on the new Taurus Expedition and how well it was designed to mate up easily with the bipods and tripods. The trigger was great, though we couldn’t get the rifle to group under 1 inch, so we subtracted from the grade. 

What is the big dang deal about short-barreled guns today? That decrease in barrel length is going to cost velocity and downrange energy. The thinner barrels commonly used tend to heat up more quickly. The lighter weight means the rifle will recoil a bit more. On the plus side, the shorter barrels mean can positive things. What about the hunter who really is walking back into the hills? Every ounce less that he has to carry is very important. Or what about the burgeoning numbers of hunters who have discovered the health benefits and recoil reduction offered by the use of suppressors? A shorter barrel helps offset the six or more inches and more weight to the end of the rifle they are trying to carry in a backpack or maneuver in a stand. 

Taurus is well known for its handguns, especially for their snub-nosed and hunting revolvers. The word is that Bret Vorhees, Taurus Holdings president and CEO, is also an avid hunter, and he decided that handguns alone weren’t enough and that Taurus needed something with a bit more range in the lineup. The goal, it seems, was to get something good enough to really use and affordable enough to buy.

Weighing in at just under 7 pounds, the Expedition has an 18-inch-long hammer-forged barrel that immediately gives the rifle its own unique look. The hammer-forging process is just what it sounds like, with machinery pounding stainless-steel material around a mandrel. The result leaves a spiral look on the surface of the steel that many companies just machine to the round. Taurus decided it was good to go as is, leaving helical flats for the length of the tube. The muzzle end of the medium-weight barrel ends in 5⁄8×24 threads per inch and a supplied thread protector. The breech end is secured to the action, with a recoil lug sandwiched in between via a barrel-nut system resembling the design that works so well for Savage. Both the stainless-steel barrel and action are finished with DLC (Diamond Like Coating) and should resist rust.

We’ve seen quite a number of new rifle models or new rifle companies bringing long guns to the market lately. When you look at modern sporting rifle types, perhaps the most important question is “Is it Mil-Spec?” That is, will standard military-specification compliant parts fit? If so, an enormous world of aftermarket parts is at your fingertips. No less important for bolt guns, the question may well need to be what footprint it uses, with the Remington 700 pattern, perhaps, being the most widely accepted. The Expedition does indeed use the Remington footprint. Triggers, replacement stocks, and accessories galore are already available for any change you might think necessary.

Taurus may use the Rem 700 pattern, but the company’s engineers added their own touches. The bolt body is fluted to save more weight. Taurus decided on a three-lug bolt that allows a 70-degree bolt throw, which we liked, but the change in geometry also created a problem for us. A standard two-lug bolt has the raceways horizontally opposed in the sides of the action. Most three-lug versions, by necessity, are more triangular. This creates the need for a raceway under the rear bridge of the receiver and requires material to be taken out of the receiver, leaving a thinner structure into which holes are drilled and tapped for scope mounts. The Taurus Expedition specs #6-48 screws, and we ordered lightweight Talley Mounts with that pattern. When installed through the mount and into the receiver, the standard-length screws bound against the bolt body to the point where it could not travel to the rear far enough to pick up a round from the magazine. Forget about removing the bolt at this point. 

Once we figured out what was happening, we substituted new #6-48 screws that were only 0.25 inch long, and everything worked fine. Just be aware of the issue. After that, the Expedition ran like a house afire. 

The rest of the action was great. The bolt uses dual spring-loaded ejectors and an AR-style extractor. Release is achieved by depressing a lever on the left rear side of the receiver. The bolt handle is fluted, as is the swept-back bolt knob. The knob is threaded on and can be replaced, if desired. The safety is a two-position rocker switch we would expect. The bolt shroud has a projecting piece that serves as a cocking indicator. 

The ejection port is open on both sides to save a bit of weight. The trigger appears to be adjustable, but adjustment screws were Loctited down, so we didn’t change anything. From the factory, the trigger was crisp and averaged 2.6 pounds of pull weight on our Lyman digital scale. The bottom metal was polymer, but it fit well and did a great job of housing an AICS-pattern magazine. A five-round polymer version shipped with the rifle. It and all the metal 10-round AICS mags we tried worked fine. The mag catch is a paddle located on the front of the trigger guard and is easily accessed by the support hand or the strong-hand index finger. 

We were also pleased with the stock. It was polymer, but it didn’t feel cheap. The surface is dark gray, with a speckling treatment that lends a secure grip. The fore end is reinforced to the point where we had to apply some real pressure to make the stock contact the barrel. Just resting it on a bag or bipod shouldn’t be an issue at all. The forward tip of the fore end is grooved for fingers, while a 4-inch section of the sides is flat for use with a tripod and clamp. The bottom of the fore end is flat and has two M-Lok slots for a short section. If you don’t like the M-Lok, there is also a QD slot for Spartan Precision mounts as well. The stock sports an almost vertical pistol grip that enhances positional shooting, along with a butt-hook-like protrusion on the bottom of the stock to help your hand nestle everything back into your shoulder. The comb is raised, but neither cheekpiece height nor length of pull is adjustable. 

This Taurus Expedition smoothly cycled every round we tried through it, no matter what AICS pattern magazine we tried. The 150-grain Federal Power-Shok was the favorite ammo, with a best 0.71-inch group. However, that was the only group that we recorded that was under a minute of angle. That said, every group nibbled around the edge of the sub-inch standard, yielding an aggregate average of 1.22 inches. 

Our Team Said: We thought the stock’s 14-inch length of pull might be a little long for some folks, and we would love to see it shortened a little and come with a spacer system. While we would prefer to see an adjustable trigger, the unit installed in the rifle did very well. We also think that Taurus included many features we would not expect to see on a rifle with a street price under $800, and we applaud how well equipped the Expedition was.

We tested at American Shooting Centers in Houston. For accuracy testing, we fired multiple three-shot groups at 100 yards with the rifles supported in a Caldwell TackDriver Bag (Brownells 100-027-023, $49), further supported by a large rear bag, heavy from Tab Gear (TabGear.com, $34).

Written and photographed by Joe Woolley, using evaluations from Gun Tests Team members. GT