Are Taurus revolvers *that* bad?

C

Carmike

New member
Hello all,

I'm thinking about buying a .357/.38 revolver (probably 4-6'' barrel), just for a plinker, and I mentioned that I might look at a Taurus to a good friend of mine (who has much, much more experience with firearms than I do). He just about spit out his drink and then said I should get a Ruger or a S&W and to never, ever, ever mention the word "Taurus" in his presence again.

Has the quality of these firearms improved recently? I know they were pretty crappy some time ago, but it seems like I've been hearing more good things about them in recent years.

I *could* afford a Ruger or a Smith, but since this will be a range gun only, I'm leaning towards saving some cash and putting those savings towards a different gun.

Thanks for any feedback!
 
I can only go by my experience with my one Taurus revolver. I have a Judge Public Defender Poly, and have had no issues that can be bled on the gun.
In fact another Taurus wheel gun is on my short list. The model 992 22/22Mag convertible.
 
25 years ago Taurus made some fine pistols and revolvers. However Taurus has had quality issues in the recent past, probably due to ramping up production to meet the demand. Personally, I would go with your friend's advice and get a Ruger or S&W. You may pay more, but when you get ready to trade or sell, you will be glad you did. Plus, in the meantime you will be enjoying the quality.

That is my 2-cents worth.

Gene Pool

Edit: I was a gun dealer and competitive shooter for 30 years.
 
He just about spit out his drink and then said I should get a Ruger or a S&W and to never, ever, ever mention the word "Taurus" in his presence again.
Click to expand...

This is akin to die hard Ford or Chevy people. I have an uncle who is a die hard Ford guy, and when my cousin brought home a Chevy the summer after her first year of college, he refused to let her park it in his driveway. It's the same kind of thing.

Some people get really hung up on brand names, and they will not accept that anything good can come from "x" company. Most of them have a story about a single bad experience, sometimes not even their own ( I had a buddy who owned one of those, and he said it sucked, etc.).

I suggest doing some independent research. Read and watch reviews of the guns you are thinking about - try to find actual consumer reviews, since the gun magazines and sponsored websites are not likely to be as up front about the negatives of any given product. If your research leaves you with a good feeling about a firearm, give it a try.
 
^^^^this. Taurus make decent guns. Where they fall short is in the finish department which why so many folks just hung up on them being junk. Ive seen more smiths need to go back to the factory than I have Taurus/Rossi/heritage. Heck I had a Rossi lever action that never gave me a single hick up as well as a taurus pt145 that ate everything I fed it.
 
I worked at a small gun shop back in 2009. Taurus then was hit and miss at least. Some of the revolvers we got in stock would lock up (cylinder lockup) and not even work. Some were fine. Some of their auto loaders came back and had to be sent in for repair. Most were gone, to Brazil at the factory, for over 6 weeks before they were sent back. Some came back again after repair and were taken in as trades on something else. But many owners have Taurus guns that have given them many years of perfect service.

For the record, I have never owned one. I am only giving the account of what I personally experienced while working in the business.
 
I would stay away from Taurus autos (other than a rare few models I won't get into now), but their revolvers seem to work as advertised. They aren't smooth, or well- finished, but they work.

I just shot these two back to back a few days ago, and the quality difference was dramatic.





Both fired with every pull of the trigger, and both hit their targets.
 
I've owned a number of Taurus revolvers over the years. I've never seen anything wrong with them. A couple of them, a Model 65, a 66 and a 431, I'd have put up against any Smith & Wesson I've ever owned, and I've owned plenty of Smith & Wesson's. There wasn't anything wrong with the others, just those three really stood out. The others were all good solid guns.

Now they were all "old" Taurus'. From the 80's to early/mid 90's I guess. All were purchased used. "New" one have never interested me, but then "new" Smith & Wesson's, or Rugers don't interest me at all either.

My rule is to look at each gun as an individual. I check them all out before I buy them.
 
IMO Taurus revolvers are OK but not anything special for the money. I've shot a good number of them over the years and they all tended to go bang when you pull the trigger, with an exception of a raging bull in 454 that locked up after only 50 rounds.

Still, my preference is for Smiths and Rugers. I probably won't ever buy a Taurus.
 
My experience with Taurus revolvers is limited to only two.

A model 83 .38 special in stainless manufactured in 1995.
The DA trigger is a little heavy, but smooth and crisp.
The fit and finish in my opinion is quite good, it really is a beautiful revolver that fired in SA will shoot jagged 1 to 1.5" groups in a ten yard bullseye all day long.
Due to the trigger in DA those groups will open up to twice that size, but it is a very accurate revolver that is a pleasure to shoot.

Second is a model 85 No View DAO .38 special manufactured in 2015.
This is a ridiculously ugly little runt of a five round cylinder that has just enough to hang onto in order to discharge those five rounds, almost enough.
It is a belly gun and a curiosity nothing more, with a decent fit and finish that has functioned exactly as it should thus far.
There is no pleasure in shooting it however as it will draw blood with very few rounds fired, though if you found yourself in a situation where you needed it I don't think that would be of much concern.

I do intend to acquire others in the future without reservation but will scrutinize each one individually like CajunBass.
 
The great thing about smith's is there is bazillions of them on the used market also. Some can be had for what you would pay for that taurus. I have had two Taurus revolvers a Model 94 that would spit lead because of a timing issue and a Raging Bull in 44 mag. which was fine, was accurate, fit and finish ok (not an OLD Smith by far) and was reliable.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
I have one Taurus revolver, a 617 Ti. its had 2,000 + rounds of assorted 38 special and .357 Magnum ammo through it. Its always functioned well, not great but well.

It appears that Taurus makes two different classes of handguns good working guns, or guns that will never be right no matter how many trips it gets to their warranty station. Also keep in mind that the resale value of Taurus products is almost nil.
 
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Here's my 30 year old Model 66. Triggers smoother than any of my Rugers and its as accurate as any of my S&W's.
 
in my experience and what I witnessed with others, it is NOT that Taurus revolvers are bad, it IS that their customer service is terrible.
 
Taurus firearms were decent a couple/few decades ago. Finding a decent contemporary Taurus firearm is a crapshoot at best.
 
My first handgun was a Taurus M65, still have it, never had a problem with it. I also have a .38spl and a 9mm Taurus revolver. They are decent, serviceable firearms. The few revolvers from Taurus that I have seen had issues (lemons) from the factory and they got fixed up fine.

Their autos are not something I would even mess with, just too many issues. Every firearms company has their plus and minus issues, but I would not hesitate on a Taurus revolver if it has the features you want.
 
There, indeed, was a time (in the late 1980s and early 1990s) when Taurus revolvers were preferred by gunsmiths for making action pistol competition guns.
But companies change, personnel come and go and the world spins.
And past performance is no guarantee of present or future success.
 
I've owned several Taurus revolvers and, in my experience, the smaller ones work better than the larger frames. Had a Model 85 that shot very well but had a 66 that shot out of time in less than a hundred rounds of .38 Special.
 
Taurus

At the range I once shot at there were a couple of guys bragging about how many times Taurus had fixed their revolvers for free.
If you will not be depending on the Taurus to defend yourself or your loved ones and can afford a higher quality firearm do it.
Another purchase option would be a used revolver. Many have lived in the sock draw most all their lives after being shot a few times. You might even get the rest of the box of ammo too.
 
I worked as Gun Room Manager for Sportsman's Warehouse for five years, and in that time, I sent back more Taurus revolvers for warranty service than every other firearm brand we carried, COMBINED. The Judge was the worst crap of all. That said, there are a bunch of Taurus revolver owners who will say, "Well mine has been trouble free for the past 8 years." Yes, most work just fine, or Taurus would be out of business, but they have far more problems than any other revolver I've had experience with, and my experience wasn't with one revolver... or two... or a dozen... it was with hundreds. On the other hand, Taurus autoloaders seem to be a good deal; I can remember sending only two back for service.

Taurus's warranty service is great... if you're a big chain like Sportsman's Warehouse. If you're an unlicensed individual, good luck.
 
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