I'm at a bit of a loss

N

Nine the Ranger

New member
So the lone revolver I own is a Taurus Model 80 in .38 (S&W Model 10 clone) nice medium frame gun that I scored a great deal on ( $100 OTD) so I figured it'd make a nice house gun until finances allow something else, then it'd make a nice truck gun or backpack gun.

And it does great at it's job 5 out of 6 times. Everytime I load a full cylinder, and on the same chamber everytime the gun comes to a screeching halt. No double action, no single action, it just will not rotate to the next round. Now I can open the cylinder and manually rotate it past the problem spot. Now I've disassembled it and nothing looks worn or broken so I'm positive that is not the issue so I'm convinced that it's a timing issue or perhaps a burr in the metal that's causing friction.

Thoughts anyone?
 
Rotate your cylinder and watch the gap between the end of the barrel and the cylinder face to see if it remains even. If it closes or gets more narrow at one point, maybe the face is off, so that it is binding at that particular point in the cylinder rotation.

Especially if this starts to happen after firing a few rounds, the carbon can start to bind it up if the gap is too small.
 
Now there is a clue. Perhaps there is a hunk of lead etc down in that cylinder that is causing the ine round to sit high and drags the cylinder. Use a flash light and look down inside the offending cylinder.
 
Not meaning to belittle anyone or anything (though I do not have a high opinion of Taurus), it seems like you found the reason why you got such a great deal on the gun!

If you've ensured there is no foreign object/crud and can't see anything obviously wrong, its time for a trip to the gunsmith. A qualified gunsmith.

And, bear in mind that getting it fixed might cost more than the $100 you have in the gun already.

I once got a great deal on a Llama Commanche. Seemed like a good medium frame .357 and the price was about half the going rate.

It was a nice gun, unfortunately, it would reliably fire only 4 of 6, and not always the same 4!!! Sold it to a gun "tinkerer" for what I paid (he was being kind), with him being fully aware of its issues.

Since then, every revolver I've owed for serious use (and nearly all the non-serious ones) has been a S&W, Ruger, or Colt. I've had ZERO mechanical issues with the couple dozen of them I've owned over the last 4 decades.

Take your Taurus to a gunsmith, and see if the problem is worth fixing. If yes, you've got a decent, (but not, in my opinion, great) .38. If not, you got a lesson on how sometimes, a great deal, really isn't.

Good Luck!
 
It might just be crud/lead build-up in that particular chamber. Test the theory out with a good hard brass brush. If you don't have a gun cleaning kit, time to spend $10 at the local Wally World.

One quick dirty way to test for timing is to ON AN UNLOADED GUN - S-L-O-W-L-Y cock the hammer back and release the trigger while holding the hammer on every chamber. You will feel the action in your hands cycling through. A timing issue will appear when there's a binding sensation on pulling back the hammer. You will feel it.

If it is a timing issue, you may need to take it to a 'smith. However, for a Taurus 80, I'd personally would not waste the money. If it's a light-duty timing issue, you can try to wiggle the cylinder as you are doing the above before-during-and-after the chamber that is binding. Do it 20 to 30 times. Being serious here.
 
I spoke with Taurus the other day about a used revolver I was interested in purchasing, and ultimately did.

The representative told me that they will provide a mailing label for $50.00 to mail the firearm to them. Parts, labor, and return shipping is on them.

Their warranty on their products is for life. Their mailing label is cheaper than you can ship it via FedEx or UPS. If it were me, I would consider sending it back to them and letting them try fixing it.

Mind you it may take some time, and could have limited success based on the endlessly posted stories on the web. I tend to believe that if all of those stories were true, Taurus would not still be able to market revolvers, but that's just me.

Certainly worth a shot, and you'd only be in for $150 total. More than likely less than what you'll pay a smith to mess with it.
 
So after a detailed, white glove level of cleaning the crap out of this revolver if it malfunctions after a test tomorrow I'm going to trade it towards something else and let it be someone else's problem.

Still after cleaning God only knows how much gunk out if the action I must say that the trigger pull is lighter and the gun did not lock up during a test of spent cases so I have high hopes.
 
I shoot .38 Special often in my .357 Magnums. I have a short section of an old cleaning rod, with the end threaded for a bore brush. I chuck this in my drill press and run it through the chambers of cylinders that have crud build-up. I use a slightly larger caliber brush than the gun's caliber, i.e. a .41 bore brush in the .357.

Bob Wright
 
I spoke with Taurus the other day about a used revolver I was interested in purchasing, and ultimately did.

The representative told me that they will provide a mailing label for $50.00 to mail the firearm to them. Parts, labor, and return shipping is on them.

Their warranty on their products is for life. Their mailing label is cheaper than you can ship it via FedEx or UPS. If it were me, I would consider sending it back to them and letting them try fixing it.
Click to expand...

TaurusUSA only guarantees those guns that they themselves imported. Those surplus guns imported by another importer (such as the guns that came in a few years ago from CAI) or those that came in before TaurusUSA became the importer for Taurus in the US are not covered by their warranty. I'm pretty sure that last Taurus 80 came in before TaurusUSA took over Taurus imports. So, it is very possible that the OP's revolver is no warrantied. It can't hurt to contact Taurus and ask though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top