My take on Taurus

F

fisherman

New member
As I promised, I would test my new 380 Spectrum when I got it and try to give you an honest evaluation by an amateur. I got the gun from my dealer when we returned to the frozen North from wet, cold, South Texas. Weather bad this winter down there. As far as looks goes, I love it. It is stainless with white frame and turquoise grips. I like innovation and "different". I cleaned the grease out of the slides and oiled it with a light gun oil. Went to the range with my other two semis also in tow. Plan was to shoot 50 rounds through all three guns. Of course I had to start with my "new toy", the Spectrum. The gun would not feed a round out of the clip when I racked the slide. The slide stuck open on the lip of the first shell and the shell would not leave the clip. I turned the gun over and gave the slide a light tap on the wood shooting bench at the gun club. It snapped shut and loaded the round. The trigger pull is obviously the safety. I have never been a fan of heavy triggers on anything but actually got used to it after about 21 rounds and was hitting center of mass constantly at 15 feet. Since those initial firings I can hit about an 8" circle in center of mass with point and shoot method and rapid fire. The almost no recoil makes it especially pleasant to shoot and helps stay on target during dump the gun shooting. The gun never jammed, failed to fire, or failed to load after the initial fail to load on that first round. It did the same thing for two more clips and then it has not happened since. Interesting, but no explanation as to what caused it or cured it. Perhaps it was just not final fit and finished like we somethings believe is done and it just wore in. I am not sure. I decided to start an experiment to shoot all three of these guns for three 50 round separate visits to the range without cleaning. After two more trips to the range and 50 rounds each visit, there were absolutely no issues. The 22 PolyPly, 9MM Slim, and the 380 Spectrum all are shooting flawlessly. When I got home on Saturday I just could not help myself: I cleaned the guns. I just do not like leaving a gun dirty. It is against everything I have done in these 75 years plus of life. So now I am looking at the Curve. I just love "different", and Taurus has certainly provided that. They also shoot as well as anything I have seen at the range.
The only problem with my Purple poly ply and my White and Turquoise Spectrum is the number of people that want to look at them at the range. Always a few folks around that have never seen a purple or a white pistol !!
Always bring it.
 
Pretty sure I know the cause of the failure to feed...
Never had an issue with Taurus, and those I’ve owned in the past we’re all fine guns, for what they were.
 
If you know the failure to feed please tell me.

If you know the cause of the failure to feed I had with the spectrum please inform me as to the issue. Thanks for your help.
 
One problem is loading a new magazine to full capacity then expecting a very light spring to push off that first round, the Spectrum has a very weak recoil spring in my opinion. I normally load 1 or 2 round short with a new gun until broken in seems to work for me.
 
Thank you

That is an interesting observation wingman. I never thought of that but it sounds entirely feasible. Maybe a touch of lube oil on the top of the clip after the last round is loaded would let it slide out. Just a thought.
 
It’s not the next to last round, it’s the pressure of the round against the feed lips... I wouldn’t recommend putting any kind of lube on any case. Just asking for more problems
 
Yes, it is the pressure from the mag spring stronger then the recoil spring, sometime loading a full mag and allowing it to set for several days will work. Good thing at the range we can load 2 or 3 rounds and see how it functions.
 
A Taurus TCP has been my choice for a pocket 380 for years now ... I bought 3 while on sale at a LGS last year .. gave each of my nephews one ..( that is nephews over 21)
 
The gun seemed like a very comfortable option when I held one in the store, and I loved the dimensions, but the trigger felt like it had sandpaper in it somewhere. I tried three different guns and they all had that same gritty, crunchy feeling. Did yours, and if so, did it smooth out any?

I ended up with a Beretta Pico for $220 that's run great for me so far and has actual sights, although the Spectrum fit my hand a little better and of course looks cooler. The Pico's mag release is also hard to get used to.
 
I've never owned a Taurus so I don't have any first hand experience. I've kind of always been biased against them, though. For not a lot more money you can step up quite a bit in quality (or at least more consistent quality), and you'll spend a lot more than that difference in price on ammo over time.
 
I've shot 'em -- never had a strong opinion one way or the other on the Millennium G2, or .... the other one I shot ... can't recall! I did shoot one of their stainless revolvers once, and that seemed like a very well made product.

Stories around Taurus often seem to be 90% "never had a problem" and 10% "never had anything but problems."

Your price observation is very true -- Taurus held a place in the budget, but not too budget, category. But when you can pick up new S&Ws, Rugers, Walthers and Springfields for $350 it gets kinda dicey as to Taurus' value proposition, unless their prices completely bottom out. That, and there are about 5 new brands of plastic striker gun announced every week it seems!

Look at our new innovation! It has a trigger, sights and shoots bullets!
 
My only issue with Taurus is that they love to change models and leave the older models with no magazines or other support. If you have A Taurus you like stock up on magazines!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I'm no longer a Taurus fan. I had a PT-140 for several years. It would occasionally have feed problems and hang up but I still used it as my concealed carry gun. I tried to trade it in and upgrade and was told no can do. The gun is on recall. I sent it to Taurus asking that they send me a 40 cal replacement but their policy is to only send a 9mm G2C or G2S. I am tooled up to reload 40 S&W and I even cast my own bullets so the 9mm was of zero value to me. I used the new-in-box G2C as a down payment on a Beretta 96A1. Got all of $110 for it. Woo Hoo!

I wouldn't be so disappointed if they had simply sent me a 40 cal replacement. I have in excess of 20 boxes of 40 cal ammo. I did not think that was an unreasonable request to send me a 40 cal instead of a 9mm. The guns are priced the same. No more Taurus for me.
 
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IdaD said:
I've never owned a Taurus so I don't have any first hand experience. I've kind of always been biased against them, though. For not a lot more money you can step up quite a bit in quality (or at least more consistent quality), and you'll spend a lot more than that difference in price on ammo over time.
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I hear you and I concur, except as it pertains to the Taurus PT92 AR, stainless. The company bought the factory from Beretta and they hired the Beretta factory workers, some of them Italian. And the company claims it uses better metallurgy than Beretta --- claims it made when the military models were suffering from frame separation issues.



Back in the 80s I bought a few Taurus 92s, and found them to be as reliable as my Beretta. But alas, the finish and accuracy weren't quite up to snuff. So I sold them and bought a couple of S&W 659s, which I still have and love. But a few years ago I got the PT92 AR. Not only was the finish gorgeous, the accuracy was greatly improved, at least on my model. I shot it once and it's been there ever since. But it's a gun I would recommend to anyone. And the 92's safety system is far superior to the Beretta's. It has a hammer drop and a cock and lock. Plus if you buy the Taurus, you'll have quite a chunk of change left over!

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IdaD said:
I've never owned a Taurus so I don't have any first hand experience. I've kind of always been biased against them, though. For not a lot more money you can step up quite a bit in quality (or at least more consistent quality), and you'll spend a lot more than that difference in price on ammo over time.
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I was not a fan or Taurus based on the bashing they were getting but I traded for one to see if they were as wrong as they were about the Hi-Point I bought. The old Taurus 84 I got was a good gun and I ordered a new TCP. I liked it and bought a new PT111-G2 followed by a used 605 and then a new 856. They are all good and reliable guns as is the Heritage Rough Rider (bought before Taurus bought them). I shop around a lot before I buy a gun and the price difference between a Taurus and "brand names" is substantial and frequently the brand names are over double the price of a Taurus. I don't find my S&Ws and Rugers to be a lot better than my Taurus' considering the price difference.
 
I’ve had a couple friends f Taurus and my only complaint is the trigger
The both were reliable and had a decent finish. All in all a good value for the money.
 
I’ve had a couple of Taurus and my only complaint was the trigger. Long pull.
They were decent guns for the money and mine were very reliable.
 
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