My take on Taurus

[Carl the Floor Walker]

I tested the Taurus. I am a pocket gun enthusiast with 10 years of shooting them on a regular basis. I have to say I was really looking forward for the Spectrum to be a winner when compared to other Aluminum Chassis Pistols like the LCP and the Keltec. I really liked the fact that they copied the modular take down of the Beretta Pico, I thought the grips looked nice and would perform well.
I have never owned a Taurus, but have never bashed their products and know many guys at my club that own them and love them.

I was really disappointed with the test. The gun just did not handle well at all. I found it to be on the sloppy side. Recoil was terrible and the gun might as well not have any sights at all. I point and shoot these small guns but use the sights for fast action in the Peripheral sense. But the Small sights on the Spectrum just seemed to disappear.
I usually do very well shooting all pocket guns, but this gun I was shooting was all over the place. Very hard to get any good groups.

The other problem was constant light primer strikes. It became so frustrating, I just did not want to shoot it any longer. I made it up to 50 rds, but that was it for me. Primer light strikes were on a mixture of ammo.
I did not go into this test to think it was the quality of the Beretta Pico or Kahr CW380, but this gun was not something I will add to my collection.

As far as the New Taurus, TX200, it is something I really want to try out. I have read many good reviews and looking forward to testing this 22. I did have a chance to hold one at the local LGS and it felt very good in the hand. Have to say at this point it is batting a A plus.

 

[wingman]

My Spectrum has been excellent, accurate very little recoil, small green dot of paint on front sight does wonders, limp wristing and not cleaning firing pin channel is the big problem with this small pistol. First box of ammo I found trigger to be rough however
after 400-500 rounds that has become more smooth.

 

[Mosin44az]

If you have a Taurus, better hope you never need any help from them. I’ve been waiting 3 weeks plus for a side plate screw, still no word....

 

[steve_kyle]

Taurus makes great stuff at a solid price point. But their customer service isn't exactly the stuff of legends...

That being said, my TX22 is fantastic!

 

[OhioGuy]

Thanks for the review on the Spectrum. I was going to buy one for $250, when I found a Beretta Pico for $220. The Pico definitely had the better trigger and a decent set of sights. Oddly enough my first 100 rounds had failures to feed exactly as you've described here. They eventually went away, I guess it "broke in." Occasionally when I'm racking a first round, the slide will stop just short of fully into battery -- for a second -- and then go into battery. I haven't seen that happen in live fire.

I don't think feeding issues are uncommon with pocket guns. That fact makes me nervous sometimes. If "pocket revolvers" actually fit in pockets, I'm sure I'd be carrying one of those for the reliability aspect. Plus I'd feel much more like Dirty Harry!

 

[USNRet93]

If "pocket revolvers" actually fit in pockets, I'm sure I'd be carrying one of those for the reliability aspect. Plus I'd feel much more like Dirty Harry!

I have a Taurus M380 with a 'ClipDraw' on it and it fits into my shorts pocket no problem..

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

I've owned like 5 Taurus pistols over the last 30(ouch) years or so----never had a problem but all have been traded off for something else.

Don't know if I would seek out another Taurus but wouldn't feel bad if I owned another one either.

 

[PlatinumCore16]

I have owned a PT709 for years. Tended to not like cheap, practice ammo. However it pretty much didn't choke when using self defense rounds. Until it did... Didn't feel comfortable carrying it after that. So I changed up for something different/better quality.

Now I happened to stumble upon a great deal on a G2 myself and due to the double stack, yet small footprint, I took a chance. It has been fantastic thus far. And what's nice is that it has all of the exact same comtrols as my original PT709. Feels just like an old, well-fitting glove in my hands and I've become less worried about reliability the more I put through it. Glad to hear your spectrum is likewise working out for you.

 

[Stargater53]

Well, a gun either works or it doesn't.

In fact, if a gun is 1) reliable, 2) accurate, and 3) durable, it's a good gun, regardless of who makes it.

I've got a Jennings J-22 that's reliable and accurate, but it's not durable. It's thus what it is.

I've got a Davis .32ACP that meets none of the above. The only way it would be effective would be if I put it in a bag and used it it to knock someone's teeth out with! I could get off one shot before it jammed, then use it to club a person to death with if I had to. I'm waiting for a gun buy back to come to Washington, D.C., and hoping I could get rid of it that way. It's purty, but virtually useless. I'd like to try it with a different magazine, but don't want to spend the money for one. I might then have a gun with two magazines that wouldn't work.