My Taurus saga ends

C

coppinger

New member
I have posted on this board previously of my experience with my first Taurus purchase. I thought I would tell you all for any future Taurus buyers out there. First I bought a new 4" SS Tuarus 608 in June. Two days after I buy it I discover Jm March's article on how to eval revolvers (Thanks again Jim!). Lo and behold 5 of the 8 holes are not aligned with the barrell with cylinder rotational play in 7 holes. I send it back unfired to Taurus with a promise of 2 week "express" service. SEVEN weeks later I get it back and now 2 are now misaligned, the cylinder play is still there and someone gouges the backstrap (? behind the hammer) with what looks like a rough file and the cylinder collar is galling the frame everytime you swing the cylinder up. I decide to shoot it before I send it back again and of course its spittiing all over the place and my shot groups look like shotgun patterns.

I send it back again and this time I am calling them every other day. I find out that even thou they have gunsmiths and "senior gunsmiths" at the Taurus facility in Miami they have "repair technicians" which (I guess) do most of the repairs. I asked one of the gunsmiths-who I will say was helpful- who checks the work that is done. Surprise-the answer is nobody checks the work-no QC dept., no "senior gunsmith", nobody. I get it back 2 weeks later and yes they relieved and polished out the galling on the frame nicely, the cylinder locks up nice and tight with absolutely no cylinder play on all 8 holes, and everything is lined up perfectly.
Unfortunately when the file (or gouge) marks were removed from the backstrap they must have used a blast media to get the matte finish back after it was polished. There was grit in the barrell, cylinder holes, the ejector rod made crunching noises when you pushed it and after pushing the cylinder up into lock up the front locking bolt underneath the barrell froze up in the compressed position. Evidently the grit binded the spring up in there to the point it would not release and lock onto the extactor tip. After lots of solvent, wd-40, and compressed air I was able to clean it out.

So what am I going to do? I sure as hell am not going to shoot it! I'm going back where I bought it and trading it in on a used practicaly new 4" ss Ruger GP100 and a police trade-in 3" ss GP-100. They are almost going to give me what I paid for it back as long as I give it back "factory repaired".

A lifetime warranty is no good if the repair work requires 2-3 trips back to the factory to get done right. Taurus- I gave you a shot with my first (and last) revolver purchase, and yes you have some very appealing models- but your QC just absolutely sucks!!:barf:
 
Sooo, they finally got it right, but the gun was dirty, so your not gonna fire it but instead return it? I don't understand. Why dont you just clean the gun?
 
He did clean it, Max.

He shouldn't have HAD TO. That should've been done by the yokels at the warranty station. Inexcusable, IMO, especially when they knew you were incensed about it and it was the second go-round in their shop. I don't blame you one bit.
 
Okay, I agree that he shouldn't have had to clean the gun. On the other hand at this point what he has is a New and Mechanically Perfect revolver which is what he wanted in the first place. So you're going to get rid of it for something that he didn't want in the first place? I'm a big GP100 fan, but where's the logic in that?
 
To get fine grit out of all the places it gets into would require a complete detail strip, which is not trivial. Then, a pressure rinse with solvent into every nook and cranny. The guy shouldn't have to be a senior gunsmith to own a gun and shoot a new gun.
 
"I don't understand."

It's a loss of faith in the product and the company that makes it.

Sad to say looks like Taurus just lost a customer for all time.
 
That's too bad, when Taurus gets it right, they are very good, but I keep hearing of these sorts of things and then poor Customer Service on top of it. Makes me real leery of buying another one.
 
So if you see an almost new looking 4" Taurus 608 at your gun store, remember this thread.

Or, every used gun is one somebody else didn't want.

Seriously, that is the reason I do not recommend Taurus. They make some good guns. And they make some... Well, anyway, I don't recommend them.

Jim
 
Let me explain a bit further if I may....

After getting the revolver back from Taurus I had to decide did I feel comfortable with this gun-would I trust my life or my family's life with it. This is my one and only pistol other than a 12 gauge shotgun and a FN FAL. All of my firearms are for one purpose-self-defense or a shi* hits the fan scenario. I don't have the resources to collect firearms for fun or leisure. One of the reasons I bought the 608 is that it holds 8 rounds. My thinking was in a self defense situation 6 is good-8 is better. The whole reason I bought a revolver was the reliability issue. The only other 8-shot is S&W's, but at $700-800 that is not an option. So I gave Taurus a try. In hindsight I think the Taurus 608 design is flawed. There has been some discussion on this forum that 7 and 8 shot revolvers might have timing problems. I think there might be some truth to that. Plus the forward locking bolt design on the Taurus has a lot to be desired. I found that if it got the least bit dirty it would freeze in the compressed position or the released position. Several times I had a hard time getting the cylinder to lock up after shooting only 100 rounds through it before I turned it in the second time. In fact I bet that there are a lot of Taurus pistols out there with the locking bolt seized-up in the compressed position and the owners don't even know it. You have to be looking closely at it to see its position.

Anyways I was given the choice-trade it in from the factory in a like new conditon for a Ruger GP-100 that probably only had a box of ammo through it-or keep it and take the chance that it won't go out of time with full house loads through it, or the locking bolt won't seize up again or whatever else might happen. In the end I just did not trust the product. I took home the GP-100 home today and its built like a frigg'n tank! Hopefully it will prove as reliable as it looks.:)
 
If they started cleaning pistols their backlog would go from 6-10 weeks to 6-10 months. I'm going on week 5 for my 650 CIA to come back, when it finally does I'm trading in that canoe anchor for a J-frame.
 
One of the other guys at work wanted to buy a .44 Magnum revolver, for back country carry, but couldn't afford the asking price of the new S&W's ... He bought what his budget would allow, which was a Taurus.

As the master armorer is a friend, he offered to go through the revolver and check it out. This is something he does for all new weapons, by the way, not just because it's a certain make or model.

The revolver required some "adjustments" to make it fall within "acceptable" specifications, one of which was straightening the ejector rod ...

I agree Taurus is starting to make some interesting revolvers, but I still have a vivid memory of watching someone remove a Taurus .38 from a shoulder holster ... open the cylinder to check the charge holes ... and the cylinder fell out to the ground when he tipped the revolver ... :eek:

I must point out that this happened many years ago, but the image has remained ...
 
Taurus- I gave you a shot with my first (and last) revolver purchase...
Click to expand...
Personally I think Taurus makes some good guns and everyone can make an occasional lemon (unforunately, when its SIG or Ruger people say "You/I/He...just happened to get a lemon" and when its Taurus people say "Taurus is bad"). Of course in your situation when you are the receipient of said lemon plus Taurus' bad service on the warranty end it is understandable that you have decided not to trust them or this gun. However, I hope you meant that this is your last Taurus revolver purchase and not that it is your last revolver purchase. Even if you don't want to get another Taurus there are some great guns out there by Ruger and S&W, especially on the used gun shelves, that you shouldn't deprive yourself of. Revolvers, as you are soon going to learn, are some of the best, and least appreciated, types of guns out there.
 
Actually my ill feelings is not just directed at Taurus but also S&W as far as their revolvers go. Taurus has some nice looking, well designed, smooth as silk, tight locking revolvers, they are a great value and their lifetime warranty is a big plus. However, almost every post about Taurus auto's here on TFL as well as GT are not good. In fact I don't think I've seen 1 single post praising Taurus auto's. Now when I went to get my 650 CIA I paid $299 new which included the lifetime warranty, a 1 year renewal in the NRA, and a nice case with a snap cap, in other words a pretty good deal. The revolver was tight in fit and finish, the trigger was smooth as silk (a little stiff though) but it had a nice clean break. After I saw the deal I went home that day and looked high and low on TFL and GT about Taurus's revolver quality, I saw very few knock posts against Taurus in terms of their revolvers line so I picked up the 650 CIA. Round number 9 shooting Federal Classic 125gr .357 the gun locked up completely and the action would not budge nor would the cylinder release. Well, after posting my 1st experience with Taurus everyone came out of the woodwork to post their poor experiences with Taurus revolvers, my question to them; Where the Hell were all of you before I bought this damned thing?!

As far as the "the new Smith and Wesson," well, I miss the old S&W. I miss the S&W who didn't jack prices sky high, I miss the S&W who actually took care to make sure only good quality parts were used, not cheap junk. I also miss the old S&W who actually had a good QA department and did not ship crap. "The new S&W" may have proactively fought to get out of all the Clinton era crap, and succeeded in most cases, but it came at the expense of their quality. All new S&W revolvers have the worst triggers possible stock, a good example would be close to a FEG pistol. Not to mention their new internal locks should be an option not a mandatory feature.
 
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