Taurus 608; Worth the Gamble??

From an owner of one . . .

I have a 6" 608 in bright SS. Very very accurate. Perceived recoil with full house 357 loads is less than a S&W Model 10 or a Taurus 82 due to the weight & porting. Trigger is super smooth, but it was worked on. It's an older no lock model. 8 rounds of Doubletap makes for a decent house gun.
 
I have eleven Taurus® revolvers.............
• Mdl 85B2CH 38 Special - 1994
• Mdl 669SS4CP 357 Magnum - 1996
• Mdl 85B2 38 Special - 1997
• Mdl 617SS2 357 Magnum - 2003
• Mdl 605SS3 357 Magnum - 2006
• Mdl 85SS2UL 38 Special - 2007
• Mdl 605SS2 357 Magnum - 2010
• Mdl 605SS2 357 Magnum - 2012
• Mdl 425SS2 41 Magnum - 2012
• Mdl 85SS2UL 38 Special - 2012
• Mdl 992B4 22lr/22Mag - 2013

All have performed superbly and I continue to shoot them all almost every week.

I have only encountered two problems.........
• Mdl 85B2CH broke a firing pin after 11,000+ rounds. I replaced the firing pin & it's still going strong.
I have zero complaints with Taurus® customer service. The one time I had to send a gun in they fixed and returned it when they said they would. Specifically.....................
• Mdl 617 developed excessive cylinder to forcing cone gap (.011") after almost 6,000 rounds. I sent it to Taurus® and they replaced the cylinder and adjusted the crane and yoke. I've since put 2,000+ rounds through it and it's still going strong.

I will not hesitate to buy additional Taurus® revolvers. They are an outstanding value.
• [B]www.taurusarmed.net[/B]
 
Can't speak to revolvers but, my Taurus TCP PT738 (.380acp) has been flawless through the first 500 rounds. :cool:

That led me to become interested in a Taurus PT709 Slim in 9mm.

That has also been flawless for 1500+ rounds. :cool:

That led me to become interested in a full size 9mm. Enter the Taurus PT809 9mm that I picked up yesterday.

Can't wait to get some range time in with it this weekend! :)

Taurus has stepped up their game......do you understand what an ISO certification means?

Then again, maybe I'm just INCREDIBLY lucky! :D
 
Taurus may have had a bad rap in the past but since the new CEO took over, they are working very hard to get out of their past and make things right, including CS & QC.
 
just took out the 357 rossi m92 today for the first time, 400 rounds of all kinds of off-the-wall cast boolits, all cycled flawlessly and it shot great

i dont care for the rear bull-horn sight, but its a great gun so far

this is my second taurus ive been pleased with, have the 357 poly protector with prob over 1k w/o issue

i dont doubt peoples problems, but i think the majority have good experiences, with the dramatic cost savings you have to expect you may have to deal with CS with some
 
608

I have the ss608 6". 357 .I have been reloading and shoot about 200 to 300 rds every weekend at the range. My favorite round in 125 bullet 21.8 grns w296. I don't mind the ports. The shockwave hits your face. It is one of the loudest calibers to begin with. The porting adds to it. I haven't had any problems mechanically. Smooth trigger out of box. I bought it in 2005 I think. I do have some flame cutting, but I use it for testing some terrible trial loads. I pushed a 125 bullet over 1700 with this gun.
 
I have owned a couple of Taurus revolvers over the years and have shot many. I've never had an issue with them. But, I will say this. You can tell pretty easily a difference in quality between them and a Ruger or Smith.

I had a Taurus 66 for a little while (sold it to help finance my Glock 35). It worked just fine. I never shot .357 out of it. I had probably a thousand rounds of .38 sitting in my closet at the time and was content just to shoot that until I ran out. But, the Taurus did just fine.

Now that I own three Rugers and one S&W, I probably won't buy another Taurus. It's not that the Taurus is "bad" per se (at least not to me). It worked. If I had nothing else to carry, I'd feel fine with it on my belt. But, there's just a very noticeable step up in quality when you look in a Ruger or Smith.

The materials in the Smiths and Rugers seem... more subantial? I can't think of another way to express it, but they just "feel" sturdier and better finished. I like that, and it's why I now choose Ruger as my primary revolver brand. I like Smiths, too, when I have the extra cash. If I find myself on hard times, I'll pick up a Taurus. But, I just have more confidence with my Rugers because of that feeling of sturdiness.
 
I bought a new 608 and the cylinder locked up after 50 rounds. Brought it back and got a Ruger GP100.

I recently got another Taurus, a Judge, and the trigger stopped resetting. Traded that for a S&W.

I'll never buy another Taurus.

By the way I really don't mind the locks on my Smiths. I travel a lot for work, and I think it limits my liability if a dishonest maid digs through my luggage and finds a gun when I'm out where I can't carry. Not like having a safe, but that's hard to do on the road.
 
Thanks for everyone's comments. I still haven't made up my mind, but am leaning towards grabbing my 7-shot 686 and riding off into the sunset. 8 shots would be cool, but getting a revolver that binds and locks up (seems to be a fairly common complaint regarding the 608) would only frustrate me.

By all means, keep the comments coming from those that have first hand experience with the 608.
 
I've got a few Taurus handguns. I've had a lemon, but am overall satisfied with Taurus.

I don't have the 608, but I have a full-size 7 shot Taurus (I don't recall the model #). It's solid, reliable, and heavy! It was my first revolver and it was very affordable.

I take chances on Taurus but at below market value and only due to the warranty.

If I were searching for a new revolver, and something I was going to rely on I would probably look to Ruger or Smith, and be okay with 6 shots and speedloaders.
 
I've had good luck with my father's Taurus Revolver, but that's a very small sample size. If you have the money for a Smith, I'd honestly wait till you find one.
 
Bought a new one 5-6 years ago. About 4000 rounds (.357s) later she's still a good runner. Nice trigger too. Not as nice as my S&W 327 R8 M&P or my 627 V-comp, but, hey, it was 1/3 the price.

TBS, I never had to send it back for work like my 627 or my 327. I sold it to my bro with faith.:D
 
I've had 1 Taurus revolver, a Model 85 that did have to go back to the factory for repair right after I bought it. This was back in the early-to-mid 1990s. The barrel was cranked in too far, canting the front sight so it wouldn't shoot anywhere near POA, & it had light primer strikes shooting DA. Once returned, it was fine. Sold it to a friend who AFAIK still has it.

FWIW, my 686-2 had to go back to S&W to have the cylinder gap adjusted.

I currently own (2) Taurus semi-auto pistols; a PT940 (.40S&W) & a PT1911 in 9MM. Haven't shot the 1911 enough yet to offer a solid opinion but it hasn't missed a beat when I have taken it out. The 940 is a gun I've thought of selling numerous times as it is the only .40 that I own & I have enough different calibers without it. But I always take it out to shoot up my ammo before I sell, & when I do I'm reminded of how well it shoots. It's just dead accurate, even compared to my higher end 1911s. I always clean it, put it away & forget about selling.

If there is a Taurus I like, I wouldn't think twice about buying it.
 
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