Taurus 85 versus Smith & Wesson J Frame

V

vitesse9

New member
Someone told me that Taurus bought Smith's Brazil plant and so most Taurus revolvers are pretty much Smiths without the price tag.

How does the Taurus 85 really stack up to a .38 Special J Frame S&W?
 
j frame

I thought Taurus bought the an old Beretta plant, but I could be wrong. I have a S&W 637. Great little gun for $325.00
 
Taurus revolver's have always been pretty much Smith's.

But, it's the people that make the difference not the plant.
 
Yea, I hear what you're saying about the people, not the plant thing. I was just wondering what folks thought about the two guns and how they compared now.

Are the Tauruses as nice as Smiths, or just cheaper knock offs?
 
Don't get me wrong a Taurus is a fine gun, but I don't feel any Taurus really 'stacks up' to any Smith.

It's all personal preference. For 41 mag I prefer Taurus, for 357 I prefer Colt, for 44 I prefer Smith's......
 
Joab,

Thanks for the link. I just read it. Taurus makes a good case for their quality as compared to Smith & Wessons.
 
Taurus makes a good case for their quality as compared to Smith & Wessons
Click to expand...

They can make the claims but in reality it was old man Withers who would've gotten away it if it wasn't for those meddling kids.....in other words stick with a S&W and chances are your won't have to experience what several others already have with their Taurus'......dissapointment.
 
I have had several Taurus revolvers over the years since around 1985. I have never experienced any disappointment with the quality of any of them.

But I have been told since the 80's that I would, mostly by people who have never actually owned one.

I have no problem with their product I do have some issues with their politics of late
 
I have liked every Taurus I have owned. I have not used their lifetime warranty. The one negative for me is that Taurus "improved" the 92. The old one was just fine. I have bought three NIB S&Ws that were returned for warranty service or replacement. I have had terrible functionalty issues with Kel-Tec also. I have liked every Taurus I have owned.
 
Other than looking somewhat alike, the Smith and the Tarus have pretty much different lockwork, and other design features.
I have both, and shoot both. I often carry a 85 CH. I bought two of them at a gun show, thinking that when one wore our, I had another. I still carry the original, and its in like new condtion, after about 8 years of use.
 
Between a smith and a taurus

if the same model was 25% less for the taurus, I'd still buy a smith. I think that the quality it worth the price and then some. Trust a Taurus, yes, but would still take a smith over one
 
I bought a new Taurus M85 Ultra-lite .38 spl. The cylinder locked up after the first shot was fired. I called them up after printing out their warranty form on the website. I had to pay overnight shipping $35 (S&W would have picked up the shipping tab). I got it back after over a month, and went to the range. Again, it locked up solid after the 2nd shot this time.

So, I called them up. They told me I would have to ship it back to them again. They refused to pick up the shipping price, even though it was going back due to their incompetance! I asked them to consider replacing it if they could not fix it. They said they would have to attempt to fix it two more times before they would even consider replacing it! So, I would have $105 in shipping costs on a $180 gun before they would "consider" replacement of it.

I asked them to check the computer and tell me what was done the last time to it when they had it for repairs since they didn't send a repair order when it was returned (S&W always sends one). They said they "cleaned and inspected" it and found nothing wrong. I would think they would at least test fire it, but I guess that was too much work for them.

I sold it, disclosing the problems with it. All Taurus does is make a cheap copy of someone else's guns, like S&W and Beretta. But, with the cheap gun comes a cheap warranty. "Lifetime" warranty, that's a joke.

Buy a S&W and you also get a company who will completely stand behind their products without hassles.
 
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