Taurus: what wrong with them? (Titanium Tracker)

J

jdthaddeus

New member
I am eyeballing that new Titanium Tracker with the 4" ported bull barrel and 7 rounds of .357 by Taurus.
That is one sweet package. It is light, and holds lots of power, and the porting can't be a bad thing on a .357.

I am just woundering about the quality of Taurus. Some people say that Tauruses are not very high quality. Am I setting myself up to be disapponted if I buy this gun?

I like the gun because it is not a *&*, it looks bone cool (!), it feels really good in my hand and I love the grips, it has the perfect qualities I want (barrel length, capacity etc), and it is lightweight but not too light.
Everything about it looks like the revolver I am wanting, except that it is stamped "Taurus" and some people say that that is bad.

What is lacking in a Taurus, and whatever it is that is lacking, can I get it remedied with some work (for instance, if the trigger is rough, can a gunsmith just smooth it up?)
 
I've the stainless Tracker. This is one sweet revolver!

Granted, Taurus has had it's quality problems, but so have Colt, S&W, Springfield.

I've had a total of 6 Taurus revolvers. I own 3 now (Tracker, 85UL and an older Model 607). I sold two other stainless 85's when I bought the 85UL. I sold a Model 669 (similar to the Tracker except 6 rounds vs. 7) when I bought the Tracker.

I had problems with the 669 and the 85UL initially, but Taurus did a great job in repairing them (the 85UL tended to lightstrike the primers...I believe the lighter springs may have been to attract women buyers, but they caused reliability problems).

However, the Tracker has had several hundred rounds through it with no problems. It's now my primary house gun (the 85UL is my most carried piece).

As far as the Titanium vs. the Stainless: the Ti version is about $250 above the SS. I, personally, prefer a little more heft to a .357. Also, I don't think the Ti is worth the extra money for a non-carry gun. The 85UL was about $529...200 bucks more then a SS 85. But the weight differential for a carry gun did make that a value-added purchase.

Buy either Tracker...you'll love it!
 
It is a lot of gun for the money. Some of the engineering is crude, but the other positive feature will make you overlook that. Only problem I had with the gun was the timing feels weird, but I have a 646 Smith and it feels the same way. It is the nature of the beast. Buy the gun if you like it.

Robert
 
I have two Taurus Model 85s. One is a Total Titanium version, and the other is a Stainless Steel version. I have shot, and am pleased with the quality of both. I believe that several years ago there might have been quality issues, but that was a long time ago. Both Model 85s I own and all of the Taurus pistols I have handled at gunshops appear to be quality handguns.
I'd definately go for it if I were you. I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed!

my2taurus38s.jpg
 
I'm a dissatisfied Taurus owner. I have purchased about eight of them and seven were dogs. As they say, some swear by them but I swear at them.

I have a titanium Tracker in .357 Mag I will sell to you. It has not been fired since it returned from the factory after repair of a timing problem. It has had less than 100 rounds through it. Like almost all Tauruses (probably almost all factory guns in general) it could use an action job.
 
"It is light, and holds lots of power, and the porting can't be a bad thing on a .357."

"It is light..." which means it is hard to control.

"...and holds lots of power,..." which also means it is hard to control.

"...the porting can't be a bad thing on a .357." Yes, it can. Porting cuts down velocity, turning your Magnum into a hard kicking, loud 38 Special.

Several engineers (including two genuine rocket scientists) that have been students of mine think making guns out of Titanium is the dumbest thing since the Edsel.

I have seen many Taurus revolvers in my CCW classes and none of them had good trigger pulls. Many were not reliable functionally. YMMV.
 
I bought a new Taurus Tracker and traded it for another gun shortly after buying it. One thing with which I was particularly dissatisfied is that, according to the owner's manual, "dry firing is bad for this gun.....". I replaced the Taurus Tracker with a Ruger GP 141 [love it!], the manual for which encourages unlimited dry firing.
 
Porting really doesn't reduce the velocity by much when the ports are small and at the muzzle. However, the ports do get dirty and are a small chore to clean. I prefer to go without them, even in my hottest .454 loads.
 
"...the porting can't be a bad thing on a .357." Yes, it can. Porting cuts down velocity, turning your Magnum into a hard kicking, loud 38 Special.

bullcrap!
 
Sez who?

"Porting cuts down velocity,..."

Marginally...the average shooter couldn't tell the diff.

"...turning your Magnum into a hard kicking, loud 38
Special."

Apparently, you haven't owned a ported .357 Mag wheelgun, nor do you have access to a chrony.
 
I`ve only handled and shot one Tracker but it was pretty impressive IMO. Fit and finish were very good,the trigger pulls were also quite good and accuracy was first rate. It was a little louder than an unported .357 with the same barrel length but other than that I liked it a lot. I wouldn`t mind having one in .41 Mag. Marcus
 
if porting bothers you guys, then use a screw tap and tap the hole down to the stainless steel(the titanium will not hold the screw well) and thread an appropriate sized screw in the hole, so that it doesn't proturde into the bore, but blocks the gasses from escaping. i've seen pin shooters do it all the time.
 
"Marginally...the average shooter couldn't tell the diff.
"

This is simpy untrue,. porting makes both the Taurus model 85 Ti UL, and my ti 445 44 spl pussycats to shoot.

There is a world of difference in shooting ported and non-ported snubbies, especially down in the 10-15 ounce range.
 
Mixed Experience with Taurus

I've owned a half dozen 'Tauri' in 39 spcl and in 357. Currently own a Tracker in stainless steel. It is, indeed, a sweet gun. Like it a lot though the trigger could use some snoothing. About half of my Taurus revolvers have been flawless out of the box. The other half needed work and Taurus' warranty and performance was flawless. I did not like, however, to send a NIB Taurus for warranty work. But, once they got the problems ironed out - they were all excellent performers.

The Tracker has been excellent right out of the box. Recommend it highly.
 
Ummm...perhaps you should read the entire post, lucky085. ;)

I'm on your side...and my rejoinder had to do with a possible significant decrease in *velocity*, not recoil.
 
I got a tracker in .41 mag for christmas and I love it.Only shot it fives times but it was accurate and had little recoil.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like there is good and bad.

As far as dry firing it...what if I use Snap Caps? Then is it okay to dry fire it? Also, if I got the stainless model can I then dry fire it, or are all "Tauri" recommended not for dry firing?


I see some QA complaints in general, which seems to happen with all guns but only two specific complaints about the Tauri:

I saw one comment above about strength. What exactly is weak about the Tauri brand revolvers?

And, the other comment was about trigger jobs. I have noticed that the Tauri triggers are not as smooth, but I figure that that can be remedied by myself or a gunsmith. Can I do a revolver trigger job myself (smoothing the contact surfaces) with a Dremel tool like I do on almost everything else I do?

Thanks!


Ps- Also, Robert said that the "engineering is crude". What does that mean? The internal mechanical workings are crude? Or are they just simple? (Which can be good). Or, is there something else about it that is "crude", like the process by which they are made?
 
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