thinking of buying a Taurus

B

blu_rhino

Inactive
A friend of mine took us out shooting this weekend. First time shooting handguns. Besides a S&W .22 Med frame, I tried out a Taurus 85 in Titanium. We were shooting .38 (180 grain?)
From 7 yds it was pretty accurate, even with DA.
They are looking to sell it. The seller is female and she wants a semi auto instead. Both my wife and I fired the Taurus and liked it well enough. We are looking for a small gun to take camping and such. This seems to fit the bill. They are asking $375 for it.
Comments...opinions?
:confused:
 
I dunno, a used Taurus for $375? Sounds a little steep to me. For that amount of money you could get a Ruger or a Smith & Wesson in used, but excellent condition.
 
great

Gee, a lot of great feedback here.
The gun is less than a year old, they paid $450 for it. She said 350 for it....he said 400. They kind of agreed on 375 for the asking price. We were just talking...not really dealing seriously about the gun. They were just curious if we were interested.

Is it just the price is too high?
I know there are a lot of varied views about Taurus anyway...I've been lurking and reading here for months. I would appreciate a little more than "think again" when replying. I could use some real advice here.
 
Its not just that the price is too high (which it is) but that Taurus is also crappy (which it is). That $350 will get you a LONG way toward a Ruger .357 SP-101 I think? The Ruger might be heavy, but at least it will function reliably for your lifetime.
 
Blu_Rhino...

I realize that prices have gone up, and "up north" the prices do seem to be higher, but I think we paid about $379.95 for my wife's Taurus Total Ti 85 about three years ago in Kentucky. Why don't you go to a shop and price a new one and compare that to the asking price of the used one? At the very least, you'd know what new ones are going for, and maybe you'd also gain a little leverage on the asking price of the used one. My wife's Ti 85 has been a great little snub. She keeps it with her every day in either a concealment purse or a Ron Graham pocket holster. Very accurate and no problems at all.

KR
 
Price is high for a used Taurus 85 ... at least in my area. For that money, I would "upgrade" and go with the Ruger or a good used Smith 19 or 66.

You might also want to take a look at some of the online auctions sites in order to get a better idea of what is available and what the general ball park (asking price) for the various guns mentions here. (Keep in mind that these prices are often times higher than what you can get them for in a local shop, especially once you've added in the shipping and FFL fees.)

Good luck with your choice ...

Gunner
 
a good Taurus is just a good gun. i have several, both revolvers and autoloaders.

a good S&W is a thing of beauty and functrion. have some of those. love them.

a Ruger is the workhorse here. it can be pretty too. i haven't broken a Ruger yet and don't expect to

depends on your wants and needs. for camping and general banging around, get the Ruger. good used ones for good prices are not rare.

look any used gun over carefully, thinking, why did they trade it or sell it.

as usual, JMHO
 
First, let me mention that I'm a fan of Taurus wheelguns.

I agree that the price is a little high for Taurus in 38.

I'd also recommend that you price some new ones in your area for comparison purposes. And give it consideration, as you're already somewhat familiar with it and seemed to have liked it.
 
I recently asked a similar question concerning Taurus Titanium Models. I received a significant amount of negative feedback concerning reliability with the Ti models. My local dealer quoted me $425 for a NIB Protector Model in Total Titanium. After reading all of the negative responses, I've put this purchase on hold and am now looking at the Glock 26. I've owned 5 Taurus revolvers. 2 have been perfect, & 3 have had some sort of problem requiring a trip back to the factory. I think for $375 is a bit high for a used 85 Ti. I'd look consider buying new or looking at different brands.
 
I payed $320 for my Taurus 415T (titanium) when I bought it last Spring. Had less than 50 rounds through it at the time. The gun developed a small timing problem after about 100 rounds. Sold it shortly after.
 
My 85Ti cost me $350 new six months ago. The price is high for a Titanium 85 (it would be laughable for a carbon steel one). I haven't looked at them lately, but it sounds to be that they bought this gun pretty close to retail. If you really like it, check around and see what they are going for in your area. If their price is a $100 or $150 less than new right now and the gun is in almost new shape, you're probably doing ok. I have 2 Taurus revolvers (650 and 85Ti). I like them both and neither has given me problems. Now compare them with my 3 Smith revolvers (640, 66, and 19 - a 4th PPC revolver built on a model 10 doesn't count) and you see a big difference in workmanship. The Taurus guns just aren't as well finished. I don't enjoy shooting hot loads out of snubbies, so I don't know what the durability is like for either company's revolvers.
 
I love my Taurus, I know several other people personally who have them and like them, never met anyone face to face who had any trouble with them (revolvers that is, don't get me started on auto's). But I'm with everyone else, that's an awfully big chunk of change for a used taurus.
 
Another $50 and you've bought a new Ruger GP-100 ;-).

I love my wife's Taurus Tracker .357, never a problem.... But if I remember correctly it cost $325 brand new. I'd suggest staying away from the titanium snubbies, haven't heard much good about either Taurus or *&* Ti snubs.
 
Another thing to consider is that if they go to trade that Taurus in on a semi-auto they will not even get close to that price for trade-in. Even if retail in your area is that high on a Taurus no gun shop is going to give her fair market value because used Tauri's are worth about as much as new Lorcin's.

Here's a NIB Taurus 85CH on Gunbroker for $289:
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=5761446

Here's a NIB blued Taurus 85 w/a buy it now of $289:
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=5690848

Here's another for $235:
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=5746629

and a LNIB for $245 older 85
http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=5754545

You need to look around, you can find a much better deal for yourself.
 
FWIW, I bought a LNIB S&W model 36 for $225. Looked like it had never been shot. Granted, I got a very good deal (I have no idea why it was so cheap, even the clerk who rang me up had a puzzled look), but the deals are out there if you look. I would go with a S&W (or ruger) over a taurus any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I have had only bad luck with Tauri revo's. I have also read several threads stating very poor results with the titanium guns (even the S&W's).
In short(?), the price is WAY too high for that gun. :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top