Upset Taurus haters

Had a Taurus Model 82(.38 spec)..kept getting 'jammed'..trigger wouldn't go aft, cylinder wouldn't rotate. Took it apart ala youtube, cleaned and lubed, no issue after that. It was inexpensive($340), fun to shoot and I got $300 on trade for my Glock 19..:)
 
I've owned about a dozen Taurus handguns. I got the first one in 1988 or so. One was a lemon that had to go back to the factory twice to be repaired. Most of them have had mediocre triggers but have functioned reliably. A few of them have been excellent.
 
I own a Taurus .357mag snubby made mostly from Titanium. I will not buy another Taurus. Too much user modification needed to make them useful. And once you do that, you are in for it money-wise as much as a good S&W, yet still own only a second-rate gun that happens to work.

OTOH, I have no plans to get rid of the Taurus snubby, as it now works. It helped me learn to 'smith on revolvers as nobody local wants to work on them due to indifferent QC in the guts. They are right, the guts are sloppy relative to my S&W revolvers. Also, the sights are regulated for no common self defense round. WAY high or low with common .357mag and .38spl, SD fodder, depending. The best POA~POI load is the discontinued Winchester .357mag hunting load topped with a 180gr Nosler Partition bullet tha exits the muzzle at 1000fps. 180gr/1000fps is not common in SD loadings for .38spl/.357mag.

Like I wrote, I used it as my learning platform and got the trigger pull both smooth and moderately light for a small frame snubby. And I found a Crimson Trace laser grip on sale for $100 that doesn't care about wonkily-regulated iron sights. At gut-punch ranges, sights don;t matter, but at longer ranges and in low light, the laser makes up for the Taurus irons.

For what I paid for the Taurus titanium .357mag snubby, I could have gotten a S&W Airweight snubby in .38spl. Should have gotten the S&W. I have since bought a S&W snubby so I know the difference.
 
I think the biggest poo poo on Taurus from what I've seen is if and when you need warranty or repair work, you will wait a very long time before your gun is sent back to you and then it still might not be working properly.

that said, I've owned a DAO stainless bobbed hammer model 85 in the early 90s, a standard blued model 85 in the mid 90s, a 941(?) stainless .22 magnum and a DAO CIA 850 Ti both in the early 2000s. great guns. while I had a co-worker have a pt-22(?) that couldn't stumble trough a single magazine without a multitude of various failures no matter what ammo was used. after a 3 month or so wait for "repairs" it was still not fixed. then there was that damning video of some sort of Taurus 9mm service weapon that would fire when shaken too hard....
 
The PT22 I owned, I would describe as the best looking, worst performing pistol I have owned. Had to go back to Taurus brand new due to being unable detonate a cartridge half the time, and jamming when it did. It also was the only pistol I have owned that keyholed the bullets. Taurus fixed the functional issues, but didn’t address the keyholing at all.
I replaced it with a Beretta Bobcat, which has been faultless.

My other Taurus experience is with a 1997 PT92, which I bought a couple years ago cheaply.
It has been the equal of my Beretta 92FS, 100% function and good accuracy.

Over at the Taurus forum, there is a lot of appreciation for older Taurus guns. The older 92’s like mine, the Model 85 snub, the 357’s...I would buy any of those in good shape.
Modern Taurus? I look at their offerings. I would sure do a lot of research before I bought.
 
The same people that dog on Taurii are usually the same people that ever never owned one.
Click to expand...

Some people are discerning enough that they do not need to make a mistake themselves to understand that it is indeed a mistake....... YMMV.
 
Where there's smoke, there's fire. Taurus (or any other gun makes) has their reputation because it's earned and deserved. For better or worse.

My late wife bought a Taurus PT745 Millenium Pro and no matter what we did, we couldn't get it to hit the broad side of a barn. Well, the broad side of a paper plate at 7 yards. Group sizes were huge. One shot would be four inches left, the next would be five inches right or low or high. She was a better shot than I am, typically, but neither of us could get good shooting out of it.

Moved to other pistols, including the Sig P220 and shooting was just fine so we really felt that we were not the problem. She continued to carry it with the understanding that it more of a belly gun than anything. Eventually, she decided to go to a .44 spl revolver. Since she passed away, I keep all of her guns for sentimental reasons but if I had to sell a gun, I'd sell that Millennium Pro first.

When my brother-in-law passed away, he left me his guns, including a Judge and a Circuit Judge. I haven't been able to see anything wrong with either of them but they don't feel as great in my hand. From what I've seen, the only real problem with either of them is the bizarre assortment of "defense" ammo loaded into shotgun shells. Some weird stuff out there for which performance is really, well...odd. But they both shoot .45 Colt ammo just fine so I dig them out on occasion when I want to shoot something different.

An FFL I know claims that the overwhelming majority of the returns he gets from customers are Taurus guns. To me, that says a lot.

--Wag--
 
Hmm... what to add.

I don't own Taurus firearms. I have fired a number of them, and have friends with Taurus. One had either a millennium pro or a 24/47, can't remember which. The rear sight was loose, but otherwise the pistol functioned fine after we tightened it up as far as I remember. My current neighbor has I believe a 709. While I'm not a fan of the trigger, it's not a bad little pistol.

I'm not a gun snob but I do prefer the next tier up. Give me a Kahr CW9 or Ruger LC9. That being said, for anyone who needs a SD firearm and was stuck on the inexpensive Taurus I wouldn't bash them for it. I would just recommend the same that I would with any SD firearm... make sure you put a few boxes of ammo (including some SD ammo) first before trusting your life to it.

As for Taurus' to collect or to have "just because," I don't really see the point. I would rather have something nicer with some resale or trade value. But to each their own.
 
Of course the Judge is more powerful than a .32!
But, "immense" it is not. Just because something shoots a .410 shotgun shell doesn't make it a sawed-off 12 or 20 ga. I have a .410 derringer, and a real "sawed off" 20 ga. pistol. I can assure you the .410 is a joke compared to the 20 ga.

As to Taurus repairs- there may be a lot of guns returned for repair, but that "lot of guns" has to be SOLD first. I would think the percentage of Taurus guns returned is not much more than any other gunmaker.

As to guns that group 12-15" at 7 yards- unless there is muzzle damage, a grossly oversized bore, or a barrel that moves much more than it should, the problem would be with the shooter. Oversized bores and excessively loose barrels are extremely uncommon. Muzzle damage is possible. But, just because you can shoot one gun well does not mean you will be able to shoot another well. Other than the mentioned problems, it would be all but impossible for any gun to shoot groups that large at that distance.
 
I would think the percentage of Taurus guns returned is not much more than any other gunmaker.
Click to expand...
Do you have a link to actual data that would support that? What someone "thinks" about a particular brand of anything is of little value to me.
Note that I am not a Taurus hater...I have one Taurus 85 S.S. snubbie .38 Spl. that I have carried a lot and shot very little...not enough to make a determination of quality (or lack of), so I am still neutral on the issue.
 
Do you have a link to actual data that would support that? What someone "thinks" about a particular brand of anything is of little value to me.
Click to expand...
That data is near impossible to obtain. Gun makers are very tight lipped about their production numbers.
But with world wide sales of Taurus firearms most likely overshadowing a very large US market it is easy, and I might add reasonable to assume Taurus production vastly out numbers any US gun maker. Most likely overshadows all of them combined.
 
I have a .410 derringer, and a real "sawed off" 20 ga. pistol. I can assure you the .410 is a joke compared to the 20 ga.
Click to expand...
Agreed the "shotgun" analogy is not realistic. But I look at my PD Poly loaded with the Federal Premium Handgun 000 Buck as more of a 20 round, multiple barreled handgun. Firing 4 bullets at a time, with 20 rounds on board.
 
No Taurus in my safe, but if I owned one it would be under the seat of my truck. If I was in a good mood I'd put it in a sock just to keep the rattle down . . . . . .

To me, they are a step above Kel Tec, and thats not saying much. They fill a niche in the industry, good for them, they just don't appeal to me. Typing out loud, spending tim on this forum, I'm as likely to buy a new Taurus revolver as I am a new Smith revolver. My perception is the quality is about the same, Smith just retains its value more.
 
ATF has records of each manufacturer's production.
Return info would be problematic.
Taurus does sell an awful lot of guns, I KNOW.
Click to expand...
Aye.
Production numbers are easy. The ATF breaks it down to every single manufacturer, and by firearm type. (I know. I'll be on the 2018 report for my one.)

But getting a manufacturer to report return rates is going to be difficult with small shops and probably impossible with large companies. (They don't want to risk it turning into bad PR, even if their return rate is pretty good.)
 
I think the biggest poo poo on Taurus from what I've seen is if and when you need warranty or repair work, you will wait a very long time before your gun is sent back to you and then it still might not be working properly.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

I was so disgusted with a 642 and LCR last year that for the first time in 20 years I considered trying a Taurus again. Then I remembered all the bad press I've read regarding their warranty/repair work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top