Taurus: How good are they?

[Keltyke]

I'll tell ya what, people...you shoot what you want and I'll shoot what I want. But don't rain on my parade, or my gun.

I'm outta this one!

[Fer]

My first gun for defence was a brand new state of the art S&W Sigma, I left the store as a proud owner of the newest model the famed S&W had to offer. State of the art pistol never fired a complete mag without some kind failure, after several attemps to make it work and trying to justify that the failures where due to ammo and me I finally had to accept I purchased a crappy pistol and sold it. Still I dont go around saying S&W sucks! I had bad luck, plenty of happy Sigma owners out there, congrats!

[BurkGlocker]

I bought one of those 'state of the art' Sigmas in .40 S&W when they first started hitting shelves. Before I even had two boxes of ammo through it the firing pin broke, right in two.:barf: After sending it back to S&W, I never had another problem out of it, and was one of my favorite pistols to shoot.

But off the subject of pistols, I bought a Remmy 700 BDL in .17 Rem. It was an older, used rifle, recommended by my gun dealer at the time. Went to go shoot it, and leveled off and fired the first round, no problem, sighted in already....niceee... Chambered the second round, and as I closed the bolt, KABOOOM! [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color]?!?!? Opened the bolt, took out the bolt, gave it a once over. 'Hmmm, maybe I pulled the trigger by accident..." Not likely, but possible. Chambered the third round, KABOOOM! WTMFCSMF!!! Took it back to my dealer so he could look at it. Pulls the bolt out, and bingo... The sear was completely rounded off, either from use, or more likely, someone filed it off. Sent it back to Remmy, wouldnt fix it, so i gave it back to my dealer. A week later I get a phone call from him telling me to come to the shop. When I walk in, he presents me with a NEW .17 Rem. Lets just say he got ALOT more of my business after that. Just wished I couldve found a 1911with a problem...LOL

[JustDreadful]

I have a PT145 MilPro which has not had a failure of any kind though 500 or 600 rounds. It's my primary CCW.

That said, I believe the lower-priced brands - Taurus, Charter, Kel-Tec, etc. (but excluding truly cheap things like Jennings) - are more likely than, say, HK or SIG, to produce and release a lemon, as Hyundai is more likely to than is Mercedes. That doesn't mean there aren't millions of people receiving fine service from their Hyundais. But it's absolutely imperative, if you buy a lower-priced gun, that you test it out and make sure it's OK before you rely on it.

[Mosin44az]

Actually you are wrong about your car comparison, these days. Hyundai is getting great ratings for quality, and Mercedes is a joke. Check Consumer Reports.

But I digress.

[Ace_Breaker]

Hehehe, you guys are funny. If I ever were to consider getting another Taurus I would have to be given the opportunity to test it out considerably before buying, with the dealer standing behind it if it failed. Actually, my FFL gladly took back the one that fell apart on me, in pieces! I just don't want to put them through the hassles of that again.

[JustDreadful]

Actually you are wrong about your car comparison,

Are you a professional hair-splitter, or do you just play one on the Internet?

[Mosin44az]

Why yes I am a professional hair-splitter, guess my profession.

I see from your Shaw quote you don't like others pointing out inaccuracies in your statements.

[.38Catt]

I'll play. I like Taurus. I've owned and/or own only Taurus and Ruger handguns, with the exception being my .380 Bersa (okay, I once owned a Raven .25). The Tauri have all been revolvers. Sent 689 back but also had to send back a new GP100 for light strikes. So out of 3 Ruger revolvers, 1 went back (as did my P95), of 4 Taurus revolvers, only 1 went back. Hmmmm.....

I guess I could extrapolate from my own experience that Taurus makes a better revover than Ruger. I do not think so. The point is, guns are machines and are subject to failure. I've seen no evidence that Taurus is "better" or "worse" than other big name makers. Rugers are probably more rugged, but Taurus, in my opinion has a better trigger. My OPINION, HAVING NEVER OWNED ONE, is that Smiths are over-priced

Love my Taurus 85. Still kicking myself for trading my Ultralite.

Get what you like.

[AZ-Quailhunter]

I own a M85 UL snubbie, 38 special....has never given me a problem.....light, easy to carry. If I had a complaint at all.....it would be that because it only weighs 17 ounces.....it plays hell on your hand with the heavier Plus P loads.....

[Ozzieman]

I have owned two, one is still in my safe. I marked them down for second rate and I do because there quality control can be and is spotty. The two guns I have owned were ones traded off in a gun store that both had problems. I purchased them at a very good price and with a little investment and a very competent gun smith made them into very functional guns.
What is good about Taurus?
That is a very easy question to answer.
They make guns that I wish smith would pull there collective head out of there,,,,, well you know, and build.
The first time I saw a Taurus 455 (snubby in 44 special) I had to have it. Stainless little revolver that looks like a Smith 60 without the lock.
There are many guns that Taurus makes that I wish Smith would. The 455 had a forcing cone that was not cut straight and after firing just a few rounds would start hanging up to the point that trying to pull the hammer back for single action was very difficult.
Now it’s a very good shooter and has a fair trigger and I prefer it to the Charter bulldog that I have owned for over 25 years.
I think that if Taurus could get there quality control together, they could really hurt Smith and Wesson’s business, and I wish they would. It might wake Smith and Wesson up so that they build guns that GUN people want instead of what lawyers think we should own.
SMITH and WESSON,,, KNOCK, KNOCK KNOCK,,, you out there????

[huchahuchax]

I have three Taurus guns: a raging bull in .44 Mag, a pump action .22lr rifle, and a gaucho. The gaucho is the only one to ever give me problems. I look at Taurus as the PONTIAC of guns - they are really nice looking but you have a 50/50 chance of them working right, or if you prefer, a 50/50 chance of them failing.

[daveydoo]

Taurus are they good. Yes. Do they work? Yes. Do they break? Yes, but so do sig, glocks and kimber. Would I want my kids to own them as family collectables? No. I had two pt92 both never gave me trouble. Sold them to get Smith 686p and 649. I also bought a used 85, grouping is not the best and it is to the right of aim(15yrds), but for a ben franklin it is a good truck gun in close shooting. It never fails a shot but can not get it to hit poa. Its an inch to the right at 15yrds with 158gr SWCHP At 5yrd it is less and figuring at 3yrds it almost close. Not going to worry about it. Love my Smiths but would trust my taurus

[PACKM]

I personally don't think they are quite ready for prime time. I brought the five shot in .45 acp. you really needed a full moon clip to load and unload the little revolver. One hole in the cyclinder would not take the bullet. it was too small. (I brought the gun NIB). It shot good with the other four holes. I got rid of it at the next gun show.
Other Taurus seem to need the sights tighted or replaced or something done to them to make them right. I will not buy another taurus.
Some one in the list here was talking about their Smith auto. Smith auto's are C**P. I'm one of S&W's biggest revolver fans, but they don't make an auto that I Like. Have I handle them and shot them, yes, I worked the last three years at an Houston academy, and many friends have the different smith autos. I've shot most of the autos'. There is a better brand out there.
I've heard the new Taurus 1911 is quite good. I"ve seen them and they look good. I haven't shot one yet.
I buy CZ's and BErsa's, I've got most of the CZ's on the market and most of the BErsa's also. AS far as I'm concerned you can't beat the CZ's. The worse problem I've had with a CZ, was a weak exstracter spring in a CZ75B40.A FEW of these guns hit the market with weak springs,
I sold BErsa's at the academy and at home and I"ve had "one" come back because it broke. The gun was replaced after a year of ownership.
The CZ's are accurate and very relibiable, the BErsa's arent quite as accurate But they seem to be very relibiable also.
Pat

[Duallydondon]

Just bought a Taurus PT 1911, no issues at all, all parts machined superbly. The only minor issue was the dirty looking oil it was covered with inside and out. Took it apart lubed with Tetra products.

Other general question is why does colt frown upon use of +P ammo in their pistols???

[Firepower!]

All of taurus pistol i ended up trading or giving away. They are hit or miss as many members stated already. I have these days 45 pt 24/7. It shoots well, but cant hit anything on target. I am cluless as to how to fix it or should again get rid of it.

[DrLaw]

Have an acquaintance who uses a Raging Bull, forget what caliber, in our club pistol league shoots. He does fairly well with it, taking 1st place most of the time. Never seen him have a glitch with it at all. We've even given away Taurus Trackers as prizes in a drawing to raise money for the club. Never heard a bad word about them from the owners.

The Doc is out now.

[hayek]

I've had a Glock 17 which I bought new which jammed every 20 or so rounds. I have a Taurus PT145 that shoots fine round after round. Does this mean all Glocks are crap and all Taurus are great? No. It is simply a quality issue. All makes and models are subject to have a bad apple or two. To be honest, Taurus has probably got a lower rate of quality on some of its models. But man, I tell you... in the sub-compact line, you can't find a sleeker, more powerful, higher capacity conceal carry gun in 45 caliber than the PT145. If you get one and its good quality... hang on to it because it is one sweet gun.

[Jay1958]

I had a Taurus Model 82 .38 Special revolver that I never had a problem with. I sold it only because I eventually acquired three Ruger revolvers that I fell in love with...

But the Taurus was a fine gun - especially for the money!

[madmag]

My PT945 has been very good. I do own more than one of other brands, including Colt, S&W, Ruger, & SA. However, I do think Taurus seems to have a higher than average quality control problems.

The three major factors are:

1) Design

2) Materials

3) Quality control of machining & assembly

-I think Taurus scores very good on design. In fact some of their semi-cloned designs are improvements over the original other companies designs.

-I think Taurus materials are adequate. Not great, but good enough so that material is not an issue for failures.

-I do feel Taurus has more quality control issues than competitors. A good design and material are no help if you make parts out of spec or do a poor job in assembly. But having said that, my PT945 has held it's own after several thousand rounds with any of my other more expensive pistols. In fact, I have had more failures with my pre-70 Colt 1911 than with my PT945. But this just means I have a good Taurus, and I feel it will stay good.

Since (IMO) Taurus has good or better designs than competitors, then they have the potential to be at the top of the heap by improving their quality control.

[FireMax]

I've got a PT145. I've had troube with the recoil spring. I guess I am one of the unlucky ones. It's fixed now though. I love the gun, though I think it is sensitive to the type of ammo I put through it. It likes Corbon. My wallet doesn't.

[Qwiks draw]

Compact and sucompact guns are finicky about ammo, how the gun is gripped, and any change in grip or finger pressure of any kind can cause shots spread out all over the map. There are other factors.

Here's links just on that.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...p?topic=6716.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...p?topic=6717.0

[44and45]

I have two Taurus revolvers, a model 441 in .44 special, and a Taurus Tracker in .45 Colt. Both are very accurate and look like a handgun should look.

My guns can do 1.5 inch groups at 15 yards and that's good enough for this old man.

Jim

[Avenger11]

Citing a Taurus forum to get an objective view of the brand is akin to letting the fox into the henhouse! So many threads, so little information. How many more testimonials do we need before we all understand that Taurus is a cheap, sub-standard product with lousy customer service, and a return rate unmatched in the industry!!
Some will try to convince you that all brands have problems and that is true if you buy cheap brands. Iv'e benn shooting Ruger's and S&W for 40 years and NEVER had a failure or return.
Bought a couple of Tauri out of ignorant curiousity and both went back for repair.
Won't buy another, nor should you.

[Qwiks draw]

The gun specific forums are THE sources for the most part for those who want to know about guns from individuals who have actual real experience with them. Colt, Springfield, S&W, Ruger. It doesn't make a difference. Those are where most of the owners of these products are so it makes good reasoning to ask and seek the true records from the real world owners and users.

Doesn't mean that people here can't offer real world use advice. Just that there are more real world users at the gun specific forums from which to draw on for facts. Novel idea, huh?

You just classified anyone that goes to gun specific forums as morons,fools, and mental incompetents.
Let me get this straight. Following your reasoning and so called logic here. If a person doesn't take advice from people here and goes somewhere else that person is a fool or idiot. Okay, point made. Not a good one, but it's been made.


If the guns didn't work then the company is out of business. That's all in the links that were brought if you cared to actually review them.
People vote with their wallets. That's in the links as well

Every false charge against Taurus, the slandering of the owners, the total arrogant disrespect, and total disdain, are all there in living color.

Been keeping a history record of most of the major threads here and at THR forum. Rightfully so it would seem. That's why the links are bought in. To show the history as well as what's going on. That and to lay the foundation for anything else.

You just disrespected the all owners who have them. Millions of people world wide own them. You just classified them all as boobs,morons, and incompetents.

That's elitism, being conceited to the extreme.

You have no actual overall proof of anything that was just said Avenger 11.Except for your case. Sorry you had a bad experience. Can't help that.

In the links are the cases where the other manufacturers have made gaffes.

Those are entailed in the links as well. Yet no one is crying that those companies make nothing but crap and the decriers aren't going to buy another one.

Okay, don't buy another. That's your choice. Fine

Ruger recently for example. I have one of their SR-9 pistols. It's been recalled for safety reasons. Customer Serivice was anything but helpful. Yet I own 4 Ruger pistols. Guess what. Ruger is still on my to buy from list anyway.

On the other hand the proof that Taurus does work is here. It's from all the people who actually use,own, and bet their lives and those of their loved ones on these guns.

Many of the gun professional gun writers who have been there and done that who are world renowned, have the credentials to be so, have endorsed Taurus as a good to excllent pick for defense and regular use.
That's in the links,too. If you missed it I can bring the roster of names.

Many of these Taurus owners also have a range of different firearms. A lot of them are the "high priced spread guns" at that. Wait till they hear they and there choices are rotten and they know not what they stand for.

One of the members here is in a number of the threads on Taurus from here. He took apart piece by piece the accusations that have been leveled on Taurus. He's a highpower shoote of some stature and owns the "high priced spread guns".
He owns someTaurus guns.

Got that here in the links. Missed that, huh?

In other words people who have common sense,good reasoning, and have their head on straight buy and use Taurus as well as other gun companies' products.

There are other threads just like this. There many other short threads of happy satisfied Taurus owners. You ought to know about that. You're in any number of them telling them Taurus sucks.

Yes there are unhappy ones as well. It happens. Happens with many of the brands,makes, and models.

The gun forums are awash with the troubles that gun owners are having. Yet the cry and hue is not to trash completely the gun company. The people vent as they are wont to do and then try to work through the problem. Usually to the owner's satisfaction.

These are mechanical contrivances. Mechanical things break down, and have wear and tear on them. We all understand that. The ugly goes with the good. We deal with it and move on.

Most do. Others go around with an agenda that never goes away and spread the poison in places it's not welcomed or needed.

I could climb in on the Ruger or S&W threads and tell tales of woe and how the products stink overall. They build all crap don"t you know. After all, I know so. Wouldn't be true, honest,polite, or respectful to the peers.

People should be treated with respect and dignity. At times at this forum it doesn't happen. Can happen anywhere.

There are many who feel content at their gun specific forums because they don't want to have to put up with these kinds of things. Who would?
Been to the XD forum, SIG, Ruger, and others. Yeah, I got one of each. Yet most of the time respect,restraint, and common sense prevail.

Not saying that it can't here. This is a very large forum with a very large member base. This is a general gun forum. Fine and dandy.

Therefor things that can take place here are less likely at the smaller specific ones. Not written in stone obviously. There are exceptions. Just making observations.

The moderators here do a decent job and a lot of ground to watch over. Tough to do. Moderating seems easy on the surface, but has a lot of things to deal with. For what they do here I applaud them.

The facts speak for themselves. The truth will be heard.
No, Taurus is not perfect by a long shot. Neither are the other makers of guns.
This does not make the people who buy other products incompetent because they got a gun that doesn't work.
Nor does it put them above all others.