Taurus: How good are they?

[King Ghidora]

Gee whiz are the Taurus wars ever going to end? No pros use them so they must be garbage. That one in your pocket that has performed flawlessly for years is really garbage. You justy aren't smart enough to know that. Do you even realize how ridiculous that sounds? So what if it works? Pros don't use them. So they're garbage. Do pros use you? Does that make you garbage?

I did my tour of duty in the Taurus war. There's no reaching the unreachable. We have your quagmire here for sure. No amount of people saying theirs works is ever going to convince those who made up their mind when they looked at the price.

You Taurus haters sound exactly like the Toyota haters of the 1970's. Some of them are still talking about how the Japanese never built anything but junk. How sad it must be to still be arguing that price equals quality in the face of so much evidence to the contrary. You get what you pay for all right. Yes sir. Just ask anyone who bought an MG Midget back in the 70's. They cost more than a Toyota back then. Yeah they had real quality there.

You get what you pay for in Never Never Land. Just like that Savage 110 I just bought. I didn't pay much for it either so obviously it's junk. Just ask anyone who owns one. The fact that it shoots less than MOA doesn't prove anything. The fact that they last for decades doesn't either. Only thing that matters is how much I paid for it. And since I didn't pay that much... Surely it isn't as good as that Taurus handgun I bought. I paid a lot less money for it.

[tenusdad]

King Ghidora - your cracking me up - LOL - I guess a pro could use me but would probably want me to pay? if your going for ridiculous, welllll....Compare a pro using me, to a pro selecting a handgun?? But that may be some kind of Obama/Hilton logic too brilliant. and out of the box for this simpleton to understand?

Anyway - as I said, I once had a RG 25 auto that worked every time (taken therapy to admit I bought one). I bought it many years ago before I had the sense God gave a goose. Yes indeed one probably can find and buy a Taurus that shoots; I just don't understand why anyone would want to? My humble heartfelt apologies to anyone I offended or if I impugned the reputation of those illustrious South American firearms. I also apologize to el presedentie or whatever they have in Brazil.

Never said Taurus was junk - just don't understand with other choices why anyone would want one? Regarding the Savage 110 - excellent choice! I'll try to get a sympathy card out to you regarding your Taurus. Love ya man.

[Firepower!]

Taurus revolver's cylinder kaboomed today. My friend called me up and unfortunately told me that I was right about Taurus products. I saw his revovler last time I visited him a few months back. It was a 2'' 357.

[Don Lu]

what kind of question is that...

just don't understand with other choices why anyone would want one?

thats like asking w/all the fast food joints around why would any one choose Wendys..or cars ..why choose Toyota...b/c they are options..thats why.

My collection is young, but already I have different Manufacturers, Variety is the spice of life..dont be a fanboy only supporting what cops and SEALS use(thats kinda mall ninja-ish dont you think?)...Draw your own conclusions from your own expiriences..If you dont like brand x then fine but dont make silly statments that a company that has been around +20yrs, is thriving and now has a pretty good following only produces junk. If you dont like'em fine, but be realistic.

[JohnKSa]

Taurus revolver's cylinder kaboomed today.

In all fairness, it's unlikely that was a Taurus issue and very likely that it was an ammunition issue.

[Firepower!]

Not sure what kind ammo he used. However there is not much choice in ammo here in PK. And I know he does not reload. But he said this that the empty shell was stuck way in the cylinder.and the cylinder was deformed after the bang.

[Qwiks draw]

One has to expect this kind of thing, fiction that it probably is.
Either one trusts the gun or they do not. They can not have it both ways.

If one dislikes the product it makes no sense for the owner to keep it for any reason. Then go on and on and keep grousing when there are remedies to take care of the gun or get rid of it.
Not only that,but it is just one item. Not the whole brand.

If you can't trust it or it is junk then why keep it and keep grousing when other brands, makes, and models will do to replace it? Using the faulty gun if it's truly that unsafe sounds like madness.Notice that no solid details ever seem to accompany things like this in a objective manner. Much less pictures of said item.

How many of you folks keep an example of a rotten unsafe gun that you can never use ever again? Hold the hands high so you can be counted.LOL

Don't own an unsafe can't use gun. It takes up room,is useless,and though unlikely, could get used again. Keeping usless unafe stuff around is a accident just waiting to happen. You folks out there are like that? Didn't think so.

Also the experienece has to be in the here and now. Not ancient as many of the claims are if one is going to complain.

I have a new shiny Ruger SR9 that has never been fired and maybe never will. The factory is stalling at every turn. The gun will fire if dropped. Safety item at that. It will either be fixed by Ruger or will be discarded and lesson learned though the hard way.

Notice that I have Rugers, plenty of them, at the bottom of the signature. Yet trashing all Rugers would be folly for any number of reasons.

As for supposed superiority of other brands:
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...p?topic=8478.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic?=8657.0

So either have trust and faith in the gun or get rid of them. Then quit the complaining because life's to short to do that kind of thing incessantly. Gripers and whiners show you what kind of person they truly are. Especiallly going into threads where they need not go, but do anyway. Even insult the collective people's intelligence. Make accusations and use innuendo to do so. Make snide remarks and make meaningful dialougue impossible for others to carry on. I have a new can't use Ruger yet I am not going to go into just about all the Ruger threads and trash them so. Not good form or taste.
Yes, its a free society and forum, however good taste,morals, and ethics do need to be observed.

[Firepower!]

This does not make any sense. One must discuss experiences here and that is not complaining. Otherwise we would have no discussion here.

Just name one agency/army that carries Taurus?

[NAKing]

I only own one, but I like mine. You can't say that because Taurus firearms are not widely used by police or military they are junk. It's like saying that every piano besides a Steinway is junk because most of the top pianists use them. I'm a performing classical pianist and I know that's not true.

[scottycoyote]

my brand new taurus judge went kablam over the weekend, first 5 shots i ever fired from the gun, it broke on the 4th. This is my 2nd taurus handgun, first one is a 38 snub thats had no problems. Im pretty sure this is my last taurus.

[Wuchak]

Originally Posted by King Ghidora

You Taurus haters sound exactly like the Toyota haters of the 1970's. Some of them are still talking about how the Japanese never built anything but junk. How sad it must be to still be arguing that price equals quality in the face of so much evidence to the contrary.

You comparing a Taurus to a Toyota made me laugh. Toyota's in the 1970's were cheap and dead on reliable. People bought them and they were amazed at how they just kept running so reliably and through that Toyota has now become the largest car maker in the world.

Taurus is and always has been cheap and they are designed and built to their price point. They are a second tier firearm. That's not bad it just means you are more likely to have problems and you will have to deal with their lousy customer service if you do. The fact that the customer has to pay for return shipping for repairs should be a huge red flag when all of the tier 1 companies, e.g. S&W, Ruger, Glock, etc will pay for the return shipping. This means that Taurus has nothing to lose by shipping junk out of the factory because the customer has to pay to return it. If Taurus had to pay return shipping on their guns for repair I'll bet they'd fold in a year. At $70 each trip for shipping it can get expensive quickly and any cost savings you got on the Taurus over the next step up will evaporate. Some people do get an excellent quality gun from Taurus and they win the price/quality lottery. They come on message boards and rave about how great Taurus is. Lots of us have not had that experience and we found the products to be poor in the end and the service awful so we won't buy Taurus again and when asked we give our opinion and the facts of what happened to back them up. If anyone is ignoring evidence to the contrary on Taurus it's you by claiming they are a high quality firearm. They are not and the price gap between them and the better quality firearms has narrowed to the point where playing the "Taurus lottery" is just not worth it. I'd take a used firearm from a tier 1 manufacturer over a new Taurus any day. If Taurus were such great guns they would hold their value like the other brands do. It's hard to give away used Taurus firearms because everyone assumes that if one is for sale it's because there are problems with it and they'll end up have to pay to ship it back to Taurus, probably more than once.

Originally Posted by Quick Draw

I have a new shiny Ruger SR9 that has never been fired and maybe never will. The factory is stalling at every turn. The gun will fire if dropped. Safety item at that. It will either be fixed by Ruger or will be discarded and lesson learned though the hard way."

Actually it probably won't fire if dropped. The testing showed that it could potentially in the rarest of circumstances. It would have to land just right and you could drop it 1000+ times and never have it go off. Ruger still felt this was to much of a risk so they are voluntarily recalling them and fixing them. The last I heard you just had to call and they would arrange for a UPS pickup and pay for the shipping and they would also give you a free magazine (maybe it was two) for your trouble. Please elaborate on the "factory is stalling at every turn". If you decide to discard it let me know so I can come pick your garbage : )

[chrisp0410]

First I must state that my experience with Taurus is not current. More than 20 years ago, I had the opportunity to either buy a new Taurus .38 spl (no idea what model) or a Smith & Wesson Model 10-8 that was a used, former police issue revolver, converted by the department to DAO. My local gun shop owner at that time (who passed away a few years ago, sadly) shy'd me away from the Taurus. I bought the Smith, still own it, never a problem. I have no idea how many rounds went through it before I became it's owner but I have put many thousands since. But I digress.

A couple years later, back in the late '80s, I was stationed at Fort Hood, TX and the military was trading out the beloved 1911s for M9 Berettas. Many of the new soldiers wanted them but could not afford Berettas so they bought Taurus PT92 (I believe that was the model) which were quite similar. I got to shoot many of these while working the ranges during my active duty years and found most of them to be rough around the edges or just plain unacceptable. Some worked well, some didn't. Most had triggers that were horrible. I was issued an M9 during this time and shot them both side by side a few times. No comparison. And I didn't even like the M9.

Anyway, I don't know if the quality of Taurus handguns have improved. If my dated opinion is just that, dated, then I'll stand corrected.

Chrisp0410

[Firepower!]

chrisp0410.... Just to bring you up to date on Taurus quality... It has NOT improved.

[ckone]

mine (pt-917c) has been flawless through almost 2000 rounds in a little over 2 weeks owning it (there's a range a few blocks from my house, and i sure have been useing it!), it's put together rock solid, and shoots as good or better then everything else i've tried (in fact embarrassingly better than most considering what they cost...). before i bought it i spent a long period checking out everything i could get my hands on (kimber's, daly's, para's, colt's, beretta's, sig's, s&w's... 1911 and/or 92 styles), and of course i've read about all the negative taurus feedback out there... honestly i found no reason the taurus models were inferior in any way (other than price of course!). when i've called the company to ask questions about mags, sights, holster's etc. they've been helpful (and when i left a message, they actually called me back...), haven't had any issues with my gun so that's the only customer service i've needed.
here's my review:
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...&highlight=917

and this was helpful to me to understand how the company has gotten to where it is today: http://www.taurususa.com/newsreviews/HG2004_000.cfm

[ckone]

now, a week later... 3000+ rounds, 0 failures or issues of any kind (FMJ, JHP, cheap blazers to expensive stuff...). at the range today a guy with a $1700 match/top o' the line kimber had a jam or feed problem like every 3rd mag, then asked me if he could take a look at what i was shooting... i'm experiencing zero high dollar brand-name envy...

[ThePBM]

There are agencies that use Taurus firearms as standard issue.
If you'd like to know which ones, then feel free to do the research you should have done before proclaiming that there aren't any agencies that use them.

[Ace_Breaker]

I've trained LEO's from all over the country. I've been around the LEO community most of my life. There may be a one person department out there that carries Taurus, somewhere. But I have yet to know, see, hear about any LEO carrying a Taurus as a primary duty weapon. Better yet, I know of no legitimate LEO agencies that even allow them as a primary weapon. I left this Taurus link about a month ago because it's going nowhere. Experienced shooters and professionals don't lean towards Taurus when it comes to protecting lives. There are much better handguns out there. A little digging around on the internet reveals all the horror stories and information. Anything said negative about Taurus on this link seems to fall on deaf ears. So, if you think Taurus is so great, so be it. I hope it serves you well. But I do believe that as you gain knowledge, information, and experience you will be drawn to a much better firearm for the money. Let's not even get into resale values....

[kansas_plainsman]

Two departments in my local area require their officers to buy their own firearms - and several of those officers carry Taurus autos.

[ThePBM]

Well I should have presumed the scope of "no agencies issue Taurus firearms" to only include our country at most. Silly me, I was including the rest of the world in the facts. My apologies.

[Firepower!]

I live in Pakistan. Even here none of the agencies carry Taurus. May be some dinky little countries which have no need for serious weapons carry it. Not in my knowledge.

+1 ACE

[Don Lu]

ThePBM
I don't agree with those that say Taurus is garbage b/c LEO and Military don't use them. I did a search and couldn't find anything that implied Taurus are standard issue for anyone (except maybe in Brazil). How about you tell us who does use Taurus instead of all the sarcasm. I am a fan of Taurus and wold like to know....what are the facts u speak of ?

[JohnKSa]

Time to put this one to bed after 10,800 views, 15 pages, 372 posts and 470 votes on the attached poll. I'm sure we'll have our next "How good/bad is Taurus" thread very soon--something for all of us to look forward to. Who knows, I might even start one myself...

Poll results are:

73.5% favorable responses
40.4% negative responses
7.7% neutral responses

(Yes, I know they don't add up, it was a multiple choice poll so each voter could vote for more than one option.)