actual experience with Taurus

[LockedBreech]

My experiences and my opinion on why there are Taurus bashers especially the PT1911 is because of jealousy. When you pay about $700 for a PT1911 with features other manufactures charge extra for and the pistol performs just as well as 1911’s costing 2 to 3 times more it is a tough pill to swallow. Then there are those “Top of the Line” 1911s that you must shoot 500 or so rounds just to have them work correctly or pay extra for a guaranteed accuracy that cannot be proven and compare them against this $700 Brazilian pistol that works like a charm right out of the box. Sure there have been issues with the PT1911 just like every other manufacturer of 1911s. I hear bashers say it doesn’t cost enough to be a good gun but the cost is in the labor and the cost of the parts you must buy from a third party. If you make all of your own parts, use machines (CNC) that you make yourself to cut down human labor cost sure you can make a better gun for less. What would you say if I told you your Colt, Springfield, Kimber and Smith & Wesson had Taurus MIM parts?

Just jealousy at the low price / high quality? Then how do you explain the almost universally positive reputation of $400 Rock Island Armory 1911s, even by folks that own much more expensive 1911s?

My brother and dad owned three Tauri between them. The two autos were a 9mm and a .40. Terrible. One choked all the time and the other actually had pieces fall off at the range. The wheel was an M85 and locked solid.

I can't stand Taurus not because of jealousy, but because they could have gotten a family member killed :-/

There is no conspiracy against Taurus. They're not hated to be hated. They have earned their reputation as a hit-or-miss, middling quality brand. Some are great. A lot aren't.

 

[MLeake]

I am frequently amazed by the number of Taurus people who insist this is about the low price of their guns, and the owners of expensive guns just looking down their noses at them.

I have owned a Novak custom, and own a Baer and a Hunter Custom at present.

I have also owned guns bought for a whole lot less, in a similar price range with comparable Taurus products (Beretta PX4 - $400ish; FNX pistols - also $400ish; used S&W - high $300s; new S&W 442 - $350).

If I can find a gun I like at a lower price, I'll pounce on it quite happily. I wish I had a better opinion of Taurus, because I think a 9mm J-frame sized revolver would be very good to have, and they have the only one of those currently on the market.

It isn't a snobbery issue, it's having seen, first-hand (though I did not OWN them), Taurus revolvers that arrived NIB with binding cylinders or very bad timing, or cylinder alignment that was obviously not parallel to the barrel. We are talking errors that could be seen without even picking the gun up from the shelf, in a couple cases.

Does that mean that ALL, or even MOST Taurus guns will come like that? Of course not. If just means that having seen them, myself, I have no trouble believing the posters on TFL who describe having purchased such guns - though I do think some of them should have done better inspections prior to the purchase.

Having heard from a gun shop owner and a gun shop manager (both of whom I know, and one of whom is a long-time TFL member) about repeated problems with shipping, turnaround times, and communications issues with Taurus CS for their problem NIB guns, I have no trouble believing the posters on TFL who describe having had such problems.

It isn't about the lower cost. As another poster mentioned, RIA has a good reputation, and those guns are not exactly expensive.

 

[bonefamily]

My wife had a PLY-25 .25 acp. She discovered that she does not like DAO triggers so traded it in for a Bersa. However, the gun functioned perfectly the time we had it - approx. 100 rounds.

 

[LeadFistExpress]

No Problems with Mine

I have owned two Taurus .38 revolvers. I still own one and both shot fine. I never had any issues with them.

 

[wrightme43]

I have enjoyed both that I have had. My dad likes all of his as well. I have just never had a problem with any of them. The only gun I have had a problem with was a Ruger .22. Sold it. I still bought a Ruger Scout rifle. Crap happens. Things break.

 

[Justice06RR]

I've only owned 2 semiauto Taurus pistols, both were flawless in my experience. One new 709Slim and a used 740Slim, both were pocket carried.

 

[Hansam]

I've owned several Taurus handguns.

.44mag Tracker
.44mag Raging Bull

a few PT1911s

PT1911AR

PT92

.17HMR Tracker

TCP

Millennium 45

Of all of those I had a broken extractor in the PT1911AR and the Millennium 45 kept failing to feed. The other guns functioned flawlessly and the only thing I could complain about some of them was a horribly gritty trigger pull.

I still have the PT1911AR - its no longer stock and I've replaced the extractor, firing pin, recoil spring and barrel bushing (not with Taurus parts - mostly Wilson Combat parts) but it is now functioning flawlessly and shoots extremely accurately.

Over all I've had good experiences with the company although their customer service is horrible. Would I buy another Taurus? Probably although I'd stick with their revolvers as they seem to be better in the way of QC and finish from my experience. Would I suggest Taurus for another person? Probably not since for the same or just a little more money better guns can be found ie. Ruger.

 

[31kilo]

709 slim, not reliable for ccw, 94 no problems.

 

[weblance]

I have 3, a 905 revolver(perfect) a POLY PT-22(perfect) and a Model 94(issues) Here is a picture of the machining, new out of the box. The cylinder shaves lead badily. I have since smoothed it with a stainless tornado brush, and its much better. The dealer I ordered it from refused to send it back to the distributor, and recommended I sent it to Taurus. I didnt, and haven't been in his shop since.

 

[Valerko]

Considering Taurus is owner of Remington and probably more US gun makers , you should look at whoooole thing differently now.

 

[Venom1956]

Looks alot better then my 990!

Also I think there is alot of variation of the expectations of each individual shooter in terms of what is quality and what is 'GOOD' in a fire arm. I've heard people claim their stock Glock 17s break like a good 1911 trigger... which is frankly due to design impossible.

 

[LockedBreech]

Considering Taurus is owner of Remington and probably more US gun makers , you should look at whoooole thing differently now.

Taurus is a possible purchaser of Freedom Group, but last I checked the transaction hadn't happened. Do you have newer info?

 

[Crankylove]

I have never personally owned a Taurus...........because family members bought some first, and after thier experiences, the thought of owning one never crossed my mind again.

My fathers 6 shot, blued snubbie in .38 special is typical of what I have seen with my own eyes in other family and friends Taurus firearms. He put about 50 rounds of .38 Specials (not +P) through it before it locked completely.......cylinder, hammer, trigger all frozen solid. Sent it back to For repair, and about 5 months later Taurus finally got around to looking at it, discovered the frame had been machined so far out of spec in thier factory, that they declared it wasn't safe to even fix it (which makes you wonder how it passed there QC to start with) and replaced it with a different model revolver without even consulting my father first.

New revolver gets about 200 rounds through it when the cylinder starts free spinning at random, and when it does actualy lock up, it's so far out of time, the firing pin is striking the rim of the cartridge.

Now he is stuck with another paperweight that isn't safe to shoot, he can't in good conscience sell to anyone knowing the problems it has, and to send and TRY and get repaired could take anywhere from a couple weeks to several months..........and may or may not be fixed when it comes back, or even be the same firearm.

If that is what the good quality Taurus guns are, I can do without them.

 

[skidder]

I've owned two and they both had problems. Sent one back with no success; fixed it myself and then sold it. The other needed to be sent back, but by that time I was done. Sold it "as is" for half price.

I've been jaded by their product and their so called "warranty".

 

[Ben Towe]

I chose "Never owned one and never will" but it needs clarification. While I haven't personally owned one, a couple of my friends do and I have shot them quite a bit. One (a 1911) runs like a Singer sewing machine, the other, a Millennium .45 (can't remember the model number) is a major jam-o-matic. The only thing you can be certain will go bang is the first shot. After that it's a coin flip. That experience combined with the many horror stories are enough to keep me away. While there are undoubtedly worse choices out there, there are a lot of better ones as well.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Not sure why you think I am ignoring anyone. I am neither a fanboy or a basher. I have had limited experience with them and wanted to see how the poll numbers shook out with people tha have owned them and had problems vs no problem. You can obviously choose the option for owned with problems. If you notice there is no option for love them either. I guess by your reasoning I have ignored that large group of people. Your "ignorance is bliss" comment is misguided.

I am simply looking for numbers on how many people have owned and had problems vs no problem. The people like yourself that hate them can feel right at home on the last option.

My original question (which you ignored) was directed at you.
The comment you quoted was directed at James K.

 

[Mrgoosell]

I bought a taurus 990 22lr. Im not happy with the purchase, the gun fires fine never had a problem. The thing that is annoying is the empty shells are very very hard to get out. Most of the time i have to jam on the ejector rod extremely hard. Ill wont buy a taurus again unless I shoot it first.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[patriotic]

Send it in and get it fixed. Problem most likely is the extractor. It is a machine, things happen.

 

[Mrgoosell]

Send it in and get it fixed. Problem most likely is the extractor. It is a machine, things happen.

It was sent in, it came back 2 months later exactly the same.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[CajunBass]

I've owned four Taurus revolvers. Only one did I shoot extensivly, but that one a Model 82? (Fixed sight, 4" barrel, 38, more or less a Model 10 copy). That one I shot quite a bit, mostly using wadcutter loads. Other than ugly grips, I had nothing to grip about.

The other three, a Model 66, an 85, and a 94, I didn't really shoot a lot, but never had any trouble with, but I traded/sold them all off for something else. Now, to be fair, I have also traded off a number of Smith & Wesson, Colt, and Ruger revolvers. I just buy, sell and trade a lot.

No, I don't think they're "just as good" as the big three, but I don't think they're bad either.