Has Taurus got their QA right?

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T. O'Heir

New member
Taurus' QC is iffy at best. Their customer service isn't good either. Has been for years.
YouTube is not the place to get educated. Anybody can post their opinions there.
 
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wild cat mccane

New member
Ask here. People here might own and have bought multiples over the years...like me.

I have bought 7 new 66s over the last 6 years.


I feel there is no difference between my 6.

My last two 66s (2018 and 2019 builds--orange white cardboard boxes) went back to Taurus for binding before I even shot them. They came back fixed. One came back with the previous ejector rod cut in half. No idea why. Both had ejector rod/crane work.

So when people say Taurus quality has ebbed and flowed, ask them how many they have owned and shot (a lot) to back that statement up.
 
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Jbar4Ranch

New member
As previously stated, most of them work or they'd be out of business.

That said, I was the Gun Room Manager for Sportsman's Warehouse for a few years ('07-'12), and I sent back more Taurus revolvers for warranty service than all the other guns we carried, combined.

They gave up on trying to make a single action after two tries with the Gaucho, but the autos seemed to work fine - I can only remember sending two or three in for warranty work, while revolvers were a weekly thing. The Judge was the worst of all.
 
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osbornk

New member
T. O'Heir said:
Taurus' QC is iffy at best. Their customer service isn't good either. Has been for years.
YouTube is not the place to get educated. Anybody can post their opinions there.
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I have or have had 6 Taurus handguns over the last 10 or 15 years. The first two were good but not as good as the last 4. The two I have bought this year (Spectrum for $119.99 and 856 for $269.99 (now $20 cheaper along with a $25 rebate) have been the best in both function and finish. My 4 year old TCP had a minor issue with the trigger a few months ago and even though I was told it might be a 12 week turnaround, it was repaired in 2 weeks. I think they have made major improvements in both their quality and customer service.
 
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TruthTellers

New member
I have two Taurus guns, an older PT-22 and a Public Defender. The PT-22 jams at times, but IDK how much of that is ammo related or weak magazine spring related and the Public Defender is fine, except some DA trigger pulls will get locked up and to fix that either the cylinder has to be opened or the hammer cocked for single action.

The DA pull isn't enough of a reason for me to take the chance on Taurus spending 8 weeks "fixing" it.

Their semi autos seem fine, but I have no interest in any of them outside the PT-92.
 
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CajunBass

New member
I've always been quite satisfied with the dozen or so Taurus revolvers I've owned. I admit that I've never fired any of them really "extensively" I think was the word someone used, but they worked. I'd keep them a while and trade/sell them for something else. The finish on some was better than others, Same pretty much with triggers. Some better than others, but none were really "bad."

I've currently got a Tracker 44 Magnum, the smaller five shot 44 that I like quite a bit.
 
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wild cat mccane

New member
Funny that someone said their autos worked in a time period that recalled 1 million Taurus pistols and included a $239M lawsuit (final number) against Taurus for their autos.

I'm not bashing, I'm just correcting that information that their autos were okay during that time period.

But again, the Raging series is probably not the measure of Taurus revolvers.

The Raging series is 44mag and up. So people aren't shooting high value through the Raging series. Additionally, multiple lock ups on the Raging series not found on their other revolvers.
 
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Cheapshooter

New member
No problem with anything Taurus for me. A friend who has several, no make that many Taurus pistols and revolvers had issues with one M85. He contacted Taurus, sent it in, and within a couple weeks had it returned, fully functional as it is today.
I can only go by personal experience, and that of close friends. Not elitest members of the bash Taurus club because thay don't have a certain prestigious name or aren't made in the US.
 
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Jbar4Ranch

New member
wild cat mccane said:
Funny that someone said their autos worked in a time period that recalled 1 million Taurus pistols and included a $239M lawsuit (final number) against Taurus for their autos.
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They worked fine - the lawsuit was over a drop test failure, and took place a few years past the time period I specified. True, the safety deficiency undoubtedly existed since day one in the affected pistols, but didn't affect function at all, and didn't come to light until someone dropped one just right to cause a malfunction in the multiple safeties somewhere, and shot themselves (Or somebody else... I don't remember the specifics).
 
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T. O'Heir

New member
"...They worked fine..." It's not about how well they work. It's about their customer service being poor. When they first came here, the cylinders had huge tool marks on 'em.
"...Anybody can post..." Is about YouTube. Did you need a picture?
 
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Jbar4Ranch

New member
Do I need a picture of YouTube? I can't make sense of what you're trying to say... the lawsuit & function post was about their autoloaders. I fully agree about the revolvers - we once got one in that was actually missing part of the rifling. The first inch or so had rough rifling, then it was just gone and the barrel rough as hell for the next inch, then good the rest of the way to the muzzle.

Their customer service is vastly different for individuals than it is for large chains. We (Sportsman's Warehouse) would get repaired or replacement guns back from Taurus in only a couple weeks, while individuals commonly wait a couple months... or more, sometimes.
 
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osbornk

New member
Their customer service is vastly different for individuals than it is for large chains. We (Sportsman's Warehouse) would get repaired or replacement guns back from Taurus in only a couple weeks, while individuals commonly wait a couple months... or more, sometimes.
Click to expand...

I recently got mine back in a couple of weeks and according to others on a Taurus forum, they have been getting theirs back quickly also. Their chat feature works pretty well also.
 
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Tom Servo

Staff
I sent back more Taurus revolvers for warranty service than all the other guns we carried, combined.
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I ran a mid-size independent shop for several years. My experience was the same. Most of the time, the defects were apparent straight out of the box, and those guns never made it to the shelf. The most common problems were revolvers on which the cylinder obviously didn't index and stuck/stripped locks.

It got to be a real problem because it meant having the money tied up in a gun that had to be sent back for weeks. If we sold one that turned out to be defective, we had an angry customer who didn't want to wait for months to get his new gun fixed. We debated, and it was just easier to stop carrying their products.

I guess word got back to them, because at the 2011 SHOT show, a rep from the company sought me out. He was really nice, and he assured me they were adding more operators to the customer service department. Well, that was nice and all, but they needed to work on their quality control, which was the real problem. His response? "But we're making it easier for customers to send their guns back!"

<sigh>
 
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5whiskey

New member
Caveat: I have never owned a Taurus...

Rest of the Post: I have approximately 2 friends I know of that have purchased Taurus firearms, and I have shot them.

One was a PT 140 Millennium Pro. The owner had 2' sized groups at 7 yards and wanted to know what was up. I shot it, had a similar experience, and proceeded to check a couple of things. The rear sight could be slid back and forth with finger pressure. So we adjusted sight and tightened the set screw... which couldn't tighten. I turns out the threads were good on the sight, not the screw. I found a set screw that would work at a hardware store, cut it to length, and cleaned the threads with my die set. He was happy and it worked (to this day, as far as I know). He was happy to buy a $.60 screw and offer me a couple of beers as opposed to the warranty wait. This was in 2009 or so, and as far as I know that pistol was otherwise good.

Another friend has a PT709 that has been pretty good, despite the fact that I find the trigger pretty horrid. I'm sure there's worse out there, but it's pretty bad.

Other friends, whose pistol I haven't fired and touched, have various reviews both good and bad. Admittedly, no one has used their customer service. Most folks in my circle opt to fix the firearm on their own. To be fair it's usually stupid stuff, like a defective spring that breaks right away or an over-soft rear sight set screw.


In contrast, I've seen a Ruger LC9 with a chamber so rough that any fired round had to be pushed (mostly beaten out) out from the muzzle with a cleaning rod. So yeah, I acknowledge anyone can have their issues. Yes Ruger did fix it, less than 2 week turnaround.
 
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DMK

New member
It's a shame that their QC is so spotty. I wouldn't ever recommend a Taurus because of that, but when they do get get it right, they have nice stuff for a decent price.

I have a model 94 10 shot 22LR snubnose that is really great. It has a really smooth DA trigger, great sights and beautiful bluing. It's as nice as any of my S&Ws, nicer than my 642 in fact.

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unclenunzie

New member
My recent production Taurus stainless 856 is worth what I paid, <$300.

I checked three copies at the counter and picked mine because the timing and lockup was good, no perceptible end shake, barrel straight, no hammer push off, trigger OK. I wanted a serviceable 6-round 38 special snub in all stainless, and that's what I got.

That said, I don't think I'd buy one unless I get to inspect it first. With smith and ruger I would order one online because both are proven reliable in the customer service department.
 
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