Taurus Ultra Lite 38 special help

I have had that exact model for six years. It, along with my other Taurus revolvers, has been 100% reliable.

I have been carrying a Taurus 85UL 18 hours a day 7 days a week for a very long time. It has been 100% reliable. I own many S&W snubs also Charter and a couple other Taurus 85s but this 85 UL is my constant companion. I can whole heartedly recommend one for carry. And yes that is a good price.

357smallbore said:

Have an opportunity to by a new 2in Taurus 85 Ultra Lite in stainless for $200. I know its a great deal, but are these reliable.
Thank You

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Everything. Everything with Taurus is hit or miss quality. Every gun you buy with the Taurus name on it could be either perfect, or junk. That company is a sock drawer.

For every person who, like millcreek, says they had one that was awesome, there is another one out there who had one that was nothing but problems. One thing for sure, if you do have problems, don't expect much from Taurus customer service.

I had a PT99AF that was awesome, but I won't buy another.

I have had nothing but good luck with Taurus CS. I've owned Taurus revolvers for 25 years and only needed to send one back. I bought it used and after the purchase found a crack in the middle of the barrel. Probably a squib followed by another round. They rebarreled it for free even though it was obvious user error and I was not the original purchaser.
I also have a G2C that had a problem with the mag release. They fixed it with no charge and no questions asked.
I'm sure some people have had less than perfect experiences with all of the different manufacturers CS but for some reason Taurus seems to get all the bad press.

I had three Taurus Model 85's and they all worked fine.

I bought a plain jane steel framed blued one with an external hammer brand-new in 1990 or so. It had a nice trigger. I had it for about ten years, but it got stolen.

I got a brand-new ultralight in 2000 or so. It's a stainless one with a hammer that I bought brand-new. I thought the trigger was okay, neither good nor bad. I carefully ground most of the hammer spur off, so it's pretty much DAO. I gave it to my FiL because he didn't have a 38 snub. He whined about the trigger and changed some springs to make it lighter. It still works just fine.

I bought a steel-framed DAO version (hammerless) used for $200 just because. It went bang every time, but the trigger was pretty stiff. I traded it towards something or other at the LGS.

ontarget said:

I'm sure some people have had less than perfect experiences with all of the different manufacturers CS but for some reason Taurus seems to get all the bad press.

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The reason is the sheer numbers of people who have gotten short shrift from Taurus. People tend to complain about a company when they feel they've been screwed over, but they tend to keep quiet when everything goes okay. So when someone gets screwed by Ruger, they tell people; when they get screwed by Taurus, they tell people. The reason "Taurus seems to get all the bad press" is because they've legitimately earned it by screwing a lot of people.

Taurus 85s have traditionally been one of their better lines. I had 2 rugers need to be sent back in the past year and a half, three Taurus revolvers are fine and haven't been sent back. I've had prelock Smith's that also had issues while Smith's with locks that are awesome. For 2 Benjamin's I would buy the revolver pending it checks out my inspection method. Sig and Remington are putting out crap more than Taurus but Taurus is an easier target for people who want to bash them

D.B. Cooper said:

The reason is the sheer numbers of people who have gotten short shrift from Taurus. People tend to complain about a company when they feel they've been screwed over, but they tend to keep quiet when everything goes okay. So when someone gets screwed by Ruger, they tell people; when they get screwed by Taurus, they tell people. The reason "Taurus seems to get all the bad press" is because they've legitimately earned it by screwing a lot of people.

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My issue is not with the people who have had problems with THEIR Taurus. My problem is with the internet regurgitating all the judgements being passed because of the problems someone heard about their cousins brothers friends dad had with a Taurus. Hearsay just keeps getting passed as fact.
I wish the manufacturers would release stats of what percentage of their products are returned for warranty.
My guess is they are all pretty close.

At $200, I'd be an easy sell. Jump on it.

Sovblocgunfan said:

At $200, I'd be an easy sell. Jump on it.

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In truth I couldn't argue with this. That's pretty cheap for any gun. And if it wasn't up to par, you could sell it for...$200. But buying new, that gun is $280. Fo Another $40 bucks, I could get an American made Charter Arms. So if buying new, that's what I would do. But yeah, hard to complain about anything at $200. (I've spent more than that on dinner for me and a few friends.)

D.B. Cooper said:

In truth I couldn't argue with this. That's pretty cheap for any gun. And if it wasn't up to par, you could sell it for...$200. But buying new, that gun is $280. Fo Another $40 bucks, I could get an American made Charter Arms. So if buying new, that's what I would do. But yeah, hard to complain about anything at $200. (I've spent more than that on dinner for me and a few friends.)

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Yup. Just about any serviceable gun is worth $200.

I've got a blue 85 UL I bought in the 90s, never had any problems with it but it did loosen up some after the first few hundred rounds.

I had one, liked it and shot it well (for an ultralight .38 snub). Was my edc for at least a year. Until I realized the firing pin had broken in half. Then I disposed of it. If it was a sporting or recreational firearm I would have sent it back for repair, but my sense of trust was gone.

I own a Taurus 651SH2. It took some work on my part, but finally became good and reliable. I did not bother calling Taurus CS.

I won't buy another Taurus product new, but at $200, there is little risk.