Actual experience with Taurus

taurus experience

  • Never owned one, but would if the right deal came along

    Votes: 46 11.7%
  • never owned one and never will

    Votes: 35 8.9%
  • owed/still own taurus handguns with no issues

    Votes: 227 57.8%
  • owned/still own taurus hanguns with problems

    Votes: 85 21.6%

  • Total voters
    393
  • Poll closed .
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I could not vote, as their was no option for my experience.

I've owned three total , and still own one. Two were/are great, one was a turd.

Taurus 431, 3" 44 Special. Still own this one, and it is an excellent gun. 95% as nice as a S&W 696 for about 40% of the price.

Taurus 66, 6" 357 Mag. Also an excellent gun, one that I stupidly sold. Wish I could have it back.

Taurus 94, 4" 22 LR. Piece of crap right out of the box, I should have checked it better before buying it (my fault). Rough gritty trigger and binding problems. It went back to Taurus and they actually found a way to make it WORSE. Sold it as is for a big loss and replaced it with a S&W K-22. Never looked back.


I have no experience with their semiautos, so I can't comment there. If a Taurus revolver passes my inspection and the price is right, I'd by it. I'd love to get my hands on another Taurus 66 or 65 one day, but the price are always too high locally (about the same as a S&W 66 at $450 to $500).
 
I have 5 revolvers, the oldest a 441 dating to 1992. Have never had a problem with any of them. The 441 has fired somewhere in the neighborhood of 15000 hand loaded 44 Specials. I have called Taurus CS on several occasions with questions, good response and correct. I'll continue to buy and use Taurus, new and used.
 
A couple years ago I called for a history of my revolver, and a "born on" date. I had it for about (4-5) years at that point. Having never having sent this weapon in for service or any warranty work, I expected a simple call. Before I was even done asking my first question about my revolver, the reply on the other side was, "You don't clean it well or often enough." I tried to get my question answered (3) three times, and all I got in response was "You don't clean it well or often enough."

Emphasis added.

I saw the above post and had to respond. In post 76 above, I noted problems with a Taurus 94. When it came to the binding cylinder, I clearly told Taurus in writing and on the phone when I requested a shipping label that I tried cleaning the face of the cylinder and the forcing cone every cylinder full (which was every 9 shots) to no avail, the cylinder would still bind.

I got the gun back 6 weeks later with a nasty gram that said to "Clean the gun more often" (I guess it has to be cleaned after each shot??? :confused:). It still had the binding problem, but whatever they did to it made it worse because it was spitting little chunks of lead back in my face, something it didn't do before I sent it to Taurus.

There seems to be no middle ground with Taurus. Their guns and their customer service seem to be either excellent or atrocious. Maybe it depends on what day of the week the gun was made, or who you get on the phone or when you get them.
 
I am not a basher, but I DO tell the truth, which is usually considered "bashing" by the stupid and uninformed. All I can report is what I have experienced.

I owned a Taurus revolver, it was fine. Shot it a fair amount and was happy.

Currently own (recently bought, about a year) a stainless PT-1911 in .38 Super/with rail and am very happy with it so far. I would not buy another gun with a rail (from anyone). Just because I am not too happy with the rail, which I wanted to try, has nothing to do with it being a Taurus. So far the gun is fine and I am happy. OK, to be fair I am not impressed with the plastic grips that came on it, but I normally replace the grips anyway.

Other guns:
(yes, I am a gunsmith)
All guns listed here were new for this report:

Henry AR-7 - returned to the factory repeatedly, still doesn't feed/eject when/if fired.
Jennings J-22 - returned to the factory repeatedly, never worked (firing pin/spring blow out every two to three rounds), waiting for "gun buy back" (if they never owned, it how can they buy it back?) to dump it.
S&W 25-2 Barrel unscrewed while firing. Barrel was not pinned at factory, no pin hole.
Bill Wilson 1911 cost $2500 (not mine) and it would not feed ANY factory ammo (at least six different brands) with ANY magazine (probably a dozen makes, including supplied Wilson mags) when tried at my shooting club.
Kimber Custom 1911 (basic blued 1911) extractor unfinished (no hooks cut), 70+ trigger pull (after trigger pull was reduced by what felt like a least 50% it was measured at 36 lbs, I had nothing to measure it above that), magazine didn't work - period, stoned about an oz of burs out of the action/off frame.
Was NOT impressed with quality of work done by Ruger (on several guns returned over the years) under warranty.
 
I am not a basher, but I DO tell the truth, which is usually considered "bashing" by the stupid and uninformed. All I can report is what I have experienced.

I owned a Taurus revolver, it was fine. Shot it a fair amount and was happy.

Currently own (recently bought, about a year) a stainless PT-1911 in .38 Super/with rail and am very happy with it so far. I would not buy another gun with a rail (from anyone). Just because I am not too happy with the rail, which I wanted to try, has nothing to do with it being a Taurus. So far the gun is fine and I am happy. OK, to be fair I am not impressed with the plastic grips that came on it, but I normally replace the grips anyway.

Other guns:
(yes, I am a gunsmith)
All guns listed here were new for this report:

Henry AR-7 - returned to the factory repeatedly, still doesn't feed/eject when/if fired.
Jennings J-22 - returned to the factory repeatedly, never worked (firing pin/spring blow out every two to three rounds), waiting for "gun buy back" (if they never owned, it how can they buy it back?) to dump it.
S&W 25-2 Barrel unscrewed while firing. Barrel was not pinned at factory, no pin hole.
Bill Wilson 1911 cost $2500 (not mine) and it would not feed ANY factory ammo (at least six different brands) with ANY magazine (probably a dozen makes, including supplied Wilson mags) when tried at my shooting club.
Kimber Custom 1911 (basic blued 1911) extractor unfinished (no hooks cut), 70+ trigger pull (after trigger pull was reduced by what felt like a least 50% it was measured at 36 lbs, I had nothing to measure it above that), magazine didn't work - period, stoned about an oz of burs out of the action/off frame.
Was NOT impressed with quality of work done by Ruger (on several guns returned over the years) under warranty.
 
I voted "owned/no issues" but did have one minor one. I had an early model 94. This was a 9-shot, blued. 4-inch .22 revolver. I thought fit and finish were very good as was accuracy. I could not get past the very heavy DA trigger pull. I even sent it back to them but felt no real difference when I got it back. I still voted no issues because I generally liked the gun. The single action pull was perfect and everything else about the gun was also great, but I did buy it at least partially for DA practice so the bad DA pull was why I parted ways with it.

I also owned an early PT99AF. ("Brazilian Beretta") That was a great gun. Only "combat accurate", not necessarily a tack-driver, but stone reliable.
 
Owned a Taurus .327 Magnum revolver. Wonderful little firearm, recoil, ballistics etc. But it was the wife's gun and she didn't like it so it was sold. Might have to my own eventually.
 
I have owned 3 a pt100 no problems at all. a pt940 no problems at all then there is my 38 to be honest I got so disgusted with it about 15-20 years ago I left it at my moms house and have not been back for a visit since not even when I visit my mom do I dig it out dont care to cast my eyes upon it.
 
The Taurus 85 CH (hammerless) .38 Spl. snubnose that I owned some years ago -- and inexplicably traded in -- was the most accurate snubnosed revolver I have ever shot. No malfunctions, very good trigger, fit my hand like a glove.
 
Have owned multiple Taurus pistols, all of the PT-92 or -99 persuasion. Also own a Taurus Raging Bull in .44.

I let the -99 go as I got bored with it, and wish I hadn't; very sweet shooter. No problem with it whatsoever.

The first -92 was bought used from Cabella's and was a "rescue;" just needed some cleaning and TLC, and it shot like a danged tack-driver after. Sold it to a friend who was in the market for one, and made a few bucks on the deal.

My current -92 was also bought used from a dealer at a gun show. It shoots a tad low and left (about 7:00 - 8:00 on the line between bullseye and 10-ring on my targets of choice at my local range), but not badly so, and no feed problems so far after ~300 rounds.

The Raging Bull is another tack-driver, but hoo-lordy, is she an expensive beast to feed! Even .44 Special isn't that much cheaper than full-up .44 Mag.
 
I own a Taurus M450 2" s/s ported .45Colt.

I've never had a problem with it although it hasn't had much use.
 
I have a Taurus model 82 I've owed for many years. It has a SS finish, 4" bl. in .38spl. I've owed It for many years and never had a problem with It. I guess I got lucky.
 
The PT-92/99/100/101 will match up against anything and is a lot of gun for the money.

The revolver triggers are usually no where near as good as a S&W or Ruger but generally better than a Charter.

They have a lot of innovative designs, maybe too many for adequate quality control on what gets shipped to dealers.

I've not had any issues with my Taurus pistols, but none besides the PT-92 sees any heavy usage.
 
I own a Taurus 24/7 in .45. Bought it new one year ago and no problems to date. Also have a Taurus .327 Magnum revolver. Nice shooing gun, but had to replace the stock grips with a set of Hogues to have a place to rest my pinkie. No problems to date. Previously owned a used Taurus 82 in .38. Good shooting gun with no problems. Traded it off on a new stainless Rossi .357 revolver. Haven't shot it much, so we'll see.
 
I had owned a small ported Taurus revolver in 45 Colt, the crane was out of alignment after the 2nd time to Taurus it was time to go back to the American Guns that we love. I was excied by all of the hype over the Judge, the revolver would not always revolve, I judged it guilty after 2 times to taurus, and realze that I did not learn from my first Taurus mistake, It will not happen for the third time.
 
Taurus 9mm, no issues but definitely a lower quality gun than a Sig (and that surprises everyone because....)

Taurus Raging Bull, .454 Casull, no issues (though I will admit to shooting mostly .45 Colt in it). With .454 it is smoother to shoot than my Ruger Super Blackhawk. Again, not the quality (of finish mostly) of more expensive weapons.

Rossi (Braziltech) single shot .410. No problems, but my 9 y/o daughter says it kicks pretty good (imagine that). It was a $150 gun for crying out loud. 'nuf said.

Taurus Judge .45/.410. 3" stainless. I'll let you know soon.

I'm not what you would call a fanboy. The bulk of my arsenal is Ruger or Mossberg, with a S&W and an L.C. Smith thrown in there to spice things up, and a Cobra for when I'm feeling a little ghetto. I once owned a Colt revolver, and wouldn't own another - nothing really wrong with it, it was just not much fun to shoot.
 
I picked up a used Taurus 85 ultra light .38spl around Christmas and it shoots great. It is usually in my off hand pocket. I suspect someone bought it for his better half without having her shoot it. There wasn't even a turn ring on the cylinder.
 
shot one (small .38 revolver; no external hammer) belonging to a lady; believe she was original owner... cylinder would intermittently hang up on the rim of the cartridge when she'd fire it. I shot a couple cyl's through it and had the same problem. Tried some other ammo (all was various brands of factory ammo - no home loads). Don't think I was limp-wristing it, as I don't have any problems w/ any other guns I've shot.

Didn't really care much for the other two Tauruses I shot, but they seemed to work 'okay'.

Don't think I'm likely to ever buy one of that brand, unless some kind of super awesome deal falls in my lap.

-Bill
 
I've got an older pt92 that didn't have any problems for the longest time. It's a fun pistol and has never jammed in any way, but lately it quit locking open after the last round and the magazine release takes a little extra pressure to drop the mags. I'm not too worried about it because it was cheap and I don't rely on it.

With that said, with all the Taurus' that I've handled, there seems to be some real differences in quality control. I personally don't trust them, but to each their own.
 
I had a Taurus PT709 and before I sold it to a LEO to be used as his backup gun, I had right at 6000 problem free rounds through it. I miss that gun. Maybe oneday I will get another one. Currently the only other Taurus I have is the new 24/7 G2 45 compact. That too has been problem free and is a great gun. God Bless :)
 
I no longer own one, but never had problems with the one I did own up until very recently. Only got rid of it to fund a change.
 
Owned an 85 .38 stainless that was foolproof but heavy...shot thousands of rounds over 10-11 years...still in time and tight and shot well untill the day I traded it to a friend. In his hand it is still on spot....just heavy for a snubby!
 
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