Can I trust Taurus?

[Diamondback]

I've owned a bunch....and had good luck with them all. Luck of the draw ? ...don't know, but I trust my life to them. Apparently mileage varies.

- regards

 

[tblt]

I carry a taurus mod 85 38 spl.I like my Gp100 a lot better.I would probley get a smith ultra lite if I had it to do again.

 

[MCgunner]

The GP is a good, strong gun. It's about worthless for carry, but as a home defense or range shooter, nice and strong, and fixable trigger. If carry is your need, get the SP101 in Ruger options. Ruger has a poor variety of models, but what they do have is excellent in design, build, and function. If I ever got another new Smith, it'd be a 642, fairly reasonable pricing. The 800 dollar ones they can keep. I don't drink their Koolade.

 

[tubeshooter]

Apparently mileage varies.

This could just about sum up every Taurus quality thread I have seen.


I got one jewel and one coal lump. Still got the jewel. Great little revolver.

 

[19-3Ben]

Hmm, after reading all the responses, Taurus reliability sounds patchy. I'm going to take another look at the GP100.

Thanks guys.

Best idea I've heard all day. Another thing you might want to look into the used Ruger Security Six/Service six model like. They were the predecessor to the GP100 and darn fine guns!!!

 

[Tom Servo]

+1 on a Ruger or used S&W.

Taurus is capable of making good, accurate and reliable revolvers. The only problem is ensuring that you get one of them.

If it works out of the box, you're halfway there. If it's still working after a couple of boxes of ammo, no worries: it'll serve you for a long time to come.

The problem lies with the fact that a significant percentage of their guns come from the factory with problems. The failure rate on their Milllenium/24-7 pistols hit about 40% before we stopped carrying them.

Their revolvers seem to be more consistent, but I'm still seeing about 10% that have problems straight out of the box. Many of my customers choose to pay to have a gunsmith fix them than deal with the customer service at Taurus, who I've known to take months to fix and ship a gun.

The odd thing is, with one exception (a blown forcing cone), these were things that should have been caught at the factory.

Here's the good news. Follow Jim March's "Revolver Checkout" instructions when evaluating it. If it checks out, you've got a good one. The most important thing to look for is cylinder gap. One of the most common problems I've seen is a cylinder that's too tight and locks up.

Ask for (or bring) an empty shell. Cycle the cylinder with it, and keep an eye out for any sign of binding.

Next, run a finger across the front of the forcing cone. If you feel any burrs or rough surfaces, beware.

That covers most of the problems I've seen. Don't worry about a little cylinder wiggle--that seems to be the norm. One thing I've never seen a Taurus do is knock itself out of timing.

I've seen some old, weatherbeaten Taurii that are great shooters. It's just a bit of a gamble getting a winner.

 

[Elm Creek Smith]

Would you like me to tell you about the brand new four inch S&W 629 I had? I was shooting it for the first time with factory loads, and the holes in the target mysteriously started appearing in a fairly horizontal line. I stopped shooting and looked down at where the tops of the barrel and frame were supposed to line up. No such luck: the barrel had turned while I was shooting. I could also tell you about the Ruger Police Service-Six that had the front sight mounted off-center in the barrel rib or my .45 Ruger Bisley Vaquero that shot two feet to the left at 25 yards.

I've never had those things happen with my Taurus 85SSUL.

ECS