For Taurus M94 owners

[Dithsoer]

I recently purchased a new M94 with a five inch barrel. Yup, that d.a. trigger pull is hard, but that is not my concern here. I wish to ask other owners of this weapon if they could check a few things on there's so I can make a comparison with mine, as I'm a little concerned about a few things. I would GREATLY appreciate the few minutes spent examining your revolver and letting me know.

1. My new Taurus has a bit of gritty take-up in the trigger, just before the d.a. is engaged. During this take up, the cylinder is released, allowing the cylinder to spin free if the trigger is held right at this junction before the d.a. pull starts. I didn't notice this when it was new, but after a few hundreds rounds, it's definitely noticeable now.

2. Barrel crown has a noticeable bright spot, where it looks like a small area was touched by a grinding stone slightly. The muzzle fouling also reflects this, forming a different pattern in this area. I know this is not intentional, but is such sloppiness common on this revolver?

3. A stamp on the face of the cylinder is right next to a chamber, slightly distorting the chamber by making it out-of-round, i.e. by displacing the steel.

4. The front of several chambers look as though someone has taken a small Dremel grinding stone and just rammed it into the chambers, so that it looks as though half of the circumference of these chambers at the exit has been ground out a bit and made funnel-shaped on one side. Many of the chamber exits on the face of the cylinder are not round, but instead are sad interpretations of this shape. In conjunction with the above two points, this can't be very conducive to accuracy.

5. In order to shoot to point of aim at fifteen yards, the sight must be raised as far as it will go, with no more room to be raised higher. Also, the "square" cut-out in the rear sight blade is so horribly mangled that it is more of a disfigured ovalish/roundish cut-out, with asymmetrical grinding around the cut out causing a horrible sight picture.

6. One of the two holes in the extractor that fits over the small pins in the cylinder has not been drilled properly round, and a pin sticks, causing me to have to press the extractor rod very hard to eject the spent cases. I then have to push down hard on the star to get it to seat on the pins so that the cylinder will close.


Are these normal for a modern Taurus, and nothing can be done? How is their customer service? Would they fix these problems, or would it just be a hassle and waste of time to even try?

 

[JR47]

Send it back, and have them repair it.

That said, WHY didn't you notice this BEFORE you bought it? Is there some sort of game involved that buyers will just pick up a gun, walk out with it, and THEN look at it?

S&W has been having problems with it's barrel-cylinder gaps, forcing cones, and muzzle crowns lately, as well. S&W traditionally had problems with the cylinder mouth diameters, too. There have been articles on repairing them in several magazines.

Buying a gun today, from anyone, requires that you pay attention to it prior to the sale. Very little hand-fitting is left, and many test firings guarantee only that it was capable of shooting five, six, seven, or eight rounds.

 

[Dithsoer]

Kind of hard to notice such minute details in non-sunlight with the gun covered in oil, grease, fouling and storage rust. How would I know about the sights? The trigger? Besides, I didn't think it would be necessary to bring a micrometer and magnifying glass with me to the shop. The last Taurus that I purchased years ago was completely fine. I guess they've kind of went downhill since then.

 

[mnrivrat]

When they send out a bad one they generaly do a good job of making a mess.

Yes, I have seen some of the issues you mention. Contact Taurus via internet to get the warranty repair work order. Then send it back.

Since the gun has multiple issues I would request a replacement gun.

Make sure you address all the problems and cross your fingers.

 

[22-rimfire]

You deserve a new gun. This is why I don't buy Taurus 22 revolvers. I would probably miss 2/3 of those things in the store as I tend to have a bias that things should be "perfect" when they are new. Hence I don't look for trouble or expect it with a brand new gun. The triggers are enough for me not to want one.

Added: IF you have to look so carefully at a brand spanking new gun in the store, you should not even consider buying that particular gun new or not in the first place. I don't even pick up Taurus revolvers to look at any more... none of them. The 45/10 did intrigue me when it came out and I honestly considered buying one more than a couple times, but reason won out eventually as I could not see a good reason to spend the money.

 

[Hoppes Love Potion]

The Taurus 94 was the clear winner of a recent discussion about guns people regret buying. I guess we can add another unhappy customer to the list.

 

[mnrivrat]

The Taurus M94 has been the subject of a lot of folks who generaly do not care for the Taurus line. The largest of these complaints was with the DA trigger pull .
For the most part the leverages required for operating a gun of this size, and with the 9 shot cylinder, was never a good formula for smooth and light DA trigger pull. Those that expected something different were disappointed, but it has little to do with build quality of the gun. It is a design issue.

As far as build quality I have indeed seen some awful workmanship on some of the Taurus guns. I have seen the number punching running into the openings of the chambers at the face of the cylinder. I have seen some terrible grinding done on the internals, bad side plate screw machining, and a couple other issues where there is No excuse for such poor workmanship.

That said I also own two Taurus revolvers and have owned a couple others in the past. That includes a couple M94's of which I still have one. I have been happy with them. I got good ones and I would guess there are many more good ones than bad. I use my M94 mostly in SA and that is what I bought it for. I don't need a light DA in a 22 rimfire. SA is more accurate for plinking and hunting . I did not expect the gun to have a great DA function and it does not bother me a bit that it can't do something it was not designed for.

 

[ChasMack]

I have a new one as of 3 months ago and have fired hundreds of rounds....no problem at all. I did take a couple coils off the springs which has helped the trigger pull a lot! I can shoot double action much better...27 shots inside of 8 inches at 15 yds, shooting as fast as I can while trying to keep a good sight picture. It's quite accurate with Am Eagle Federal 38 gr HP. But no cosmetic problems and no mechanical problems.

 

[Dithsoer]

Yeah, thanks everyone for the input. I think I will try to have them just replace this one with a completely different revolver.

Wish me luck. . .

 

[weregunner]

Got the 94 in blue with 5 inch barrel.

I checked that puppy over from head to tail before buying it.

One of the besta things I ever did.

The 94 is my understudy gun for the larger centerfire revolvers.

 

[JR47]

Kind of hard to notice such minute details in non-sunlight with the gun covered in oil, grease, fouling and storage rust. How would I know about the sights? The trigger?

Sorry, but if you couldn't see that the rear sight was messed up in the store, maybe you couldn't be expected to see anything else, either.

If you were able to see the gun under all of that, especially the rust, WHY buy it?

I've purchased any number of Taurus revolvers. NONE of them had any amount of fouling in them. Nor were they covered in storage rust. BOTH grease and oil? Wow, never seen that, either. Really. I even worked at a shop back in the late 80's, early 90's. I checked in guns. The ones truly packed with oil and preservative were the CZ guns. Taurus normally arrived in a clear plastic bag, in which an oil covered gun sat, inside the box. Some had a VCR type of paper that they were wrapped in, too. The worst clean-up took a rag, and a swipe.

You were buying that gun. It's YOUR money, and your responsibility to check it out. Do you buy a car without looking it over?

Even when I buy something as inexpensive as a pocket knife, it comes out of the box, and I check it for loose parts, broken scales, and other manufacturing defects. Yes, it's supposed to come in 100% condition. People are supposed to live by the Ten Commandments, too.

Anyone who buys anything essentially sight unseen has no real reason to complain. They did it to themselves.

 

[weregunner]

Guess this was missed!
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57816

 

[cyclopsshooter]

Recently bought a 94 .22lr cause I was tired of waiting for a sp101- The 94 is pretty crappy except when you consider typical .22 revolver quality..

 

[highorder]

I even worked at a shop back in the late 80's, early 90's. I checked in guns. The ones truly packed with oil and preservative were the CZ guns. Taurus normally arrived in a clear plastic bag, in which an oil covered gun sat, inside the box. Some had a VCR type of paper that they were wrapped in, too. The worst clean-up took a rag, and a swipe.

Me too. I was behind the counter from 01-06.

 

[cnj]

Hmmmm. My blued 5" barreled M94 has none of the issues you mentioned. It has been trouble free through several hundred rounds at this point. And, even though the DA trigger action is much stiffer than I would think needed, in SA mode it is EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY more accurate than my SP101-22lr. Go figure!

 

[Jlr2267]

tired of waiting for a sp101

Now in stock at Palmetto State Armory

 

[gazpacho]

The first thing I recommend doing with a new Taurus revolver is take the stocks odd and flush the innards with a full can of WD-40. I've had some strange stuff come put of those guns. Put it back together then shoot it until it's filthy dirty. With snap caps or spent shells in it, dry fire it about 500 times. Clean it again, and then try the revolver out.

I have had surprisingly good luck with an 85 and an 850. The trigger pull is moderate and smooth. My 94 had to go back because of a jammed cylinder, but now it is just fine. The trigger is still WAY heavy, but DA practice with the 94 helps loads with the 85 & 850.

 

[Billy Jack]

I guess I am another non M-94 fan

I bought a 4' SS Taurus 22 revolver and thought it was great. After about 4-5cylinders of shooting I noticed it was kind of locking up. Over a 4 year period I would take it out after thorough cleaning figuring all was well NOW, and it would do it all over again. Then I began to read about others with the same problem.
After screwing around with it for years and never getting it "right" I traded it for a Ruger LC9.
I have 3 other Taurus revolvers, all in .357 and I really like them. My 4" Model 66 is as smooth as a colt "in my opinion".