The good news is that when you buy a Taurus and it is a lemon, you are only out about $300. If you buy a S&W and it is a lemon, the gun is likely fixable, but in the meantime your $700 is gone and you temporarily have nothing. Every consumer has to balance risk vs payoff in their investment...
So, the $300 gun "isn't fixable"? Really? A loose screw, after the gun has been fired, missed by the firer, and then assembled without all of the parts, is a lemon?
Read the threads about problems with less expensive guns, regardless of brand. There, you will find some of the oddest complaints ever heard. A new gun that had the cylinder fall out? Did it even get looked at before purchase? Or during the initial cleaning? Screws that back out are plainly visible before they fall out of the gun.
I always check various features before buying ANY brand of gun. On a revolver, things like barrel-cylinder gap, timing issues, canted barrels, loose screws, and lock-up. When I get it home, it's field-stripped, and cleaned and lubed thoroughly. Most off-shore manufacturers ship guns in a preservative, much like cosmoline. Failure to remove it will result in the same issues as not removing cosmoline.
Actually LOOKING at the guns before purchase can allow you to avoid so many problems. In many cases, the problem isn't the Brand of the gun, it's the purchaser.
FYI, pricing of guns may vary widely because of labor costs, insurance costs, EPA regulations, legal representation costs, and the profit margin necessary to impress shareholders. American manufacturers pay a LOT more in labor costs, salaries and benefits, than just about anywhere else in the world. Add in the costs of EPA regulations, local business taxes and licensing fees, mandatory insurance, unemployment benefits costs, worker's comp costs, and legal representation in our law-suit happy nation. That can add as much as 30% to the bottom line, compared to other manufacturing nations.
It's funny to hear about how one brand is so much better than another, even when the "better" brand purchases parts from still another manufacturer of guns.