My Taurus Tracker issues

[LottoTX]

I bought a Taurus Tracker .44 magnum new and less than 50 rounds into owning it the trigger assembly froze. I returned it to Taurus and they repaired and sent it back. After they returned it I put 25 rounds through it without an issues.

I took it out again today and the first five rounds fired without incident. I reloaded and on the fifth pull of the trigger it clicked. I examined it and discovered the cylinder was spinning freely. They frown on on-site repairs at this range so I bagged it up and moved on to the next gun.

After getting home I discovered the pawl that locks the cylinder in place was stuck in the recessed position. After tapping it a few times with a small wood dowel it popped back up. I loaded some snap caps and started dry firing. About the time my finger started getting tired the pawl stuck again and the cylinder once again was spinning freely.

My question to anyone who might know is do I need to send it in for warranty work again? I don't want to send it in to find out it is a cleaning issue but it would require disassembly to get in there and clean it.

This is the first revolver I've owned. I thought they were supposed to be simpler to keep running than an auto!?

 

[Bezoar]

simple test to do.

take teh grips off, make sure the gun is unloaded. get a spray can of rem oil. and spray the crap out of the action. youll want to wear chemical resisitant gloves.

spray into every hole and work the action as you do. use a 1/3 of the can. be liberal with it.

When your done, just keep working the action for a while. Since you have snap caps put those in, and spray the cylinder and arbor down as well. and just dry fire it.

you should see improvement.

 

[BSA1]

Based on my experience with my Taurus m941 and your description of the problem I would;

1st; follow Bezoar's advice. If no improvement;

2nd; disassemble and check for burrs.

With my gun which I reported on in detail on THR it came from the factory bone dry of oil and has a 1/2" long burr rubbing on the cylinder. 4 drops of CLP in the right places took came of the try action but complete disassembly of the action was required to remove the burr (which took less time than it took to write this post).

If you don't have the experience and proper tools don't try disassembly of the gun yourself. Their J-Frame has a little spring and pin that is a pain to get back into place when reassembling the action (don't know about their big boys).

The bad news is Taurus Q.C. Is inconsistent although I think Smith & Wesson's is just as bad.

The good news they are a high quality gun worth a little tweaking.

 

[WestKentucky]

BSA is dead on. Clean it and use it. Sounds like a burr in the pawl cut or a weak spring. I think you will end up with it at a smith if you are uncomfortable opening the action. My advice is to watch a few videos on YouTube Where they open up the actions, usually to show you how to put in reduced weight springs. That will let you know if you can do it or not. Some bits are tricky to get back together but so long as you don't force anything but a spring into place you won't break anything.

 

[WestKentucky]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tzGsxy8sEx8

Try that. My understanding is that all taurus lock work is very similar in design.

 

[jyo]

Personally, I don't own/buy Taurus/Rossi revolvers (or semi-autos for that matter) based on my background as a gun store manager back in the day. Sure, I expect their QC to have gotten better than back then, but it seems like several times other shooters bragged about their Taurus/Rossi handguns---when I asked to try them, they said yes---just as soon as it gets back from the factory/gunsmith/still looking for parts, etc…
Just my own personal opinion/experience---YMMV...

 

[Bezoar]

there is nothing wrong with taurus or rossi. Sure its not the fanciest finish, but the thing is, some of the most sought after collectible handguns are some of the most unreliable.

Just be happy. Its better to be the man with a taurus and be out shooting it, then to be sitting in the study stewing because you dont have a "model x" from colt or smith or whatnot.

 

[LottoTX]

Thanks for the suggestions on cleaning and lubricating heavily. I gave it a try and dry fired the snap caps ~100 times, wiped off excess lube, and repeated several times. It seems to be working without issue dry firing. The real test will be when I get it back to the range and can run some live ammo through it. Thanks again for the suggestions.