Taurus 605 Problems

[RangerGreen]

I'm looking for some help / advice regarding a Taurus model 605 that I bought a while back.

I bought the gun to carry in my wife's car as a self defense weapon. I've put less than 100 rounds through the gun and up until the other day I've never had a problem. When I took the gun to the range for my wife to practice with the other day she was able to get about 4 shots off and then all of a sudden the gun failed to fire.

She is new to shooting and thought she had done something wrong.

Long story short, the cylinder spins freely when the hammer is cocked. Before I try sending the gun back to Taurus I wanted to see if anyone had experienced this problem and if they knew how to fix it.

 

[hexidismal]

Far more information is needed. When it comes to diagnosing a problem, generally one needs the full story. The description leaves a few important questions unanswered.

Since you mention "when the hammer is cocked", one has to assume you are able to cock and release the hammer by trigger pull.

1: Does the cylinder rotate when you cock the hammer ? My guess, from what you said is that possibly it does not. A failure to fire and free spinning cylinder are two very different issues, though surely a failure to fire might occur if the cylinder was not rotating an unfired cartridge into position. If on the other hand it is rotating, well, thats a whole different thing.

2: When "spinning freely", will the cylinder spin in one or both directions ? If only one direction, is it the wrong direction ? Does it make 'clicking' sounds ?

I'd need at least that info to make an 'out of hand' diagnosis. Easy enough to make a couple guesses regarding either the hand , cylinder stop , or both. .. but I don't like making guesses without the proper info.

 

[Virginian]

Taurus will fix it for free, but it may take awhile. I would take it apart and get parts, but that is me. I do not mean to demean your abilities, but based on your post I don't think you should attempt this. Either call Taurus ar take it to a gunsmith.

 

[RangerGreen]

hexidismal - to answer your questions,

1) The cylinder does rotate when I cock the hammer. I believe the failure to fire was most likely caused by the cylinder not aligning properly and thus when the trigger is pulled the hammer doesn't strike the primer. Most likely because it was bumped.

2) The cylinder only spins in one direction, the correct one, and it does make a clicking sound. Also when the hammer is not cocked the cylinder will not rotate. When pulling the trigger the hammer will draw back and the cylinder does rotate normally.

Also, I am able to cock and release the hammer by pulling the trigger.

Virginian - I'm fairly mechanically inclined. I'm not sure what it was about my first post that caused you to question that. Maybe I didn't use the right "jargon." My intention was to gather information from someone with more experience in this area than I have to help me decide whether or not this is a repair that is beyond my ability. Any advice that you can give that will aid in diagnosing the problem is appreciated. No offense taken.

 

[smee781]

Tuarus

Not another Taurus with a problem!:banghead: After my Taurus problem I got rid of mine!

 

[KD5NRH]

Since I have a 605CH (DAO version with a bobbed hammer) I can't say for sure about anything requiring the hammer to be cocked, but is your cylinder release screw tight? I've found that when it loosens up enough, the release mechanism can move just a bit too much under recoil and jam the other internals up in odd ways.
Try removing the cylinder release, then the sideplate. Gently cycle the gun a few times and watch for anything binding. It may start working right all by itself, or you may have to poke around a bit. Either way, if you get it working, put the sideplate back, and put some blue loctite on the cylinder release screw before you tighten it.

 

[hexidismal]

Hi again Ranger

Well, I can't say why it's happening (but I can guess) without looking at it, but from your answers I can however tell you what is happening. If my explanation seems over simplified, please understand that it's not my intention. We simply don't know each other, and this is the internet after all, so I can't know how familiar you are with revolver part terminology.. hehe

So anyway, when you unlatch and pull out the cylinder for loading, you'll see a spring loaded piece inside the frame pretty much directly above the trigger. That is the cylinder stop. It should be spring loaded, so that you can push it down a little with your finger, and it will return to its normal position when released. When the cylinder is closed, the stop should in normal function push upward into a groove in the cylinder (the groove of the chamber opposite of the one which should be lined up with the barrel). When you cock the gun, or begin pulling the trigger in double action, the cylinder stop is pulled away from the cylinder allowing it the freedom to be rotated by an internal part called the hand. When the hammer is cocked, the timing of the gun should have rotated the cylinder into such a position that the cylinder stop's upward spring loaded pressure pushes it into the next groove on the cylinder.

That being said. What is happening on your gun is that with the hammer in the cocked position, the cylinder stop is for some reason being restricted from returning into its "freedom" to raise back up toward the cylinder. Actually, you can intentionally create this occurrence on a normally functioning revolver if you draw back the hammer only a little bit only to the point where where the cylinder stop is being pulled away, but is not yet free to return, the gun will allow the cylinder to spin as you're saying.

So, what does this mean ?
Well, first check with the gun's cylinder open if you can depress the cylinder stop, and if it will return when you release it.

Situation 1: It does not depress and return. Then the cylinder stop spring spring is simply most likely broken. Annoying, but very simple fix. BUT if that were true, the cylinder should technically spin regardless of whether or not the hammer is cocked.

Situation 2: It works normally thus far. Close the cylinder into locked position. Visually inspect that the cylinder stop is properly engaged (basically, can you see it, or is it pushed down into the frame) If it is visibly enaaged, cock back the hammer , while watching the cylinder stop. Does it disengage (down into the frame ? Does it re-engage. If so it should be partially visible, and released to "push" against the surface of the cylinder before the cylinder has rotated enough to allow the stop to fully engage into the groove.

 

[RangerGreen]

Hexidismal -

Thanks for the information. This gives me a starting place to work with. When I get home from work I'll take a look at the gun and post what I find. I appreciate your help.

 

[hexidismal]

Situation 2 (continued from my above post) : If the cylinder stop was engaged with the gun uncocked, but is no longer with the hammer in cocked position (and able to be manually rotated as you mentioned ), then check to see if slight manual rotation will allow the cylinder stop to enagage.

Possible issues:
1: It could be that the area of the trigger designed to manipulate the cylinder stop is broken or has a defect. Basically the "release" of the cylinder stop to allow it freedom to return to its upward position is very similar to a sear/disconnct function. From what it sounds like, on your gun this disconnection is not occuring. This issue would require a trigger replacement and refitting. This is only possible if the last thing you check, regarding the manual rotation allowing cylinders stop engagement is not true.
2: Similar to above, exept that its the cylinder stop itself that has a defect, which require only a replacement. Cheap and simple assuming the part has been properly fitted to specs. Most likely a drop in would be fine.
3: Other things.. oh, maybe a bent or broken cylinder stop strut.

 

[hexidismal]

No prob RangerGreen. If you have any specific questions later, I'll be glad to try and help. Maybe it'll be something you can fix, and maybe not. Depending on how you look at it and how industrious you're feeling.. heck, could be a good opportunity to start learning revolver internals.. hehe

 

[MountainBear]

I am a gunsmith. I called Taurus for a simple non-controlled part almost a year ago, and have yet to hear from them. No part, no customer service=No more of my business.
I'll tell you what I tell my customers. Sell it and buy a S&W. Shoot 1000 rounds out of it before you carry or rely on it. Taurus are great for occasional plinking but I do not consider their quality enough to trust my life with.

This probably wasn't all that helpful, at least nothing I'm sure that you haven't heard before, but I figure I could offer my two cents worth...

 

[tinygnat219]

Take the sideplate off and look for metal shavings. I had a similar problem with mine and I found metal shavings all over the insides of the gun.

I ended up sending mine (Taurus 905) to Taurus and they fixed it. It took 5 weeks and they advertised 4-6.

 

[RangerGreen]

hexidismal -

It looks like the cylinder stop is not popping back up when the hammer is cocked. With the hammer down the cylinder stop locks the cylinder in position. I can even push on it with my finger with the cylinder open and it pops right back up. It doesn't appear to be sticking and based on a quick visual inspection it doesn't look like it is dirty. Do you think it is just a defective part?

 

[hexidismal]

Yep, sounds like it. Problem is it could be just one or more than one of the deformity/defects I mentioned above in the 'situation 2' post. In this case I'd have to say sending it in for service would be the best thing to do first. If you could be absolutely sure it was only a deformity of the cylinder stop, then I'd say give it a shot on your own. Fact is though, the defect is far more likely breakage or wear of the trigger's trigger/stop engagement angle. Or a bent post. Both those things would require more serious machining. I can certainly sympathize with wanting to do it on your own if only to avoid dealing with customer service and all the issues inherent in shipping, but in this case I wouldn't recommend it.

One little note though to those poster's who used the thread as an opportunity to bash Taurus.. I don't personally own any Taurus revolvers, simply because I'm an S&W guy. I have however , and relatively recently, had to repair a different issue on a nice pre-lock 686 caused by a deformity in the trigger. Sometimes parts just aren't perfect and that goes for any brand.

 

[RangerGreen]

Thanks for your help. It sounds like sending it back to Taurus might be the best way to go. Do you have any idea what it might cost (wost case scenario) to have a gun smith make the repairs?

Up to this point I've been very happy with every Taurus I've owned. I realized that they might have some quality control issues, but I don't see any real issues with the quality of the raw materials that they use. At this point I don't really see a reason to pay a premium of up to 30% more for a Smith or a Ruger. This is the first Taurus I've ever seen fail. I've got family and friends that combined own quite a few of them. I figure that every once in a while there will be a bad apple. I might change my tune after dealing with Taurus customer service.

Either way, I appreciate the advice and information that you have given me.

 

[tinygnat219]

Rangergreen,

Taurus's QC consists of giving a near-sighted drunken monkey with Parkinson's undergoing cigarea disk sander for fine metal polishing. Seriously, it's that bad.

However, having said that, send it into Taurus. It will save you what I like to call "reluctant Gunsmith Fees" where they will reluctantly work on a Taurus. All it will cost you is the overnight shipping (try 2nd Day Saver from UPS, it really does save money) and 4-6 weeks. Mine were fixed, but I ended up selling them because I got tired of sending mine back to the factory.