Whats the story with Taurus?

[Newb223]

I would consider myself a novice in the gun world. I have to wonder what the story is with Taurus. Are they the knock off of the gun world? Seems to me that they make a little bit of everything. It also would seem that they steal designs from other manufactures' and use them as their own. I notice that they seem to be on the cheaper end of the spectrum as well.

I am just wondering if it is an instance of you get what you pay for?
Are they worth any long term investment, or would they be more considered throw away guns?

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

I have a Taurus 45 auto that I carry in my work vehicle. It is not as well made as my Ruger but so far I have not had any problems related to using it and I do take it to the range a couple of times per year but I don't figure I'm out much if something happens to it.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Oh boy, this is gonna get interesting...

Throw-away gun??? Er, no...
Long Term Investment??? Er, no...
Somewhere in between...

Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with Taurus EXCEPT for their quality control. They used to be an off-brand knock-off company, but these days they are pretty innovative. Not to mention a killer marketing department.

For range use, absolutely nothing wrong with them - zero, nada... For SD/HD, nothing wrong with them either, BUT you gotta fully put them through their paces. Kinda gotta do that with any SD/HD weapon, however.

 

[Dnaltrop]

Great/decent Wheelguns as long as you avoid the 9 shot .22s ( 4 trips back, haven't tested the recent "attempt" at repair for Dad's Tracker)

Semi-autos my experience varies but is more on the "bad" side

My theory on Taurus is that you want to buy the guns made as far away on the Calendar from Carnival as possible. Those lead up days and the hangover days afterward are what I choose to blame the hit-or-miss experiences I've had with them.

Lifetime warranty follows the gun, not the purchaser... You may, or may not need it.

Judges... well just search the threads, some folks love em, some folks think a fish needs a bicycle more than we need the Judge. The Circuit Judge rifle however looks interesting as a varmint gun. (note, I think I'd get a serious inner "glee" from taking a Circuit judge to shoot Clays around people wielding shotguns worth more than most of our cars.)

 

[Ryanxia]

There are tons of threads on this already. It seems to varry with people's experiences.

Some hate em, I love em. They have a lifetime warranty so even if you have an issue send it in and they fix it for free and pay for the shipping back to you. I sent something back to them once and it came back fixed within a week.

 

[lemaymiami]

I remember reading somewhere that Taurus actually bought (or were given) the complete tooling and machine setup from Beretta to produce the original 92 series long before Beretta came to the Army competitions and won the military contract for them.. I'd be interested to find out if that were true or not. I think originally they had some sort of licensing from S&W as well but don't know for certain or just how long ago that was (WWII ?). Hope someone answers with facts instead of what little I have about them. As a guy who ran a police property room for a year or two I handled quite a few of their revolvers and the ones I handled were fairly tight and appeared well made. Can't say I ever shot one though....

 

[carbine85]

I have 2 and think they build some of the best guns available. Some think of them as cheap guns because they cost less. You can't offer as much as they do and stay around as long if you build junk.

 

[signalzero]

Beretta used to manufacture in Brazil. Taurus bought their factory - including all of their machines, gun plans, etc.

 

[Mac's Precision]

Taurus is like Para Ordnance. They are CAPABLE of making a good gun they just can't do it every day or even several times a week. When they happen to make a good gun, they do pretty well....

 

[Dustin0]

I have owned 4 of them. 2 of them have been sent back for repairs. My 1911 had a bad barrel and was shooting 1 foot low and 2 feet to the left. They replaced the barrel and bushing runs like a top. The other was a 605 357 mag. Locked up on the 1st trip to the range. They have replaced it. The new does ok for a tackle box gun. Need to slick up the trigger. So check them out very well before you take one home.

 

[Psa1m144]

Like others have mentioned, you will get very different opinions on this. IMO, your initial impression is correct, they make "knock-offs."

 

[cskny]

Don't forget, Taurus makes large quantities. Even if an acceptable industry defect rate is 1% (meaning, 1% of the guns made have issues when the customer gets it), Taurus will have more defective guns in peoples hands.

If Manufacturer A makes 1000 guns with a 1% defect rate, that's 10 defective guns in customer hands.

If Manufacturer B makes 100,000 guns with that same 1% defect rate. That's 1000 defective guns in customer hands.

Same quality standard, but which manufacturer's problems are you more likely to hear about on the internet?

 

[AlabamaDan]

I've got a Tarus PT92 9mm that I've had for over 12 years and put 1000s of rounds through. It's a good reliable gun for me and was my daily carry for many years. It's the only semi-auto I own.

 

[Bigtime Sexy]

I have staked my life on Taurus Model 85 .38 specials CCW for years and often continue to do so. I've never seen the need to pay almost double for a similar S&W. I've owned four of the M85s, all stainless, and never had a complaint, dislike, or problem since they got rid of the tiny wooden grips in the 80s. I can usually pop the corners out of playing cards with them at 30 feet.

In the same price range;

I bought my ex-wife a Rossi .38 and the first round she fired out of it sent me to the ER with a chunk of metal in my eye. I was standing about thirty feet to her seven o'clock since I didn't have a second pair of safety glasses! We never fired another round out of it.

I had a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 special that was a great gun, but pricey on the ammo.

 

[Newb223]

I think that the Judge is the only real original one that I have seen other than like the Rhino editions. (I think Taurus makes these)

 

[roadliner]

I've had three, one wheelgun .44 special and two 45 autos. No problems with mine but some people do have complaints. I recently read on Taurusarmed.net about a couple of their moderators visiting the Miami plant. The company has just replaced the head honcho with a guy whose mission statement is to improve customer relations in regard to repair and service turn around time and parts ordering. Of course quality control resides in the main plant in Brazil. According to the report, any repair taking too long to complete will result in the company replacing the firearm with a new one. Photos of the plant look really nice, very clean and modern. The do manufactor .22 and .25 pistols at that location.
Time will tell if their quality control improves, and their image improves.

 

[Newb223]

It just seems to me that they turn out so many "knock offs" that I don't feel that I can trust the process. I mean the prices are nice. But it makes me leery to buy anything. I don't know if I feel like some manufacturers are just more apt at producing better quality or what the deal is. I just don't want to spend the money and find that I ended up with a piece of crap.

Reminds me of the saying throw enough stuff against the wall, something is bound to stick.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

The Beretta 92 clones are pretty much actual Beretta 92s. The factory in Brazil was originally a Beretta plant till it was acquired by it's new owner (forgot the whole story) with all the machinery, employees, resources and licenses. The PT92s are just modified Beretta 92s essentially .

 

[Professor Gun]

I have some Taurus snub nosed revolvers that are used primarily for concealed carry. They fire every time I pull the trigger and the bullet goes where I point the barrel. I love the snubby revolvers from them in .45 Colt (no longer made), .44 Spl, .41 Mag, and .38 Spl; at different times I have carried each of these concealed with confidence.

 

[Ky Larry]

I had a Taurus PT-92 several years ago. IIRC, om the third round I fired, the slide locked up and the rear sights fell off.

You will hear stories like mine about Taurus and you'll hear reports of them working perfectly for years. Some folks swear by them and other's swear at them. No matter what you buy, be it a gun, car,t.v; or toaster, you pay your money and you take your chances.

 

[Ryanxia]

Well said cskny.

 

[Sauer Grapes]

I'm a 50\50 guy concerning Taurus. I have one good one, and I HAD one bad one. The good one is great, the bad one was horrible. Hard to believe they both came from the same company.
I think Taurus is capable of building a good gun. Do they do it most of the time? I don't know. I wish we could get the records on ALL the gun makers to compare their track records. Just curiousity on my part.
If money is a big issue for you, Taurus would probably be my first choice for a handgun.

 

[mrmeval]

I've had no problem from a Taurus snub nosed.38spl, PT92 9mm, nor the two 24/7 Pro pistols in .45acp I have. My main gripe is the magazines for the 24/7 are up to 3x over the cost of other brands.

 

[x_wrench]

well, as an owner of 2 of their semi auto pistols made about 3 years ago, i will give you a mixed, but honest review. the guns themselves are not bad. their quality control on most parts of the gun is fair. but their spring quality control is lacking. they do just fine for a while. but with much use, they soon sack out. and just go ahead and try to get a replacement spring. GOOD LUCK CHARLIE! the 2 springs that wear out the most, are the "captured" recoil spring, and the magazine spring. and i am not all that fussy. as long as the gun functions the way it should, i am happy. but when the slide continually slams back against the frame, even with downloaded ammo, it has to be fixed. and to me, when the last round will no longer chamber AT ALL, the magazine spring is shot. i do clean and maintain all of my firearms very well. so cleaning is not the issue. well, they do not sell a magazine spring. they want you to buy a magazine, or send it in for "warranty repair/replacement". they were willing to sell me a recoil spring, but they did not have one in stock. i was told on the phone, and someplace around here i have the persons name written down, that i should send the parts in (which you can do via standard shipping) and i would be put in a priority listing, so as soon as the parts were available, i would get them. fine, i bought it hook line and sinker. well, to make an already long story a lot shorter, after 7 months, i FINALLY paid to ship my firearm (ridiculous shipping charges, thank you federal government) to them, to have these $30.00 worth of parts replaced. plus i had to hound the heck out of them to even get my gun back! i even ended up calling, and writing Brazil! i guess that was the key, because 3 days later i got an apologetic phone call, saying my gun was repaired, and they were shipping it out that day. but, they did not make any attempt at trying to make the situation right, or refund my shipping. no, i will NOT be buying any more Taurus products. i figure i am going to shoot this till it completely falls apart. if it hurts me in the process, i will get a personal injury lawyer, and go after them that way. if it falls apart without hurting me, i will take it to a metro police station, and have it destroyed. just for the record, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND A TAURUS PRODUCT TO ANYONE, EXCEPT AN ACTUAL ENEMY!

 

[mgregg85]

I would consider myself a novice in the gun world. I have to wonder what the story is with Taurus. Are they the knock off of the gun world? Seems to me that they make a little bit of everything. It also would seem that they steal designs from other manufactures' and use them as their own. I notice that they seem to be on the cheaper end of the spectrum as well.

No more so than Ruger or S&W steal designs(both do). Taurus makes licensed copies of the Beretta 92.