Whats the story with Taurus?

[mgregg85]

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)

Nope, the Judge concept was taken from the old Thunder Five. Taurus managed to copy a bad idea that failed in the past and make it successful, but it's still not useful.


And the rhino is made by Chiappa in Italy.

 

[Curator]

Taurus is made in BRAZIL! Do I need to say any more? Actually, Taurus makes pretty good guns overall, but they suffer from the same problems that Detroit has suffered from: Unions to protect the incompetant, disfunctunal management, and an over-regulating/taxing government. Brazilians are wonderful people and they have a beautiful country but they actually get the govenment they pay for and more. If you get a good Taurus, great. If you get one made on a Monday or Friday or during Carnival, you are screwed! The Taurus folks in Miami who are supposed to provide customer care are BRAZILIANS on holiday. They are out buying stuff to send home. They can't believe you Americans are dissatified with guns that don't work. Any self-respecting Brazilian would be thrilled to have the same gun even if it didn't work since there is no way they could actually shoot it or buy ammo (which is illegal anyhow) Brazil is the Country of the Future and it will always be. Great place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

Taurus makes licensed copies of the Beretta 92.

I would call them more than copies since it's Beretta machinery, Beretta Factory, and Beretta employees. Of course they no longer have the title Beretta but it's all from Beretta originally.

 

[ms6852]

I own the PT99 in a nickel satin 9mm. Bought it brand new about 28 years ago. Just fired around 200 rds Tuesday without a single malfunction as it has done so for 28 years. Maybe their QC was better than. Could be that quality now is not great but that is just an opinion based without any real proof. But I do know from experience is that many malfunctions that occur on most firearms are alway due to the lack of knowledge and experience of the individual shooting that particular firearm. Most firearms will always like one particular brand of ammo and sometimes we need to find the right ammo or the correct recipe for that particular firearm if you happen to reload.

 

[doc2rn]

I have owned 5 over the yrs but it is the only brand that ever fell completely apart as the first magazine was fired out of it, and no it completely broke before I emptied the magazine. We arent talking about a front site or a trigger spring, I am talking almost the entire thing. TO make matters worse their lifetime warranty: is only offered while that model is still in production! That is why they sent mine back still unassembled with a note stating this particular line no longer available, they stopped making it 3 months after I sent mine in for repair. Waited 15 months to get it back. Even had a Titanium .357 cylinder break on one the Taurus wheel guns. This and their terrible CS put me off for life; I sold them off and wouldnt even take one as a gift.

 

[BigN]

In the case of Taurus, you get what you pay for.

 

[punkndisorderly]

Put me down as another 50/50. Had a model 44 in 44the magnum bought new in the mid 90's. Loved it. Bought a 970 .22 lr revolver last year. Worst trigger i've ever felt. Heavy, creepy, crunchy. It's inconsistent from cylinder to cylinder in weight and length of pull. After several cylinders, it becomes difficult to eject. After 100 rounds, it becomes impossible without assistance. I'm not willing to tempt fate by sending it off to Taurus.

Their customer service has a reputation for not fixing problems, not having parts in stock to fix problems, and for substituting different guns.

I think there are better options from other companies out there. I'll pay the extra money to get better quality from a company like Smith or Ruger. I'll take their reputation for making things right over Taurus' lifetime warranty every time.

 

[VBVAGUY]

I have had 2 Taurus' and have not had any problems with them. *Supposedly* according to the new CEO they are trying to improve their customer service and image. From what I read and I quote: ......."In addition to better communications, it is the new CEO's policy to have all returns for warranty fixed properly and returned to the owner with in two months. If that is not possible the gun will be marked for destruction and replaced with a new one.".......

http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/taurus-armed-news/60557-taurus-international-mfg-inc-factory-tour.html


I hope this helps. God Bless

 

[VBVAGUY]

Also from what I thought I read somewhere that the USA imported more handguns from Brazil / Taurus than Austria / Glock in 2010. So take that info for what its worth. God Bless

 

[Dr T]

Enough of this speculation about connections.

A history of Taurus and the corporate connections can be found at

http://www.taurususa.com/history.cfm

 

[commygun]

I'm another 50/50. I've owned Taurus revolvers that I thought were as nice as any S&W. I still have an 85CH I'll never part with. But recently I was given a 94 Ultralite that defies belief. At no point but the lock-up does the crane contact the frame. The whole gun looks and feels shoddy and cheap. I've honestly seen Clerke revolvers that have better fit and finish. How does something like that get out of the factory?

 

[hang fire]

Taurus makes knock offs? Hell, show me any maker of firearms who doesn't do the same.

Vaunted Ruger clones the 1911, AR-15, Colt's SA and ripped off Kel-Tec for their LCP. (and dangerously screwed it up royally first time around) S&W even gave up and clones the 1911, along with their M&P15 copy of the AR.

As for Taurus, I hardly think they cloned their Judge concept, but other makers have sure jumped on copying Taurus, with S&W leading the pack.

 

[hang fire]

Taurus managed to copy a bad idea that failed in the past and make it successful, but it's still not useful.

Some recently eaten quail and cottontails dispatched by the Judge would disagree, but they have been digested.

The wife who is 71 years young, has a Judge with 3' cylinder, it can spit out triple aught buck with five 9 mm balls for each shot at 850 fps. At 25 feet and on a man size target, she can DA unload 25 hits in a split second. With the .45 LC she can hit a five gallon bucket at 50 yards with ease. Not useful? Methinks otherwise.

 

[reddoggm]

Taurus 24/7 Pro

My first Post here saw this thread and thought I would share my Good and BAD times with my Taurus,s I have 3-2 wheel guns nothing exceptional about em both good shooters A mdl 66 and a ultralight 38+P stubby both reliable and had the **** shot outta them---------Then----------There comes the 24/7 Pro All Win White box ammo) This is what happened with only Around 900+ bullets thru it

Sent the gun back to Taurus with a half assed threatning letter basicly just looking for a full sized STEEL 45ACP replacement (Thinking a 1911) and was told that they,er warranty does,nt do that that they would FIX THIS GUN and send it back got the gun back in 6 days with the same slide&barrel new frame/grips Never did find out what happened and real glad I didn,t get Hurt Bad
I shoulda seued the @ssholes Well lesson learned their warranty is REAL GOOD TO GOOD!!

 

[JVaughn]

Are they the knock off of the gun world?

Yep.

Seems to me that they make a little bit of everything.

Yep.

It also would seem that they steal designs from other manufactures' and use them as their own.

So totally yes, although, they aren't alone on this one.

I notice that they seem to be on the cheaper end of the spectrum as well.

You get what you pay for, and yep.

 

[Ky Larry]

Newb223,I think you see what my earlier post was trying to say. You can hear any thing about Taurus, good, bad, and indifferent. And it's all true.

 

[Inebriated]

I like Taurus. They deliver affordable guns to anyone who is maybe not ready to put a lot in another brand, or wants to just have something in X caliber for the range. As long as you can check the gun out first, I would have no reservations with them.

 

[willypete]

This thread again?

Hey OP, there's a "Search" option on the green link bar at the top of THR page. Third from the right.

 

[fireman 9731]

I have a Taurus TCP that I carry every day, Its made in the USA, and I think its at the top of the class when it comes to the new pocket 380's.

 

[MBaneACP]

Taurus has had a recent management change in the U.S. I've been very impressed with the commitment to customer service and qaulity...I spent some time at the factories in Brazil with the design and QC engineers...they'd been reading my old co-authored books on manufacturing excellence.

I think a sign of their commitment is that they didn't introduce a flood of new products at SHOT this year...rather, they're not going to introduce anything until it's 100% and ready to order.

I've seen prototyle stuff that is really groundbreaking (sorry...signed the nondisclose documents).

I agree that the old Taurus has been a strange mix of really really good and really really bad, sometimes in the same gun. I have an ultralight weight .38 snub that has been a workhorse for years and years.

You guys know I have a pretty substantial collection of .44 Special revolvers, including a DA S&W hand-built to my specs by the great Hamilton Bowen. The most accurate .44 Special I own is a steel Taurus 3-inch. I got it for peanuts from someone who was so disgusted by the amazingly bad trigger pull that he just wanted it out of his safe. I eventually sent the gun to Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision, who agreed that the DA trigger was the worst he'd ever seen. It now has a flawless, super smooth DA let-off. I shot it against my other .44 snubs — a pretty good Charter Bulldog redone by Magna-Port, 2 S&Ws and the Hamilton Bowen .44 Special Mountain Gun, an S&W Thunder Ranch M21 and 2 SA guns, an Uberti and a USFA. The Taurus outshot them all.

Michael B