That sort of goes along with my theory that whatever S&W invents or perfects Taurus can immediately replicate, and whatever Taurus can replicate, Dick Metcalf can give it a glowing report. That is odd to me since every single Taurus I have ever bought (all new, direct from distributors) has been defective. None have ever been fixed by Taurus under their Lifetime Service Plan.

Examples of problems: Rear sight that would not hold zero (on a 22), cylinder that would not rotate with ammo in place after firing the first couple of rounds, but which rotates fine with no ammo in place, or with ammo in place but none fired), parts missing, loose barrels, constant jams in autos, cheap, substandard springs and thin metal used for magazine bodies so that feed lips are not rugged enough, etc., etc.

Now, they have taken away any real front locking (yeah, I know about the little spring loaded "bearing," if you can call it that, but it really is not effective), and the lock on the hammer will react to recoil and lock up the pistol, and they put the same mechanism into the reciprocating slide, which makes it more likely to lock on its own, etc. etc.

Taurus is just not to my liking, and I have good reason. I do not even bother picking up their literature at SHOT Show any longer as their products are just too much trouble - constant need to fix, etc.

I no longer subscribe to Shooting Times because I just do not feel it can be depended upon to "tell it like it is."

Where are Phil Engeldrum and the boys when you really need them???