My Son (47 years old) just bought a Taurus Tracker 44. If he would have conferred with me first, I probably would have told him not to buy a Taurus firstly, and secondly, not to buy a .44 Magnum.

Son is not really an experienced hand gunner. He bought a Glock 20 three years ago. I doubt he has 50 rounds through it. He just has a proclivity to own powerful handguns I suppose.

I've done some Google research and haven't really found any bad reviews on the Tracker 44. Just wondering if anyone here has any experience with them?

With Taurus if you get only fair quality, you're ahead of the game. I wouldn't own one because the ones I've handled and fired weren't well put together and suffered from poor quality control. IMO, the only buyers of anything made by Taurus have a limited budget or they don't know any better.

You get what you pay for..

It kinda sounds like you already have your mind made up about all Taurus guns, but.....

In my experience they are a good value. All brands (including S&W) produce a certain number of guns with manufacturing defects. Do Tauruses have a higher defect rate than S&Ws? At around half the price? Of course they do. Does that mean all Taurus guns are junk? Or even that a large percentage of them are defective? Of course not.

Is their fit an finish up to S&W standards? That depends. Are we talking about S&W's standards of 50 or 100 years ago - or S&W's standards of 2016? A lot of people around here are very strongly of the opinion that S&W standards aren't even up to S&W standards any more. No surprise that a lot of them are the same ones who have the most negative things to say about Taurus. But since Taurus is a very value-priced brand, anyone who expects Taurus guns to have the same level of fit and finish as S&Ws - a premium brand that costs so much more - has some pretty unrealistic expectations IMO.

I own and have owned several Tauruses and every one of them has been fine. No problems. That includes a 44 Tracker. I've also been a member of the largest Taurus forum on the 'net for quite a while. Everything I've read there leads me to believe that my experience has been fairly typical - more so than the extremely negative stuff read here and elsewhere about their products.

But that's just my personal experience.

I have a friend who has a stainless Taurus .357 with an enclosed hammer. I don't know the model #. I recently did some shooting with it and it seemed like a nicely put together piece. Double action (only) was smooth and not too heavy. Fit and finish was decent. I'm a diehard S&W person but that Taurus seemed to be a good serviceable piece for what he paid for it.
I think with Taurus the quality is "hit or miss" (like my shooting) so don't reject that .44 out of hand until you check it out.
Have a good time shooting with your son.
Scott

I like mine !
It's a five shot 45 acp revolver with a 2 inch barrel , think Airweight model 637 (J frame) in 45 acp .
I needed a small concealable revolver in 45 acp and S&W didn't make anything as compact. It's now my favorite 45 and not for sale.
Purchased in 2004 , has been shot extensively with 0 problems and no complaints....I love it.
Gary...happy Taurus owner

I had an adjustable sighted 4" 44 Special that Taurus brought out just before the Smith 696 came out. It was accurate and handy. Shot 220-240 lead slugs in it from 800-1000fps. I bought the 696 when they came on the market and gave the Taurus to a fishing buddy. He needed a gun for rattlesnakes along the Snake river here in Idaho. Would like to find a 3" 44 Special Taurus from same era. Better ammo for SD purposes for 44Sp. now

I have owned two Taurus 44 special 5 shot revolvers, one blued,one nickeled , both 4 inch. Also one 3in .357 nickel and one Taurus Tracker 4in. in 45 Colt. All were adjustable sighted guns. I handload for them all and all were excellent revolvers. I also have owned and still do, many S&W revolvers. Straight out of the box the Taurus guns were comparable to all but my pre-war and up to early '70s S&W's. When the Taurus were tuned, some were superior, particularly in accuracy. I use all my Smith and Taurus revolvers. In bullseye target, Bianchi style competition, and in the field. One pointed reason I have continued to value the Taurus is when rarely I did need a repair part, i.e. hammer spring , sight screw, or other smaller part. They have expediently replaced it at no charge. Finally I do love my Smith's but the Taurus in my experience of 20yrs, provides a solid product at a very reasonable price with fine customer service and the only company to offer us a factory 5 shot 45 Colt k/L frame.

I owned a .44 Mag Tracker a while ago and aside from a rough trigger (as compared to a Smith) it was fine. It handled the hot .44 Mag absent any problems and was plenty accurate out to 15 yards.

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

I had one a few years back, shot & handled well. I bought it to basically be a Woods Carry 5-Shot that mostly saw Skeeter Type Special loads, it worked in that role wonderfully. But ..... when 2008 closed I took a look at my Lead Ingot supply & fearing the worst, sold all my Big Bore stuff. My reasoning at the time was I could cast a lot more 9mm & 38/357 for the same lead as the 44 & 45, looking back it was probably a wrong decision. In the last 8 years my hand strength and arthritis have traded places on the ladder, so it was probably a good thing ;o)

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Retired & Livin' my DREAM :)

I wasn't a Taurus fan due to all the hit or miss reports on their quality but I wanted an inexpensive but quality 9mm semi auto. I read the reviews on the Taurus pt92af and decided to buy one.
This Taurus 92af clone to the Beretta 92fs shoots as well and as dependable as my Sig P226. Many reports said the Taurus right out of the box performed better than the Beretta. For $350 which is about half the price of the Sig or the Beretta it is one really quality gun. I got way more than expected for my bucks.

I have to say I have shot a few Taurus revolvers that I would be surprised if I ever bought one. But that doesn't mean Taurus doesn't make a good revolver in their line up. Just means I haven't shot one yet.

I have two Taurus .44 special revolvers, a little older than the Tracker guns...a 4 inch 441 and a 2 inch Titanium 445. I find both to be excellent revolvers. I for one have never had any qualms about the quality of the Taurus guns I own/have owned, which totals 5 at the moment. I am a fan of the older Taurus guns, and just won a GB auction on a 3 inch 431 a couple days ago, which I am very anxious to get. I can understand those who have had nothing but bad luck with what they have seen and/or experienced with Taurus guns, or guns from any manufacturer, and would naturally tell people to avoid that particular brand at all costs. But I for one have nothing but great experiences with Taurus revolvers. They are a great value, and I find they are a quality firearm.

Thanks for all the replies.

I have only one Taurus revolver. A four inch model 82. It's been very reliable, and is very accurate. A friend has a Public Defender 45 Colt/.410 that has also been reliable. Another friend has a Raging Bull something or other that shoots 45 Colt, .454 Casull, .45ACP, and .410 shotshells. He likes it, but he doesn't shoot much.

Don't write Taurus off as junk. I only have two, the revolver and a 9mm semi. Never had an issue with either, and the semi has close to 10,000 rounds through it so far. That Taurus and my much newer Ruger LC9s are the only semis I own that have never needed repair.

I have been looking for a 3 inch 45 acp with adjustable sights, but only because I am set up to cast and reload for 45 acp....truth be told a 44 special would be just the ticket !
Wish Taurus would make another production run or 45 acp or 44 special.
Gary

Just speaking for myself,I do have a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Spl.That I like a lot's,I have Taurus three revolvers 85,85 UL .38's,605 .357 Mag. and two auto 9mm,40 G2 Millenniums. and I like them all very much.Like I said i'm only speaking for myself.

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Life is short,live it fully.

I owned a Taurus blued 4" .357 with full underlug and vent rib barrel...I believe the model was 669, or something similar. It shot great, never gave me any problems, but a friend expressed an interest and so I sold it to him.

Another friend owned a .44 Mag Tracker. I shot it a few times, and I know he put quite a few rounds through it, without any problems that I know of. He only sold it because he decided to streamline his firearms, and since it was his only .44, it was one of the ones to go. But, it shot great, handled the recoil fine...nice little gun.

Tim

That's great. Sounds like the Tracker is good to go. My only concern with it is the cylinder does not lock up tight when the hammer is cocked. There is a little wobble there. Not front to rear...that's tight, but I can rotate it only very slightly by hand both directions. Just a tad.