I just picked up a very clean used Taurus 85 (2" .38 special 5 shot). Gave it a fair look over and it seemed to be happy. Put 50 rounds of wadcutters down range. Had three FTF. All fired on the second hit. When I got home I took off the side plate to check for obvious issues. I did not disassemble it beyond removing the cylinder and side plate. No obvious problems. Put it back together. Function tested it. Problem. Cylinder stop was not popping up. Took off side plate again. Couldn't find a cylinder stop spring. Checked a couple of schematics on the net. None of them show a cylinder stop spring. I am puzzled. Any ideas? Anybody know if a J-frame frame mounted firing pin will work in this thing? Thanks.

The cylinder stop is activated by a spring and plunger in the crane/yoke. Remove the cylinder you'll find it.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

Thanks OutAtTheEdge. Found a better schematic, found what it is and where it goes. It must have gone south when I dismounted the cylinder and yoke for cleaning. I wasn't looking for it there so didn't notice it. Fortunately the correct part is still available. I now feel only slightly foolish.

Glad to be able to help. Before you go and buy the parts, make sure they aren't stuck in the frame. I've seen that happen.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

If not a missing spring, this reminds me of the last two Taurus revolvers I owned. The first, a used gun, had a worn-out cylinder stop spring. I replaced it. The second was a brand-new gun, one of the matte black painted ones. This one had a decently sized burr in the frame opening for the cylinder stop. With that one I simply filed down the burr and touched-up the paint.

There are 2 taurus revolvers in the family. I 3" 22lr that after a daughter and then her grandson attempted to wear it out stopped firing after some 30 years of use . Sent it home on there dime and came back two weeks later with a new firing pin and .

I have a 85 stainless steel bought in '90 and it has a great trigger pull that had a number of s&w j frame guys scratching there heads over and its all stock parts and still reliable .

Speaking of these parts, the plunger on my 605 developed a burr after many, many rounds. It's been running good since I removed the burr, but I should probably look into getting a replacement since some material has been worn away.

Owned three or four over the years. Still have two. Mine all worked. Not my first choice in revolvers but I'm not afraid of the brand.

I have several Taurus revolvers in 44 sp. No complaints at all. The accuracy and reliability is as good as my Smiths. They don't "feel" like they have the same quality.

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balin
NRA Life Member

One of the minor miracles of my gun owning career occurred not too long ago, when I pulled the cylinder on one of my Taurus revolvers for cleaning. When I got it back together, I could tell something was wrong, but had no idea what. I started looking around using a bright flashlight and finally saw a tiny little black thing on the floor. What in the world is that? I had found a piece that I didn't know what I was looking for, or even know was missing. Why it hadn't gone on a forced march into the next room, or to the place where lost socks go, I have no idea.

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John 3:16 .

My experience with Taurus has not been good. Failure to fire, back to factory, again failure to fire, Was a brand new gun. Takes a gunsmith to straighten out all it's problems before it's reliable.
A few years later won a .357 ported barrel 6' revolver. Brand new. Took to the range, and at 25 yards it wouldn't group better than 6-8" with any load and 10-12" with factory. It was also disposed of.

In my communications over the years these were very common problems. I do hear in the past couple of years that people are having better results with them. I hope so, they finally moved to the U.S. to manufacture.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I have a Model 83, which is a 4" .38 with adjustable sights. I think it's satin nickel but it was advertised as "stainless". It was so cheap it doesn't matter.

It's a nice gun but not very accurate. The throats are way oversized. The biggest pin gauge I have for .38 revolvers is .361 and it fits easily. It still has functional accuracy for self-defense purposes.

I've tried everything except the cast bullets I have for the 9mm Makarov.

Here's mine. Taurus all forged stainless model 85. I paid $200 for it NIB. I've had zero issues with my example. It's in my pocket right now as I walk around my home. It often goes on my ankle as a BUG when I'm wearing pants.





I also own a newer model 942 which is a 3" 8 shot 22lr

I've heard and seen A LOT more problems and issues with S&W revolvers on this and other forums as well as YouTube. I've seen prominent YouTube channels taje S&W revolvers new out the box, and they've failed. I've seen them open the returned from S&W warranty box the gun was shipped back in live on camera, and show that the issues still clearly existed. I can not say that I've heard the same amount of issues or problems with Taurus revolvers. I trust their revolvers over their semiautos. For the price S&W made in America revolvers cost vs Taurus' made in Brazil revolvers cost, there's zero excuse for S&W to have more problems and worse QC. "Made in America" doesn't mean what it used to.

To be completely transparent, the only issues I know of is timing issues with Tauruses current crop of 856 revolvers (the 6 shot model 85 replacement). I wouldn't purchase one of those only. The rest are good to go.

Picked up a couple of really nice H&R .32 Mag Taurus revolvers and an Older stainless 85. The H&R's are great shooters!

Tauras over the years has had Metallurgy problems!
In 2008 I bought a Reproduction Colt Lightning Rifle in 45 Colt. Every spring in it was bad! After having it for 2 years I chewed on a Taurus VP at the NRA Convention. In about 6 weeks they sent me a new rifle. I unboxed it, slid the action twice and decided to trade it, never fired a shot!

In the mid 90's I bought a used DA blue Tauras revolver in 44 Special. 3"-barrel, K-frame size, 5 shot, and adjustable sights. IT function and grouped very nicely, but about 20 years later and maybe 400 rounds the cylinder quit turning! Turned out a pin was worn flat. The gunsmith said he turned the pin 180 degrees but had no idea how long the fix would last, and the factory part was no longer available. I traded it on a 2 5/8" 629-10 PC. Pait around $200 for the Special at a LGS and got $450 trade for it.

I gave up on them as I want guns that last!

Ivan

I had the same issues. Taurus repair shop couldn't seem to find the issue causing the cylinder not to turn. I kept telling them the hand was not rotating the cylinder - even sent them a video, which they didn't want to look at. After TWO trips to the mothership, a local gunsmith fixed it overnight. 856s are junk, IMO.

Ps: the quote didn't get posted. This is in reply to H. Richard, above.

I have an older model 85 that I purchased new sometime around 1990. It has a canted barrel. Instead of sending it back to have it fixed I just figured it was something I didn't want to shoot. About that time I started training bird dogs and used it to get puppies accustomed to muzzle blast. I just loaded with primers (no powder or bullet) and shot it a lot while training. So I did get some use out of it. After that bad experience I just wrote it off as poor QC and never bought another Taurus revolver. They may be better these days but I use the burn-me-once motto. I still have it but haven't shot it in 25 years. You can't really sell them used because of the poor quality issues. It's such a hassle to have it fixed I'll probably just have my neighbor cut it up with a torch some day.

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That's just somebody talkin.