Taurus Story, not mine ;-)

[vl5150]

A sad story with a happy ending....

A while back my Mother in law had a Taurus K frame knockoff that she used for protection before she was married. She probably shot it once. I've seen it before, but didn't pay much attention because it was a Taurus and she kept is locked up. With crime in the area on the rise they decided to take the Taurus to the range. Low and behold the Taurus was in no condition to shoot and the cylinder was jammed in the frame and wouldn't open. It was like it was welded in there and I decided to take it apart. When I opened the side plate I wasn't prepared for what I saw. The inner workings looked like junky pot metal and it was all gummed up. This from a gun that was mostly stored it's whole life.

I told her it was a total loss and took them to the Smith and Wesson table at the next gun show to buy matching Airweights.. Problem solved and I now I've turned a worthless firearm into a nice paperweight.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

Send it back to Taurus, there can't be to much wrong
with it. They have a life time warranty and I hear a good
customer relations. They are good guns I just don't have
any. Don

 

[Bullseye Smith]

5150 that is the normal way they look on the inside, need to change thier name to Tarass.

 

[vl5150]

I've been told about the lifetime warranty. It's not worth it to me. I grabbed a screw driver and scrambled the innards really nice. I then screwed the cover back on so it's like a baby's rattle now.

 

[clint_lnl]

have you thought about putting it up for sale here. someone may want to resort and bring it back to life

 

[flop-shank]

Send it back to Taurus, there can't be to much wrong
with it. They have a life time warranty and I hear a good
customer relations. They are good guns I just don't have
any. Don

The guns are decent blue collar guns, the customer service is beyond being a joke. Steer clear of Taurus. They will not fix your gun. I have and use one Taurus, a 605. When my SP-101 is up and running the 605 will be a second-stringer. It's a good gun, but I've lost any hope and respect for Taurus customer service.

 

[SLR777]

No sense in jamming on Taurus. I have one I really like sub compact 45 now on the other hand for what I just spent on a S&W M&P 360 I could of bought 3 605 Taurus. You do the math while wondering why Taurus sells.

 

[stonehorses]

Should you decide to send it back to Taurus........all I have to say is "GOOD LUCK".

 

[CORPORAL PUNISHMENT]

I know a lot of people who love their taurus judge. That is one sweet looking home protection handgun!!

 

[perrazi]

ref: taurus firearms-- like we used to say in the racing business, if you have a $20 head,buy a $20 helmet. same goes for firearms or anything else you use for personal protection.

 

[lagavulin62]

Send it back to Taurus, there can't be to much wrong
with it. They have a life time warranty and I hear a good
customer relations. They are good guns I just don't have
any. Don

I don't generally do this but I got to make an exception here. hawkeye you had me rolling with your post. appreciate the humor after a so so day at work.

 

[Evil One]

I know a lot of people who love their taurus judge. That is one sweet looking home protection handgun!!

It is marketing genius...
As a gun... not so genius...


Jim

 

[lackejd]

My father gave me a Taurus Judge for Christmas a couple of years ago. It will shoot .410 shells as long as they are not Fiocchi. The first shot goes bang, then the cylinder jams up tight as a drum. That is now why I am a firm believer in practicing with the exact ammo that you will be carrying (for any gun). Winchester, Federal, and Remington all shoot fine. The Fiocchi plastic hull feels thinner than the others and I believe swells up in the chamber after firing. Instead of the rubber ribber grips on the Judge, it would have been nice to have chocolate grips. They sure would taste better if someone was feeding them to you after your gun didn't go bang but once.

Now to the stellar Taurus service. While shooting one day, the fiber optic front sight fell off never to be seen again. I called Taurus customer service. They said it would cost $21 for another 3/4" long fiber optic insert. I balked at paying $21 for a 10 cent piece of plastic. After ten minutes of arguing, I asked to speak with his boss. I also stated that I bet we wouldn't be having this discussion if the gun had been a S&W. They finally sent the part to me for free after I belly-ached long enough.

Taurus will never get a dime of my money. I have never had to use S&W customer service, but I hope and pray that it is better than Taurus.

 

[C J]

Well here goes nothing. I have a Taurus PT-145 and it's an incredibly good gun. It's very accurate and well made. I've shot it thousands of times and it's never even hiccuped much less failed to feed or failed at anything. My friend decided to test my accuracy by setting up 2 empty .45 casings at 20 yards and another at 25. I hit the first two in a row at 20 yards but couldn't manage the third out of the 11 rounds the gun holds. But anytime you can hit shell casings at 20 yards with a 2.5" barrel auto you have an accurate gun.

Taurus is very up and down in quality. That's why they have a bad reputation. One gun model will be excellent and the next model junk. They do have a lifetime warranty but they are iffy on living up to it. Yes they sell their guns at a low price but that doesn't always mean cheap. I have a Sig .45 auto that has given me far more trouble than my Taurus and that's a Made In W. Germany model Sig at that. They are supposed to be much better than the new models. At any rate the Taurus I paid $325 for brand new has replaced the Sig as my carry weapon.

I have no illusions that any Taurus is up to the quality of a S&W even though I have seen some models of S&W weapons that are not top flight. They aren't as bad as the bad stuff from Taurus but they aren't perfect either. My Taurus is as close to perfect as any gun gets. I don't expect it to last as long as my S&W 629 but what does? BTW we all know those have problems too. They can be fixed though but I wouldn't want to discover the cylinder had kicked back if I found myself trying to defend my life. Mine has never done that but I've seen plenty of reports of others doing it.

I've been flamed endlessly for standing up for Taurus. I just ask you to go to the Taurus board and see how many people find their Taurus guns excellent. I did before I bought mine. I knew my dealer and I knew the chance I was taking but I knew I could get help with any serious problems from my dealer. I am extremely glad I took that chance though. This gun is a perfect concealed carry weapon and I will probably have it until I kick over. And yes I expect the gun to last that long.

 

[Knightrider03m]

I love my snub nose Taurus.....

 

[clint_lnl]

My Taurus md 85 I have had new since 1988 and not any trouble. so never had to deal with CS. but SW CS is great, no questions asked.had a minor problem with my Sigma SW40VE recoil rod and they sent me a new one asap. One thing I will say, with a SW you will have a greater resale price and demand too.

 

[BigSkiff]

I own six Taurus pistols. Five of them have performed perfectly right out of the box. The sixth one was a Titanium .357 4" revolver. It had timing issues that in turn damaged the barrel. I returned it to Taurus and they replaced it with a new gun. It took them six months to make that happen, but the did live up to their warranty.

I find that the Taurus pistols are good shooters, and quite accurate. I own a PT1911, a .38 snubbie, two .357 revolvers, and a .44mag. The triggers on the 44mag and the Model 608 .357 are exceptional. Very smooth and very clean. Are they better than my 27-2? No. But then not much is. I don't think it's fair to compare guns made 35, 40, or 50 years ago to guns made today. The older guns for the most part were better. If you compare a new Taurus M44 to a new S&W 629 they are pretty much equal in terms of performance, fit and finish, and accuracy.

I'm not trying to convert anyone here, just telling my experience with both. I also own half a dozen S&W's and I like them equally as well as my other guns. My new (to me) 27-2 is one of my favorites. Fact is I own many pistols from many different makers. They all have their pros and cons. That's what makes owning the an enjoyable experience.

 

[ab4ka]

my experience with Taurus has been hit or miss. I'll spend the extra money and get something else.

 

[ab4ka]

I've been flamed endlessly for standing up for Taurus.

We've all had different experiences with different guns. I love my S&W 22A and won't hesitate to tell anyone, and I've been beat up unmercifully on other boards with people telling me what a piece of junk it is.

 

[C J]

my experience with Taurus has been hit or miss.

That seems to be the consensus. I wouldn't have bought one unless I had a good dealer I knew would back me up on any quality issues. Turned out I didn't need it or at least I haven't yet.

Taurus has turned out some junk but I think in the last few years they have tried to change that. I know there are a lot of satisfied customers on the Taurus shooters board. Considering people with problems always post more than happy customers I'd say that means something.