Gun snobbery

[imjin138]

I turned 50 a few weeks ago andSunday I was out at the range picking up my daughter from hunter's safety. I spoke to Bill a clerk at Shooter's while I was picking up my M&P45c. He asked if I had ever owned a Taurus pistol and I had to tell him no I had not.

He asked why and I told him that while I worked at Shooter's we sold a lot of Taurus revolvers and autos and they seemed to have problems. He told me that they are much better now. He then asked me if I had ever bought a lemon gun from a major manufacturer and I had to reply that I had.

Does anyone own Taurus guns and what type of quality are they in real life.

 

[KSCowboy]

I always had your opinion of the Taurus. When looking for an alternative to my Colt Gov't Model 380, I wanted something the same size but in 9mm, I came across the Taurus 709 Slim.

I read everything I could find about them, went to shops and shows and handled them and found out the real world price of them. Finally decided to take the plunge.

It has been an excellent gun that I would recommend to anyone looking for something of that size, weight, power.

Beyond this I have no experience with Taurus products.

 

[Bell Charter Oak Holsters]

I've had many mixed reviews of Taurus products from our clients. I've never owned one myself. The majority of complaints were based upon returning the guns to Taurus for repair under their lifetime warranty policy several times until they finally got it right. Sounded pretty frustrating dealing with their customer service/repair reps. On the other hand, one fellow I know a long time has shot the hell out of a Model 85 (mostly with reloaded wad cutters) for over a decade with no issues. What I gather is that generally, using their products may be a bit of a gamble. Reliability seems to be questionable, at least as far as what our clients have told us.

Cheers;
Lefty

 

[imjin138]

I have to agree with Oldflatfoot, when I worked at the counter guys would buy them and try to have them repaired and it seemed to be an ordeal. Even with major gun companies I have had to send one or two back but usually they came back quickly.

I have foreign made weapons like Walther, CZ,SIg they all work fine. I was looking for a nice .32 to go alng with my PP maybe I will look at the CZ

 

[stantheman86]

The QC of Taurus has always been spotty........for every guy that has a Taurus and loves it, there's one guy who had one and it was a piece of garbage.

It's a dice roll, you may get a great one and it will be a good deal, or you might get one that's unsafe to shoot out of the box. I have heard WAY more complaints about the wheelguns.....Taurus seems to have gotten the auto's like the PT92 down. My local dealer stopped stocking Taurus guns, he said half of them ended up coming back and he was tired of having to do Taurus' QC for them, he received guns that he said should never have been allowed out of the factory.

I have 4 Taurus wheelguns- 2 82's made in 1997, an 83 from 1993,and an early 80's model 84. All were security trade ins and I got them so cheap I couldn't say no, I don't think I paid more than $150 for any one of them. They all work, one of the 82's shoots way to the right of POA, and the 84 needed the forcing cone filed on because it would lock up after a few cylinders full.

I never owned any of the Taurus auto pistols, and probably never will unless I find an older PT92 for a good deal.....

Overall IMO they make good range beaters and I keep one of the 82's in the center console of my car, worst case scenario someone breaks into my car and I won't lose a "good" gun. I know it will go bang at least 6 times if I ever need it, beyond that I won't trust it if I have other options.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I've had three for several years. The CIA doesn't get used much use but have not had problems with the PT945 or Tracker 627. I also have guns by Kimber, Colt, Bushmaster, Savage, S&W, Sig Sauer, Winchester, Marlin, Remington and Glock. The only gun I have ever sent back to the manufacture is my S&W MP15-22.

 

[hastings]

I've owned one, and shot several Taurus 1911's, as well as a few 24-7's, Millenium Pros, as well as misc. other semi-autos and one or two revolvers. Every one of them functioned flawlessly and shot accurately. None of the other owners expressed having experienced problems with their Taurus handguns, but I admit I didn't ask them either. As far as the 1911's go, I traded mine with a friend who really wanted it. I would not hesitate to own another one. I just recently watched an fellow with a bone-stock Taurus 1911 out shoot two guys, one with a Kimber and one with a Dan Wesson. Same ammo, no jambs with the Taurus, one with the Kimber, and the Taurus grouped the best consistently, and on target. I don't care for any polymer framed gun, be it revolver or semi-auto, so most of the other autos I shot were not my cup of tea, but not due to inaccuracy of mechanical issues.

I try to keep an open mind and judge each gun individually, not based on name or reputation alone. I do that with any manufacturer, since I have experienced some pretty bad stuff from Ruger, S&W, Colt, Marlin, Remington, and Beretta. I don't hold it against any of them, I just check out the particular gun prior to purchase. If I dismissed every Taurus based on internet anecdotes, I'd have missed out on a few really nice guns.

 

[Class III]

I had a 4" Tarus M66 about 25 years ago that was good as gold. Then I bought their copy of the Beretta 92, what a problem piece that was. Their CS left such a bad taste in my mouth I sold the M66 and the M92, once the M92 got back from the 3rd trip back to them.

Class III

 

[corpulent]

I have a PT24/7 PRO 9mm; it has performed flawlessly for years.

 

[JohnnieB]

I own(ed) 2 Taurus pistols and 2 Taurus revolvers

PT 24/7 .45acp pistol. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn door with it, but it was me not the gun. My daughter could shoot it pretty well, so I gave it to her along with a XD-45 that I did okay with. (I can no longer rack the slides reliable enough for HD/SD)

PT 22 .22lr pistol. Like all RF, you can get a rimlock if you don't load the mags right. Other than that, it was fairly accurate and fun to shoot. Regret selling it, but would buy Beretta Bobcat if I wanted a tip-up barrel .22 to practice with. (I CC a Beretta Tomcat occasionally and .22lr is a lot cheaper than .32acp)

M627SS4 .357mag 7-shot, ported barrel, revolver. Shoots okay from a rest, too nose heavy to free hand, but that's just me. I like the triggers on my S&Ws better, so it doesn't get to the range much.

M94SS4 .22s/l/lr 9-shot revolver. Went back to Tauras 4 times with extraction and trigger pull problems before I polished the chambers with J-B non-embedding bore cleaning compound and replaced a couple springs. Still fine tuning it, but it's nose heavy like the M627, so I like my S&W M63 a lot better.

I don't have anything against Taurus, but I doubt if I'll be buying any more of them.

 

[DCWilson]

Never owned one, but seriously considered a couple of their revolvers before buying my first S&W. After that commitment, the direction of my addiction was pretty much set.

 

[David LaPell]

I have never owned a Taurus, but I know alot of people who have, and have heard of lots of problems. I know of two 1911's locally where the safety broke, actually snapped in half at the base. I know a guy with a .44 Raging Bull and after six shots the rear sight broke. I know of a Model 85 that siezed up so bad the guy ended up having the whole revolver replaced. To me I have heard more bad than good, so I stay away from them.

 

[redlevel]

My dealer sells a lot of Taurii. Speaking of the quality of work done on guns he has had to send back (many of them), he told me, "They don't have gunsmiths working there, they have blacksmiths."

 

[gregintenn]

I bought a Taurus 357 mag at an auction back in the late 80's. As I remember, it was a large framed gun, like an N frame, with about a 6" barrel. It seemed to be of good quality with a smooth action, a pretty good finish, and shot well. That's been my only experience with Taurus firearms.

 

[neiljrosen]

I had a Taurus .22 target revolver a long time ago and traded it on a S/W 617.
I'd rather spend a few bucks more and buy a Smith than another Taurus.

 

[psquarejr]

I had a Model 94, 22lr, 2 inch barrel, nice gun, fit and finish was great, my kids and I put several thousand rounds thru it. Never a problem and it still looked and functioned great before I traded it.

 

[btruman]

The quality control of Taurus has been spotty as noted but sometimes you get a good one. This two has served me well with a lot of full power loads through the older model 66. It's not a S&W but not bad for what I paid for it some years ago. The little steel frame 85 is one darned good little gun with as good a trigger, both single and double action, as any made by any manufacturer.

 

[Len]

I have Ruger SA guns, but most of what I use is S&W or Sig.

I had a very jaded opinion of Taurus, based, I admit sheepishly, only on hearsay. Knew they weren't any good, but didn't know anyone that owned one, much less had problems with it.

Then my local gun pusher gave me an offer I couldn't refuse...try a Taurus PT 709 slim, and if I didn't like or trust it after a thousand rounds, he'd buy it back, no questions...

I did, and it performs flawlessly. No failures of any kind, using FMJ, JHP, +P, 115, 124 and 147 cartridges from four or five makers.

It trust it now for concealed carry. Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, but I won't trust unfounded opinions...or, for that matter, profess unfounded opinions on any gun anymore.

Len

 

[310Pilot]

Many years ago, I owned a gun shop. I sold Taurus and Rossi firearms for a few months, as well as S&Ws, Colts, Rugers, etc. They seemed, on the surface, to represent a good value for the buyer; however, almost every one that I sold (and that was after a thorough inspection, I sent probably 60% back as unacceptable relative to QC, without even putting them out for sale), came back within a week or two with major problems. Sending them back to Taurus for warranty repair was, at best, a bad joke. Most were never repaired properly, and function was, at best, unreliable. Pretty much a similar story with Rossis, though maybe not quite as bad. Needless to say, I stopped carrying them, and would not even order one if somebody requested it.

My favorite local gun shop carried Taurus extensively, but recently, the owner told me he was discontinuing them, as the quality is very spotty, and they were having far too many returns for manufacturing defects. This included both revolvers and semi-autos. Seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

That's not to say you can't get a good Taurus, but you really need to thoroughly inspect it before purchase, and keep your fingers crossed. Some do come through which are perfectly alright, but it seems they are in the minority, and getting one requires a certain amount of luck.

Just my opinion, YMMV.

 

[blujax01]

I shot a buddy's 911 9 mm. I remember a lot of sharp edges. Admittedly, I was looking for any and everything I could find to support my "S&W is better" argument.