Taurus Brand Question: An Honest Question?

[Rhetorician]

Hello to all:

I am purchasing a pre-Model 10 38 special M and P Hand Eject model from my local pawn shop. So I am becoming a Smith owner.

I have an honest question I feel that I can ask the upright and fair members of this board. But I would like to avoid "brand bashing" or "gun snobbing" if at all possible.

What "think ye" of the Taurus brand of (hand) guns? Be nice and try to be objective if you will please. For full disclosure, I own a 738 TCP 380 acp as my EDC. I have a Ruger LCR 357 as my secondary EDC.

I look forward to reading your accurate and objective replies.

"My two cents worth!"

 

[Jessie]

My only experience with them is a model 85 stainless. Bought it for the wife but it stays in the end table drawer.
I put Crimson trace grips on it and it shoots pretty good for the short barrel. The weight helps with the hotter .38 loads.
All in all, no complaints. I did deburr some sharp edges on it that didn't need to be there.
Not S&W quality but neither is the price.
Since this thread showed up again, I realized I was remiss in my evaluation. I did have a temporary hang up once when shooting it single action. I just shot double action from then on with no troubles. Due to that one time though, I don't consider it a front line SD gun. I have a hard time selling guns, so it sits in a drawer as a back up.

 

[SgtLumpy]

I'm not hunting for a reason to hate Taurus guns. I own zero safe queens. No guns I own came with "box and tools". And I put Pachy rubber grips on nearly all my pistols. My guns are all shooters, not investments. I've never had to deal with any gun maker's repair/warranty/customer service. I'm not a brand snob.

I have shot a LOT of Taurus Beretta 92 clones and a large handful of Taurus 38/357 revolvers. Without exception, EVERY one of them had horribly gritty and stiff, very heavy, triggers.

Is that "nice and objective" enough?

Whenever this frequent question surfaces, we always see "Don't listen to [the other side] Mine was [great/horrible]". They are right about one thing...Don't listen to...anyone. I'm perfectly capable of evaluating a gun and deciding if I like how it functions. It doesn't matter to me if someone who I've never met loves them or hates them.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[steelslaver]

I recently bought a Taurus 431. Which is a L frame sized 5 shot 44 special. It has good fit and finish and has a nice smooth trigger. No complaints. That's all I know.

 

[steamloco76]

I have owned and then sold/traded these Taurus products over the past twenty-five years:
M94 .22LR-had a 20LB plus DA trigger and was not timed correctly.
M66 .357 Mag-took this a payment for a debt. Not a bad revolver fit/finish wise, but another terrible trigger.
PT-22= I thought this little gun would be a cheap alternative to the Beretta Tomcat, I was wrong. The slide would override its stops on recoil then fly OFF the frame going forward.
M605= early version of the .357 mag 5 shot stainless snub nose. Very good gun. Smooth, easily staged DA trigger and crisp SA. A bit loose compared to S&W. Sold for a profit after I replaced it with S&W's.
M431- 5 shot .44 Special from early 1990's. great finish. Fair accuracy. Not at all bad for the money.
M917- 8 shot .22 LR blued Tracker model. Heavy gun, heavy trigger, very good accuracy. Replaced springs. Sold it because it just wasn't fun to shoot.
TCP-238 -Very accurate pocket .380. Trouble with magazines made me ditch the gun. Would still have it if someone made mags other than Taurus.

PT1911 9MM- Bought this stainless 9MM 1911 type pistol for my wife and we still own it. Once we had 300 rounds through it, a very reliable pistol. Heavily favors 124 grain and up ammo. Very nice finish, fairly good trigger and feature set for around $600. Not the pistol my S&W 1911 9MM is, but the Taurus cost $700 less.

 

[S&W357]

I'm not going to say anything, Picture tells a 1000 words !!!

 

[Damn Yankee]

I have a Ultra 85 that I bought years ago new for my bug. Goes just about everywhere we me in my front pocket. Qualified Sat and scored 124 for 25 shot target. That is all I use it for. Every time I pull the trigger it goes bang.

 

[Alpo]

Back in the late 70s I was a security guard. The company was planning on having some "armed guards", as they could charge more for them. They bought a Taurus version of the Model 10, to try it out.

At the range, fired six shots, opened the cylinder and it came out of the gun. The crane had fractured and the cylinder broke off.

In the early 2000s I was working at a gun shop with a range and rental guns. One was a 4" ported Ti Taurus 357. It got rented a lot. It started spitting - lead and powder. Examination showed that the space between the top of the barrel and the bottom of the topstrap was packed full of lead. Apparently the gun had been shaving lead forever, and packing it up top, and when the space got full it started throwing the lead off to the sides. Took a dental pick and cleaned it out, and the spitting stopped, but it should not have filled up in the first place. Cylinder not lining up correctly with barrel?

My two experiences with Taurus, 25 years apart.

It's a piece of garbage.

 

[Engineer1911]

It is the same old story: You get what you pay for. Sometimes perfection, sometimes junk, but always only you can decide for yourself.

EDIT: I once owned an 8" Python Target 38 Special. It had a nice blue job. According to Forum rules, that is the only postable thing I can say about it. By any handgun standard, trigger pull and accuracy were beyond terrible, even in the opinion of other devoted Python worshippers. Every one can have a bad manufacturing day on one gun. That Python had a whole weeks worth of bad days.

 

[Grayfox]

I don't happen to own any Tauri, but I have friends who do. I have examined and shot a fair amount of their products. No, its not a Smith or Colt. But I have found them to be them to be good servicable firearms for those on a budget.

 

[walnutred]

I've had a Taurus 94 for over ten years. The round count is probably pushing 20K and it still runs strong.

 

[sambuh]

I own a Taurus 709, 738, M85 Poly, G2C 24/7 .45, PT111 G2 and the only issue I have ever had is that I don't make it to the range enough to shoot. To be honest though I have tried to sell them all and can't bring myself to. Haha.

But in all honesty like any gun manufacturer , you hang around these forums long enough you will find a reason not to buy a gun. Taurus makes a fine gun.

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[bpeddicord]

Owned three different model 85 Taurus revolvers. Broke all three in less than 100 rounds of standard 38 special factory loads. I've seen several dozen of their single action "cowboy action" revolvers break in SASS. I'll stick to my S&Ws no matter what the price.

 

[moe smith]

I've had 2 Taurus pistols. Both 92's. One of them was the most accurate auto I've ever owned, It was almost as if it had it's own internal GPS/INS targeting device. Scary accurate, even when I thought I'd jerked the trigger. Wish I'd never sold it. The other one was a good shooter too, just not in the same accuracy class. Both were dependable and well finished, though not built to the same fit and finish tolerances of my Berettas. You can find a bad batch of anything I suppose. When I replaced my 9s I considered Taurus again but decided to go with the manufacturer that supplies our military. Service and parts were a concern. So far the Berettas have never let me down.

EDIT: Considering a revolver? Buy an S&W. I've owned a variety of different brands and I always come back to S&W for revolvers. They're tough to beat on any level.

 

[MH8675309]

I'm not going to say anything, Picture tells a 1000 words !!!

Holy Schnikey!!!

 

[Kid44]

No Taurus love here.

 

[Arik]

Not worth the money. They are not durable. They are made for those who shoot a few boxes of ammo a year.

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[Arik]

I'm not going to say anything, Picture tells a 1000 words !!!

While I don't like Taurus this is not the way to go about making a point. All that shows is a broken revolver with some ammo next to it. It could be bad reloads, wrong ammo, 2 different things photographed together to make a story. ...heck it can even be photo shopped. So if it ain't your photo and or you didn't personally see that happen then it's not proof of anything other than a broken gun

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[NYlakesider]

I was a RO at my large club for years and I can honestly say I saw more problems with various Taurus stuff than all other brands combined. I have heard that the newer stuff is much better, but I’m not going to spend my money to find out!

 

[S&W357]

While I don't like Taurus this is not the way to go about making a point. All that shows is a broken revolver with some ammo next to it. It could be bad reloads, wrong ammo, 2 different things photographed together to make a story. ...heck it can even be photo shopped. So if it ain't your photo and or you didn't personally see that happen then it's not proof of anything other than a broken gun

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That is my gun i bought new 2006 with new Remington 357 mag ammo. I don't do reloads !!! I shot 38s in it and then loaded 357 and when i shot it -thats what happen. My lawyer sent the gun to two gun smiths and both said that the wheel just couldn't handle the ammo. They said the wheel was locked and lined up with the barrel.The metal they used was from china. I also think that it was the first 8 shot rev. and maybe the metal was just to thin ??? Metalfortress.
I'm not hear to bash any gun but when something like that happens to you and you get hurt, you start looking into what happen. I when on line and i saw lots of those guns blow up. You can look for your self. Will i ever buy a 357 8 shot rev. from them again. NOT !!!!!!! You think i would let my son use that gun? NOT !!!!