Taurus quality?

[65Whelen]

Buddy of mine is willing to spend $600 on a 44 mag. revolver. Looking around the best option seems to be the Taurus. Are they any good? Only experience I have with Taurus is with a 1911 and that was a piece of junk. Are the revolver the same?

I highly respect the opinions on this forum and would appreciate any feedback. Thanks in advance.

 

[H Richard]

My personal opinion is he would be better served buying an older Pre-Loved Mod 29 than a brand new Taurus. Taurus are fine for occasional use, but the quality to stand up to more frequent use isn't there, and the accuracy has never been there.

I'm sure others will have differing opinions, but this has been my experience 3 or 4 Taurus .22, .22Mag, and .357 over 25+ years.

Another option is a Ruger, which does have long term ruggedness, and quality. It will probably need a trigger job, but otherwise a good gun.

 

[rockquarry]

I've never owned a Taurus and probably won't. They may be fine guns, but why not spend a little more and get an S&W? They retain value better and are far more desirable when it comes time to sell or trade.

 

[65Whelen]

I've never owned a Taurus and probably won't. They may be fine guns, but why not spend a little more and get an S&W? They retain value better and are far more desirable when it comes time to sell or trade.

I totally agree with you but we all have our owe circumstances with have to contend with. His max is $600 and trying to find a Smith for that is pretty slim. Ruger could be a better option.

 

[MarkAlt]

Some have very strong feelings and emotion on this. There are enough models and brands to go around, so I try to think and buy practically. What I have found, in general, with Taurus over the years is...

Many of their semi-autos have been hit and miss. Mostly a big miss. I wouldn't buy one. Although, the older PT-92 Beretta copies were quite good.

Many of the traditional 6-shot revolvers, like the model 66 were built very well. I still have a stainless model that shoots as reliably and accurately as my K-38, and that's saying a lot. My model 741, chambered in 32 H&R is their small frame (model 85 type) offering. That 741 is one fine revolver. Same with my model 992 Tracker. Beautiful blue, fit, finish and function are excellent. Many, many thousands of .22LR downrange without a hiccup. The 'Brazilian hardwood' grip era revolvers worked very well for me.

Some say the newer, large capacity revolvers have timing issues. Don't own one, so I am not sure.

Of course, I consider money spent on Smiths to be a much better investment if the time comes to sell or trade.

Sometimes it's a matter of saving up/waiting just a little longer and investing in an S&W. Other times, like with the 741 .32, it was a no brainer and I couldn't be happier.

Just my own experience.

Whatever your buddy gets, hope it works well for him.

 

[glenwolde]

I own a few Taurus guns. I've sold more than I currently have. For the most part I find their revolvers O.K. but I wouldn't buy one sight unseen. I currently have a .38 with oversized throats. Other than that it's great.

You want to inspect it carefully. Throats, lockup, timing, gap. This is one occasion when you should go through the revolver inspection drill completely.

Most of their problems come from their poly framed autos. In my experience their metal framed autos are the best guns they've made. I have (or had) 92's and 900 series guns. I have no experience with their 1911's. The revolvers are almost as good with older ones being better than newer ones.

The poly guns can be good (mine are/were 600 & 800 series) but it seems most of the complaints are about these. I've only ever had to send one back for repair which was handled quickly and properly. But since then their Customer "Service" seems to have deteriorated and service is slow and communication non-existent. But if you need a repair it'll get done eventually....like months later.

If you buy a new one shoot it a lot and be fast about it. If it's gonna break it should happen quick but they'll only pay the freight back for the first three months or so I think. They used to go a year.

You can buy a very good gun at a reasonable price with Taurus. You can also buy a very large headache. I've found close inspection sorts them out. Putting up with all this requires the price to be right.

I know a lot of new shooters are uncertain and don't want to spend a lot on the first gun. This is a mistake in my view. New shooters need a good gun to build confidence. With an inexperienced shooter and a questionable gun you have a harder time telling where the problem is.

An experienced shooter knows how to deal with faulty functioning, crappy triggers, unregulated sights, accuracy problems, and often has other guns to enjoy while dealing with any issues.

If new shooters only gun has problems soon after purchase and then is gone for months in repair they tend to get a bit bent. They start blaming equipment for everything.

If that's all he can afford, he just needs to be aware of the risks. It'll all work out O.K. in the end but it might take a while.

 

[BearBio]

I have had a couple of S & W 29's. I still have 3 Super Blackhawks=tell you anything? One is a 1976 NM, one is an OM, and the third is a REEDER Black Widow in 454. The 454 is one of my bear guns. The mothers are a Glock G20 and a OM Blackhawk (my personal recommendation). I live in grizzly country and fish Alaska.

If I were him get a Super Blackhawk!

 

[sheepdawg]

Caveat Emptor.

 

[rockquarry]

I totally agree with you but we all have our owe circumstances with have to contend with. His max is $600 and trying to find a Smith for that is pretty slim. Ruger could be a better option.

You make a good point. As long as the buyer is aware of potential drawbacks already mentioned in this thread and elsewhere, a Taurus might be a good choice. I'm not up on current prices of S&Ws or anything else.

 

[Sevens]

Discounting a Taurus across the board is a safe and easy approach that saves time, hassle and frustration, so it’s a solid choice to simply do that. It isn’t the absolute best choice, but it is the safe and easy choice.

The fact is that Taurus has made lots and lots of great handguns, and the best way I’ve found to bring a Taurus in to your life is if a buddy owns one and he wants to sell it and he’s willing to let you interview it.

If you can shake that sucker out at home with a very careful eye and lots of hands on… and then you can get a range day with it to ensure that it does what you want it to do, you can absolutely end up with a darn good handgun.

I’ve owned half a dozen over the decades and they ran the gamut from junk to fantastic. I have a PT-99AF that I bought new in 1994 that is a runner and I had a seven shot, 6-inch Model 66 in .357 that was not only a great revolver, but it was good looking and crazy accurate also. That one was sold to a friend who wanted to give a good gift to his Dad on a budget — that was probably 6-7 years ago and his Dad still has it and enjoys it.

Taurus made a 5-shot medium frame 3” barrel .44 Special also and I owned one for half a minute and I’ve handled a couple others and these suckers are FAR better than the Taurus name suggests.

With all that said, if you go to a shop or show and throw money at a new or used Taurus, you could end up with one of the worst gun-owning experiences of your life. Taurus touts a lifetime warranty but that is almost a pure SCAM because they force you to pay shipping to them and then turn-around time is counted in months and never in weeks, and it seems like half the folks that send guns back to Taurus eventually get the gun returned to them with the same problems. So their warranty has nearly zero value.

But yes, they can make good guns, the trick is to find them.

 

[lrb1200]

Uhh, OP

You lost me at "the best option seems to be the Taurus".

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Simple solution. Buy a Ruger Super Blackhawk .44 mag...............It will still going strong long after you are not.

 

[LVSteve]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the Ruger Redhawk as a suitable alternative.

 

[65Whelen]

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned the Ruger Redhawk as a suitable alternative.

I've been looking at them but they're in the $800 and up range. So is the 44 Super Blackhawk. Now the Ruger Single Six 357 is in the ballpark.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Since you specifically asked about Taurus I will say that I have owned many offerings from Taurus (I have one now) and all have delivered as advertised.

I attach no stigma to them.

 

[Ματθιας]

Tell your buddy to save his money, have patience and buy a Smith or Ruger. Buy once, cry once.

 

[Laketime]

Not going to find a used older 29 for $600 unless it’s broken or pretty rusted.Advise him to hold until he has more money and but a new one

 

[Justin T]

I’ve owned several Taurii. Currently running a 1911 of theirs that is very nice in fit and finish (for what it’s worth) and came with all the bells and whistles i would have wanted to add anyway.

I will add a 856 of some flavor some day.

Honestly, their revolvers are really pretty decent.

 

[diyj98]

I've been looking at them but they're in the $800 and up range. So is the 44 Super Blackhawk. Now the Ruger Single Six 357 is in the ballpark.

Unless he just has to have double action for some reason, I'd go with the Super Blackhawk before I put the money in a Taurus.

 

[Johnnu2]

I trash Taurus every chance I get. I owned a PT-145 that I dearly loved. I kept it after the first catastrophic break down; a few years later it had another breakdown that put it out of commission, yet I kept it because I liked the look and feel. Finally, it broke again (each break was serious enough to preclude the use of the gun until fixed); at the third break-down, I had it repaired (the plastic trigger mechanism just fell apart) by Taurus. They had me pay for shipping both ways. I took it to a big LGS and traded it in on a Springfield Armory XDS which I've now had for years with not a single malfunction. My recommendation is to NEVER BY TAURUS just because I'm annoyed ... seriously.

J.