Taurus sub-par quality?

[trinitrotoluene85]

Earlier today I called a gun store/range that had guns you could rent for use on their range. I asked for a list of their guns for rent and he gave several, but not all. So I started asking about specific guns, and when I asked about Taurus, he said "we don't have any for rent because they don't hold up." I was surprised to hear this. I asked him to explain and he said "Not to say that Taurus aren't good guns, but the average shooter only shoots a few times a year. Our guns have 10's or 100's of thousands of rounds put through them every year, and the Taurus just don't hold up. They break. That's why they're so cheap (inexpensive)"

It's hard to argue with some first hand experience like that. I'm sure he's right about the average shooter probably putting a few hundred to a few thousand rounds through a gun per year, versus their rentals probably have significantly more. I'm just wanted to know what everyone's experiences are with Taurus handguns? Has anyone else has problems with Taurus handguns breaking? Needing frequent maintenance? Frequent malfunctions?

 

[melensdad]

Taurus has a reputation for poor quality control. If you buy a Taurus gun you will either get a very good one at a low price or you will get a gun that has to go back to the repair shop.

I've got 2 now, and have owned 3 in my life. All 3 have been 100% trouble free. But at one time I had heard from some pretty reliable sources that their return rate for repairs was close to 20%. No business can stay in business if they have a return rate that is that high. I think they have gotten their quality control systems better, but their guns are still not equals to Smith & Wesson.

I'd not hesitate to buy another one based on MY PERSONAL experiences.

Others may have had different experiences.

 

[JohnP82]

I am not saying his experience is not true, but I have had nothing but good experiences with many different Taurus firearms with many many rounds through them. I would not hesitate to buy another Taurus. Just my

I have heard stories from other shooters about problems with Taurus, but I have never had any issues personally.

 

[BlueEagle]

Never had a problem that wasn't caused by my own stupidity with a Taurus firearm.

When I DID cause a problem, Taurus fixed it free of charge; all I had to do was ship it to them.

I know that if any of my several Taurus's ever break, they've got my back.

The way I see it, if I've put enough rounds into my Taurus to break it.....I'll send it back, they'll fix it for free, and I'll keep shooting it. I don't normally carry them, (I have Glocks for that,) but if it ever reaches a point where I can look at my fun and think, "Hmm, that looks like it might fail soon," I'll have Taurus work it over.

That warranty is a great thing, but I've never had to use for something that Taurus did wrong yet.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Taurus, either. For the price, its hard to beat them.

 

[ryan3030]

My personal experiences:

Owned a PT 24/7 in .40 cal. I only put a few hundred rounds through it but no failures or breaks at all.

Still own a Taurus PT1911 in .45 cal. I've probably put over 1000 rounds through it with no issues whatsoever, and I'm the second owner.

Dad owns a little Taurus .22. We've had to send it back twice now for repair.

 

[shooter521]

We sell a TON of Taurus products on a yearly basis; we also have our fair share of returns/repairs. From what I have seen, their semi-autos are more problematic than their revolvers, and the problems seem to increase as the pistols get smaller. That is, the PT-92/100 are pretty solid, the 24/7s a bit less so, the Millenniums have problems every now and then, and the PT-22/25s have the most bugs.

That said, the revolvers aren't immune from problems; we currently have (2) Rossi .38s out for repair (brand-new guns with issues that should never have left the factory), and had a rash of problems with Judges late last year.

We sell about equal numbers of Taurus and S&W handguns (autos and revolvers), but see FAR fewer problems with the Smiths.

My

 

[OiRadio47]

Last summer I bought a brand new taurus .357 stubby. When i fired the first round, it would eject the cylinder a few milimeters so it didnt line up with the barrel. If i pushed the cylinder back in place, it would fire a round... then eject the cylinder again. Im lucky it didnt blow up in my hand. At first, i didnt notice the cylinder barely came out, and wondered why it wouldnt fire the next round.

Luckily the gun shop bought it back, and i purchased a S&W M&P .357. Im happy my hands didnt get bliwn up and happy i ended up with the S&W.

Ill never buy another Taurus...

 

[charley59]

I have owned a PT 1911 SS since 2008. Have put 4000+ rounds thru the gun. The only problem I have had, is the plunger tube started to work loose. I bought the plunger tube staking tools from Brownells and restaked the plunger tube myself, rather than send the gun back to Taurus. Great gun. I also have an 85 SS revolver that I purchased in 1988. While I have not shot the revolver that much, it has never given me any problems.

 

[CoyoteCreekGuns]

My comments from a previous Taurus thread:

Orlando,

First off, welcome to INGO, there is a wealth of knowledge here.

Like all forums all of the members are experts in everything and will have no problem providing you with their expert opinion. Remember that all of these are opinions and your experience may differ from the "experts". I advise that you pay closest attention to those who note that they have in-fact had a particular firearm and then can provide you examples (good and bad) surrounding the question that you're asking. Okay, enough of that....

As for the Taurus PT24/7, I have owned two of them. The first was a PT24/7 Pro Dual Tone 9mm and the second was a PT 24/7 Pro Compact with Stainless Slide.

For the most part I really liked both of these pistols. For me personally, the grip and grip angle were GREAT. The 2-dot heinie sights were okay, although I was already used to them since I had a Taurus PT1911 as well. The firearm carried really nicely and I shot it very well, but....

I was at Atterbury with a buddy of mine that also had a PT 24/7 Pro 9mm and he was shooting some Fiocchi 147gr loads. (please note that he had shot this firearm before with WWB, etc without issue) after three shots the back plate on the slide blew out and struck him in the face (good thing he had safety glasses on). Thinking it must have been a malfunction in his firearm, I took three of the rounds and placed it in my 24/7 Pro 9mm and took aim. After 1 shot, no problem, after two shots no problem, after the third shot the back of mine pushed out (did not blow out). I pushed it back in and decided never to shoot that ammo through the gun again.

Furthermore after thinking long and hard about my purpose for these firearms (primary personal defense weapon for myself and my wife) I promptly sold them and have never looked back. Why? I wanted a firearm that I would not have to worry about which ammo I purchased and shot through it. Whether it was regular, +P or +P+ if I had it I wanted to know that the firearm would shoot it without any ill effects.

Now, Taurus did cover my buddies firearm under warranty and as soon as he got it back he sold his as well.

Your 24/7 may have a different reaction or better yet no reaction at all to HP ammo, but ours did and it was enough to never purchase them again. Instead, I purchased a S&W M&P9C and like I said before have never looked back. My buddy did still have some of that ammo so we decided to try it in the S&W and it ate it up without issue (just as an FYI).

All of that being said, I do and will stand behind the Taurus PT1911 (stainless model) as I have never had any issues with it, however as for Taurus in general, I decided to give them another chance and I purchased a M990 .22LR Revolver... This time the wheel locked up each and every time you closed it, so I sent it back and have since decided to stay away from Taurus (except for my PT 1911 which again has always been flawless).

I'm not an expert, but I have had experiences, these were mine but I know many others have had their own experiences, so I'll let them tell you what they think.

Choose wisely and shoot safe.

Coyote Creek Guns

 

[gglass]

My experience with Taurus is with a revolver and a rifle. Both had failures which caused them to be sent to a service center. The revolver took 6 months to be returned, and was immediately sold. The rifle took 4 months to be replaced with a brand new rifle, and it was also sold immediately.

I would say that my experience is 100% with Taurus...


100% bad!!!

 

[mdst]

~500 RDS thru my PT740 slim ,, never a problem using all kinds of ammo ,, good shooter, a little snappy though

 

[Brandon]

ive had a total of 4 Taurus. pt145 and a mil. 24/7 pro. the sights are off and sooner or later i will get them fixed... other then that ive not had a problem that would prevent me from shooting it or it going bang when i need/want it to. the 2 previous ones that i had were 9mm (forget which model) neither of them had a problem at all.

i would buy from them again after i get others i want first.

 

[trip9901]

i own a taurus pt140 pro and put 100 rounds through it after buying it and i had no hickups other than a bad primer. it could use alot more rounds put through it but so far for a new gun...no problems.

 

[Mad Anthony Wayne]

I had a .44 magnum Tracker revolver from Taurus. The cylinder would bind up after about 15 rounds...I guess they do have a lifetime warranty though. Too bad so many customers hafta use it.

 

[trinitrotoluene85]

Yikes! That's some real opposing views from some people. Some people have had no problems. Some people had problems so bad they immediately sold their gun. What other brands have you guys had problems with?

 

[U.S. Patriot]

My Dad has owned numerous Taurus revolvers, and they have all been trouble free. The PT92 has also been a reliable platform.

 

[shooter521]

What other brands have you guys had problems with?

Marlin. Since the Remington merger, the quality of their product line has completely gone to crap. What's worse, neither Remington/Marlin nor their "authorized repair centers" have any spare parts on hand. We have two Marlin lever actions that our gunsmith could not fix (the replacement parts that took 6 weeks to arrive from Marlin did not fit and could not be made to fit), so we sent them to the nearest repair center... they have been there for a month and the techs have not even started work on them due to lack of parts.

And I, personally, am having fits with Bushmaster (another Freedom Group company; anyone see a pattern here?) due to the shutdown of their Maine plant.

On the flipside, S&W and Ruger's customer service has always been impeccable, as has Kimber/Meprolight's.

 

[freeclimber57]

no prob with my oss 24/7

 

[TopDog]

Here we go, I'm no expert and have never worked in a gun shop. So my experience is just with one revolver and hear say from other shooters and forums.

I own a 415 tracker in .41mag. I bought it used and so don't know how many rounds have been put through it. I have only put a couple of box's down range with it myself. It has preformed flawlessly and locks up tight. I know several people that own Taurus one 1911 and the other two Judges. They have had no problems with their weapons.

My view is that if Taurus really was as bad as the general view of them is they would have would have gone out of business by now. Instead they are holding steady and from what I can tell the Judge line has really taken off. I believe that Taurus may have had some real quality control problems but I also think they may have overcome those problems.

No manufacture is without defects in 100% of the guns they produce. I however still believe that the big manufactures S&W, Ruger etc are better quality. Bottom line if Taurus has a model that I want then I would not hesitate to buy it.

 

[JB75]

I have a taurus 85 ultralight 38spc. its my favorite summer carry choice. I have put about 300 +p thru it no problems