Recent disappointment with Taurus service.

[tazman]

About a year ago I purchased a used Taurus PT101. This is a clone of the Beretta 92 in 40 S&W with adjustable sights. The frame is even the same as the Taurus PT92 frame. After quite a few rounds the roll pin, which serves as the pivot point for the adjustable sight broke and then the sight adjustment screw broke from the extra strain of recoil.
I took the slide to my local gun shop and asked to get it fixed(this shop has an on site gunsmith available). He told me that he had the roll pin but not the adjustment screw since it was model specific, but would check with Taurus to get the part.
Apparently, Taurus didn't have any replacement parts they were willing to sell him and let him install, so they required the slide be sent back to Taurus for repair.
After four months of waiting, I began pestering my LGS about the slide since it had been so long. They said that they were at the mercy of Taurus and couldn't do anything to help which I simply do not believe. I asked them to contact the state Taurus rep and get him involved but they refused(this seems illogical to me since this LGS sells a LOT of Taurus guns).
I finally get a call from the LGS(now 6 months out) saying they had spoken to Taurus and that Taurus needed to speak to me.
I called Taurus and got one of their reps on the line and asked him what the trouble was. He said they needed to know what the purchase date and serial number for the gun was. I asked why they needed that info. They responded that sights are only covered for a year, not forever, like the rest of the gun.
I said that I purchased the gun used and it was well over a year old so they didn't need to know the serial number. I just needed the sight adjustment screw replaced on my dime.
He responded that they couldn't do that. His story was they were no longer making any spare parts for that sight and that the ones they had on hand were only for warranty replacements.
He offered to sell me a new slide(apparently they still have those in stock) for $375 plus shipping. I told him that was more than I paid for the gun.
His response was"Well that's just too bad."
I told him to ship the slide back to me which he did(promptly to my surprise).
I now have a gun without a working rear sight. I guess I will find a screw that fits the threads and just lock it down as I have the roll pins it needs. I can put small spacers under the sight to shim it up as needed, but just need to find out what the threads are.

It troubles me that so simple a part as an adjustment screw would be unavailable. I can't think they would have much call for warranty work since the gun was discontinued 3 or more years ago(I may be wrong about the date).
The fact that they refuse to fix it at all bothers me even more. I am not sure I will bother with Taurus any more after the ones I have now break down.

[Hickory]

I have been advised time and time again, by numerous people, to never buy anything with the name Taurus on it.

[Sax.45]

I had a few Taurus guns in my time, Personally I never had any trouble with them, guess I was lucky, They did eventually get traded or sold. I won't purchase any more due to their reputation.

Couldn't your gumsmith drill and retap for a slightly larger elevation screw?

[tazman]

I had a few Taurus guns in my time, Personally I never had any trouble with them, guess I was lucky, They did eventually get traded or sold. I won't purchase any more due to their reputation.

Couldn't your gumsmith drill and retap for a slightly larger elevation screw?

There is no need to drill and re-tap. The old screw came right out with little to no effort and the threads are clean. I just need to figure out what they are. Currently I am thinking they are 6-40 thread. A 6-32 will start but not go further. No metric I have been able to find will even start in it.
I just got a couple of 6-40 screw and will try them out soon.

[Artful]

really a shame as at one point Taurus did have a good reputation - Guess they blew that.

[MBTcustom]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, and I know this is no consolation, but in the future you might consider buying Ruger firearms. As bad as your experiance with Taurus is, I can tell you that it is sadly commonplace. Then there's Ruger standing out like a diamond among thorns in this kind of situation.

My fist experience with Ruger customer service was about three years ago when I had a guy bring me an ancient Ruger pistol for repair. This was not a MKI, MKII, or MKIII. It was simply an original Ruger pistol made in 1952. The upper was so sloppy on the lower that it would rattle. The only way I could see to fix it would be to replace and restake the hook on the lower and reblue it afterwards. More work than it was worth by a long shot. Well, I called Ruger to see if I could sweet talk them into handling it for a price that would allow my client to maintain consciousness. To my surprise, they emailed me a shipping label and told me to send it on out to their service dept. I did so, and enclosed a note explaining that the gun did not belong to me, and asking them to simply furnish me with a quote for work, as there is no way they would warrant a pistol that was made 60 years ago and wasn't even sent in by the original purchaser. I dropped the box off at the post office on Friday.
The very next Thursday (yes, just six days later) a box from Ruger arrived at the shop. Inside was my client's pistol, tight as a drum, fired 50 times, and clean as a whistle, and inclosed was a note from Ruger thanking him for being a loyal customer.
:shock:

Then there was the issue a buddy of mine had with a modern Ruger MKIII. He was "adjusting" the sights on his pistol at the range. The little screw on the front sight had worked itself loose, and he thought it would be a good idea to remove it completely at the range so he could blow out the hole or something before tightening it. There was a "woops! Butterfingers!" and the little screw was consigned to the grass at his feet never to be seen again. He called Ruger and explained his briliant move in all it's radiant glory and sheepishly asked if they could sell him a new screw.
Three days later he recieved an envelope in the mail from Ruger. Inside was two new screws, a small blister of red locktight, and a note, thanking him for being a loyal Ruger customer.
:shock:

These are just two examples of the superb customer service provided by Ruger to those who patronize them. Their willingness to stand behind any product that wears the Ruger phoenix no matter when it was made is absolutely a breath of fresh air after dealing with companies such as you describe.
Needless to say, I am now a fully converted Ruger fan, and as long as they take care of people like that, I don't care to own anything else unless they just don't make it. Ruger still knows what it means to stand behind a product.

[wrench man]

When I had a Taurus Gaucho and figured out it was nothing more than a highly polished turd!, internet scuttlebutt proved that MANY of them had the same issue as mine, all who sent them in said no repairs had been made!? and some even said they had destroyed the revolvers without even consulting the owners!??
It was sent down the road!, I still have the *** Rossi "Jamb O Matic" rifle in the safe, it NEEDS to go to!
No more Brazilian junk for me!

[osteodoc08]

I'd of raided my hardware store long before sending to Taurus for a screw. Stories like this will prevent me from buying another Taurus.

[Cmm_3940]

I got curious and did some searching. It seems the internet is littered with accounts of these sights failing and Taurus refusing to sell parts. Aftermarket sights, where available, are pricey. Sorry about your luck. Maybe a new tap from Brownell's in a known size and thread is in your future? I just looked and they have them pretty darned small.

[Tackleberry41]

Being Taurus it is very likely metric, just not a common one your local store will carry. Rossi does the same thing an odd thread pitch combo that is pretty much unobtainable. The only fix is an original screw, or retap it to a size you can get.

I have often owndered how companies who treat customers this badly, can still somehow stay in business. Be one thing if they were the kind of gun that never needed to be fixed so they could ignore customers, but they take back alot of guns and still treat people that way.

[Sax.45]

At my local Lowe's they have a Plate hanging in the specialty nut and screw section that you can check thread pitch on either screws or nuts. I think it was in standard and metric. If you have a Lowe's local to you maybe it can help you out.

Or a machine shop near by, They will have pitch gauges.

[Wally]

Might be a long shot....the former CEO Mark Kresser was fired last summer & replaced w/ Anthony Acitelli...Perhaps you should try to call him at 800-327-3776. You will have to face a nasty call screening process, but it you are patent patient & persistent, you can make contact with him. As I understand it he is trying to rectify the soiled customer service image of the company. Seems his predecessor felt such things were too unprofitable... Good Luck.

[Petrol & Powder]

My experience Taurus firearms has spanned several decades and I am no longer willing to play in the Taurus sandbox. Their quality seems to be hit or miss (pardon the firearms pun :shock:). I will not condemn Taurus across the board because I've seen some Taurus guns that were good values. The problem is I can't seem to predict which ones will be good and which ones will be bad and I'm just no longer willing to take the chance to find out.

In light of what is available on the market, one can simply by-pass Taurus.

[lefty o]

any decent gunsmith should be able to either procure a screw for you, or make one. as for taurus, they've been bad news for a very very long time.

[Bigslug]

any decent gunsmith should be able to either procure a screw for you, or make one. as for taurus, they've been bad news for a very very long time.

At least 23 years. I worked in gun shops from '92 - '05 and the story was generally higher frequency of duds than other makes, extremely lengthy stays at the repair center, and frequent dodging of their much-self-vaunted lifetime service policy by claiming guns could not be repaired and offering to replace them "at a discount". We just had a recent thread in which this last, most odious item came up again, so evidently, there has been no change.

From a customer's viewpoint, they aren't worth the risk. From a dealer's viewpoint, they aren't worth the hassle. How they manage to stay around is an increasing marvel to me.

[376Steyr]

Dear Abby,
I'm a middle-aged professional man who recently married, despite everyone telling me how my wife; who had been divorced five times, declared bankruptcy twice, and was working as an exotic dancer when I met her, would be a bad choice. I had heard she had a bad reputation, but married her anyway. Now she is staying out all night, comes home smelling of smoke and liquor, and is running up mysterious charges on my credit cards. I'm disappointed. :kidding:

[Sax.45]

tazman, If you can determine what the pitch is, McMastercarr might have what you need if you can't find it locally.

[Cornbread]

FWIW here is my personal experience with Taurus. I have owned five Taurus guns over the years that I can remember right off hand. Two, 357 revolvers, two, 454 revolvers, and one, 454 lever action rifle.

The 454 revolvers were purchased the first or second year they started making the raging bull. They have been great for me and I would never sell them and they have taken all sorts of large and small game over the years. No complaints about anything on them, very high quality and both built like tanks. 1 is 2" the other is 6.5".

1, 357 I bought about 25 years ago. That thing was awesome. I learned to reload with that gun and I put thousands if not tens of thousands of cast bullets through it. I sold it when I was in my 30s. I have no regrets about that one either buying it or selling it off.

I bought one of their little 357 snub nosed guns as a CCW for my ex when we were still married. As far as I know she still has it and only shoots 38 special out of it. I have no idea how it has held up. I did kill a deer with it once with full house 357 mags, long story but it worked fine. I would not buy another though as it was just a sort of "meh" gun that I never had much use for and the snubby Smiths are worlds nicer looking and feeling.

Fast forward to last year I bought a Rossi 454 Casull lever action from them. Barrel and action etc. are real good, but the action was rough at first. I smoothed everything out and now it works great but everything attached to those central parts is super cheap and poorly finished to include the open sights which broke off when I first shot it(literally cracked and fell off the gun), the chincey safety which fell apart when I shot it, and the stock and forearm which look like somebody rough polished up some lumber yard red oak scrap or something equally cheap.

Talked to my local gunsmith about it. He said to replace the stuff with aftermarket parts and an aftermarket plug for the where the safety used to be and under no circumstances deal with or try to send it back to Taurus. So I did, I replaced all that stuff with decent aftermarket parts and now the gun is great. The aftermarket parts weren't expensive to get good quality so I have no complaints. The gun was a great deal price wise and the stuff I tacked on later didn't make it that much more expensive. I ended up with a really nice little lever action truck gun in 454 Casull. Shoots great with cast and my kids burn through ammo in it like they own the factory.

Would I ever buy another Taurus? Honestly, probably not, after my experience with the lever action and experiencing first hand how cheaply and poorly made some of their parts are. Their quality is going to have to do a 180 for at least five to ten years before I would ever look at buying another one.

Same for Marlin actually for the same reasons, I will buy Henry, Browning etc. until Marlin starts getting decent again if ever.

For revolvers I have gone to Smiths for DA, Rugers and BFRs for SA and I won't be changing that pattern any time soon although eventually I would like a Super Redhawk in 454 Casull and another Redhawk in specifically 45 Colt. I have never once had to replace anything due to cheapness or shoddy workmanship on a Smith, Ruger or BFR.

I don't own any semi-autos so I can't comment on personally owned ones but 15 years ago my best friend from the Marines bought a 45 ACP Taurus semi-auto and that was hands own the cheapest, more poorly functioning semi-auto I have ever held or shot. He sold it off very soon after buying it, so their semi-autos have had poorly made ones for at least 15 years.

Sorry to hear you had such rotten luck, it hasn't always been the case with their revolvers, they used to be quite nice but I have never heard great things about their semi-autos, and the one I did experience personally was horrific. No joke, I have shot hi-points that I felt safer shooting. Their revolvers now seem to be hit or miss and their levers have cheaply made exterior parts. Their customer service is so bad that most gunsmiths would rather not deal with it, and their semi-autos continue to be poorly made. I see no reason why I would ever buy one of their guns again.

[dubber123]

Dear Abby,
I'm a middle-aged professional man who recently married, despite everyone telling me how my wife; who had been divorced five times, declared bankruptcy twice, and was working as an exotic dancer when I met her, would be a bad choice. I had heard she had a bad reputation, but married her anyway. Now she is staying out all night, comes home smelling of smoke and liquor, and is running up mysterious charges on my credit cards. I'm disappointed. :kidding:

After taking a beating for my view of Taurus products, I was going to avoid even commenting on this thread. Until I saw this. Too funny man, and right on the money! :)

[wrench man]

FWIW here is my personal experience with Taurus. I have owned five Taurus guns over the years that I can remember right off hand. Two, 357 revolvers, two, 454 revolvers, and one, 454 lever action rifle.

The 454 revolvers were purchased the first or second year they started making the raging bull. They have been great for me and I would never sell them and they have taken all sorts of large and small game over the years. No complaints about anything on them


Do any of your Raging Bulls have scopes on them?, my brother has one and the *** Taurus scope mount come loose after about a cylinder and a half of full house 454!, this was the "three strikes and you're out" for me!

[Cornbread]

Do any of your Raging Bulls have scopes on them?, my brother has one and the *** Taurus scope mount come loose after about a cylinder and a half of full house 454!, this was the "three strikes and you're out" for me!

No, I can't say that I have ever scoped a pistol of any make or model. All of mine are open sights.

[bedbugbilly]

Dear 376Steyr -

At your age, you should have known better than to marry her. Have you never heard the term . . "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" My advice is to divorce her . . . then you can start "dating" her again . . . it will be cheaper in the long run. Sincerely, Abby PS Dr. Ruth agrees with me

[dmize]

I had a 480 Raging Bull that I posted about here in the past.
Long story but the bottom line is it took from May of 2013 to Feb of 2015,several hours of being on hold many different times to actually talk to someone and then it was a flip of a coin if I could understand them.
However I do have to begrudgingly admit that the 454 Raging Bull I was sent in exchange for the 480 does actually shoot surprisingly well.
And I WILL NEVER EVER EVER buy another Taurus.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I have felt the Taurus temptation several times , even looked at the pt-99 very similar to the gun your having problems with a few times but had read that the Taurus adjustable sights had a known issue with not being able to stand up to the repeated recoil.

if you can't find the screw I would think the gun smith should be able to either dill it and tap it a bit larger or cut a dove tail in the slide and install a fixed sight soem times making them work and useful is better than the way they should be

[onefunzr2]

I guess I didn't fare so bad in my Taurus customer service experience. My PT945's trigger return spring broke. I removed the right grip panel and there were the 2 pieces laying in its frame cutout. I called to Taurus' Florida repair center and asked if they would send me another spring. Nope, they said, it's a part of the trigger group and their policy is to NOT sell individual trigger group parts. I needed to ship them the whole pistol for repair. And so I did. The repair was done and back to me in less than 2 weeks, no charge. They sent it back no charge, too. Of course I needed to pay $35 for UPS to get it from PA to FLA. How naive of me to think Taurus would simply slip the tiny flat spring in an envelope and send it off for the cost of a postage stamp.

I too have a Raging Bull, but in 45 Colt caliber; 6" blued steel with their wonderful 'ribber' grip. Other than that spring, neither handgun has given me any cause to hate the company. Perhaps their quality was better in the 90's when I bought them.

[Cornbread]

I too have a Raging Bull, but in 45 Colt caliber; 6" blued steel with their wonderful 'ribber' grip. Other than that spring, neither handgun has given me any cause to hate the company. Perhaps their quality was better in the 90's when I bought them.

That's when I bought my two Raging Bulls and my first 357. I think quality was higher then.

[tazman]

To Taurus' credit, the reason I purchased the semi-auto was the experience I had with two of their revolvers. I have a Tracker 627 and a Tracker 22lr that are both super accurate and function flawlessly.
I also have a pair of PT92 semi-autos in 9mm that have seen thousands of rounds without problems.
Except for the sight issue, I have no quarrel with the function or accuracy of the 40S&W.
I guess there is always something that can go wrong.

[gunoil]

Taurus is a joke and they bought diamondback, go read some of that forum,,, sounds like Saturday Nite Live.