Things about Taurus that make you go hmm...

[Kilroy08]

Please keep any Taurus bashing to yourselves.

With that out of the way, I picked up a Taurus 82 made in 1996 the other day.
It's nothing fancy, just a stainless model that was someone's long time night
stand gun that was shot very little. The price was right and it came with two speed
loaders. Lock up was nice and tight. I thought it would make a fine truck gun.

The thing that made me go hmm was the fact that the cylinders are not bored
to a consistent depth.

Does a .38 special cartridge chamber just fine? Absolutely! BUT.... I was curious
to see if my speed loaders for my GP100 were the same as the ones that came
with the Taurus. Nope, chamber spacing was different.

Were the speed loaders that came with the Taurus the right ones for it? We'll just
take the ammo out of the speed loaders for the Ruger and see. Yes, the speed
loaders had .357 magnum ammo, it's an eighth of an inch longer and won't
fully chamber. I just want to verify chamber spacing and did not feel like digging
out the ammo can of .38 special buried in the pile of ammo cans underneath the bench.

Wait, what?? The speed loader slipped all the way in. Upon further examination,
two chambers were bored out enough to take a .357 magnum cartridge all the way
and the rest would almost take them. The rims sat maybe .035" or so above the
cylinder face. You could close the cylinder but there was enough of a bind from the
partially seated rounds that it would not rotate.

Has anybody run into something like this before? I'm not looking to do a shade tree
magnum conversion here. It's rated by the factory for .38 special +P. That's the most
I would run through it. If I need full bore horsepower, that's what my GP100 is for.

I guess this gun was made on a Friday. Pedro must have been thinking about the
weekend when he was reaming the chambers.

[str8wal]

Please keep any Taurus bashing to yourselves.

What, so you can have all the fun?!?

[Kilroy08]

155486

[Der Gebirgsjager]

hmmm.........:?

[Bullwolf]

I think Taurus is something a mixed bag. Hope this doesn't come across as Taurus Bashing.

I've seen some decent, and real nice older Taurus guns, usually the revolvers like the model 82 and 85's, though I don't really know how much they were used since many of this type of nightstand revolvers are often not fired much.

Even encountered a few folks with decent older PT92's as well, the Beretta 92 clone. A shooting buddy has a nice Taurus 22 Revolver (think its a model 94) that runs like a top, time will tell how long it holds up for barring more rim fire shortages of course.

Alternatively I have handled a few Taurus 22LR's myself at shops, and noticed uneven or scarred cylinders, and cylinder gaps on the extreme ends of the spectrum. So tight the cylinder will hardly turn, and gaps so large that I wouldn't consider purchasing the revolver. I will generally choose most any other brands over the Taurus. To be fair I've seen some rough Smith and Wesson's as well though, but not quite as many.

The small fitment is just too hit or miss on most Taurus guns. You may get a good one or a bad one. A 38 Cylinder that may accept 357 Magnum cartridges is pretty scary when you consider the target audience for this type of gun.

If you don't mind the risk, and are really good at assessing the quality of a gun in person, one can always roll the dice with a Taurus.

I've seen too many Taurus mistakes however that should have never made it out the door. Ones that obviously had no functionality tests performed. Guns that wouldn't even cock, fire etc. It makes me think that they don't bother to test fire them anymore, as many of the really bad ones would be weeded out by such a simple function test.

It's bad enough that internet jokes like this cringe worthy meme below are made about Taurus guns.

http://i39.tinypic.com/207ozlk.jpg

Everyone has their own Taurus horror story, or success story about them. Couple this with a hit or miss warranty that also has a somewhat poor reputation, and I'm prone to spend the extra cash for a Ruger or Smith and Wesson instead. I won't discount the possibility I may stumble across a Taurus I just have to own one day, just not today.

If I absolutely have to get a Taurus, I would hope for a lightly used older manufactured one, that I knew the previous history of pretty well. I would never purchase a Taurus sight unseen, or online without carefully going over the specimen in person first with a fine toothed comb.


- Bullwolf

[tazman]

I currently have 4 Taurus handguns that work quite well. A 357 tracker in stainless, a 9 shot 22 tracker revolver in blue, and 2 PT92 9mm guns. I have fired literally thousands of rounds through all of them with the exception of the 22lr due to the shortage. The 22 is starting to get more work now that I have been able to find ammunition for it.
The revolvers are both very accurate. The 9mm guns are reliable and reasonably accurate, though not as good as the revolvers. Although that may just be me.

[DerekP Houston]

Taz I have the 357 6" tracker too, no complaints here. I wanted a large revolver for testing handloads and magnum rounds without risking my other guns. Taurus fit the bill quite nicely.

[S. Galbraith]

My personal experiences with Taurus revolvers and semi autos has been mixed. In Ken Hackathorne's pistol class the Taurus semi autos that have gone through those high round count classes have been problematic. Sao Paulo police are not happy with their Taurus pistols, but the political system in Brazil mandates that they issue out homeland made firearms. I don't think that you see many revolvers getting pushed hard these days to make an accurate determination of their quality. However, most of the time you can accurately judge a company based on one of their product lines, and accurately assume that their other product lines are likely of similar quality.

[Tackleberry41]

A friend had a taurus 92 copy long ago, this was the late 80s when we were in the marines. He never had any trouble out of it. But I know they had good eras and not so good.

I have never owned a taurus, well one stamped taurus, now Rossi is taurus, so guess I do. But no handguns. I have always been leery of them due to their hit or miss quality. So I generally do not look at them at a shop 'oh whats..oh never mind'. I was tempted to buy a used 357 not long ago, but just was not willing to take the risk, I knew the ruger sp101 I bought instead would not have issues.

I have read that Taurus will use a chamber reamer way past the point you should get a new one, and why their chambers vary so much. You also wonder if they use them properly like the way a company like Ruger would. A chamber reamer used properly cuts just like its supposed to, cutting corners tends to make problems.

[Kilroy08]

...I have read that Taurus will use a chamber reamer way past the point you should get a new one, and why their chambers vary so much. You also wonder if they use them properly like the way a company like Ruger would. A chamber reamer used properly cuts just like its supposed to, cutting corners tends to make problems.

As a machinist, I'll vouch first hand for cutting tools being used way past the point at which they should be either resharpened, if possible, or tossed in the scrap barrel. While I'd love to have a new endmill for a job, management says no. I do the job, management comes back and asks why the part is on the ragged edge of being out of spec. Well, you dumb so and so, if you gave me a new endmill when I asked for it, we wouldn't be having this conversation. This is the reason I'm springing for my own Drill Doctor so I can have decently sharpened drill bits at work. I could go off on a rant about it that would make Yosemite Sam's mustache shrivel

I realize I was remiss in both my original and, subsequently, my Picard facepalm post. The request for no Taurus bashing was for no knee jerk gun shop/internet commando "I read it on reddit that Taurus was equine excrement" comments.

On a positive note, the Model 82 that could performed pretty well at the range today. It seems to favor 158 grain bullets. I ran some 125s through it and it shot way too high. While double action doesn't require two men and a mule to pull, I feel it will benefit from a Wolff spring kit.

[Kilroy08]

http://i39.tinypic.com/207ozlk.jpg



Holy Jose Cuervo, Batman! What caused that?

[roverboy]

That pic of the primers missing, does look bad.

[Virginia John]

I had a Taurus Model 82 that was made in 1986 that was a police trade in from Peru and it was a fine shooting .38 Special. In fact, I sold it to buy a Ruger Security Six Police Special that didn't shoot near as well.

[FergusonTO35]

I have a stainless 82 .38 Special and really like it. Great trigger pull and shoots to the sights. The 82 reminds me of my Ruger Service Six, alot stronger than it needs to be. Taurus has been making .38 Special wheelguns for a long time now and you don't seem to read about as many problems with them.

I'm not interested in their autos because Taurus won't sell parts for them, they would rather you send the gun back and wait two months for every little problem.

[Lonegun1894]

Hmmmm, you mean people still pay good money for these things?

Sorry had to. Now that that is out of the way, doesn't the different chamber depths make you stop and go hmmmm while you wonder about what else they took a shortcut on and which of these shortcuts will get you or a loved one of yours hurt?

[S. Galbraith]

Hmmmm, you mean people still pay good money for these things?

Sorry had to. Now that that is out of the way, doesn't the different chamber depths make you stop and go hmmmm while you wonder about what else they took a shortcut on and which of these shortcuts will get you or a loved one of yours hurt?

Nice post, and spot on. When you are detonating a small explosive near your body, quality means safety.

[Petrol & Powder]

In an effort to comply with the "no Taurus bashing" request I will say that they sometimes get it right.

The model they seem to get right with the highest frequency is the model 85. I've seen many examples of that little 5 shot revolver that were solid guns that gave very good service. The subject of this thread, the model 82, doesn't earn that same high mark but I've seen some that were decent guns. I believe the production numbers for the 82 were fairly high. Given Taurus' price point and those high production numbers it doesn't shock me that the chambers of a particular example were cut too deep and not all to the same depth.

I hope I didn't cross the line into Taurus bashing.

[Blackwater]

My little Taurus TP 738 is a real winner, and it's the first Taurus I've ever bought. I've seen a number of their revolvers in the past, and they've varied. In my experience, they've greatly improved over the years, as would be expected with any factory making any type of thing. We always learn as we go. The more recent revolvers have seemed, at least from what I've been able to see from others' guns, to be on average at least, better than many of their earlier guns. Still, I don't think they are as consistent as most American mfgrs' guns. Maybe it's the difference in attitude about work between the S. Americans and us USA types? American mfgrs. aren't immune from that, but it seems to be more pravalent in the S. Am. guns, from what I've seen, at least. If anyone has this all figured out, they're smarter and more knowledgeable about the matter than I am. All I can relate is what I've observed, and this has been the general tendency in my own personal experience. YMMV of course.

[bangerjim]

They "got it right" 5x for me! I have 5 different flavors of Taurus guns (short & long) and all perform flawlessly. For years. And yes I have "big $$ name" guns to compare them to.

I like Taurus products.

[str8shot426]

I have one Taurus revolver. Model 66 6" barrel. It doesn't have the quality of higher priced guns. But it has always worked. It is accurate too.

[FergusonTO35]

Taurus has always had a very strong appeal to casual gun owners as their guns look and feel alot like more expensive brands. I have noticed alot of first time CCWers, including my boss, have bought the $199.95 PT-111's. Most of these people will likely shoot no more than a couple of boxes of shells a year if even that much. They will never shoot them enough to develop problems, as long as the gun functions right when new. So Taurus will continue on it's merry way, thinking all is good because most of these guns work well enough to make their casual owners happy and never come back. Just my honest take on them, I like my 82 and might add an 85 to join it someday.

[Lonegun1894]

Y'all are right that they sometimes get it right. My mom had an 85 probably 15 years ago now that was VERY accurate for anything, but spooky accurate for a snubby, and gave regular 1" groups at 25yds. She didn't shoot it enough or keep it long enough to develop problems, but I hope that gun is still in good condition today.