So you want a Taurus?

[tek4260]

This is the first 10 shots from my little Tracker 44. I thought it would be a nice little revolver. 44 mag power in a K-frame sized package. Well it is a nice package in concept, but it is just like every other Taurus I have ever dealt with- Junk... I don't think any amount of load development will rescue this one. Even if I cut the group size in half, it would still be unacceptable. That load of 22gr of 4227 over a cast 240 SWC has shot well out of every other 44 I have owned. I really did expect more. Hate that I bought the Hogues before I shot it.

I know some tout Taurus. I don't. YMMV.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm35/tk3945/101_2135.jpg

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Ouch… That is really terrible. Where you shooting free hand or from a rest? What range? Any leading? I have only shot about four Taurus handguns two automatics, and two revolvers. Both autos had reliability problems and sloppy trigger pulls. However both revolvers shot quite well for me, granted one of them was a Judge and I only shot 410 shot shells.

[tek4260]

25 yards from a rest, well forearms resting on the rail of my deck. This is my normal way of shooting. I have a pistol rest, but find it affects POI too much. No leading to speak of.

[2ndAmendmentNut]

Well that’s too bad sorry to hear that you are disappointed with your revolver. Could it be a bad trigger pull? Perhaps a little action work would help. Now I don’t want to offend anybody but you did say that these where your “first” ten shots from this particular gun. I personally never judge my guns accuracy by the first ten shots or the first load. What works in one gun does not always work so great in another. If it was my gun I would go shoot it a bit more to get familiar with it. Dry firing practice also works wonders for me with DA revolvers.

[DanWalker]

I had a tracker in 45LC a few years ago. It shot just as poorly as yours. I wasted a BUNCH of powder, primers, and lead, trying to get that *** to shoot. No more taurus guns for me!

[JSH]

On going joke here at home. My GC had an advanced CC class a couple of years back ran by Ken Hackathorn. Some type of discussion went on about the SW J frame. One fellow piped up he had the same only it was a Taurus. Mr Hackathorns comment was "Oh, I am sorry", lol.
I have looked at a few but never bought one. As most things in life, ya get what ya pay for.
jeff

[NuJudge]

I have a Taurus 85. I won it in a pistol match. I didn't want it, but it shoots well and has given me no problems.

CDD

[500bfrman]

since it shoots so crappy do you want me to take it off your hands? price wouldn't be very high I assume afterall it's just a taurus.

[mtnman31]

What he said. It looks like junk to me, sell it to me for a junk price :)

[tek4260]

Well, luckily I only have about $250 in trade in it. I'll sell or trade it for somewhere in the $350 to $400 range.

[johnly]

Have you tried jacketed bullets through it? Sometimes ported barrels and lead bullets make for an unhappy combination.

I have a SS Tracker 44 and it shoots better than yours by quite a margin.

John

[HeavyMetal]

Just for grins I'd send a copy of that picture to Taurus and ask them about the "lifetime" warranty and can they fix it!

Couldn't hurt and you may come out a winner in the end.

[Rickk]

I have the Taurus Tracker in 41 mag (titanium) and it is my "go-to" gun for carry here in Alaska. Shoots just fine. (I have Rugers and a Freedom Arms, but the lightweight and fine shooting of the Taurus usually win when I go outdoors.)

Also have a Titanium 45 colt snubby that does well. I like the porting and ribber grips.

[AzShooter]

Get rid of it. I've never met a match shooter that is pleased with a Taurus. Their lifetime warrentee sucks. I know one shooter that had to wait nine months just to have a new hand sent.

Sorry you put out your good cash and come home with the ugly sister.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
So what were the boolits sized too .. and what are the cylinder throat diameters ? My old Colt New Service will throw .428 boolits all over the range... but load some .431 sized bolits and it will shoot as good as I can hold it. It would be good to see some facts.
That is the first question I ask whenever starting a load development with a new revolver.
I have a Taurus Tracker Titanium 41 mag and a SS model that both shoot as well as my S&W Model 57. The 2 357´s I have had both shot well. But then again I was careful to size the boolits to the revolver.

[happy7]

I've always been very satisfied with Taurus' warrenty service. Turnaround has always been under a month and is free compared to Ruger, for instance, where I have always had to pay.

[NickSS]

I own six turus hand guns and they all shoot acceptable groups and I have had no issues with any of them. The only taurus I have owned that I was not happy with was a copy of a 63 Winchester semi auto rifle. It had some reliability issues. I fixed it my self and kept the rifle for awhile but really do not like semi auto 22 rifles much and ended up selling it.

[tek4260]

When one is as bad as this one, no amount of load development will bring it to an acceptable level.

[OutHuntn84]

Bought a millineum pro a while back. Took it out with factory ammo and the dang thing stove piped every round and the firing pin would fail to strike the primer. I sent it to Taurus to fix it, on my dime and when they sent it back to me "fixed" they put a little note in with it that I shouldnt shoot reloads through the gun that it was not made for that!?!?!? (I was pissed to say the least). Took it out again with a different batch of factory ammo, same problem. Call and talk to them and they insist that I'm the only one with this problem and I keep breaking the firing pin firing reloads(What part of any of that makes any snce is beyond me) I take the dang thing out with reloads just to see what happens, same problem. so I just had a new firing pin made for it, gave it a tune up and it worked okay after that, no more failure to fires. I got rid of that thing as fast as I could though, I was and am discusted with Taurus.

On a neat side note you can use a S&W mod59 hi-cap mag in em if you cut a slot in the mag for the mag catch. That made for a neat toy after I got it fixed. Think it helped me sell the dang thing so quick.

[waksupi]

As I have said before, when you buy a Taurus, they come pre-broke, to save you time.

[JohndeFresno]

Good morning
So what were the boolits sized too .. and what are the cylinder throat diameters ? My old Colt New Service will throw .428 boolits all over the range... but load some .431 sized bolits and it will shoot as good as I can hold it. It would be good to see some facts...

Take a gander at CylinderSmith.com. Just had my Ruger Convertible Blackhawk .45 Colt/ACP done (cylinder throats reamed to correct size, reblued) for $61.00, postage paid.

My Taurus SS6 - a stainless 6-inch .44 Mag, closer to your Tracker in style, not a Raging Bull - shoots excellent groups by my hands and by others. It shoots primarily cast bullets. Up to now, it has been my favorite gun to shoot; although the new Ruger 45 Colt/ACP may steal that honor after I fire it.

I don't know why the Taurus is so frequently disparaged, unless it's because it comes from Brazil. I have perused several gun test articles, including GunTests.com, an independent testing mag that acceps no favors or ads. Various models of the Taurus revolver frequently shoots better and more reliably than even a similar model of Smith or Colt. I know that I would not trade mine for any other off-the-shelf .44 at even double the price range.

[Bula]

I have the 4" Tracker in 45colt, and it can shoot. Sure it's limited to lower pressure stuff, but my standard 255 Lee RNFP pushed by 8.5g of Unique, makes a fine shooter. It'll easily shoot ragged holes at 15yds. Sure, it's no Smith, but it was $275 and it came with a nice Bianchi thumbsnap.

[Trey45]

:) That Lee RNFP 255 grainer with 8.5 unique is nothing to sneeze at regardless of what you shoot it out of. That's one of my favorite loads right there.

As far as Taurus pistols go, I'm going to keep my opinions to myself because I haven't owned one in over 20 years.

[357reloading]

I have a used Taurus 608 with 8 3/8 barrel, made early model. Tight lock up like a Colt Python or Ruger, shoots straight and on target Better trigger pull and lock up than the similar S&W guns of the same size, that I have examined at Cabales and other gun shops.

But i will be the first to admit . Taurus revolvers are either good or bad. One at cabelas could not pull the trigger. I want the six shot taurus 38 special., but cant find one that has reasonable trigger and tight lock up . Oh well , a dream . sorry about all the bad experiences. Have had a few myself.

[Bret4207]

When one is as bad as this one, no amount of load development will bring it to an acceptable level.

It seems your mind is made up in just 10 shots. Personally, I can't afford to think like that. Were it me I'd put a couple hundred jacketed through it, clean it really well and fit some boolits to it. What works in one gun rarely shoots best in another.

[Whitworth]

A friend of mine recently purchased a Taurus snub-nosed revolver in .22 LR for his wife. The DA pull was 17.5-lbs and the poor woman couldn't even cycle the revolver. While rim fires tend to need a little heavier pull, I find 17.5-lbs a bit excessive. This may seem minor, but I don't think it should have left the factory like it did.

[scrapcan]

Too those who ask why the disparaging remarks towards Taurus, I will answer. The reason is customer service at Taurus USA sucks. And if you get a bad one, you have to deal with them.

search for taurus and my user name and you will see what I mean. here are a couple
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=50215&highlight=taurus
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=73103&highlight=taurus

I am still waiting for replacment springs for the M94. Gun supposedly went back and was given a clean bill of health by Taurus in FL. It came back to me with the two springs still each in more than one piece. No one makes aftermarket spirngs for the 22 revolvers and the small frame centerfire springs by wolfe are not quite right.

Also lost a front sight on a 45 acp compact model. That sight and screw were backordered for over a year when I got tired of waiting and drilled and tapped sight and slide for a standard screw. A friend has a taurus tracker in 41mag that lost a rear sight (broke the pin and stripped the screw), he finally had a smith sight modified to fit and had the top strap drilled and tapped.

So to be straight to the point, the reason is their customer service sucks. Small issues can be dealt with, but ot when customer service and parts are non existent.

[tek4260]

Well it got traded away for a NIB RIA 1911 :) Don't know how I came out, just glad it is gone.

[dubber123]

Good trade on your part. :)

[TCLouis]

I learned long ago to shoot some before I made any assumptions from ONE random load. I also wait a hundred or more shots through a new barrel before I have an opinion.

Did you check cylinder throat diameter, barrel diameter?

Boolit and barrel diameter relationship?

So many variables that 10 shots do not take into consideration.

Just opinions and we all know about opinions.

[tek4260]

But there are too many good ones that come into this world shooting great. Here is a Ruger 45 at 25 yards and somewhere around 93 yards. I would bet I hadn't shot 6 rounds thru it before I got these groups.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm35/tk3945/101_1280.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm35/tk3945/101_1281.jpg

Here is a BFR with about 23 rounds thru it.

Factory loads and one shot after adjusting the sight

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm35/tk3945/101_1764.jpg

My reloads. 1st 3 shots after I reloaded a box of 20, therefore shots 21-23

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm35/tk3945/101_2128.jpg

So why play with loads? Lap the bore?

Here is the same ammo in a worn slap out OM Super at 25 yards offhand. It will shoot better, but that is about as good as I can do freehand. And it shoots well in every other 44 I have tried it in.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm35/tk3945/101_2102.jpg


I guess I am stiring the pot. I know I love to work on guns as much as anyone else here, but I also know that when you start with this you will never end up with anything special. Besides, when I miss I want to know it was me that caused it, not the gun.

[Bret4207]

Stir all you want. Some guns respond well to generic cast loads, others require fitting the boolit to the gun. If you never try how will you ever know?

[Frank]

Breit said
Stir all you want.
tek's pics are getting better too. Those pics (optics/red dots) are certainly easier to view than reading words (irons). [smilie=l:

[2wheelDuke]

This thread reminds me, I still have more testing to do on my Taurus M94. I have a Taurus 851 snub in .38 that's not bad. I can tell it's not a S&W or Colt, but it does the job as a carry gun.

I got the M94 on the same frame because I've wanted a .22 revolver for years. I only took it to shoot once, and it was terrible. I was getting shots all over and keyholing. I've never seen a .22 lead up like that. I still need to shoot it more with different brands and just hope that was a bad batch of Remington Thunderbolts I was shooting. My little Ruger 22/45 prefers that same round.

When I was younger, I remember hearing nothing but horror stories about Taurus guns. They've put a great deal of effort into turning that around, but it sounds like they're not perfect yet.

[Packy]

Wow that's too bad there is this much bad stuff said about Taurus. I have 2 revolvers and 2 autos, all 4 have worked flawlessly for me. My Taurus 480 raging bull is the probably the 2nd most accurate pistol I own, behind my S&W 460. The m-44mag with 81/2 inch barrel will out shoot my 629 any day of the week. PT-1911 shoots great and will cycle anything I put in the magazine. PT-99 had this gun for about 20 years and shot thousands of rounds through it, not one jam or failure to feed.Have shot a Taurus 454 in raging bull and it was every bit as accurate as my Ruger SBH in 454. Now the last 2 rugers i have bought, have both went down the road. Couldn't shoot a group with either of them. The 45 colt blackhawk I had, was the worse gun I have ever owned. Tried about 10 different powders and about that many bullets, cast and jacketed, and it would not shoot anything. I guess you can get a lemon in any thing that you buy.