Taurus firearms seem cheaper than similar competitors- are they poor quality?

Question

I am looking in to a small revolver or semi-auto for self defence and it seems that many Taurus models are near identical to S&W equivalents, but for half the price; are they less reliable, do they fall apart after a year or something?

Thanks.

Answer 1

I own 3 guns and all are Taurus. I own a 605 5 shot snubbie with Taurus combat grips, and two Millennium Pro models. One is PT 111 9mm and the other is PT 145 the .45

All 3 guns have been 100% perfect out of the box. Never one jam, stove pipe, misefire, nothing.

Some people like to live outside of their means. They have to have a name brand or they cant sleep at night. Gun owners are as bad as Hollywood liberals when it comes to that.

I ask you, why would a normal person spend 1500.00 on a Mimber, i mean Kimber or other name brand just cause it's in the glass case? When in reallity its only goning to be fired at the range a few times and carried on person for ccw.

Taurus for my money is the perfect gun. Mid level pricing for a high quality lvl gun.

Care, practice, and the right ammo out of a Tarus will be all you ever need to save your life. Dont buy into the hype of name brands and built in the USA chants. I served 6 years active duty in the Navy Seabees right in middle of Desert Storm. I love my country more than most here who never served. But i still perfer, for the money a Taurus, anyday.

And when money no longer matters, buy a Springfield GI .45. a Para Ordance, S&W, whatever you want. But as long as were just a bunch of working stiffs, again, Taurus for the money cannot be beat by anyone

Answer 2

I have a .357 snub nosed revolver model 605 which is factory ported. It shoots great and is very accurate. Fit and finish is very good. It is a bobbed or shaved hammer, DAO and the trigger was a bit heavy so I got a trigger job and it is smooth as butter now. I only have one Smith and it is a model 28 Highway Patrolman .357 4" circa 1970's... it is a great gun.

Honestly I am not a revolver guy (I'm a gun collector that prefers autos) but I would buy either a Smith or a Taurus - probably in that order. I do think revolvers a GREAT for defense. Especially if they are snub nosed and have a completely concealed and covered hammer (in case you need to fire it inside clothing or pocket without a hammer snag) - S&W has these. Autos are another story.

I have a Taurus Millenium PT111 in 9mm that is sub-compact sized and DAO which I really like for the size... it is good for Inside the Waist Band holsters. For the TAURUS you need to make sure it feeds the type of ammo you want to use reliably. I had trouble with certain hollowpoint 9mm cartridges. I have seen failure to feeds / holdups on the feed ramp.

I also have an East German Makarov (the best of the Maks IMHO) which is nice and will fit in the same IWB holsters I have for the Millenium, but it is HEAVY and a little crude for such a smallish peice, and the ammo choices are limited, though I have found 9x18 from CCI that come with nice defensive Speer hollowpoints from time to time. The MAK has less capacity than the Taurus in a slightly less potent round. I would check out the little Keltecs in .380 also. They used to be pretty rough, but I hear they are better now... they are definitely small and light compared to anything out there.

CZ (I love their autos) has one or two sub-compacts now. There are lots of choices. It is up to you to find something that fits your hands and you shoot well. Taurus quality should not be a concern.

As far as an Everyman's auto that's compact to full sized, hicap, I choose RUGER or CZ. Tough, never jam, accurate. I have a P95DC 9mm. Last time I checked Ruger didn't make anything small enough for carry in an auto... maybe they do now. I paid $229 for my P95DC and $240 for my CZ40B... they are both great.

Answer 3

Taurus makes a fine quality gun. I own several of them chambered in .22 rimfire, .357 mag., .44 mag., and one Raging Bull chambered for the .454 Casul round. I love every one of them and would not ever hesitate to buy another.

The reason that they look so much like a Smith and Wesson is that Taurus and Smith & Wesson both were once owned by the same company. That made it easy for Taurus to get licenses from Smith & Wesson to manufacture Taurus guns that were essentially clones of the Smith & Wessons.

I've owned a number of Smith & Wesson handguns and I prefer Taurus.

Answer 4

Tarus products are hit or miss ( no pun intended). I have had them come thru the shop as decent quality, and I have had them come in, brand new from taurus with crazy things wrong with them. Like the cylinders in a .357 mag bored at the thinnest part of the cylinder (right at the fluting) instead of the thickest part. This was on about 6 revolvers that we got in one order. My most recent experience with Taurus was with a new 9mm pistol. I fired it to find that it failed to extract at random, no matter what magazine I used. Knowing that it had a lifetime warranty, and being very busy at the time, I chose not to repair it myself and sent it to Taurus. They received it and dind't even get started on it for 2 months ( this tells me that they are swamped with repairs from poor quality) after they "fixed it" and sent it back, I took it out, fired about half a magazine full and the extractor broke. I replaced it myself and traded the firearm in on a quality pistol.
Just my input
Shoot safe

Answer 5

If you are looking for a small semi auto look no futher than a Makarov they are great.

Taurus used to be a bit lower quality but now I would buy on before i bought a Smith. They are right there in quality but like you said less price. Some things might not look as good as a smith but do you want something that looks good or shoots good?

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Taurus makes a decent weapon

I had one that was a copy of the Beretta 92Fs. I had only one malfunction in 2000+ rounds... mostly due to inferior ammunition I was using.

Depending on which one you are referring to, some may be made better than others.

Their Revolvers seem to do well

I shot their 1911 clone,... we beat the snot out of one at our club...it was OK for the $$, and used it for an IDPA match... it was an OK gun for the $$, but would save a few more for a better made one from a separate manufacturer. That is my opinion only, and know people who have them and say positive things about them.

Answer 8

Taurus is a fine, dependable firearm. It is made in South America where labor is cheaper and it doesn't have the brand identity that Smith and Wesson has. It is basically a S&W clone. Personally, I don't care that much for S&W revolvers. The strongest, safest and most reliable production revolver made, in my opinion, is a Ruger. I have an SP101 which is a five shot snubby chambered in .357 magnum that I absolutely trust my life to.

Answer 9

Indeed they are inferior in my humble opinion. On the surface they are rough with tool marks showing, and if you have to return you firarm to Taurus for warranty service, make plans on NOT getting it back for 4-5 month. S&W is not that much berrt, they are riding on their past glory. Their M&P semi autos seem to be experiencing plenty of problems,just from what I've been reading in this category on Yahoo answers.

Answer 10

Tauruses are fine. Frankly I don't like Berettas or Tauruses but the quality of both are adequate. As far as I know both are reliable and shoot relatively straight.