Caracal announcing the total recall and refund of all Model C pistols. No idea how many, but whatever they found has to be pretty bad for not even bothering to fix and return.
I think this pretty much kills the brand in the US. The good news, some people will now have money to buy guns and/or ammo. Plenty of Taurus out there.
i actually like taurus for the most part, have never had one malfunction, minus my judge, which hates to shoot old .45lc
And that’s why Taurus sucks. A friend of mine has a .454 Raging bull which would take the pepsi challenge with any base-model S&W, and probably for less price.
Meanwhile I’ve shot, heard about, and seen so many Taurus guns that simply don’t work, or are so crudely built they might as well be Hi-Points.
Taurus sucks because of their QC. From unit to unit you don’t know if you’ll get a quality gun, or a door-stop.
This isn’t just elitism, as Kimber in the last 10 years has managed to do the same thing, except at least Taurus owners aren’t out $1,000+ for a gun that refuses to work.
You hit the nail… Quality Control is an alien concept in South America. Same goes for pride on what you make.
Apparently there were two instances of the slide breaking in half sending the rear half into the shooter’s face. Both incidents happened in Pakistan. Neither shooter was seriously injured.
My best guess is that the recall is an attempt to save face. By making the C model ‘no longer exist’ they might be hoping that everyone forgets there ever was a bad heat treat batch. After all they did announce their ‘new’ models on the same day as announcing the complete recall.
C’mon, Miggy: Taurus is better than Charter, Hi-Point, Bryco, et.al. And they are improving. They’re also really creative and innovative, We should reward those trends by not unjustifiably slamming them.
That being said, I’m still not buying a Taurus… not yet.
Caracal… interesting pistol, with a poor implementation. Too bad.
Call me biased, but I’d still take a Charter over a Taurus any day. That’s damning with faint praise, but at least those bargain revolvers are made in America.
Hey Weer’d, have you looked at the recent Taurus offerings? I’ve heard from gunnies I trust that the design, metallurgy, fit and finish, and QC have all improved markedly over the bad ol’ days. Yep, I agree that’s damning with faint praise indeed.
SliceMaster (below) makes some very good points.
I just don’t think we should be quick to damn a company that is steadily improving their offering’s value. Some people do need a low cost alternative.
PS: The Weer’d World/ SQRL Report RAWK! ;)’
Thanks for the shout Out CF!
Also I hope that you’re right. As much as I love high-dollar custom and semi-custom guns, I LOVE inexpensive guns that work and work well for every-day Americans.
That was actually my first question to the President of Kahr arms when I was chatting with him at the NRA show, I wanted to know if they would be making a CM45 so people could enjoy a similar pocket-gun to mine, but NOT have to drop $700.
Of course Kahr, makers of fairly spendy pocket guns has been offering lots of inexpensive guns that still work just as well in 9mm and .40.
Same goes for many other companies. I hope Taurus is doing that too, as Joe Six Pack has a right to self defense and concealed carry as much as Ethan White Collar.
At least Caracal can admit when they have a problem and take action to address it. Taurus just continues to make the same crap they always have, and good luck to the customer that has a issue.
The recall move is not unprecedented. The South African Vektor pistol showed up with a mix of Star Wars styling and Art Deco. It had a Garand safety, something I like. It was otherwise a can of worms, and the company offered more than the selling price to get them back.
Taurus? I dunno, I have a rather old (pre-Taurus USA) Model 82 that goes crunch-crunch-BANG every time I pull hard enough on the trigger. And it has done it reliably fort longer than some harpers against Taurus have been alive. Honor where honor is due.
OK, quick poll here: How many people who say Taurus is crap actually own a recently made model? No doubt they had issues in the past, but this bashing of the entire product line by a bunch of people “who know someone” or “this guy at my gun range said…” is sickening.
I own and shoot several. As an FFL, I have sold plenty. Sure, once in a while there is an issue but Taurus makes good on the repair pretty quickly. Every manufacturer has guns that aren’t right when they go out, that’s the nature of moving parts in machinery.
But unless you have direct knowledge of a real issue, just stop repeating what you read on other forums.
I have a sub-compact that I carry when I can’t carry my full sized 1911. I have done weekend long tactical classes with it, shooting 400-500 rounds in a weekend multiple times. Never a problem, and I trust it with my life (or I wouldn’t concealed carry it)
Walt in PA had not long ago a series of posts about a brand new Taurus gun (forget the model, pocket pistol) that had problems with it. I am both a Taurus and Rossi owner and although I like the guns, I have to admit Taurus has problems with quality control.
It is hard to get rid of a bad corporate mentality, specially when you build guns in a semi-socialist country like Brazil.
On Wednesday, I went to my LGS to see if they had any 5.45 AR mags. I also looked in the handgun case and saw a Taurus revolver.
Xavier posted a “revolver checkout” list for used guns a while back, and I went through some of that with a new revolver from the display case. I asked the sales guy to get another one from the back after checking the first one, and it checked out exactly the same.
After making sure gun is clear, cock hammer then release it with the trigger, ride the hammer down so the sales guy doesn’t cry. Continue to hold trigger to the rear with the hammer down. Check for play in the lockup, there should be very very little, as this is the position the gun will be in when it fires. Also make sure the chamber lines up with the barrel.
Of the 6 chambers on the revolvers I checked out, 1 was tight and lined up very well with the barrel. 2 on either side were slightly looser, just enough rotation slop that you could feel it. The next 2 were a little worse, you could wiggle the cylinder just enough that the chambers would no longer be centered in the barrel. The lockup on the 6th chamber was loose enough the revolver would have been shaving & spitting lead out of the cylinder gap if there was anything touching the cylinder when firing.
You can tell me all about how much better their stuff is compared to years ago, but if basic QC fails like that still make it out the door then they suck.
Taurus has being beaten a long time ago, and the contenders name is CBC. Not truly a firearms manufacturer but an ammo one, close enough. They also make air rifles, which they are unable to build without a reservoir that either cracks or explodes. Yes, a firearms ammunition manufacturer who can’t figure out how to make a damn Gamo clone. They make the state-owned dinosaur, Imbel, look like a beacon of quality and innovation… I hope CZ really builds a factory in Brazil and give those clowns a run for their money (somehow the Czechs managed to make their state-owned communist trilobite of a brewery produce astonishingly good beer. Not sure if it’s still state-owned as there was a privatization plan on the pipes since 2007).
[…] Go to this article […]
I have an old pt101af. Great pistol. Never given my dad or me problems. A few years ago, picked up one of their pt92 and just plain hated it. After their restructure in 2012, I decided to try them again. To this day, still have their 24/7. Love it. My pt101af after 3000 rounds finally needed servicing, sent it to Taurus and 2 weeks later ended up back on my desk ready to go. Since its service, no problems. I’m not the only one, my buddy has had a few Taurus and had no issues to this day.
The problem with Taurus has always been spotty quality control. I own a PT92 and had problems with it, (the same problems that Beretta had with the 92F but everybody seems to “disremember”) and got sent twice for repairs. It is now working fine and I trust it, but my case is one of many that in this age of firearms manufacturing should not have happened.
I have lost count of the number of Taurus revolvers I have owned, but I’d guess around a dozen. Of that number only two failed to have quality controls — some quite serious. But I am ever the optimist so last Saturday (June 21, 2014) I bought a new (but now out of production) Taurus Model 445 UL .44 Special snubbie. Today is Tuesday, June 24, and I just shipped it back to Taurus for warranty repair on two problems. First, even though I push the cylinder release latch all the way forward, I still have to push hard on the right side of the cylinder to get it to release and swing out of the frame for loading. I noticed this before I bought it, but because an identical gun at the same store did the same thing I thought maybe it was designed that way. I was hoping that it just might get a little better after I fired it and cleaned it. No luck. I fired it Saturday night and then Monday afternoon, carefully cleaning the revolver both times. It actually got worse and there were times I could not swing the cylinder loose at all or only by Herculean effort. No defensive revolver should be that way. Second, I bought a box of Corbon 165-grain JHP bullets for defensive use. When I loaded them in the cylinder they would not fully seat in the chambers and the rim plus a tiny amount of the case would project from the back of the cylinder. “OK,” I figured, maybe the Corbon ammo was the problem so I took it back to the store to exchange for a box of Federal 200-grain lead semi-wadcutter hollow points. Just to be sure, I tried inserting one of those cartridges into a chamber. And wouldn’t you know it, the Federal ammo wouldn’t quite seat in the chamber either. So far the only factory load that does seat is the old 246-grain round nose lead, of which I had a few. Needless to say I was disappointed. This revolver was made sometime between 2011 and 2013 (when the model was discontinued) so this is a recent production firearm. Despite my hopes otherwise, it seems that QC is still spotty on Taurus firearms. I have heard their customer service has improved and is pretty good now. The rep I talked to was very friendly and helpful and assured me I would have my revolver back in six weeks or less. I hope it is less because it is rather accurate and the ribber grips do reduce the recoil significantly. Still, it disappoints me that the primary QC inspector for Taurus firearms apparently still remains the customer. The lifetime warranty is nice, but not if you have to use it after the first time or two you fire the weapon. I have worked through the QC problems on earlier Taurus revolvers and gotten them to the point where I really enjoyed owning and shooting them. My one hope is that someday they will practice a thorough QC at the factory. If they do, fewer people will need to use the warranty and more owners will be happy with their purchases.
If u know Taurus has a spotty history why would u buy one in the first place.(CHUMPS).
Because not everybody has $2k to buy a Wilson Combat who tends to fail as much as a Taurus?
I would like to submit a rhetorical question if I may.
What gun manufacturer markets a gun that shoots low and to the left right out of the box, has extractor problems and hasn’t been able to supply the demand for magazines that work in this gun for over two years now? And on top of that, has removed any reference to a replacement magazine from their accessories section as if it doesn’t exist.
Sir, I give you “Taurus International Manufacturing, Inc.” and the Taurus PT709 Slim.
How is it “Taurus” has been able to produce an obviously troubled gun like the 709 Slim, along with “Out of Spec magazines” and not offer any public accounting on how they intend to correct their problems, not even on their own website.
On the Taurus Forum website many owners had sent their new guns back for these problems only to receive it back in 8 weeks, or more, with what Taurus describes as an OVERSIZED barrel and extractor replacement. To me, this indicates that a real production defect exists and Taurus owes its patrons an explanation instead of silence on the issue.
In fact some on the Forum are considering a class action lawsuit to force Taurus to recall these defective guns.
It just may be why after all these years “Hickok45” on you tube, has refused to even evaluate this gun.
Here my experience with Taurus. 5 years back i read couple of misleading reviews about PT92 and brought one. So much for that “Beretta clone”. Out of the box, Mag release was so loose that even a slight contact with hand or finger would drop the magazine on the floor.
Sold that piece of crap next week and bought CZ 75 Omega For 10000 Pakistani rupees (Around 10000 USD) and never ever had any problem of any sort.