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Old June 6, 2012, 04:33 PM   #1
EagleEyeTucson
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Taurus Disappointment

I'm still astonished that my Taurus judge mechanically failed to fire the very First time I shot it. Most of us have been raised with the belief that revolvers are highly reliable. What if this gun failed while I was protecting my, or my families, life. It's Just inexcusable. But, my disappointment only begins here.

I sent the gun back to Taurus, via Murphey's guns(Tucson,AZ), and it was allegedly repaired and sent back. This took nearly Two months. When I picked up the supposedly repaired gun, to my dismay, it was filthy dirty. I don't know if that is standard customer service practice for a gun manufacturer/repair facility to ship a dirty gun back to the customer.

After receiving the, allegedly repaired, gun I fired 2 rounds through it before it jammed and failed again. Wow, Two gun failures in Two separate attempts. Even after it was supposedly fixed, in writing, the First time.

I sent a letter to Taurus and it was answered 2 weeks later where they agreed to give me a refund as soon as I sent them the gun for inspection. They arranged, and took, possession of the gun in less than 18 hours...across the country. They stated I would get a refund in 10 days after taking receipt of the gun. More than 30 days has gone by since I First contacted them and I still have no refund, or no gun. They wasted no time in getting, what I believe, was a defective gun back in their possession(less than a day). But, satisfying their agreement and promise of a refund seems to be taking weeks.
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Old June 6, 2012, 04:45 PM   #2
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Quote:
I'm still astonished that my Taurus judge mechanically failed to fire the very First time I shot it.
Now what have we learned?

I kid, I kid

Ok, done Taurus bashing now.

What did the first failure consist of? And the second, you said it jammed? Failed to rotate the cylinder? Hammer resists cocking? Trigger locked up? Or what?

I'm not sure what you can do aside from getting on the horn with them and asking questions
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Old June 6, 2012, 04:54 PM   #3
Hansam
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Holy cow, a revolver that jammed!

Ok seriously though I've never had a well kept revolver "jam" on me and the only failure to fire situations I've had with them were the result of two things:

1. Bad ammo

2. Dumb operator forgot to load the gun (or at least left that chamber empty).

Neither are the fault of the gun. Now I know there's a lot of Taurus haters here but really Taurus makes some solid revolvers.

What I'd like to know is what cartridge(s) you were attempting to fire ie. caliber, brand etc. I'd also like to know what you were doing at the time it "jammed" and what you did to resolve the problem. Did you try to replicate the problem for troubleshooting purposes or did you just put the gun down and be done with it. Did you clean and lube the firearm before you shot it the first time and after you got it back from Taurus? Of course there's the idiot question too - do you know how to properly use a firearm - especially a cylinder? Oh and the other idiot question - why on earth did you buy a Taurus Judge anyway?
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Old June 6, 2012, 05:09 PM   #4
EagleEyeTucson
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details on Taurus failure

Incident 1. The gun was new out of the box. I fired a couple of high quality 3 inch .410 shells and also high quality .45 long colts. I only got 2 of each off before the cylinder failed to turn any more. Of course the hammer would not cock back then. And great difficulty ejecting the cylinder. After working it for a bit. I got it open and it just didn't look and feel right after that. Sent back for repair.

Incident 2. At the indoor range with my buddy who is a certified instructor, too. I could only fire .45 cal indoors so I got off Two rounds before it failed on 3rd shot. In this case the cylinder would turn but the hammer would not drop whether you pulled the trigger or manually attempted to pull hammer back all the way.

As for me. I have 42 years of experience. I truly will be glad to get my refund. I do regret ever buying it. Thanks for your replies.
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Old June 6, 2012, 05:16 PM   #5
EagleEyeTucson
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ammo used in Taurus Judge failure

Winchester SuperX HS High Brass Game Loads. 3 inch, 11/16oz, 4shot, .410

Precision Cartridge Inc., .45 Long Colt, 250 Gr. RN-FP Cowboy Load, New
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Old June 6, 2012, 05:19 PM   #6
Stressfire
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Well, sorry boss, I got nothing other than...Well, it's a Taurus

Mayhaps try over in the revolver forum if you are curious about trying to figure out what happened.

If you just wanted to do some venting and get some feedback on the Taurus CS experience, General might be the right place
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Old June 6, 2012, 05:20 PM   #7
huntinaz
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For all the Taurus "bashing" I do, I sometimes feel like I should buy one and do an honest review, and see if it doesn't turn out to be a good pistol. Then I read posts like this and remember why I dont. Bummer about the pistol. I believe Smith is making 45 Colt/410 pistols now aren't they? The Governor or some such?

I miss the gun stores in Tucson, Murphy's is a good one.
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Old June 6, 2012, 05:25 PM   #8
EagleEyeTucson
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It's hard to figure out, but, I think it's a quality control issue with manufacturing...I believe.

Thanks for the reply. I suppose I just needed to vent a bit. Maybe there's a better forum for this.

You're right. I regret buying a Taurus. I've gotten conflicting statements from different customer service reps over there at Taurus.
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Old June 6, 2012, 08:44 PM   #9
Hansam
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Taurus used to make some fine revolvers. I think they still do but they also make some crap mixed in there too. I guess its sort of the luck of the draw whether you get a good one or a bad one. Same goes for their semi-autos except there seems to be more bad than good now with those.

Taurus also USED to have very good customer service. My personal experience with their customer service is indicative of what everyone else is saying - its going to the crapper. I have only used Taurus' customer service dept. three times in the last 15 years. The first two were good experiences. The last one was frustrating and a headache.

I'd suggest getting a refund and just getting yourself a revolver chambered in .45LC like a Colt SAA or clone thereof.
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Old June 6, 2012, 10:44 PM   #10
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It's a shame. I have a 1985 stainless 85b that that I love. Great little .38.
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Old June 7, 2012, 09:48 AM   #11
Jayhawkhuntclub
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I've never shot a Taurus and won't comment on them. I have, however, had both S&W and Rugers revolvers that had problems right out of the gate. But once the bugs got worked out they are fantastic from then on. You never know.
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Old June 7, 2012, 11:26 AM   #12
buckhorn
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Taurus disappointment

Send it back and give them a chance to make it right. They have probably gotten good at fixing returned "Judges".
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Old June 7, 2012, 01:08 PM   #13
James K
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Well, he has already sent it back and it was returned unrepaired (and dirty as well). Then he sent it back on a promise of a refund and has gotten neither the gun nor the refund in the time promised.

It is not "Taurus bashing" to say that this is not a good way for a manufacturer to gain or keep happy customers.

Taurus design and material is first rate. But their manufacturing seems to leave a lot to be desired; the result is that far too many guns are being returned, and customer service seems not to be up to the needs. If they ever solve the problems on the production line, their CS "problem" will go away.

Jim
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Old June 7, 2012, 01:24 PM   #14
Stressfire
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Quote:
Taurus design and material is first rate. But their manufacturing seems to leave a lot to be desired
I agree. They seem to have some very interesting designs out there that I would definitely consider, but with their QC and CS issues, I do not yet feel the desire to have the "Taurus Experience"
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Old June 7, 2012, 02:03 PM   #15
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It's always funny to me--never had a single problem out of four Taurus guns over 20 years or so. None of them even cost close to the $500 Judge. Just luck? That wouldn't be me.

-7-
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Old June 7, 2012, 02:07 PM   #16
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Taurus and disappointment.

Are those 2 words not interchangeable?

(The only [ONLY!] exception I know of so far to that rule is their 1911s)
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Old June 7, 2012, 02:07 PM   #17
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Quote:
I sent the gun back to Taurus, via Murphey's guns(Tucson,AZ), and it was allegedly repaired and sent back. This took nearly Two months. When I picked up the supposedly repaired gun, to my dismay, it was filthy dirty. I don't know if that is standard customer service practice for a gun manufacturer/repair facility to ship a dirty gun back to the customer.
Finally somebody will believe me!
Mine came back, not fixed, and covered in black dirt and grease. I was at work and my wife received the package and looked in the box . She would not even call me at work to let me know my gun was returned. She knew it would have ruined my day. It took me 30 minutes just to remove the dirt and grease.
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Old June 7, 2012, 04:10 PM   #18
buckhorn
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taurus problems

I had one Taurus, will never have another, unless they're giving them away at Mcdonald's with purchase of double cheese-burger. 10 years from now they'll all be in smelting furnances to make refrigerators.
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Old June 7, 2012, 04:27 PM   #19
Master Blaster 2
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You know there is a Taurus Forum. I think it would be better to complain here as all your posts are related.:

Link:

http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php

Last edited by Master Blaster 2; June 7, 2012 at 10:36 PM.
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Old June 7, 2012, 04:56 PM   #20
Andy Griffith
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I've got two Judges, a T/C Contenter in .45/410, and a couple of FMJ (made in Copperhill TN) guns in .410.

I no longer use Winchester 3" .410's in any of them and regulate the use of them to fixed breech shotguns only.

I think it's the steel heads in those shells that swell and don't seem to go back down. Federal and Fiocchi have solved the problem by redesigning the head of the shell to all brass or nearly all brass, instead of steel which was brass plated.

S&B also gave me lots of problems. Needless to say, that once fired in the Judge, Governor or any revolver, .410 shells aren't easily reloadable- the heads swell too much.
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Old June 7, 2012, 05:41 PM   #21
buckhorn
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taurus disappointment

Master Blaster-whats a Turus? Or were you Being funny.
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Old June 7, 2012, 07:32 PM   #22
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Sorry to hear of your Taurus problems although they are all too common. I hope you can get it resolved quickly.

As a former Taurus owner, consider it a valuable lesson learned and in the future stick with guns that are well made and backed by a company that actually backs their products and customers.

Good luck.
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Old June 7, 2012, 07:58 PM   #23
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Sorry for your experience. I have owned one Taurus handgun. It was a Tracker 627. Right from the start after firing rounds the shelling casings stuck so bad I had to tap them out of the cylinder. This was factory ammo. Two trips to Taurus and some four months later the revolver still had the same problem. Took the revolver to a gunsmith and he look at the cylinder. His quote was: this is the worse machining I have ever seen in a new revolver.
I was lucky, the gun shop took the revolver back and I paid the difference for a S&W model 28.
Advice, stick with either a S&W or Ruger revolver.
Howard
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Old June 8, 2012, 04:30 PM   #24
buckhorn
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Turus

Well Master Blaster, I went on the taurus site you suggested. I quess I'll stay off it from now on. It ain't none of my buisness anymore.
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Old June 8, 2012, 06:23 PM   #25
pete2
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Taurus

I sold guns for one of the big sporting goods stores for a while. Quality from Taurus is a 50/50 deal. Better chance of a good revolver or pistol is Ruger or S&W. I did buy a Taurus pistol, it wouldn't run 100 in row EVER. It was one that looked like a Beretta, you'd think it would work. I traded it in on a Ruger.
I do have an older Rossi .38 that is great but some of the Rossi revolvers don't work either.
While I worked at the stoe we had a Tourus .22 with a 4" bbl. Great looking gun. Sold it so I didn't get it. Customer brought it back, didn't work.
I don,'t plan on buying another Taurus, and that is based on my experience.
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