XD Talk

Smokehouse · 02-06-2010, 04:29 PM

Yup...I guess this is my fault for not paying closer attention but I bought a 6" Taurus M44 .44 mag revolver, waited the super amazing Illinois "cool down" period, picked it up and found it was busted right out of the box.

Took this pic last Sat:

Consider I only paid $529 for it new, I knew the fit and finish was not up to Ruger or S&W quality but I was willing to live with that. I must say, the metal finishing, part fittment and even the grips were crap. Again, given the $$, I was willing to live with that.

What I wasn't willing to live with was the fact the the cylinder would not lock in place. It would free rotate CW in every position except for single action...even en double action it would not lock. As anyone here that deals with revolvers knows...this is a BIG deal.

Knowing the horror stories about Taurus and their garbage customer service (I was a member over at Taurus armed when I had my PT1911, there is an entire section devoted to complains about Taurus quality and **** customer service), I decided to take it to my gunsmith who is a whiz at revolvers.

He looked at it...sat there for a second and told me "Listen, I'm going to be honest with you...I can fix this but I guarantee you that if you put 50 or so magnum rounds through this, it will be sitting here on my workbench again. I have had many Taurus revolvers come across my bench as of late. Simply put, Taurus makes nice looking garbage. Take it back and get a Ruger or S&W, you won't be sorry."

So I did just that.

I took it back, unfired, and bought a .44 Super Redhawk for an additional $185. I must say, this is what I should have done in the first place, the difference in build quality is night and day.

I'm not going to bash Taurus but after the fit and finish issues I had with my PT1911 and this revolver crap, I cannot in good concience recommend a Taurus to anyone. Hell...even current owners on the Taurus forum can't...

jake99 · 02-06-2010, 04:48 PM

Nice upgrade!

I've heard good and bad about Taurus, too risky for my money to take the chance.

waterhead · 02-06-2010, 04:52 PM

That sucks man but atleast you got a sweet ruger to replace it. I am a huge ruger fan and their revolvers are hard to beat.

Smokehouse · 02-06-2010, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jake99

Nice upgrade!

I've heard good and bad about Taurus, too risky for my money to take the chance.

My PT1911 functioned flawlessly. The fit and finish was crap but it worked well. Even my gunsmith said he'd recommend their 1911 as a budget gun...just not their revolvers.

I was expecting that same "bad fit, good function" out of the M44 but I guess I was wrong. I can say I won't be looking at a single thing they make for quite some time.

pointpro · 02-06-2010, 07:01 PM

Well I have to say, I own a Taurus tracker 44 mag and I'm very happy with mine. Works everytime, shoots great and is easy to carry.Oh, I also own a Ruger Redhawk 44 mag.(like that one too)

cheezhed · 02-08-2010, 01:48 AM

Sorry about your problems. I have a raging bull in .44 and it has been a accurate reliable revolver for me and I have put a lot of rounds through it. It has run well since I took it out of the box. I must be lucky because in my 35 plus years of shooting I have only had to return 1 gun for service.

Smokehouse · 02-08-2010, 07:22 AM

I thought the same thing about Taurus until I saw the complaint section on Taurusarmed.net....it's shocking.

I always thought of Taurus as one of those companies people love to hate but after reading through pages and pages and pages of actual owners and their customer service horror stories, I decided to throw in the towel.

Like I said above, I'm not going to bash Taurus, but I am going to say there is a HUGE difference in the build quality of this Ruger and than M44...such a large difference in fact that they price difference of $180 would have to be MUCH larger for me to even consider the Taurus again...say $300. If the M44 retailed for $329 I might actually look at one again. $529? Nope.

Old4Eyes · 02-08-2010, 09:41 AM

Smokehouse states that he won't trash Taurus.
OK, I will.
I had the exact same problem that the orginal poster had with a Tracker 627 (357). The teeth of the gears that are on ejector which are used to rotate the cylinder were cut badly. Thus the cylinder could be short or long of the position to lockup.
This could result in a bullet smashing into the forcing cone and having shrapnel flying.

We sent it back, it came back from Taurus with a note about not using 38 specials, but to use 357. Since when did the back end of a 38 special look a whole lot different than a 357 to any degree that it would cause the gun to not lock up????

Sent it back again, and it did get fixed.

The owner of the shop where I purchased the gun confronted the North America Rep of customer service of Taurus at the Shot show. After being pressed about this issue (and there was another other Tracker 627's from the store that had the same issue) the rep admitted there was a problem. When asked about what he had done, he told the shop owner that he had written a letter to Taurus. One letter. No response from the boys down south.

The shop owner then went to the National sales rep and told him he just lost a dealer.

And I will never buy a Taurus again. I don't care how cheap they get.

jj79 · 02-08-2010, 09:42 AM

no way!! ("gasp") a Taurus that doesn't work!!!? that's impossible!!

sorry to hear you got a bad one... my experience with Taurus has been much the same as yours (and countless other buyers).

to be fair, I've had 2 Taurus guns that were great, with no problems...but they were purchased 6-7 years ago. I think their QC has really slipped since then.

most all the newer Taurus guns I've handled just exhibit poor fit/finish compared to my older guns.

I too have read all the threads over at Taurusarmed. it's pretty unbelievable...what's even funnier is they will defend the pieces of junk even as they're complaining about how they don't work right...

oh well, at least you ended up with a Ruger!!!

they make some great wheel guns...love every single one of mine, and would never part with them.

-JJ

BTW - that sure is a pretty XDm!!! love the OD green & black...

Smokehouse · 02-08-2010, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old4Eyes

Smokehouse states that he won't trash Taurus.
OK, I will.
I had the exact same problem that the orginal poster had with a Tracker 627 (357). The teeth of the gears that are on ejector which are used to rotate the cylinder were cut badly. Thus the cylinder could be short or long of the position to lockup.
This could result in a bullet smashing into the forcing cone and having shrapnel flying.

We sent it back, it came back from Taurus with a note about not using 38 specials, but to use 357. Since when did the back end of a 38 special look a whole lot different than a 357 to any degree that it would cause the gun to not lock up????

Sent it back again, and it did get fixed.

The owner of the shop where I purchased the gun confronted the North America Rep of customer service of Taurus at the Shot show. After being pressed about this issue (and there was another other Tracker 627's from the store that had the same issue) the rep admitted there was a problem. When asked about what he had done, he told the shop owner that he had written a letter to Taurus. One letter. No response from the boys down south.

The shop owner then went to the National sales rep and told him he just lost a dealer.

And I will never buy a Taurus again. I don't care how cheap they get.

This thread kind of embarrasses me I guess...I don't know much about revolvers and I should have done my homework before buying the Taurus in the first place. My father is the "old school" revolver guy and I didn't take him with me. When I picked it up and took it home he looked it over and told me the non-locking cylinder was a no-go...again, I have to claim ignorance on this as it locked up perfectly fine in single action. I'm a semi-auto guy dammit...not a revolver guy

I did some reading, talked with my gunsmith and took it back...and BTW...the cylinder indexing teeth on it were chewed up badly as well...like the milling process was off or something. That and the cylinder lock were the first two things I looked at when I first picked up the Ruger...locks tight and clean as a whistle. I'm mostly shocked that M44 passed inspection, how a guy test firing it missed that is beyond me, that is dangerous as hell.