Is the slide particularly weak where it broke exavid? I mean by design and construction.
Taurus, whatever you think of their products, I've only had a PT-22 and I loved it, thing was actually reliable and if you could possibly correctly use the sights and handle the trigger smoothly, it was pretty accurate. I was expecting and looking for a toy when I bought it, but I eventually started carrying it in my pocket some, usually with the Aguila 60 grain SSS.
I used them because I figured the only variable you can control is the bullet and testing for function and accuracy, so I went overly heavy and they are loaded with full-power .22 Short brass I believe. Seen two or three smaller animals hit with them, and they appear to have plenty of juice left after leaving. By bullet type I wouldn't expect them to slow down much until they encounter something like bone or wood.
But Taurus is a large and active presence in the U.S. shooting community, they sponsor shooting teams, largely composed of non-Brasilians, provide sales for the stores that stock them, which are generally in the U.S., and appear to be doing a lot of heavy lifting in the advertising world trying to get new shooters into the marketplace to begin with. And they are building innovative designs, whether they're nothing I hope to ever receive as a serious gift like the Judge or competitive micro-.380 and 9mms that would be pretty neat, which stands out with so many companies either too busy or small to handle the volume people want made or just continuing to make what they make like Glock or generally innovate by outright pillaging a smaller company's design.
I don't think Taurus is a bad actor for the U.S. shooting community. I also don't hold their home country against them at all, seeing as they are providing everything our native companies are except the top money goes somewhere else. Brasil, or the Caimans? I honestly don't care as long as the gun is good and what I was looking for and the company is at least somewhat reputable.