Hand_Rifle_Guy
Member
And this doesn''t have anything to do with porting. 
I have three different Taurus revolvers, spanning a wide time-span of production. First is a very early Model 82 .38 Special purchased used, second's a 441 (431?) .44 Special purchased NIB, and last is a 425 Tracker .41 Magnum in stainless, also purchased NIB.
I have three different Taurus revolvers, spanning a wide time-span of production. First is a very early Model 82 .38 Special purchased used, second's a 441 (431?) .44 Special purchased NIB, and last is a 425 Tracker .41 Magnum in stainless, also purchased NIB.
- They all work fine. In fact, they're all some of the most accurate guns I've GOT. That tired-looking .38 M-82 is the standard that the rest of my handguns get measured against at 100 YARDS!. It'll outshoot my Mountain Gun.
- All of the machine work on these guns is top-notch. They're well made, with good fit and finish, with one glowing exception which leads directly to:
- They all have the same issue. Strange as it seems, and without detracting from their reliability in any way, all of these guns have Ratchets that are ROUGH. Crudely made. Inconsistent to themselves. Embarassing to look at. Not consistent with the quality of the rest of the gun.
[/list=1]
This is three different iterations of ratchet geometry, over a manufacturing span of some twenty-ish years. They're all drastically different from one another, and strangely, they all work without problems. One of the only consistent complaints I've been able to sort out from the various threads about Taurus guns is that they have timing problems, which is DIRECTLY related to the ratchet geometry.
It makes me wonder why Taurus cannot figure out how to make a decent ratchet. Seems like you're lucky if yours works good, as obviously a lot of 'em don't. I imagine that MOST of 'em work ok, but enought don't to give a lot of folks pause before buying a Taurus, and a bunch of folks good reason never to buy another one.
I checked both my Rugers and my Smiths. Both of those builders have nicely symetrical, self-consistent ratchets. Heck, I have a Smith from 1902 whose ratchet is a thing of beauty, the same as my -4 generation Mountain Gun. For that matter, my two old Colt revolvers also have nicely crafted ratchets. All the ratchets on all of these guns have nice consistent wear marks. The shiny streaks on every tooth is the same as mark on every other tooth on a given cylinder.
Not so with the Tauruses. For them, EVERY TOOTH IS JUST A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. Well, maybe a lot different. Different enough to show with just a casual examination, and a close examination is like "Whoa!"
So: Would all of you Taurus revolver owners do me a favor? Get out your gun, good, bad, or indifferent, and closely examine the ratchet to see if it's self-consistent. I want to know if the teeth are well-formed and nicely machined, or rough and different. Check the wear tracks from the hand, and see what they look like. Get out a magnifying glass, and see what you find.
And then report it here, of course. I am VERY curious as to whether or not my three-for-three record extends beyond my collection.
I LIKE Taurus. I have good reason too, as all of my guns work GREAT. I'd like to reccomend 'em without worry. But I cannot in good consceince do so in the context of the plethora of justified complaints that exist. Revolvers are ANCIENT technology, and there's really no excuse for any manufacturer to not know how to make these parts. Heck, Ruger, S&W and Colt have been doing it correctly right from the get-go. Taurus has some really innovative ideas in the market right now, but it does them no good if they can't get the fundamental aspects of the mechanics correct.
Additionally, if they can't make the ratchets right, what about the rest of the internals? Guns need to WORK RIGHT more than look good. Modern CNC manufacturing methods allow for some of the best-made guns in years to be mass-produced at reasonable costs. How can Taurus still be missing the target?
The ratchet on my Tracker, a latest-generation release, shows a lot of room for improvement. Shouldn't they fix something like that before expanding the line? Just because it works MOST of the time doesn't mean it doesn't need fixing. Especially in the context of the rest of the manufacturers that don't have a problem in this area.
So get out your magnifying glass and take a look. Maybe we can identify an issue, and let 'em know so they can improve their product. Taurus doesn't have any stupid political decisions on their record yet, so if they can improve a bit, they stand to gain some serious business.
Of course, it would help if they would pay off the Cal-DOJ Extortion Racket so I can ACCESS some more of their line. Mayperhaps their politics COULD stand some imrovement?
Naah. 'Snot THEIR fault. Just my STUPID STATE.
:banghead:
