Why didn't I just buy a Taurus?

[ccjcc81]

Or a Charter Arms or a Rossi for that matter? I've purchased 4 revolvers in the past year, and ALL of them have had problems. A 642 that had a stack in the trigger that caused it to break like a Glock trigger, only heavier, at the end of the trigger pull. A 686 that had stacking in the middle of the trigger that took 2 trips to Smith to fix. A Ruger SR Alaskan with a cylinder that wouldn't open without quadruple the force that should be necessary, and now a GP100 that binds up when it gets hot. I've avoided Taurus and other cheapo revolvers at the advice of every single person on the internet, and I've spent thousands more on "quality" revolvers, only to have debilitating problems almost every time. I'm starting to think that revolvers of today are not worth the trouble.

Can you tell I'm upset?

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

[WestKentucky]

I would never steer a person away from a taurus 66 or m44. Both are absolutely wonderful guns. I Had trouble with 2 gp100s in a row after getting rid of my 66 for "something better". I need to give charter a fair chance too. They have good reviews anywhere that is not populated by folks who act like smith and ruger are the only 2 companies making wheel guns. I hear lots of good things about the bulldog and undercover lines. Rossi is Taurus, just at an even better price point with cheaper, crappy grips...but grips are cheap and easy to replace.

Modern revolvers are absolutely worth the effort. Find a 66 you can shoot alongside your 686 and see which one is "head and shoulders" above the other...I doubt you can tell much difference.

 

[AZAndy]

My 642, 438, and 640 all do what you describe with your 642. I think they're supposed to be like that. Some stoning, and lighter springs, make it more bearable, as will dry-firing it a million times. A good Taurus is really good, but not all are good-- I had a 605 once in which the center pin would get stuck forward in recoil, and two trips back to Taurus didn't fix it. My model 98 has had lots of light strikes. It's always something, and if it's not that, it's something else.

 

[Thomas Traddles]

I'm saddened to hear of your difficulties, although I don't think what you have experienced is unique. I purchased 5 Rugers over the past two years -- LCR, GP100, SP101, .357 Blackhawk, and .44 special Blackhawk. All went back to Ruger for repairs, some twice -- the SP101 and GP100, which I don't own anymore. I've wanted a New Vaquero, but have not pulled the trigger on it because I don't want to have to go through the same trouble. No matter, I bought a Charter Arms Bulldog and sent it back for repair because of cylinder timing problems. Of all the guns I have purchased in the past two years, the Bulldog has felt the best in the hand. I can't wait to get it back to throw some lead down range.

 

[Waveski]

Thomas - Either you are incredibly unlucky or I am very lucky. I have NEVER sent a Ruger or Smith back to the factory.

I have , however , separated myself from all of my Rossis , and I have had no Taurus problems - 'cause I will not own one due to all the bad press.

 

[BSA1]

Wow! If it wasn't for bad luck you would have no luck at all. I will suggest though that you spend so time on the Internet and youtube learning what to look for when inspecting a revolver;

For example the cylinder binding may be the result of too tight barrel/cylinder gap. The b/c gap is something the can be checked with feeder gauge or by eyeball before buying.

As for the Alaskan cylinder being hard to open how would you not notice this the first time or two when you opened the cylinder?

Spend a little time learning what to check for and maybe your luck will improve.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Haha... You just proved that crappy guns come from all companies. Taurus was never bad on the revolver side. I wouldn't hesitate to stake my life on my 82, 85, 66, 617 or 608.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

My Taurus 605 and PT111 G2 have both been good guns----got them both new for about the same money a new SP101 would be.

I really think you need to look over each example real well before buying though.

 

[roaddog28]

All of the newer revolvers I have owned except for one has had problems. One GP100,one Taurus 627 tracker and one Ruger SP101 22LR. I bought a slightly used S&W 686-6 and have no issues yet but the trigger is not as nice as my older S&W and Rugers. I have learned to be on the market for older revolvers that have been taken care. Guns makers nowadays only care about mass production. Quality control is secondary. Its the times we live in.

My money is too important me to waste on new revolvers. I will continue to look for the older ones.
Howard

 

[Hoppes Love Potion]

I have 2 recent S&W revolvers and they have been fine. I did give them a close inspection before buying from a local retailer.

 

[V-fib]

my carry gun is a S&W 642 which I have had no problems with. I once had a Taurus p22 which fell apart when firing it so I sent it off to taurus for repair and when it came back I traded it in for a new Taurus 94 .22lr snub which hasn't given me any troubles in the years I've had it. I also have a Taurus Tracker 627 .357 mag 6.5"bbl which is a great gun to shoot ( i did stick a bullet in the barrel from an underpowerd reload but that was my fault) and last but not least a rossi judge in .22lr/22mag which is a blast to shoot.

v-fib

 

[Tallball]

I own S&W, Ruger, Colt, Sig, etc. My HD gun that I trust with my life is a Taurus 66 variant from 1990. It replaced a Model 66 which I had to use for SD twice but was stolen when I was burglarized. The Model 66 and variants from those years have good reputations. Another good revolver is a Rossi 720 in 44 special. They only made them for a few years in the early 90's. They are nice. I do not like the brand-new revolvers as much. Demand is so high right now that it seems that all of the companies are churning them out as quickly as possible and QC is suffering as a result.

 

[Haywood]

I have had them all and never had a bad Revolver. Now I just go for what I think looks good.

 

[Kiln]

After my experience, I'd say that the old saying that revolvers are inherently more reliable than automatics diesn't hold true. If parts are even the slightest bit off when it comes to timing you'll have all kinds of problems from binding to lockups.

I think you can now get a much more solid 9mm auto for $350 or so than you can a revolver.

 

[weblance]

I own Charter, Ruger, Taurus, Rossi, and S&W revolvers. Its a crap shoot what brand is going to give you problems. I have sent Charter, and Ruger revolvers back for repair and both times, the guns were new. Consider customer service before you buy. Charter and Ruger both have excellent customer service.

 

[ccjcc81]

Just got my Alaskan back in the mail from Ruger. They fixed the cylinder release problem, and replaced the ejector, but didn't fit the pawl surfaces of the ratchet to the hand or vice versa. So now there's binding at the end of the trigger pull. Time to go back to Ruger. I'm raging so hard right now that I'm considering selling all of my revolvers and going plastic only.

Has anyone ever successfully fixed this problem at home by honing the hand? If so, can you let me know where to stone it to get it to stop binding?

 

[Waveski]

The more I read this thread the more I appreciate my older revolvers. Now that I think of it , I have never purchased a new revolver. The newest one I own is a S&W 60-10.

All these horror stories really make me wonder about the new stuff!

 

[Shaq]

In a bad economy, quality control of all products takes a dive. If the "Big" names decline, the cheaper guns also decline - but the cheaper guns are bad to begin with & they get even worse (Recent Taurus recalls, for example).

Glocks used to be the reliability standard but their quality has also declined as they try to cut manufacturing costs by using cheaper parts. I was really surprised when I started hearing about problems with Glocks. I have six older Gen 3's with over 23,000 rounds through them; not a single malfunction. I haven't had to send any gun in for warranty repair, but I also haven't purchased a new gun since 2004.

 

[BSA1]

They fixed the cylinder release problem, and replaced the ejector, but didn't fit the pawl surfaces of the ratchet to the hand or vice versa. So now there's binding at the end of the trigger pull.

Please don't be offended but do you know the proper way to fire the gun double action?

Let me use my wife as a example. She has a Colt Police Positive Special that is in excellent condition. However she has had a lot of problems with the action binding up when she shoots it double action.

I, on the other hand, have no problems with the gun functioning fine and the trigger pull is very smooth.

It turns out my wife was creating the problem. She would squeeze the trigger partway back, pause to get her sight alignment perfect, then try to complete pulling the trigger back. The trigger would be locked up when she tried to resume the trigger pull.

It turns out she was using the wrong trigger pull. The Colt action is made for a steady continuous trigger pull. When she stopped pulling the trigger she was creating a condition for it to bind. I don't have this problem as I pull the trigger all the way though in one steady motion.

Since she has changed how she is pulling the trigger she has not had any problems. The solution is simply retraining.

 

[Jim NE]

I can relate to the OP's frustration. Last year when I went on vacation, and I wanted to take a .357 with me, but my 681 S&W and Highway Patrolman were acting up.

As it turns out, my 681 was never sent back for the L frame recall back in the 80's. The recall issue never occurred with me until I shot some real hot buffalo Bore ammo. So I sent it in. That was one gun I couldn't use. Then, the HiPat had the ejector rod come so loose while shooting the same ammo. It unscrewed so much the cylinder couldn't be swung out. So I was having to deal with that. Both are fixed now, but I couldn't take them on vacation.

I've got another Taurus coming in from Gunbroker. They're pretty good guns. And most of my Rossi snubblies are on par with my S&W snubbies.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I almost entered a seller's remorse scenario this very weekend. "Spittin' Wesson

Damn near sold our Taurus 689 this past weekend. As I was telling the fella about it - I came to realize selling it was a goofy idea since I didn't need to.

I bought the S&W 66 (shown here with the Taurus) and thought them a bit redundant regardless of barrel length differences.

In playing up the absolute pleasure the Taurus has been; its accuracy, reliability, comfort, etc... I came to realize that if I were to sell it - it would NOT be at the Taurus' perceived quality-diminished price that Taurus pistols usually go for relative to their comparable pistols.

Nah - my Spittin'-Wesson is stickin' around as is the eminently reliable 85 which we also have. That 85... The best Model 36 that I currently own!

Todd.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Maybe you just have the "baddings of the lucks" when it comes to revolving belt pistols of army/naval calibre?

Seriously, a quality S&W or Ruger is far better than any Rossi or Charter. Just because you haven't had much luck with them doesn't make it so.

 

[jdmb03]

I just bought a Charter Pitbull .40. Awesome gun.

 

[Captain O]

I just bought a Charter Pitbull .40. Awesome gun.

Glad it's working for you.

 

[Tallball]

Sweet 689! Nice grips!