Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 40

That is Taurus:

Your experience with Taurus is not Atypical; not just the customer service, but more importantly the experience with the firearm itself. Taurus consistently produces products of very inconsistent quality control. I have worked as an armed professional and currently work in the retail firearms industry, and out of concern for my clients I always steer them away from Taurus when they are attracted to them.

I know this statement will result in a lot of hate and flame as I know there is a dedicated cadre of Taurus devotes, as I encounter them all the time in the course of my business. These people “love” Taurus, essentially because they are inexpensive and they can buy more of them than other guns, (they do succeed in buying a “Cheap” gun). Everyone wants to feel good about what they own and when I encounter them, these Taurus people argue with me telling me that they own several Taurus’, shoot them “all the time”, and that they are “great guns”. After these statements the one that almost always punctuates their testimonial is; “And it has a lifetime warranty”! The joke with most of us behind the gun counter is; “Yes, it does have a lifetime warranty; and you WILL use it”.

The empirical fact of the matter is: Taurus’ break, (or have serious mechanical functioning problems as your brother experienced).

When you start questioning these Taurus devotes who shoot their Taurus’ “all the time” you typically find that they are very casual, recreational shooters and have a relatively low round count on any of their many Taurus handguns. Typically fewer in total on one gun than I will put through one of my weapons testing a particular hollow point before I will ever consider carrying it in my defensive guns. The fact is, if they did not experience a mechanical malfunction right away (such as your brother did), they haven’t put enough rounds through their guns to experience a failure due to the poor quality control. If they choose to carry this gun for defense, Murphy being who he is, they will experience such a failure at the worst possible time: when they need that weapon to defend their lives.

Go to a Club IPSC or IDPA match and see how many shooters are using a Taurus. If someone is, ask them how long they have been competing and how often they shoot. At the larger, State or Regional matches; how many of the top shooters are using Taurus?

More importantly; how many militaries and police forces around the world issue Taurus’ as their duty weapons? The Brazilian military uses the PT-92 as one of their issue side arms, which is how Taurus came into existence. Brazil, at the time being an extremely Protectionist country, contracted with Beretta to Build a Factory in Brazil to produce a variant design of their 92 by a Brazilian company so that it could be called “Theirs”. The PT-92 is arguably the best, (if not only truly successful), pistol Taurus has ever produced; largely because it is not of their design. I don’t believe you will see a Taurus of other design in these rolls.

The selection of Taurus by Police Forces, or lack thereof, is actually more telling as you have the desires of Bureaucrats to supply forces with the firearms of the “lowest bidder” versus the desires of those who use them and know, wanting a firearm they can depend on. You may find some PT-92’s as issue or “approved” firearms, but almost none other. Finally in this section; see just how many Armed Professionals “Choose” Taurus as the weapon they want to bet their lives on. This is particularly significant.

Having a background as an armed professional and currently working for the largest volume firearms retailer in the world, I have a perspective very different from the average consumer. I get to see a larger sample of the experiences of the consuming public with Taurus than someone in virtually any other independent, non-vested position. I get to see, and speak with the owners of, how many Taurus’ come through our shop on the way to, or coming back from, the factory for repair. The numbers I see are not comforting and create a statistically significant trend.

The Bottom Line is, I do not know many Armed Professionals whom would bet their lives on a Taurus. I certainly would not; therefore, how could I in good conscience advise one of my clients to do so?

Great show Walt, I really liked the Video you did, next time you head up there let me know maybe I’ll tag along. You’re shows are progressing and getting more and more indepth keep up the good work.