Model 85 Taurus locking up!

[NorcalGSG]

"Haha just remember the first couple of shots make sure you have a hat or hoodie on just incase it blows up! JK.. "-
- Anybody want to shoot some free .38 spl? No charge....but you do have to sign a waiver first....hahaha

Oh and yea they should have no problem knowing the symptoms- I wrote them a very good letter as instructed by Taurus to include when returning firearms to them for repair! It was polite, but very clear, put it that way.

[Vacaville]

Take it back and get another if you can, any reputable seller will replace a defective product that was just sold. I've got an 85 and it's never locked up.

[RedFord150]

Update: She arrived on 3/25, and Taurus cust. service said to expect a 4-5 week turnaround time. Guess there is quite a backlog of work in the Taurus service dept. We'll see how it goes....

You did better than I did. I sent a Taurus 85 to FL back around 2000 or 2001. I never spoke to a live person, only left voice-mails with no returned calls. I waited 6 weeks to get mine back.
In my case, the cylinder locked shut after a few years of ownership.
I sold the gun after I got it back. I have no idea how well it was repaired.
I bought my first Ruger almost 30 years ago. I wonder if I'll ever find out how good their service dept. is ;-).

[NorcalGSG]

Update: five complete weeks, starting week six. I called today and still the revolver hasn't been worked on yet, waiting in line. Hopefully soon, oh well. Just thought other members here might like to know for making future decisions, hint hint.

[Z ME FLY]

Thanks a lot! Make sure you keep us updated next week.

[IrishPirate]

Taurus customer service sucks, i had to get the Better Business Bereau involved to get them to make my issues right.....it's great that you can send things back and get them fixed, but no one knows anything about your gun once it leaves your hands, and there is no guarantee on it coming back fixed. the only guarantee is you can send it back and they'll try again.

Had problems with my PT145Pro mags...took 4 months to get them back, and one was defective. took another month to get that one back. had been promised 2 free mags for being lied to about my magazines being en route back to me several times and those took a few months too, and both were defective. When they work, they work great....but when it comes to guns, they should work ALL THE TIME!!! I won't be buying anything from Taurus again.

Hope your 85 comes back to you in good shape....if not, don't stop harrassing them until they make it right and compensate you for your time without your gun. Make them stand behind the reputation they are trying to create.

[DB2]

Oh man. Did you try any other ammo? My 627 tracker did the same exact thing. I shot 200 blazer .357 and 400 wwb .38 specials with no problems. Then I shot 56 of my buddies gun show reloads. Complete ****, thought my gun screwed up. Jammed every time, single or double action. I thought the timming went out. To check it I put some more wwb through, with no problems at all. The gun has been flawless ever since. It works just fine with factory or MY reloads.

I can't explain it, but it was definetly the ammo. I tried it again here recently and it did the same thing.

I would trust my life to this gun. Just keep unknown reloads away from it. I would bet money, you were having the same issues.

[Z ME FLY]

Oh man. Did you try any other ammo? My 627 tracker did the same exact thing. I shot 200 blazer .357 and 400 wwb .38 specials with no problems. Then I shot 56 of my buddies gun show reloads. Complete ****, thought my gun screwed up. Jammed every time, single or double action. I thought the timming went out. To check it I put some more wwb through, with no problems at all. The gun has been flawless ever since. It works just fine with factory or MY reloads.

I can't explain it, but it was definetly the ammo. I tried it again here recently and it did the same thing.

I would trust my life to this gun. Just keep unknown reloads away from it. I would bet money, you were having the same issues.

Damn where were you 6 weeks ago? Too late now but that's good to know.

[bigbob76]

Oh man. Did you try any other ammo? My 627 tracker did the same exact thing. I shot 200 blazer .357 and 400 wwb .38 specials with no problems. Then I shot 56 of my buddies gun show reloads. Complete ****, thought my gun screwed up. Jammed every time, single or double action. I thought the timming went out. To check it I put some more wwb through, with no problems at all. The gun has been flawless ever since. It works just fine with factory or MY reloads.

I can't explain it, but it was definetly the ammo. I tried it again here recently and it did the same thing.

I would trust my life to this gun. Just keep unknown reloads away from it. I would bet money, you were having the same issues.

I had a similar experience with a different 'off brand' revolver. I kept sending it back to the manufacturer for repair and they told me I just had to avoid certain ammo. BS is what I say. A revolver should function with any factory ammo of the correct caliber. Eventually they sent me a new revolver and I didn't DROS it, I sold it to the FFL that received the shipment for me. I certainly wouldn't trust my life to that gun. The fact that some factory ammo is pushing the envelope in that revolver tells me it's at the edge of a critical tolerance and I wouldn't even want it in my collection. I wouldn't want somebody to assume that it was functional if they inherited it after my passing.

[uxo2]

starting week six


send them an e-mail with this link that we are watching
and opinions on Taurus quality and
customer service on warrenty work is on confirming that they sell a
crap product.

[paul0660]

You left out the part about shooting reloads in your letter to them right?

I have had a couple and they work fine.......I do consider myself lucky.

[NorcalGSG]

Oh man. Did you try any other ammo? My 627 tracker did the same exact thing. I shot 200 blazer .357 and 400 wwb .38 specials with no problems. Then I shot 56 of my buddies gun show reloads. Complete ****, thought my gun screwed up. Jammed every time, single or double action. I thought the timming went out. To check it I put some more wwb through, with no problems at all. The gun has been flawless ever since. It works just fine with factory or MY reloads.

I can't explain it, but it was definetly the ammo. I tried it again here recently and it did the same thing.

I would trust my life to this gun. Just keep unknown reloads away from it. I would bet money, you were having the same issues.

Good consideration, I thought it might be the ammo as well. But my 686 Smith shoots the same lot of ammo flawlessly, so I think I eliminated the ammo as suspect. I don't want a revolver that is "picky" with ammo, so I sent it in. Thanks

[DB2]

^^^^

I wouldn't rule the ammo out, not at all. Just be cause your Smith shoots cheap reloads, doesn't mean your Taurus will. Tighter tolerances and slightly out of spec cases will cause problems. If you had said you had tried some factory ammo too and it locked, then I would right there with you.

Don't be suprised and pissed off that the problem isn't fixed when it comes back. Taurus will test fire it using factory ammo. If it's a reloaded ammo problem, it probably won't show up for them.


If you don't think your gun is right, then by all means it's your right to send it back. But it's a well known fact that a lot of guns are finicky about ammo.

[NorcalGSG]

DB2- I agree with you, but I still won't accept a revolver that is picky about ammo. Maybe a semi, but not a revolver. Reloads are what they are, but so far I have had great results with Miwall's reloads, as have many people here on the board. I am careful about random/unknown reload mfg. stuff, but it is what it is. Anyways, we'll see what comes back. I used three other modern and low round count revolvers and they all cycled the ammo lot I was using fine, so although the ammo could be slightly out of spec, I am still suspect of the Taurus because of this.

[NorcalGSG]

Week 6.5 update: Success!!!!!! Received the Taurus back today with invoice stating problem found; barrel and cylinder yoke. Resolution listed was "adjusted" on both. Whatever that means, it seems to have worked. I blazed through 100 rounds of the same test ammo from before, and had zero malfunctions in both SA and DA. Also ran some factory Federal w/no prob either. I can't tell anything different about the gun other than it works now, doesn't spit jackets out the side, and doesn't lock up. I am super happy that it works and I don't have to send it back again (knock on wood). Still, I had to go without it for seven weeks, but at least it works and that was good of Taurus to at least fix it and return it at their dime. Thanks to all for the constructive advice.