I Have Tried to Hate this Gun
A guy that worked for me years ago, bought a Taurus 9mm PT92. He bragged and bragged on what a good gun it was. Until the day he tried to eject a loaded round. It hung up and he had to remove the magazine to clear the round. Turns out the ejection port was just large enough to pass fired brass but not a loaded round.
Taurus said they did not know how the gun got past inspection -- but they fixed it.
Another fellow I worked with, bought one of the Taurus Raging Bull 454's right after they came out. It spit lead from every chamber. His gun dealer buddy returned it to Taurus for him. Taurus sent it back with a note apologizing because the gun somehow got shipped out of the factory without the forcing cone getting reamed. Taurus didn't fix it, they had to send it back, a second time!
I decided I wanted nothing to do with Taurus.
A couple years ago my wife decided she wanted a 410 revolver for snakes and other self defense. From my experience, years earlier, with a Contender 410 barrel I tried to convince her shot shells fired through a rifled barrel is not a good idea.
However, I went on a search for a S&W Governor. They were next to impossible to find and too expensive when I did find one.
One day at a shoot in Lynchburg, I spotted a Taurus Public Defender (synthetic frame) in the display case - at a very reasonable price. So I bought it.
My wife could break balloons or scatter tin cans at 25 feet but a snake at 3 paces was always safe. It seems the shot shells hit more than six inches high at 3 paces and she could not get the hang of "Hold low."
So, she moved on to the a S&W EZ and I inherited that POS Taurus. I waited for a trade to present itself.
During the quarantine I rebuilt one of those Carolina Carports that had collapsed under a heavy snow load. We live way out in the woods and its quite common to find snakes under lumber and tin and I would have to sort through both to find usable material for building. I decided to put that Taurus on my hip...just in case.
The first day I lifted one end of a piece of tin and waiting there on the next sheet was the fattest Copperhead I had ever seen. I drew the Public Defender, held low and fired! The shot stream swiped that snake off the tin! No way will I leave a Copperhead lounging about while I move all that stuff he likes to sleep under.
I've decided to keep this mean looking little Taurus and do some experimenting. I have bird shot and defense loads already on hand and plan to pickup some slugs and 45 Colt rounds.
Anyone got any 410 revolver stories? What can I expect?
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Bought a 15" Barrel that shoots .45Long Colts and 3" .410 for the Encore pistol. I might be able to hit a deer at 25 yd with the rifle barrel and .45 +P loads but the .410 with the choke tube installed is a blast to shoot with #8's. It hold a fairly good pattern at the same distance.
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I have a governor main reason I bought it was to finish my collection of having all the S@W frame sizes.
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I have fired a number of Tawrus Judges over the years. I dont like them. Some would not eject 410 shells without extreme force: A mallet. Main problem was with slugs and buckshot. One person left the range with the fired shells in the cylinder and was headed back to the store where he bought it.
Others when shooting 45 LCs would keyhole and you would be lucky to get a group under a foot at 7 yard. Best results were with the short 410 carts with #6 shot and at very close range.
Have fired 2 Governors and ended up buying one of them. Both had difficulty ejecting some of the high brass 410 buck shot and slugs, but nothing like the Tawrus. What sold me was I could shoot MOA groups with both ACP and LC.0 -
I have a Governor and I would not trade it. Granted, it appears to point "high" but after some practice it is a well built great pistol. Stainless, low maintenance, and a Smith. It dispatched a real copperhead on my last hike around Shawnee. The thing was in the middle of the trail and kept striking when we were at least 8 feet away. I was going around in the weeds not knowing if he had a buddy. The Smith did just fine with 410 shot that contained 8 brass discs. 0 -
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I bought a Taurus,I think it was a PT22,tip up barrel 22.Lifetime warranty,how could I go wrong?Would feed the first 3 or 4 rounds and stop feeding,unless the FTF problem came up.No problem,send it back and Taurus will make it good.First time it came back,same problem,second time it came back no change.What good is a lifetime warranty if the factory cant fix it? 0 -
I don't know, but I've been told by Jan Libourel, one time ST or G&A author, that a Taurus PT92 and Beretta 92 are identical in terms of fit, finish and functional reliability. He also implied, he wouldn't have problem trusting his life to the Taurus firearm.0
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Had one of the first judges. Stainless long barrel, bought it used. Had to be in 2006, right after they first hit the street. Major mistake! Not only was it unreliable, function wise. It was grossly inaccurate with factory 45 colt loads. One happy day, when I finally managed to get rid of it.
I kind of though the Governor, would be in the same boat as the Judge. In light of the above posters, positive comments. Might consider one, if the right deal came along. The ones I have actually seen for sale though. Have all been north of $800, which is kind of a deal killer for me.0 -
gesshots said:I don't know, but I've been told by Jan Libourel, one time ST or G&A author, that a Taurus PT92 and Beretta 92 are identical in terms of fit, finish and functional reliability. He also implied, he wouldn't have problem trusting his life to the Taurus firearm.
Gave my word I would not discuss the problem I had with a Taurus to the legal rep . Lets say I don't own any0 -
I'm disappointed to hear of problems with the 45 Colt round. I had great hopes for it.
Do you suppose Taurus puts shallow rifling in these guns to improve shot patterns (mine is surprisingly good) and now it does not stablize the 45 round?
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Having large hands, I don't believe the derringer on steroids would be much fun to shoot with 45 Colt rounds. Accuracy would suffer more with each shot. 0 -
A friend brought his Judge to the range & when I wasn't looking, "borrowed" some 45 colt rounds. I heard him yell after his first shot & saw him shaking his gun hand. First off, he learned not to help himself to another's ammo. Second, he proof tested that Judge as the reloads were for my Blackhawk & 92 rifle. Guess he didn't see the red, "hot loads" warning on the box. But, it didn't blow up. 0
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