taurus tracker reliable?

OLM-Medic · May 19, 2016

I was thinking about buying a Taurus Tracker .44 magnum for carry in the back country. It's on the cheap side of prices so I'm just wondering if it has any issues.

DoormanTNT · May 19, 2016

Taurus haters in 3....2....1....

I have 4 or 5 Taurus pistols. Never had an issue. No familiarity with the tracker though.
Good luck.

knastera · May 19, 2016

I have two Tauruses and both are highly reliable. With that said, Taurus has had issues with certain models at certain times. You should find out when it was made and see if you can track down reviews for that vintage of that model.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tnt9506 · May 19, 2016

A coworker has a tracker 45. Only complaint he has is with the little clips to hold the rounds in. He's had them on back order for about a year now.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

lee2 · May 19, 2016

no worries mate. :thumbsup:

iH8DemLibz · May 19, 2016

The good: I have a fifteen or so year old .38/.38+P five shot snub nose that's the cat's meow. One of my favorite guns.

The bad: I bought a big bore Taurus a few years back that was pure junk. Timing was off. Would over index. Cylinder would not lock up.

Just my opinion, but Taurus is a crap shoot now. Spend a couple of hundred more and get a worry-free Ruger or an S&W.

The Ruger Super Redhawk is a well made beast of a revolver.

Jimbob2.0 · May 19, 2016

Ive got a couple Taurus's they are ok. No major problems.

Preference for carry would be the S&W, that Scandium frame is awesome especially for guns shot a little but carried a lot.

Rick3bears · May 21, 2016

Not a comment on the tracker, but I bought a PT-140 G2 in .40 S&W. I already own a Springfield XD subcompact in .40 but wanted something slimmer. I took the Taurus to Florida in March when I went to visit family. I shot it A LOT! probably 600+ rounds, all kinds of ammo. Not a single hiccup. None. Nada. Never cleaned it, and did not lube it before I shot it. Maybe it's a crap shoot with Taurus, but I love this pistol! :thumbsup:

Biggfoot44 · May 24, 2016

Yes, Taurus depends on the specific individual gun. If I hold it in my hands I'll go by my own inspection.

The big bore Trackers do offer some unique combinations not available otherwise.

Lightweight compact magnum revolvers as a class have inherent characteristics with control and recoil. Lots of people like the concept. But find they either can't shoot full power loads at all, or not with the speed and control necessary for what would have been the guns intended purpose.

One characteristic of the Trackers is the gun is sized for maxium compactness. This includes cylnder length. It will handle SAAMI length, but no more.

Good friend of shooting/ handloading partner #1 had a .41 SS Tracker. It worked fine, and he liked it , BUT ... The cylnder was too short for Keith bullets. He usrd Keith bullets in all his other .41's . Is this a big deal ? For someone with one one gun of that cal, no. Like the Tracker enough for a specific niche to use different bullets for it ? Could be. Alas he ended up selling it.

HordesOfKailas · May 25, 2016

iH8DemLibz said:
The good: I have a fifteen or so year old .38/.38+P five shot snub nose that's the cat's meow. One of my favorite guns.

The bad: I bought a big bore Taurus a few years back that was pure junk. Timing was off. Would over index. Cylinder would not lock up.

Just my opinion, but Taurus is a crap shoot now. Spend a couple of hundred more and get a worry-free Ruger or an S&W.

The Ruger Super Redhawk is a well made beast of a revolver.

That was what I did when I wanted a 357MAG. I heard lots of good, but enough bad to make me rethink a Taurus purchase. My S&W 686+ and I are very happy together. 100% reliable and stupidly accurate. A pure joy.

alucard0822 · May 25, 2016

Own a 6" M44, buddy owns a couple trackers, pretty much every revolver will fire unless something important breaks, it's not neccesarily the mark of quality. The porting sucks, really doesn't make much of a difference in flip or recoil, but costs velocity. The grips suck, some might like them, but they are ribbed and overly squishy, they do help with recoil, but at the expense of control. Trigger is OK, although lots of overtravel and vague break compared to a S&W. I do like the sights, narrow front and large flat rear. The finish is easily scratched or dinged, seems the steel is soft. Machining inside is kinda rough, not a big deal as long as contact surfaces are smooth. QC sucks, although they are generally accurate and function, have seen bad parts, early brakage and a huge variance in triggers or cylinder fit. My M44 is pretty good, although was timed slow out of the box, buddies 44 is fine, his 357 tracker is loose with a grittier, heavier trigger. Taurus does have a couple cool models others don't, and they cost less, but I would go with S&W just about every time when in the market for a wheelgun, and possibly Ruger if I want a SA or a hunter.

bigdv · May 25, 2016

I've got a Taurus 22/22 mag revolver. No issues. I have shot it a lot.

j_h_smith · May 25, 2016

I think most will agree that the Taurus revolver is a good firearm. There are some who will never like their pistols. I have a Taurus 44 mag and a S&W M29. They both shoot where they are aimed. Both go BOOM when I pull the trigger. So, I'm going to say go for it. If it's used, go through the tropical check on any revolver. Sheck for lead splatter which will indicate a timing issue.

Good luck!

Rack&Roll · May 25, 2016

Friends don't let friends buy Taurus. If you only have one, make it one you really like.

Biggfoot44 · May 25, 2016

Friends never let friends buy Rossi revolvers. Tauraus is condotional on Model and specific gun.

beretta_maven · May 25, 2016

I own several of both types of revolvers: S&W (686+ 3" and M60 4", both .357mag) and Taurus (85 Protector Poly .38 and M941 .22 mag). Also have a Ruger SP101 2.5" .357. I can honestly say I've never had any issues with any of them. The S&W revolvers are very nice, well built revolvers. The Ruger is as well, and it is virtually indestructible. The Taurus revolvers do not have the build quality of the others but shoot very well (except for the M941 which has a grossly heavy DA trigger but a much nicer SA pull). I'd have no problem carrying the Taurus 85.

Stoveman · May 25, 2016

The first two handguns I bought many moons ago when money was tight were Taurus, a Model 85 .38 revolver and a PT945 semi. The quality is not there but I have not had an issue with either and both get shot at least once a year now.

When Constitutional was going out of business I bought three guns from the, a Sig P229 in .357, a Colt Mustang and a Taurus 929 in .22/.22Mag. I really wanted the 229 but the prices on the other two were just too stupid low to pass up.

The 929 has been extremely solid and tons of fun. That said, I'm still not a huge fan of Taurus and would never have one as an EDC.

HordesOfKailas · May 25, 2016

beretta_maven said:
I own several of both types of revolvers: S&W (686+ 3" and M60 4", both .357mag) and Taurus (85 Protector Poly .38 and M941 .22 mag). Also have a Ruger SP101 2.5" .357. I can honestly say I've never had an issues with any of them. The S&W revolvers are very nice, well built revolvers. The Ruger is as well, and it is virtually indestructible. The Taurus revolvers do not have the build quality of the others but shoot very well (except for the M941 which has a grossly heavy DA trigger but a much nicer SA pull). I'd have no problem carrying the Taurus 85.

It's nice to hear an actual comparison from a person who has owned and used Taurus as well as other brands. I confess I've never even touched a Taurus. I am curious though, no timing issues on your Tauruses? That seems to be one of the most common sticking points.

beretta_maven · May 26, 2016

HordesOfKailas said:
It's nice to hear an actual comparison from a person who has owned and used Taurus as well as other brands. I confess I've never even touched a Taurus. I am curious though, no timing issues on your Tauruses? That seems to be one of the most common sticking points.

No, haven't had any problems with my Taurus revolvers other than the super heavy DA trigger on the .22 magnum, but that is evidently typical of most .22 revolvers. I even took that one to my gunsmith to see if he could lighten the trigger a little, but he wasn't very successful (lighter trigger caused misfires). Taurus may have a higher incidence of problems with their guns, but I think most of them work fine. Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe 95% of Taurus guns are fine, whereas 99% of S&W and Ruger guns are without issues. I'd believe that since the S&W and Rugers are higher quality pieces, with prices that reflect that higher quality. Now if you asked me which revolver I liked the best, it would be a toss-up between the S&W M60 and the Ruger SP101, but that is based primarily on how they feel in my hand and how comfortable they are to shoot.

As far as what other people say in a lot of the gun reviews I've read on this as well as other gun forums - well, I try to filter those carefully. There are many out there who comment on guns that they have never owned or fired, or make comments based on something they heard, or comment based on personal hate/love prejudices, or lack of knowledge. Case in point, last year I wanted a Kimber Solo so I started to do my research. What I found were plenty of bad reviews, some from the normal Kimber haters (most who have never owned one), and many from Solo owners who complained that the gun wouldn't reliably shoot 115 grain ball ammo (even though the Kimber users manual said that the gun was meant to use only heavier defense rounds). I decided to take a chance and bought one anyway (used) and it has fired everything I've put through it, without a single FTF/FTE, even with 115 grain ammo. I still have it and will definitely keep it - I love that gun!

Just my personal experience...

taurus tracker reliable?

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

Banned

Ultimate Member

Just another shooter

Active Member

Banned

When All Else Fails.

Ultimate Member

Grumpy Old Coot

Ultimate Member

Still learning

For great Justice

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

R.I.P

Ultimate Member

Free Thinking Member

TV Personality

Still learning

Free Thinking Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Log in

Forum statistics