So last night after reading my article on replacing J frame springs, my dad wants me to look at the Taurus 85 he bought sometime in the early 1980's to see if there's anything that can be done about what appears to be a broken firing pin spring. The firing pin was moving loosely in it's slot and would actually stop the cylinder from being opened under the right circumstances when the gun was loaded. Apart from that, the cylinder was not opening properly either...catching on something.
So I take a look. Those things, it turned out, were the least of his problems:
That little pin there is the pin that the hammer actually sits on in the gun. A rather important piece, and it's snapped off and actually fell out of the gun when I took off the grips.
Important things to note about this gun:
It's seen less than 500 rounds in its lifetime. This was not a gun that was heavily used or daily carried. It's spent most of its life in a sock drawer or a safe. I carried it once or twice many, many moons ago when I managed an auto parts store in a rough neighborhood.
Now any manufacturer can put out a defective product. Some put out more than others because overall they do a much crappier job of making guns. When I did the Hi-Point test, for instance, and ended up with a gun that couldn't get through a bloody magazine without a stoppage, people touted the customer support of the company. When I tell people to skip a brand like Taurus and buy a S&W I'm often told about Taurus' super awesome iron-clad lifetime warranty.
Well, now we're going to put that to the test. I'm going to use this thread to document how Taurus handles this issue so we can all see what "lifetime warranty!" looks like from a company widely known for having terrible customer support.
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Originally Posted by TCinVA
