Defective Taurus Model 66 .357

[dizzy]

My wife and I went shooting with some friends on Saturday morning. I was watching her shoot (she was doing really, really good), 4-5 people were standing around because she was shooting so well. I saw something fly down range and thought someone had thrown a clip from a few stalls down or something. Then I noticed that Gio's gun didn't have a barrel and it had blown off of the gun and went flying downrange! It is not an old gun, she shoots it 4-5 times a year and puts about 100 rounds through it each time she shoots. I clean it EVERY time she shoots it really good. She normally shoots .38 rounds through it because she feels more comfortable with less recoil. Saturday, she was shooting .357 rounds and had probably put about 150 rounds through it because we took some friends alot with us to the range. Luckily, she or nobody else was hurt!

I contacted Taurus about it and they said that they would send FedEx to my house to retrieve the gun so that they could determine if they are going to repair it, or replace it. Honestly, I dont want either but definitely dont want the gun repaired. I decided to hold on to the gun until I figure out the best way to approach this. If I send the gun to Taurus, I will not be able to argue with them if they decide to repair it.

Do any of you have any ideas how to approach this, or how to just get a refund for the gun? I would rather purchase a Smith and Wesson .357 because I dont want to put another defective gun in my wife's hands. We looked for the reciept for the gun but are not able to find it. Taurus is supposed to have a lifetime warranty and the gun was new when we purchased it.

[Keith B]

My wife and I went shooting with some friends on Saturday morning. I was watching her shoot (she was doing really, really good), 4-5 people were standing around because she was shooting so well. I saw something fly down range and thought someone had thrown a clip from a few stalls down or something. Then I noticed that Gio's gun didn't have a barrel and it had blown off of the gun and went flying downrange! It is not an old gun, she shoots it 4-5 times a year and puts about 100 rounds through it each time she shoots. I clean it EVERY time she shoots it really good. She normally shoots .38 rounds through it because she feels more comfortable with less recoil. Saturday, she was shooting .357 rounds and had probably put about 150 rounds through it because we took some friends alot with us to the range. Luckily, she or nobody else was hurt!

I contacted Taurus about it and they said that they would send FedEx to my house to retrieve the gun so that they could determine if they are going to repair it, or replace it. Honestly, I dont want either but definitely dont want the gun repaired. I decided to hold on to the gun until I figure out the best way to approach this. If I send the gun to Taurus, I will not be able to argue with them if they decide to repair it.

Do any of you have any ideas how to approach this, or how to just get a refund for the gun? I would rather purchase a Smith and Wesson .357 because I dont want to put another defective gun in my wife's hands. We looked for the reciept for the gun but are not able to find it. Taurus is supposed to have a lifetime warranty and the gun was new when we purchased it.

Taurus has been in business for a long time and has built a good repuitation over the years. Their revolvers have pretty well been good stuff for over 15 - 20 years.

I would suggest you get an agreement from them that they will examine the gun, but prior to repairing/replacing it, they must call you for confirmation. That gives you the option of finding out what they think caused the failure and you can negotiate a resonable settlement.

I have seen casting issues cause frame failure before. A small stress fracture in the frame or barrell could have allowed it to seperate from the frame.

[AEA]

Let Taurus do their thing. I suspect that you will receive a brand new Pistol. But either way as you already stated, you may not be happy with even that. You can easily sell whatever they send back to you and put the money towards the Smith that you want.

[G.A. Heath]

Can you post pictures of the damage? I am interested to see it and curious if the threads pulled out or if the barrel itself came apart.

I suspect that Taurus will not give you a refund for the weapon, however I also suspect they will not repair it as this sounds like a materials issue. In fact Taurus will most likely replace the weapon with a new one (one they probably will test extensively). If you don't want a Taurus anymore I would recommend sending this one to them and when you get it back, or its replacement, sell it and buy the gun you feel more comfortable with.

[dizzy]

Can you post pictures of the damage? I am interested to see it and curious if the threads pulled out or if the barrel itself came apart.

I suspect that Taurus will not give you a refund for the weapon, however I also suspect they will not repair it as this sounds like a materials issue. In fact Taurus will most likely replace the weapon with a new one (one they probably will test extensively). If you don't want a Taurus anymore I would recommend sending this one to them and when you get it back, or its replacement, sell it and buy the gun you feel more comfortable with.

[dihappy]

Damn, thats crazy!

[dizzy]

darn, thats crazy!

Yeah, I am really, really glad she wasnt hurt (except her pride of course).

[Jungle Work]

I would imagine that Taurus will be replacing the barrel of your pistol and sending it back to you. It appears that there was a failure of the metal in the barrel.

I'd sell the Taurus and buy a S&W or a Ruger Double Action Revolver if that's what you want.

Jungle Work

[KBCraig]

The really crazy thing is that the gun would have continued to function just fine. Just with a really, really, really short barrel!

[WarHawk-AVG]

WOW!! 1/2" barrel....accuracy would be lousy!

Looks like they can replace the barrel and put you back in 100% safe operation

Looks like metal fatigue in the barrel

They might just replace it with a new free model..then send that one in for NDT or even destructive testing to see if there are any other stress problems

Fluke problem I would almost guarantee it

[KD5NRH]

WOW!! 1/2" barrel....accuracy would be lousy!

Maybe...looks great for concealment, though...I'll offer $20

[WarHawk-AVG]

WOW!! 1/2" barrel....accuracy would be lousy!

Maybe...looks great for concealment, though...I'll offer $20

And if you didn't hit them with the round..the concussion and muzzle blast would be like a flash bang grenade handed to em

[dukalmighty]

kinda hard to get a good sight picture when the front sights laying on the ground

[KD5NRH]

WOW!! 1/2" barrel....accuracy would be lousy!

Maybe...looks great for concealment, though...I'll offer $20

And if you didn't hit them with the round..the concussion and muzzle blast would be like a flash bang grenade handed to em

That's one of the reasons I only load full .357s in my 2" for SD. I figure if there are multiple targets, maybe it'll distract the ones I don't get to first.

[WarHawk-AVG]

kinda hard to get a good sight picture when the front sights laying on the ground

Hah...its a derringer after that....what sight picture?

With only 1/2" of barrel you probably couldn't hit the broad side of a barn standing inside it.