Taurus M94 Transfer Bar Broke

[Mr_Shamrock]

I was doing some target shooting today and after 117 rounds I could tell the pistol was getting dirty - rounds a little harder to chamber and cylinder a little harder to close. I had 33 more rounds in my bowl (I had dumped 3 - 50 round boxes in there originally) so I just wiped it off a little with a rag and finished them. The last cylinder was a little harder to close but I just thought it was a build-up on the already tight cylinder gap. My timing was perfect b/c after the 150th round it locked up tight. I took it apart and found the transfer bar had snapped in 2. Taurus is sending me another one, but what could cause this on a 3 month old (maybe 400 round) pistol. I know these guns don't have the best reputation, but man this is pathetic. The place where it snapped is VERY thin so my confidence in even a new one isn't that great. I have cocked the hammer and released it (not dry firing) with my thumb still on the hammer a bunch of times trying to get the freakishly heavy trigger pull to loosen up a little. It seems this heavy spring has to be taking a toll on the transfer bar - it even has a slight dimple where it strikes the pin. For a relatively young pistol this just doesn't seem like a good sign of things to come. Any thoughts?

[76Highboy]

I was at Sportsman's talking with a guy that I know quite well there. He says that Taurus by far has the most failures. Problems range from timing issues to sloppy fitting parts. A broken transfer bar, man that would suck if that broke when you needed your gun the most.

Sorry to hear that.

[Mr_Shamrock]

No doubt! I only use it for a "fun" gun, but if it is going to be too fragile it will take all the fun out of it. It is just tough to drop $600 plus on a S&W or Ruger that is just for back yard plinking.

[Mr_Shamrock]

I also thought it was kind of funny the rep from Taurus made it very clear that if I could fix it myself I would be WAY better off. I was thinking about sending it in to see if there was an issue that caused this. I know there was quite a bit of metal shavings that came out on the initial cleaning. He basically said they take a long time to get a gun back without actually using those exact words. So I figure I will just completely disassemble it and clean things up a bit when the new bar comes in (7-10 business days). Maybe the extra few hundred for a S&W or Ruger is worth it.

[76Highboy]

Originally Posted by Mr_Shamrock

No doubt! I only use it for a "fun" gun, but if it is going to be too fragile it will take all the fun out of it. It is just tough to drop $600 plus on a S&W or Ruger that is just for back yard plinking.

Hey I'm not knocking you and I don't judge what others buy. As long as your a gun guy that is what counts. A transfer bar breaking is uncommon IMO. Once it is fixed have fun. Also I agree, shooting most anything is fun except for a Heritage .22 revolver. Those things disgust me.

[Mr_Shamrock]

Originally Posted by 76Highboy

Hey I'm not knocking you and I don't judge what others buy. As long as your a gun guy that is what counts. A transfer bar breaking is uncommon IMO. Once it is fixed have fun. Also I agree, shooting most anything is fun except for a Heritage .22 revolver. Those things disgust me.

Ironically Heritage now belongs to Taurus too. I guess I will see how it acts with the new transfer bar. I guess there are a few other things I am not crazy about with this revolver so I am having even more buyers remorse now that I had a failure. Thanks for the response.

[Mr_Shamrock]

I went ahead and tore it down and there appears to be more damage than I thought. Here it is almost torn all the way down...



The broken transfer bar...



I don't know if you can make it out, but there is a ridge on the side of it...



Now the new found damage.

The hammer has a chip out where it contacts the trigger...



another angle...



This one I am not 100% sure about, but it looks like the trigger is bent. Notice the offset from the hammer...





I guess I will be on the phone again with Taurus requesting a new hammer and trigger.

[montezumaz]

Send it in. My neighbor had two of these with the same problem. Taurus wouldn't send him a postage-paid mailer (like S&W does). When he got them back, they functioned perfectly. I think the rep gave you some poor info.

[Mr_Shamrock]

Originally Posted by montezumaz

Send it in. My neighbor had two of these with the same problem. Taurus wouldn't send him a postage-paid mailer (like S&W does). When he got them back, they functioned perfectly. I think the rep gave you some poor info.

I just called and am sending it in since they won't ship a hammer or trigger according to the rep. I have to pay the shipping and it will be 6-8 weeks before they can even look at it. It will be for sale as soon as it gets back. No more Taurus for this guy! I guess you get what you pay for - I knew I should have brought that Ruger home instead. Live and learn.

[ozo]

Had my M94 5" since '04 and shoot it regularly.
Other than the springs [jeez ! ] it has been great.
Although 605 springs will fit, .....much better.
My M608 went back to Miami 4 times when it was new.
My 327's have been fine [8mos].
I don't put much faith in the Taurus for dependability, but they
are nice when they work, and inexpensive....I have others that I
RELY on.....yet even a new Smith[$700] went back this summer
for repair....1mo old.
What Ruger are you referring to "you shoulda brought home"....?
Please don't tell me the KSP 242-8.......SP101 8shot......please tell
me you didn't have a chance to get that.....
I have been on a wait list since last September......

[ozo]

P.S. That trigger group looks NASTY.

[Mr_Shamrock]

Originally Posted by ozo

Had my M94 5" since '04 and shoot it regularly.
Other than the springs [jeez ! ] it has been great.
Although 605 springs will fit, .....much better.
My M608 went back to Miami 4 times when it was new.
My 327's have been fine [8mos].
I don't put much faith in the Taurus for dependability, but they
are nice when they work, and inexpensive....I have others that I
RELY on.....yet even a new Smith[$700] went back this summer
for repair....1mo old.
What Ruger are you referring to "you shoulda brought home"....?
Please don't tell me the KSP 242-8.......SP101 8shot......please tell
me you didn't have a chance to get that.....
I have been on a wait list since last September......

They had a SP101 that I was SOOO close to getting, but thinking it was just a back yard plinker figured the Taurus would be fine. I have had good luck with Taurus semi-auto's so past experience was positive. I guess I should give them the opportunity to make it right and see how it does. I just don't have the patience when it comes to giving someone my money for a new product and then that product fails really soon and I have to spend more money to send it in AND then wait a couple months to get my product back. So the countdown begins!

What exactly do you see in the trigger group that is "Nasty"? I haven't ever been a revolver guy so am not sure what to look for. Thanks in advance!

[Big Shrek]

Used to be that all Taurus revolvers were simply Brazilian Smith & Wessons, everything exchanged...
I'd look at some S&W parts and see if they match up...

History of Taurus & S&W shows they used to be linked...but that was some time back...

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by Mr_Shamrock

They had a SP101 that I was SOOO close to getting, but thinking it was just a back yard plinker figured the Taurus would be fine. I have had good luck with Taurus semi-auto's so past experience was positive. I guess I should give them the opportunity to make it right and see how it does. I just don't have the patience when it comes to giving someone my money for a new product and then that product fails really soon and I have to spend more money to send it in AND then wait a couple months to get my product back. So the countdown begins!

What exactly do you see in the trigger group that is "Nasty"? I haven't ever been a revolver guy so am not sure what to look for. Thanks in advance!

Go for that SP101! I've still got my first-run 4" .22LR SP101 and it'll be the last firearm that I part with. The new one is an excellent trail pistol. the only thing I don't like about it is the ugly sights (but they're perfectly useable!) and having only a half-lug barrel.

I've had both a 94 and a 941 in the past (plus a few other Taurii revolvers) and didn't have any problems with them either...but those were early-90s revolvers.
The more I read about the current ones and from what I've seen in a couple of recent ones that I've picked up their quality has dropped off a lot.

The rough internal finishing in your frame is about normal for a Taurus but that chipped sear surface is unacceptable.
With the bad sear surface I would send it in to Taurus. They're "cheaping out" by offering to send you a new transfer bar. And once you install that new transfer bar yourself, guess what? You just voided the lifetime warranty by having a non-factory tech work on it. I've been down that road with a 669 and an 85.
If you sell it with known bad internals...that's your call. I couldn't do it myself unless the buyer knew that it was damaged and was aware that it has problems.

That transfer bar must've caught on the frame somewhere because it bent and cracked where it broke. The same might happen with the new bar unless you find what snagged it and caused the first mishap.

Originally Posted by Big Shrek

Used to be that all Taurus revolvers were simply Brazilian Smith & Wessons, everything exchanged...
I'd look at some S&W parts and see if they match up...

History of Taurus & S&W shows they used to be linked...but that was some time back...

At one point in time, Taurus used to build licensed copies of the various Smith frames for South American sales using blueprints and machinery purchased from S&W. Those were their first revolvers.
The current Taurus models are complete different than any Smith and few if any internals are interchangable.
Taurus modified the basic J-frame coil spring action setup for use in all of their frame sizes. You might be able to mod a few of the J-frame parts to fit a small-frame Taurus like the 94/941 but not many of em.

[Mr_Shamrock]

It was shipped to Taurus today so now the wait begins. The transfer bar broke right in line where the trigger/hammer come together so I wonder if there was some shifting and they came into contact somehow.

[Hankster]

A real shame. we have two Taurus revolvers... a "689" (their 357 version of a Smith 686) and a 94 in .22... had them for 11 -12 years... not a single issue... is it the NEW ONES??? I've heard lots of dissing of Taurus.. but it almost ALWAYS, seems to be the NEWER Models!!!

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by Hankster

A real shame. we have two Taurus revolvers... a "689" (their 357 version of a Smith 686) and a 94 in .22... had them for 11 -12 years... not a single issue... is it the NEW ONES??? I've heard lots of dissing of Taurus.. but it almost ALWAYS, seems to be the NEWER Models!!!

I'm pretty convinced that the quality has dropped off some in recent years...or at least their QC department is letting a lot more bad ones out the door.
I've had good luck with my Taurus revolvers too...but like yours, they're all from the late-80s through mid-90s except for a '02 vintage 85 (which is one that I had timing issues with).

[Big Shrek]

Originally Posted by Mr_Shamrock

I just called and am sending it in since they won't ship a hammer or trigger according to the rep. I have to pay the shipping and it will be 6-8 weeks before they can even look at it. It will be for sale as soon as it gets back. No more Taurus for this guy! I guess you get what you pay for - I knew I should have brought that Ruger home instead. Live and learn.

I remember when 6-8 weeks was the warmup time for many repairs...in the USA...
we've gotten a bit spoiled over the years, we expect everything Right Now...
and that's why gun manufacturing is in the state its in now...
Many companies have figured out that they can Microsoft their customers...
send out crap and they'll suck it up...because only around 20% bother to send it back for repair...
50% will just do nothing more than kvetch on the internet, without bothering to make a return...

So when there is a problem, it is best to make 'em fix it...if everyone did it,
we'ed have better quality coming out...and far less repairs going in

The downside of Taurus is they are a Brazilian company, which means the repairs have to be bundled in bulk,
shipped, received, repaired in the order they come out of the large box, and then they sit & wait to be bulk-shipped back...
however, since Taurus just acquired Heritage Revolvers...they are planning a repair facility in the USA,
which should resolve the time issue as far as shipping overseas goes...
giving them more "Fast Food-like" repair times...

Not that the speed helps...I've sent in three Rugers, two Vaquero's took several trips back & forth until they were right,
then I promptly traded them off for Uberti's, which gave no problems at all...
Went thru a different issue with my 1022T, which wouldn't group worth a dang...Ruger said it was "Within Tolerances"...
If my old 1923 Marlin 37 can whoop it sideways at the range, you can't call it a Target Rifle...
the 1022T got traded for a 1981 Yamaha XS400...because I expect a "Target" rifle to shoot better than 2" groups @ 25 yards...
even needing a twin-carb job, it was still a better deal than a 1022T

[K75RT]

This is due to poor heat treatment or poor metallurgy depend if the part is MIM or stock...

[oldfartrr]

older taurus firearms seem to have had decent quality,,(as in older then 10yrs) in the last 7yrs have had 11 taurus revovlers brought to me by friends and their friends that had VERY gritty trigger pulls. when opened they were FULL of machineing chips !!!??? dont know how they were even assembled with all the crap in them !!!! and had a couple that the sear engagement area was sooo off of square it surprised me they even worked.
if i remember had several that i told the owners to return cause i wouldnt touch them with all the probs they had. all but 2 of the ones full of machineing chips were fine after cleaning and stoneing the actions.....
so which was cheaper $450 for a gun that needed repair out of the box and the down time and agravation,,,, or $550 for a gun that was able to be used out of the box with no problems or down time ?????
not trying to belittle anyone or the manufacterer but ,,,,,
also only 3 of my guns were purchased new,,, and allll the others with mostly just cleaning or a very inexpensive parts replacement have been excellent shooters,,,, maybe not as shiney as a new gun,, but perfectly capable of doing the job

[Big Shrek]

Also kinda funny that Rossi is owned by Taurus, but they seem to take a little more time in hand-fitting & cleaning...

Be glad you are sending that Taurus in before all heck breaks loose...you should get it back before January...
which is going to be VERY important if Obama gets re-elected...as he plans to sign the UN Small Arms Treaty...
What does this mean to You the Consumer???
Pretty simple if you own ANY foreign guns...you won't get service or parts...you're DONE.
All those CZ owners are going to be crying...same for anyone else who doesn't have a factory here...
strangely enough, Taurus just acquired Heritage Arms...in Florida...so it looks like Taurus plans to take care of its US customer base...

If in doubt, read the Fine Print in the treaty...it is chock-full of BOHICA for gun owners...
lack of parts and no longer being able to buy foreign guns is just the warm-up...

[Mr_Shamrock]

Well a little good news - according to the Taurus site the repair has been completed. It is not showing as shipped, but getting fixed this fast is promising!

[Mr_Shamrock]

Oh yeah - it shows as shipped!!!!!

[ozo]

Good news.

[Mr_Shamrock]

I got the call from Fed Ex today saying it will be here tomorrow before 7PM. Good thing I work from home tomorrow!