Taurus ... gripe

[WildBill]

too late to collect on a bet, but I'd have bet that the mag spring was in backwards .... seen it more than once on new guns

Good point. I had not thought of that explanation. Maybe because I never ever put a mag spring in backwards.

[LTUME1978]

Mojo,

I saw your comment "Other than Colt and STI, very few of the out of the box 1911s come with decent magazines. They all seem to be supplied with junk." I have a couple of TRP Springfield Armory 1911s. The magazines that came with them are excellent but are only 7 round magazines. I bought some Tripp 8 round magazines based on recommendations from some of the folks at PSC and have been very happy with them as well.

John

[MoJo]

Mojo,

I saw your comment "Other than Colt and STI, very few of the out of the box 1911s come with decent magazines. They all seem to be supplied with junk." I have a couple of TRP Springfield Armory 1911s. The magazines that came with them are excellent but are only 7 round magazines. I bought some Tripp 8 round magazines based on recommendations from some of the folks at PSC and have been very happy with them as well.

John

I forgot about Springfield . . . my biggest gripe is with brand "K" $1300 + for a pistol and the magazines supplied with most of them won't feed. A guy at my gun club had so much trouble with his brand "K" OEM mags he took a 2 pound ball peen hammer and pounded all of his mags flat, tossed them in the trash can, and went home and ordered some Wilsons.

[The Marshal]

I forgot about Springfield . . . my biggest gripe is with brand "K" $1300 + for a pistol and the magazines supplied with most of them won't feed. A guy at my gun club had so much trouble with his brand "K" OEM mags he took a 2 pound ball peen hammer and pounded all of his mags flat, tossed them in the trash can, and went home and ordered some Wilsons.

I too took my "K" brand magazines and chucked'em in the trash after poor performance... replaced with Wilson 47D and McCormick Power mags... flawless operation since!

[The Annoyed Man]

I realize that this doesn't end the irritation of poor customer service, but for a $30 magazine, I'd have just gone ahead and bought one and let the issue go. If you should choose to do that, I cannot recommend Tripp Research Cobra Mags highly enough: http://www.trippresearch.com/store/store_1911.html. They cost a bit more than $30, but you'll never have to replace them.

[Teamless]

TAM,
Thanks, I have not gone without, I have bought 3 other magazines, as I like to have at least 2 loaded with hollow points and 2 for range, so for now, I only have 1 range mag.
So the issue is not that I cannot shoot, but that I have waited 4 months, and still waiting for a $30 magazine.

[WildBill]

It seems to me that a pistol magazine is a pretty simple piece of equipment - just some sheet metal, a spring and follower. What is it about Tripp or Wilson that make their magazines superior to the OEM versions. I don't mean that they are better because they work, but what is it about the design, materials, workmanship or assembly that makes them more reliable? Have any ideas?

[The Annoyed Man]

It seems to me that a pistol magazine is a pretty simple piece of equipment - just some sheet metal, a spring and follower. What is it about Tripp or Wilson that make their magazines superior to the OEM versions. I don't mean that they are better because they work, but what is it about the design, materials, workmanship or assembly that makes them more reliable? Have any ideas?

It's mostly that they are carefully made, by people who are intimately involved in 1911 design, and incorporate a bunch of small features that add up to a superior magazine. And, they are completely rebuildable with Tripp Research's OEM parts.

Virgil Tripp was involved in a lot of latter day 1911 development. Tripp Research was the developer of the modular 2011 frame now sold by STI. Virgil and his wife Shari renamed Tripp Research as STI. So they are the founders of STI International. Later, it was two friends of the Tripps—Dave and Shirley Skinner—bought STI from the Tripps and started building the company into what it is today. The Tripps reopened Tripp Research, and the rest is history. The name "STI" comes from "Strayer-Tripp, Inc."

Virgil Tripp realized early on that the weakest link in 1911 pistols is usually the magazine, and so he set about to build the very best magazine you can buy. So instead of getting a mass produced magazine that is simply etched with some big company's name, you're getting magazines that are made in small batches, by a true craftsman and master gunsmith. I had to actually wait for them to be manufactured when I ordered them the first time, so I don't think they keep a lot of inventory on hand. But the wait was only a couple of weeks or something like that.

Here's what the magazine looks like (8 rounder, they make other sizes too):


The magazine body is high quality stainless steel, and the witness holes actually line up with the cartridges (unlike some others I've seen). They have a polymer base pad which acts as a bump pad and protection from drops, and a 14 coil .042" spring. It has a hybrid polymer/stainless follower of Tripp's own design which is anti-tilt and self-lubricating:


The 8 rounder with the bump pad costs $36.95, so they are not cheap, but they aren't outrageous either. I have been very satisfied with mine, and I've purchased them in Government length and Officer's length.

History of Tripp Research: http://www.trippresearch.com/content/history.html

I've had Wilson Combat magazines fail. I've had Chip McCormick magazines fail. I've never had a Tripp Research magazine fail. I'm sure that there are other manufacturers out there who make good magazines, but I've never had the need to look any further than Tripp Research.

[WildBill]

The magazine body is high quality stainless steel, and the witness holes actually line up with the cartridges (unlike some others I've seen). They have a polymer base pad which acts as a bump pad and protection from drops, and a 14 coil .042" spring. It has a hybrid polymer/stainless follower of Tripp's own design which is anti-tilt and self-lubricating:
The 8 rounder with the bump pad costs $36.95, so they are not cheap, but they aren't outrageous either. I have been very satisfied with mine, and I've purchased them in Government length and Officer's length.

I would guess that the use of stainless steel versus carbon steel could account for a significant portion of the $7 price differential.

[The Annoyed Man]

The magazine body is high quality stainless steel, and the witness holes actually line up with the cartridges (unlike some others I've seen). They have a polymer base pad which acts as a bump pad and protection from drops, and a 14 coil .042" spring. It has a hybrid polymer/stainless follower of Tripp's own design which is anti-tilt and self-lubricating:
The 8 rounder with the bump pad costs $36.95, so they are not cheap, but they aren't outrageous either. I have been very satisfied with mine, and I've purchased them in Government length and Officer's length.

I would guess that the use of stainless steel versus carbon steel could account for a significant portion of the $7 price differential.

I suppose it could be. I always figured that it was a matter of economies of scale, but you're probably right.

[WildBill]

The magazine body is high quality stainless steel, and the witness holes actually line up with the cartridges (unlike some others I've seen). They have a polymer base pad which acts as a bump pad and protection from drops, and a 14 coil .042" spring. It has a hybrid polymer/stainless follower of Tripp's own design which is anti-tilt and self-lubricating:
The 8 rounder with the bump pad costs $36.95, so they are not cheap, but they aren't outrageous either. I have been very satisfied with mine, and I've purchased them in Government length and Officer's length.

I would guess that the use of stainless steel versus carbon steel could account for a significant portion of the $7 price differential.

I suppose it could be. I always figured that it was a matter of economies of scale, but you're probably right.

I am sure that there are many factors, and that is one. But "material" is only one design input. If one were not "careful" they could make a stainless steel magazine that still doesn't function.

[Teamless]

Update:

Last Wednesday the Customer Serv Rep said a Supervisor will call me within 48 hours (so basically by Friday afternoon)

They did not call me, so today I called the Customer Service back.
Talked with a different person and explained the situation again.

This person explained the same as the last person that the magazines come from Brazil and other than what comes with the new weapons; they have not gotten any new ones.

She said they are “looking for more magazines” and I again said “I can get one at Academy, why can’t you?”

This time, I went further with the conversation and explained that I currently have about 12 handguns, and stating I buy one every few months (all true btw) and yet only have 1 Taurus and will never buy one again if this is how they treat their customers.

And then I explained that it is not just me that they are putting off.

I discussed this forum, stating that there are several thousand of us (I guessed at the number of course) but with about 500,000 CHL Holders in Texas, there could be A LOT of us on the forum.

Anyway, I also said I already had a thread on the forum on this very issue and many people may be swayed by what I have posted and that when asked by others for recommendations, Taurus would not be recommended.

She said she would pass on my call, lack of response from their supervisor and my comments about this forum (and I gave them the title of this thread for review).

I then went into a meeting at work, and about an hour later, I received a call to my cell (voicemail however) and the Manager said they had found a magazine and had put it in the mail today.

AMAZING how they had none, and “found one” in an hour!

So hopefully I’ll have the magazine back in a week or so. And even though I don’t need the magazine for my day to day abilities, it will be nice to get the mag back and have a spare for the range!

Will I buy another Taurus in the future? Doubtful, unless they come out with one that “I just must have”!

I think I’ll stick with my S&W’s and Springfield’s, but never know.

[Jumping Frog]

Was listening to KSEV "Gun Talk Radio" last Sunday night and they were discussing Taurus.

There were three radio hosts: two gun store owners and a CHL Instructor who has trained about 8,000 students. A caller asked about Taurus. The two store owners said they will no longer carry Taurus. One guy said out of the first 125 Taurus he sold, about 120 of them had to be returned to the factory. All it did was upset his customers. Another guy had similar comments, and said he could count on 9,999 of 10,000 Glocks or S&W's M&P's to work reliably, but he also had high return rates with Taurus. Then the instructor said if someone's gun quit working during the CHL qualifier, it was a strong bet that the gun was a Taurus, a Bersa, or a Walther. They all laughed about the Walther as well.

[MoJo]

Taurus' semi automatics are pure dee junk. Their revolvers are pretty darn good. They aren't Smiths, Rugers, or Colts --- They are a decent, affordable gun.

[Teamless]

my first concealed carry gun was a Taurus PT111
went bang every time, and never had any issues
the PT1911 shoots good and the only issue was the factory mag

So i dont feel that Taurus guns are junk at all, just their ability to get replacement mags!