[schlemer]

I came across an interesting thread over @ TFL. Some of our boys were quite the defenders, bravo! I did find this one comment to be especially of interest. It was posted by Avenger11, and It is moot to reply since the post is about 4 months old. The author goes on to complain about his only Taurus, a PT1911. I find his comments funny yet sad. He complains about a firearm that is building a real strong fan base and in time may one day be hailed as one of the greatest guns ever produced by Taurus, second only to the PT92/99.

My point in starting this thread was to demonstrate my belief in the age old adage "You get what you pay for". Simply put, whether your talking about firearms, cars, electronics, clothes or any other product, there is a close relationship between price and quality.
Sure some brands can command a premium price because they have a history and reputation for quality, and they can because they have earned it.
Is a $3000 custom 1911 worth 6 times more than a $500 mass produced gun? Maybe not. But conversely, the quality difference will be recognizable and obvious!
I admit my only experience with a Taurus product was when I purchased a PT1911. I fell for the hype and advertising that was saturating the gun mags that Taurus, in order to enter the highly competitive 1911 market, was offering features worth $2000 for $550.
What I received was a 1911 wanabee. Metal finish very thin, plastic grips made of really cheap materials, and internals poorly machined.Accuracy was average at best and it jammed repeatedly.
Did I send it back to the factory? No, I expect it to work as advertised. Sold it, took the hit and considered it a lesson learned!
Since some here can't handle opposing opinions or diversity of thought, this will be my last response to anything Taurus related.

In response to his closing statement "Did I send it back etc". From what I've learned about the 1911 platform, There is alway something that needs to be done to a 1911 in order to get it to perform the way you want it to (thi is why I like my PT1911, it is perfect out of the box). Now I don't know this person, so I can't say if he has had prior experience with 1911s or this was his first time. Either way, he chose not to take advantage of the lifetime warranty offered and blamed his problem on the belief of the advertisement. A tactic that Kimber had employed some years ago.

In the last two years I've learned so much about the firearm industry ( and that may be just the tip of the iceberg). What really has caught my attention is the issues that have come out of products made by such reputable makers such as S&W, Kimber, Colt, Springfield, Wilson etc. None of these companies guns have been called "junk".

Now with all this being said and with the 12 firearms I own at the moment. I could have gotten a Colt, S&W or even a Wilson (and maybe one day I will). Me, I'm just a good old fashion, blue collar kind of guy. While I do apprieciate a work of art, and If I was rolling in $$$, I would buy some finer pieces. I like the shootability of the PT line. To date, I have not yet been disspointed. Even If one or two gave me issue, I would not condem an entire line. If they all failed me, then that would be a diferent story. I just think this guy is just one of those who posts and waits to see who'll take the bait. I'm sure if we went over to the S&W forums (nice people over there BTW) or even the (heaven forbid) Glock forums and stated a dislike for those firearms, we may be hunted down.

Maybe we should settle this with an oldfashion gunfight, a duel to see if anyone would like to try their luck on the business end of a Taurus PTxxxx

 

[stephpd]

The guy is one of the frequent Taurus bashers on that forum. Anytime Taurus is mentioned he'll have several posts putting down Taurus. Guess he thought he was going to get a new 1911 worth $2000 for $500. Complains about every Taurus gun after owning one for a few weeks.

Just let it go, not worth fighting over.

 

[Taurus_9mm]

They've been at it again in this thread http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179020 although there have been some staunch Taurus defenders there as well who've shared their own personal experiences.

 

[texastaurusguy]

There was a write-up on the PT1911 in a very recent Handguns issue written by Massad Ayoob. He described fit and finish to be excellent, and accuracy to be unheard of - less than half-inch groups with certain ammo. This guy needs to quick smoking his own supply......

 

[Qwiks draw]

Many other gun writers who are known to tell it like it is are giving the PT1911 good reviews as you have noted texastaurusguy.

Many owners at the other gun forums are singing their praises of the PT1911.

So how he comes off with that load of crap is beyond me. Most of his "facts" have been used at TFL in ancient posts. TFL member JR47 took each of the claims of " Taurus being crap" and point by point destroyed the claims.

That and any other fraudulent claims have been dealt with and are in the link above that I posted earlier if anyone wants to take the time and go through the whole schmeer.
It wan't just JR47 who destroyed the fabrications and lies. There have been many who have risen to the occasion.


http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=286267

For those who have to flog smelly dead mule carcasses, here you go.

These are about the PT1911 from here.
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284314
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279792
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=276878
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=278952
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271959
That as they say is that.

From THR:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=351067
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=344599
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=343994
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=335766

This should settle things down.

 

[joe sixpack]

hate to tell that guy but you do NOT always get what you paid for..

specificly i can talk about electronics since im a bit of a geek..

hate to tell him this but when you buy an electronics (we'll use computers as a good example)
you are mostly buying name.. why? because the vast majority of computers out there are built on standard componets usually differing in modified bios..

there is no Dell CPU for example it's either gonna be a intel or a AMD if we're talking about consumer level hardware.
the memory will probably samsung or micron, or NEC.
harddrive, seagate, western digital, or again samsung.
motherboard fic, asus, msi, or if intel cpu very likely a intel board.


even when buying components to build your own a lot of hardware out there is rebranded and sold under different names..

classic example i use to buy compusa harddrives, they was actually maxtor drives under compusas name.. same drive, but about 30% cheaper.

the 2nd burner i ever bought was a HP 8100 iirc, guess what it was a sony drive inside.


it's pretty clear that get what you paid for while sometimes true is sometimes wrong..
you pay for a name a lot of the times.. you slap sony on the front of somethign it's gonna cost a lot more then without it..

personally i dont like sony.. sony is crap.. their electonics are junk, the worse laptop i ever owned was a sony vaio, i still have it but the 2nd memory slot has a short in it.. actually it was a very common problem and if you google sony vaio grx memory problem.. you'll see for your self.

sony never offered to recall or repair these machines.

internally they're crap as well.


best laptops out there thinkpads.. no doubt about it.. but they're expensive gateway also makes a sturdy if not so feature rich laptop..

panasonic tough books are great also, very sturdy, could probably carry it as a blunt weapon if you needed.



so i would tell this guy that no you dont always get what you paid for, sometimes you get less, sometimes you get more.

 

[Qwiks draw]

Everything constructive that can be said has been said for the most part.

Since there is little of relevance left to put in here this is going to be locked.

The good points have been made.