[OM44]

I read one of the manuals for one of the Taurus guns and found the statement that
reloaded ammunition invalidates the warranty. Bummer!

Do all Taurus owners actually shoot nothing but factory ammunition?

If I purchase a Taurus as planned then have trouble with it, I'll just not tell them what
I shoot through it.

 

[locknload]

There you go! You just said it. They don't have to know
what kind of ammo you put through your firearm. As long as
you reload sensibly, follow the instructions from the reloading
manuals, you are okay.

What about those shooters who shoot competition? Have you
ever heard of Rob Leatham? One of the very best of shooters.
He fires Springfield semi-autos. He doesn't use factory ammo.

All those top shooters do their own reloading. They reload
thousands & thousands of rounds!

 

[mrglock]

I don't shoot reloads..... yet! In other words, I would if I could and should in the future.

 

[Robby]

Well, I discussed reloading with my Medically retired LEO son as we both love shooting.

But, unless you got the right place, the right equipment, and the incentive to get the most performance out of you weapons. It is quite expensive at the startup. I sure would not want to start without proper training by someone who has been at it for a while, and will help me to learn.

I have lots of emptys, but so far unable to find anyone who reloads locally for himself or others. I am sure there are some out there, or maybe one of the reloader companys will redo my brass. I have heard some bad reports about some.

I know I bought 45 Colts from a company in Texas. They arrived today, after a pretty long delay, but boy did they look nice and seemed to be loaded correctly from outside checking. Now, is ammo from small companies considered to be non factory loads. I know the ink was still wet on the boxes when they shipped mine.

 

[railroader]

You can start up reloading with a Lee turret press, dies, tumbler and other assorted goodies for around $200. It's not as fast as a Dillon but it is alot cheaper to get started. As for safety I would rather shoot my reloads than somebody elses. How do I know the unknown reloader didn't have his head up his butt that day. Reloading handgun ammo actually is pretty easy. I have a Lee book that shows the amount of powder to use with different
bullets. It also shows loads for the different powders and the pressure generated for that load. Mark

 

[muttmutt]

I know I bought 45 Colts from a company in Texas. They arrived today, after a pretty long delay, but boy did they look nice and seemed to be loaded correctly from outside checking. Now, is ammo from small companies considered to be non factory loads. I know the ink was still wet on the boxes when they shipped mine.

Where did you get the Colt 45?? Was it a good price with shipping??

 

[NYPD]

If I purchase a Taurus as planned then have trouble with it, I'll just not tell them what
I shoot through it.

Bingo!!!

 

[Robby]

Where did you get the Colt 45?? Was it a good price with shipping??

Collins Cartridge Co. http://www.cccammo.com/

The prices have gone up about $2 since I made my purchase. I bought only 200 rounds, but the shipping was only $6.45.

He has various loads available, plus he does 9mm reloads I believe, and maybe others, I did not go thru every thing on his site.

 

[PTDOUDE]

If I purchase a Taurus as planned then have trouble with it, I'll just not tell them what I shoot through it.

I agree that that will work also, just make sure that if you ever send it in for warranty work that you remove ALL signs of leading or lead bullets ever being fired in it since most factory bullets are jacketed.

I sent in a blued .38 revolver I bought many years ago and thoroughly cleaned it (I thought) of all lead evidence and when I got it back a note that came with it suggested that I clean the gun more often. They can tell what you've been firing in it somehow so be advised.

 

[jwc007]

If I purchase a Taurus as planned then have trouble with it, I'll just not tell them what I shoot through it.

Don't ask, Don't tell!

I shoot mostly reloads! I've been reloading since the late 1980's and currently reload my Match Ammo on a Dillon XL650! Have never been sorry I started doing it and have found it to be a very rewarding side hobby.

 

[airwrench]

I reload my match ammo using the dillon square deal. I actually think it is better for the guns. Typically I am loading down the charges so there is less wear on the gun. At least that is what I have experienced. I know the quality of the components I am using as apposed to a manufacturer operating mass production. I believe my personel quality control will be better since I am shooting guns I paid for.

 

[Rotorhead]

I think with a 38/357 they would have a hard time proving any gun damage was done with reloads. My standard factory new range ammo is 158 gn lead round nose...ie exactly the same as i reload (unless I happen to get a deal on SWC slugs lol). I'm sure other revolver rounds are also factory new in lead slugs. However, most if not all auto cals are typically jacketed. Don't know, but I'm not going to loose any sleep using my reloads in any of my guns.

 

[Nevadajim775]

Personally I wouldn't be too much concerned about the Taurus "reload" warning, and I can understand why they might make such a statement. They offer a lifetime warrantee on their products which is quite good as far as I'm concerned, but there's always somebody out there who's going to load and shoot ammo that the firearm wasn't designed to handle in the first place. Not everybody uses good old common sense. I shoot nothing but handloaded ammo in my PT1911, both lead and copper plated and when I sent it back to Taurus a while back for repairs, I just made sure that it was clean and without residue. BTW, I had the pistol back in about three weeks and am a very happy camper as far as their service is concerned.

Happy Taurus customer.

 

[NativeTexan]

I reload .45 Colt for less that 2 bucks a box of 50. I cast my own 255 grain flat nose from range scrap lead, only pay for primers and powder. I save enough that the cost of equipment was paid for many years ago. I'm still loading on a Lyman turret press I bought in the 70s and I still have my grandpas old Pacific single stage press that was bought in the 50s. I've added a couple of progressives over the years, but you don't have to start with a progressive, in fact, I'd suggest you start with a single stage press and learn the fundamentals first and get real used to it before moving up to a progressive. You can get a Lee anniversary start up kit, add dies, and get reloading for 100 bucks on a single stage press. There is NO economic excuse not to reload and I don't know if I could afford to shoot much if I didn't reload.

There are many advantages to reloading and casting your own bullets. You always have ammo availability, for one, the same ammo you've standardized for your weapon. The ammo is dialed to your weapon for what you wish it to do. You can power up or squib it. Accuracy can be optimized. Yeah, it's also a LOT cheaper than the cheapest crap bargain ammo.

Many of my guns have never fired a factory round. I've tried less than 50 factory rounds in my M85 just experimenting with factory stuff than I bought or was given to me. My two 66s have never fired a factory round while in my possession. If I ever have to send 'em in, I won't volunteer that information.

 

[FrankG]

OM44, I think that if you check almost any gun manufacturs warranty it will state reloads void the warranty. It's not just Taurus. Frank

 

[Audix]

Just to share my experience (more accurately, my STUPIDITY) regarding the topic... And sorry for this long posting...

While back (about 5 years ago) when I had a Taurus PT-99 in 9mm, I was out shooting my reloaded ammo with 115 gr cast lead bullets.
I don't know what happened, but I guess I did something wrong when I was reloading them, like skipping to put powder into this one particular round...

Anyway, I was out shooting my batch of ammo, and one shot I fired felt weird/strange to me.
There was a bang, but the pistol failed to eject the empty case. Also, the recoil was different than usual.
Without inspecting the gun (SO STUPID OF ME!!!), I fired the next round in magazine.
Then there was a much louder report than usual, and the smoke from the muzzle was dark gray/black with harsh recoil. It was more like a puff of black/gray cloud.
"Strange---," I thought...
Then I decided to inspect the gun, and guess what... Inside the barrel got bulged in the middle.
Not enough to be observables exterior-wise. But from looking at the bore inside, I saw a clear ring of bulged bore.

I guess the previous round was weak (with not enough powder or no powder at all), and the lead bullet got stuck inside the barrel. And the next round jammed it from behind and pushed it out, creating the bulge in process due to overpressure. I was LUCKY that I was shooting lead bullets. If it were shooting jacketed bullets, it could've cause some major manage to the gun and to me!!!

Anyway, I got totally bummed out. I came home and contacted Taurus and explained what happened.
I mentioned that fact that I was shooting reloaded ammo (wanted to be honest about it), and something happened and the barrel got damaged.
Then the person from Taurus told me to send the pistol to them and they'd see what they could so.
So I did so, with explanation on the problem (shooting reloaded lead bullets and barrel got damaged) written on the service form.
I fully expected them to replace the barrel, but I also fully expected to be charged for the service.
(I was willing to pay, since it was MY mistake...)

About some time later, I got my pistol back from Taurus with a new barrel, but with NO CHARGE!!!
They repaired it for free!!!
It was totally unexpected, and to this day I talk very highly of Taurus' customer service to anyone who cares to listen.

I'm not sure if this was just an isolated case or a norm. And I'm NOT saying that Taurus should/will provide warranty service for you no matter what kinds of ammo you shoot.
But from my PERSONAL experience, I got a full warranty service for free of change while shooting reloaded ammo.

And yes, I've been extra careful since then when I reload my ammo. And I haven't had any incident after that.

 

[locknload]

Way to go, Audix! I commend you for your honor; & I am
very happy for you, the way things turned out. The next time
someone decides to bash Taurus, they should be reading your
thread first! ;D

 

[PTDOUDE]

Great story Audix. I too have a PT99 and also shoot a lot of my own loads of 115gn cast lead bullets (purchased cast bullets) out of it, and was very interested in your story and to read just how well your gun fared with the squib in the barrel. The wall thickness on the PT barrel is pretty thick, so I'm guessing that that's why the thing didn't blow up on you, in addition to the slug being lead instead of jacketed.

That was gracious of Taurus to do what they did for you plus it sends a positive message to the rest of us that complain about them. There are some nice people there after all and they will cover you sometimes in extenuating circumstances.

 

[FrankG]

Audix, I too want to congratulate you on your honesty. I'm also glad Taurus decided to repair your gun. Thanks Frank

 

[Audix]

Thanks for the comments, guys.
BTW, PTDOUDE, I totally agree with you. It was the wall thickness on the PT barrel combined with the lead slug that prevented me from a really bad accident!!!

I don't see that many postings on people complaining about Taurus' customer service here on this forum.
But I do notice those complains quite frequently on different, more general handgun-oriented (not brand-oriented) forums out there.
Honestly, I don't get it about people complaining about Taurus because I've got nothing but positive experience from Taurus, with their product AND their customer service.

But then, everyone's experience is different, I guess.

I had owned mentioned PT-99 and M-85 (stainless, 2" snubby) before. But very unfortunately, I HAD to sell them both when I moved from Connecticut to Boston, MA.
(I think Boston and the state of MA is worse than CA when it comes to the attitude toward gun ownership, with so much red tapes you have to go through just to be able to purchase and own a handgun).
But now I'm in KY, and I'm getting back to my hobby of target shooting and reloading. And I got me a beautiful 1988 vintage Taurus 669.
But I bet this 669 won't be my last Taurus!!!