Taurus 856-Bad News

[seminolewind]

We've had a lot of discussion lately about various Taurus revolvers with mostly good reports. Unfortunately, I have some bad news to share about my Taurus 856 3" steel frame .38 Special.

In single action, the cylinder latch drops down into the frame window to release the cylinder for rotation, but it sticks down and will not pop back up to lock the cylinder in place. Obviously I don't want the gun to fire if the cylinder is not locked in alignment with the barrel.

In double action, the cylinder latch does not drop down as far into the frame window as it does SA, and it does not get stuck. It pops back up to lock the cylinder as normal. So the gun functions normally DA but not SA.

I disassembled the gun and looked closely at the cylinder latch and the cylinder latch window in the frame to see what was causing it to stick down. I discovered a small gouge ( for lack of a better description) on the bottom right edge of the frame window, just big enough to catch the cylinder latch when it drops down below the gouge. It looks like a small chip of metal is missing from the underside of the frame window. The metal is very thin at this location.

I can only speculate how this happened, but the gun was working perfectly until a family member was handling it and possibly slammed the cylinder shut with enough force to chip a small piece of metal from the frame. I wasn't watching at the time they were handling the gun so I'm not sure this is what happened.

The gouge isn't big and could possibly be smoothed enough with a jewelers file to prevent the cylinder latch from sticking, but I'm reluctant to try that and possibly void the warranty. Looks like I'll be finding out how Taurus handles a warranty claim. I hope this turns out well because I really do like the gun.

[owen67]

Thanks for sharing the troubleshooting you performed and issue found. Hoping Taurus takes good AND quick care of you.
Wondering if a detailed letter, with pics of issues seen, and a link to this forum post, would ensure a real fix. I’m pretty disappointed in stories of MOST mfg sending guns back untouched, or only half fixed (even if only on rare occasion).

[seminolewind]

Thanks owen. I plan to call them tomorrow and see how they respond. Unfortunately, if the chipped frame is actually the problem, we're talking replacement not repair.

[needsmostuff]

With Taurus I don't know if I'd be mentioning that I took it apart and played in there. They might scream VOID.
Just play dumb and say gun no workie no más.
Send it in and let them fix it.
But I wonder if rounding the corner/edge of the bolt/latch a little might let it slip by ?

[AxeHandle]

I'm a few hundred rounds into my 856. I shoot it DAO. Nary a bobble... Yet.

[seminolewind]

Good point nms. I did polish the side of the cylinder stop with an Arkansas stone, but I didn't get very aggressive. I'm cautious about doing too much.

[owen67]

Yeah, I guess Mo’Stuff is right.
Keep one’s mouth shut until they don’t come thru, then play the other card when there’s nothing left to lose.

I hope they take care of you.

IF they don’t, and if it is indeed the chip you found, could it be carefully built up with tig welding, then cleaned up?

If not can you make a .002” stainless shim to either bias things away from the gouge, or to actually “face” it?

Best of luck

[jeffh]

I wouldn't be too disappointed. That's no worse than I've had with any other brand. It just irritates me more when it happens with a more expensive gun, I guess.

Luck of the draw.

Any more, regardless of brand, I EXPECT to be disappointed, but I've had very good luck with the "cheap" guns overall.

Unless it involves removing a barrel or spending significant money on parts, I just suck it up and fix it myself.

[seminolewind]

I shot it 50 rounds today double action with no problems. I may just bob the hammer and call it good.

[jeffh]

That's good news!

[needsmostuff]

What about upping the spring pressure on that latch part for a little more snap?

[seminolewind]

nms, I would like a stronger cylinder latch spring. The original is pretty weak. I'll be on the lookout for one for sure.

[jeffh]

Jul 20, 2022 9:48:56 GMT -5 seminolewind said:

nms, I would like a stronger cylinder latch spring. The original is pretty weak. I'll be on the lookout for one for sure.

Until you find a replacement spring - and it's a TINY spring - have you considered polishing a little?

Any new gun s subject to the errant burr or rough surface.  The 605 was remarkably clean inside, BUT I did note that any drag was from the course, bead-blasted finis, which extended to the inside sidewalls of the action where the hammer and trigger ride.  Even the pin the cylinder stop rotates on had that finish on it.  I stuck a strip of 400 or 600 grit wet/dry across the squared end of a popsicle stick and cleaned up the side surfaces the cylinder stop rides against and a quick "shoe-shine" action to the pin.  Lap the sides of the cylinder stop LIGHTLY on both sides and inspect the cylinder stop window for burrs or roughness.

These are tiny parts and you have to go light on any polishing.  If you grind away too much of the side of the cylinder stop, or open the cylinder stop window, you could get some radial slop in chamber/bore alignment.  None of these surfaces have to be like a mirror, just smooth, and you don't have to wear it al down to a perfectly smooth surface with no visible marks - just knock off high spots which could mechanically "lock" against a corresponding rough surface with which it interfaces.

I've had a lot of practice on Ruger revolvers over the years, and believe me - any one of them had more burrs, "rough terrain" and loose scrap metal in side them than any Charter or Taurus I've had, but those are beefy parts in the Rugers and give a false sense of "safety" in scrubbing away metal.  The Taurus and Charters have tiny parts and sort of remind you to just barely clean up the surfaces - and magically, that's really all it takes to make a noticeable improvement.

I don't mean to presume you don't know this, but I didn't want to mention "polishing" and have someone who DOESN'T know this read it and go in there with the idea it takes elbow grease and sweat.

That's a tiny spring and it's moving a tiny part.  One cool thing about the side-plate is that you can remove it and watch while cycling the action and not have to imagine what's going on inside there.

[seminolewind]

jeffh, good description of this work. I have done some of the things you mentioned, but not others. I will give some attention to areas that I haven't touched yet. Thanks.

[seminolewind]

I thought I should end this thread with the final results from Taurus customer service on repairing this gun. It took a couple of months to get it repaired because I wanted to personally take it to the Taurus headquarters in Bainbridge, Ga when I traveled to that part of the state to visit family. I called customer service and got a hard no on visiting the plant for security reasons. Understandable I guess.

Taurus sent a Fedex shipping label, and the repair took ten days from the day I dropped it off at Fedex to the day they brought it back to me at home. Pretty good in my opinion.

The problem has been fixed and the notes say "Cylinder Stop Adjusted". I'll take the gun apart someday to see if I can tell what they did. In the meantime, I'll just shoot the gun and enjoy it.

I'm pleased with the gun and with Taurus customer service and thought I should say so.