Just curious as to what people's experiences are...... not looking for "I dun read on tha internetz that Taurus sucks!" Just looking for good or bad real world experiences with their .357 and .44s.
I have had a LOT of revolvers. Not just safe queens either, I shoot the piss out of them. I have had far more problems with S&W than I have Taurus (revolvers, can't say that about the pistols).
My night life gunsmith antics got me the opportunity to work on two Taurus revolvers for a co-worker. Both are accurate when they work but they are not reliable. Both will lock up mid trigger stroke...randomly. Inspection proved that the trigger to cylinder lock relationship was just a few thousands out of tolerance. The parts are small enough, and I don't TIG well enough to build up metal on the cylinder lock so my solution failed. I called Taurus to get some parts. They are great by the way. Oh, and they will not send you fire control parts but they do not consider the cylinder lock a fire control part. Taurus sent two sets of parts, sans trigger, to rebuild both pistols...for free. Guess what. Both pistols will lock up using the new parts. Bummer! Both revolvers are on their way to Taurus. I'll say I like the design of Taurus' system. It's simple and easy to work on...much easier than a Smith and Wesson. But my limited experience would say I'll spend the extra money to get a Smith or get a Ruger.
I have an old model Taurus, the 431 in .44 Special, and have had no problems with her. The 431's came out before the S&W 696 in 4" an 3" barrel length. Mine has the 3" barrel and is a great shooter, very accurate, and loves the Winchester Silver-Tip's. The other Taurus I've owned was their copy of the 92FS, that is another gun that really hasn't had lots of problems because they are manufactured on Beretta machinery.