Taurus auto pistols not drop safe?

[Caine 147]

Saw this on another forum. Did a quick google search and it seems to be legit. I don't own any Taurus guns, but just putting this out there as an FYI for those that do or are considering one:

Plaintiff is a 28 year old business owner in northwest Etowah County. He was leaving his home, headed to his store when he unintentionally dropped his handgun. The handgun is a Taurus PT111 9mm Millennium, which he bought in 2004. He had the handgun loaded, with a round in the chamber, with the manual safety in the "on" position. It was also secured in a nylon holster with a strap. When the handgun fell, it struck the concrete floor with the butt of the gun. It discharged, striking the plaintiff in the upper thigh. The projectile travelled in an upward direction, through his abdomen and into his left lung. He suffered serious internal injuries, which included losing his spleen. The first police officer on the scene found the handgun with the manual safety in the "on" position. Once the handgun was photographed and taken into evidence, a fired (spent) shell casing was found in the chamber of the weapon. This was crucial evidence, because the manual safety on this model handgun locks the slide and prevents the rearward movement of the slide if the handgun discharges. This helped prove to the jury that the manual safety was in fact on at the time of the unintended discharge. Also, the manual safety has absolutely nothing to do with preventing an unintended discharge from dropping (if you can believe that). The defect in the handgun is the internal striker block (internal firing pin block). This is supposed to prevent the movement of the striker (firing pin) if the gun is exposed to a sharp impact (such as a drop). We actually were able to record on video a PT111 firing a primed case when dropped in a similar manner to our facts. The jury found that a defect existed and returned a 500k compensatory verdict and a 750k punitive verdict. Plaintiff had roughly 71k in specials.

 

There are still over 100k of these guns on the market. It will happen again if Taurus chooses not to do a recall. Taurus PT140's and PT145's have the same internal striker block mechanism. It is my belief that they will also discharge if dropped.

 

Thanks for the inquiry.

 

M. Todd Wheeles, Esq.

Morris, Haynes & Hornsby

http://www.mhhlaw.net/

 

And here's a link to the story in a newspaper:

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/200 ... 5-million-

[HODGIE 3]

Taurus does have a responsibility to fix it but this has also happened with Ruger and other much larger companies.

I have owned several Taurus pistols and all were quality and good shooters. That being said if you have one get it

checked out or call their pain in the butt customer service.

[jermz1987 243]

wow, I was considering a millennium pro too.

[HODGIE 3]

wow, I was considering a millennium pro too.

 

 

They have an excellent reputation for ccw.

It's 6 years later Taurus may have changed something if this in fact was a defect.

Remember it's a lawyers wet dream to sue a firearms company and win, I do not know If I can take every word of this to be 100% true or accurate without knowing all the details.

 

1 out of 100k pistols sold is not exactly a epic design failure.

[Caine 147]

They have an excellent reputation for ccw.

Subjective. Like anything else, you can find an equal number of people that will tell you they suck. Maybe it's the types of forums I spend time on, but, I've read more reports of people complaining about various problems with Taurus products than I have people saying how great they are. But, it is the interwebs... and again, all very subjective.

 

It's 6 years later Taurus may have changed something if this in fact was a defect.

Remember it's a lawyers wet dream to sue a firearms company and win, I do not know If I can take every word of this to be 100% true or accurate without knowing all the details.

Good point - my concern if I was looking into a Taurus would be whether or not there is a fundamental flaw in their striker block design that still exists. Like I said, I don't own anything by Taurus, and don't think I've ever held one to be honest, so, I have no idea.

 

1 out of 100k pistols sold is not exactly a epic design failure.

Or is it 100k out of 100k? I'm curious to see if Taurus issues a recall

 

Given the nature of this particular "flaw" it's kinda difficult to go out and test it :shock: If nothing else, anyone considering a Taurus should at least spend some time researching and seeing what other problems (if any) people are having.