Taurus Armas S.A.(previously known asForjas Taurus S.A.) is a Brazilian manufacturingconglomeratebased inSão Leopoldo,Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil. Founded in 1939 as atool and dieforging plant,[2]the company now consists ofTaurus Armas,itsfirearmdivision, as well as other divisions focusing on metals manufacturing,plastics,body armor,helmets and civil construction.
In 2021, the U.S. accounted for 79.6% of total sales, a growth of 23.4%. In 2020, 41% of all the revolvers sold in the US were Taurus brand revolvers and, in 2021, it is estimated that this market share has reached 61%. Firearms and accessories accounted for 70.1% of total sales revenue in the U.S.[1]
Taurus.357 Magnum Model 605Taurus Tracker 627.357 Magnum
Taurus produced its firstrevolver,the Model 38101SO, in 1941. Beginning in 1968, it exported revolvers to the U.S. market through a series of importers.
In 1971, the Bangor Punta Corporation, then the parent company ofSmith & Wesson,purchased 54 percent of Forjas Taurus, allowing the two firearms manufacturers to easily share information regarding design and manufacturing. In 1977, Taurus was purchased from Bangor Punta by its current owners, and its ties toSmith & Wessonwere severed.
In 1980, after Italian arms manufacturerBerettahad completed its contracts to produce firearms for Brazil's military, Taurus purchased Beretta'sSão Paulomanufacturing plant along with the tooling, technical drawings, and work force necessary to produce several differentpistoldesigns.
In order to more effectively tap theU.S.market, the company created a subsidiary, Taurus International Manufacturing Incorporated, also known asTaurus USA,in 1982.[3]
In 1997, Forjas Taurus purchased the rights & equipment to manufactureRossibrand revolvers. They currently manufacture three.38 Specialmodels and four.357 Magnummodels under the Rossi name, manufactured inSão Leopoldo,Brazil. In 2012, Heritage Manufacturing was also purchased and its production later moved to Taurus' Miami, Florida plant.[4]
The current product line includes steel-frame pistols, polymer-frame pistols,revolvers,and law enforcement weapons (submachine gunsandrifles), the latter intended for the domestic Brazilian market. The company manufactures and sells its firearms for generally less than other manufacturers due to low labor costs, as well as having the facilities available to build virtually every part themselves.[5]
One writer said in 2010 that the "quality of Taurushandgunsin the modern era is second to none ".[6]In 2015, Taurus settled a lawsuit for $39 million and recalled nearly one million handguns produced between 1997 and 2013 due to "safety defects".[7][8]
Taurus was originally known for manufacturing revolvers similar in design to those offered bySmith & Wesson.[9]The company moved away from this realm by offering larger framed models such as the Raging Bull (.454 Casull) and Raging Hornet (.22 Hornet) revolvers as well as theJudgefive-shot revolvers (.410 boreand.45 Colt).[10]
One of Taurus' most successful semiautomatic handguns has been its PT92, a model similar to Beretta'smodel 92line, but with the addition of an ambidextrous frame safety, rather than the Beretta's slide-mounted safety.[6]
The most recent addition to the Taurus pistol lineup is a copy of theColt 1911.45 ACPpistol, the PT1911. This slightly redesigned and updated design offers many features.[11]
A voluntary recall was issued in 2015, for nine of Taurus' more popular models manufactured between 1997 and 2013. This is around one millionpistolsand includes the following models:[12]
PT-111 Millennium
PT-132 Millennium
PT-138-Millennium
PT-140 Millennium
PT-145 Millennium
PT-745 Millennium
PT-609
PT-640
PT-24/7
A class action settlement was also agreed to, which amounted to almost $39 million, due to the defective models.[13]
^Heard, Brian J. (17 August 2011).Handbook of Firearms and Ballistics: Examining and Interpreting Forensic Evidence.John Wiley & Sons. p. 346.ISBN978-1-119-96477-3.
R$3.44 billion(2021)[1]
