Taurus Armas S.A. (previously known as Forjas Taurus S.A.) is a Brazilian manufacturing conglomerate based in São Leopoldo,

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

, Brazil. Founded in 1939 as a tool and die forging plant, the company now consists of Taurus Armas, its

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

division, as well as other divisions focusing on metals manufacturing, plastics,

body armor Body armour, personal armour (also spelled ''armor''), armoured suit (''armored'') or coat of armour, among others, is armour for human body, a person's body: protective clothing or close-fitting hands-free shields designed to absorb or deflect ...

, 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.

History

Taurus produced its first

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

, 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 of

Smith & Wesson Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. (S&W) is an American Firearms manufacturer, firearm manufacturer headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, United States. Smith & Wesson was founded by Horace Smith (inventor), Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson as the ...

, 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 to

were severed. In 1980, after Italian arms manufacturer Beretta had completed its contracts to produce firearms for Brazil's military, Taurus purchased Beretta's

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

manufacturing plant along with the tooling, technical drawings, and work force necessary to produce several different

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

designs. In order to more effectively tap the U.S. market, the company created a subsidiary, Taurus International Manufacturing Incorporated, also known as Taurus USA, in 1982. In 1997, Forjas Taurus purchased the rights & equipment to manufacture Rossi brand revolvers. They currently manufacture three .38 Special models and four .357 Magnum models under the Rossi name, manufactured in São Leopoldo, Brazil. In 2012, Heritage Manufacturing was also purchased and its production later moved to Taurus' Miami, Florida plant. In 2019, Taurus USA moved their facilities from

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

to Bainbridge, Georgia.

Products

The current product line includes steel-frame pistols, polymer-frame pistols,

s, and law enforcement weapons (

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine (firearms), magazine-fed automatic firearm, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to descri ...

s and

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

s), 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. One writer said in 2010 that the "quality of Taurus

handgun A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun, long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and br ...

s in the modern era is second to none". In 2015, Taurus settled a lawsuit for $39 million and recalled nearly one million handguns produced between 1997 and 2013 due to "safety defects".

Firearm model overview

Taurus was originally known for manufacturing revolvers similar in design to those offered by

. 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 the

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

five-shot revolvers ( .410 bore and .45 Colt). One of Taurus' most successful semiautomatic handguns has been its PT92, a model similar to Beretta's model 92 line, but with the addition of an ambidextrous frame safety, rather than the Beretta's slide-mounted safety. The most recent addition to the Taurus pistol lineup is a copy of the Colt 1911 .45 ACP pistol, the PT1911. This slightly redesigned and updated design offers many features.

Semi-automatic pistols

* Taurus Millennium series (Models 111, 140, 145, and 745) * Taurus PT22 .22 Long Rifle *Taurus PT25 .25 ACP * PT 24/7 * Taurus TCP 732 .32 ACP * Taurus TCP 738 .380 ACP * PT92 (Models 92 and 100) * PT1911 * Taurus Model PT809, PT809c / Taurus Model 840 / Taurus Model 845 * Taurus Model PT638 (.380 ACP)/ Taurus Model 609 (9mm)/ Taurus Model 640 (.40 S&W) * Slim Series, 709 ( 9mm) and 740 ( .40 S&W) * PT-2045 * Taurus TS9 * Taurus PT911 9mm (15 or 10 round) * Taurus PT 909, PT945 * Taurus PT 908 ( 9mm) (8 round) * Taurus PT 51 6.35mm * Taurus PT 915 9mm * Taurus PT 917 9mm * Taurus PT 938 * Taurus PT 940 .40 caliber * Taurus PT 838 * Taurus PT 838c * Taurus Curve * Taurus Spectrum * Taurus G2C G2S G3 G3C G3X G3XL G3 tactical * Taurus TX22 (22lr 16 round) * Taurus GX4 * Taurus TH series (Models TH9, TH10, TH40, TH45, and TH380) * Taurus THC series (Models THC9, THC40, and THC380)

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
s

Families

* Taurus Judge (Model 4510) * Taurus Raging Bull * Taurus Tracker (Models 17, 425, 44, 627, 970, 990, 991, and 992)

Rossi models

* Rossi Model 971 .357 Magnum * Rossi R46102 .357 Magnum * Rossi R35102 .38 Special * Rossi R85104 .38 Special * Rossi R46202 .357 Magnum * Rossi R35202 .38 Special * Rossi R97206 .357 Magnum * Rossi Circuit Judge .410ga/ 45lc (carbine)

Submachine guns

* Taurus SMT * Taurus T9 - chambered in

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...

and features a 5.5-inch barrel.

Semi-automatic rifles/carbines

* Taurus ART556 rifle * Taurus CT G2 carbine * Taurus T4 * Taurus T4SA AR-15 semi-automatic rifle

Bolt-action rifles

* Taurus Expedition

Shotguns

* Taurus ST12

Grenade launchers

* Taurus LT38SA

Recall and settlement

A voluntary recall was issued in 2015, for nine of Taurus' more popular models manufactured between 1997 and 2013. This is around one million

s and includes the following models: * 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.

References

External links

Taurus USA

Taurus France

Taurus Export

Taurus Forum
* {{Taurus Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos Firearm manufacturers of Brazil Defence companies of Brazil Companies based in São Leopoldo Manufacturing companies established in 1939 Multinational companies headquartered in Brazil 1939 establishments in Brazil Companies listed on B3 (stock exchange) Brazilian brands