Taurus G3C 9mm FTF issue

[ghosttwofive]

i have a CZ 75B, 9mm, it does not like steel case (Wolf) ammo.

i have a Remington R 1911 .45ACP, it does not like Blazer brass ammo

my G3c, does not like reloaded ammo. (from a very reputable reloader supplier in my area)

my Glock G-17 4th Gen, eats anything and everything and begs for more.

so yes, many times, some guns just do not like what we feed them.

I have a Gen 3 Glock 22 .40 cal that I'm convinced would shoot lead musket shot if you found a way to cram it into the barrel...lol. I've retired the handgun with full honors into my gun closet. I bought it in 2000, and I've NEVER had it jam after thousands of rounds. I used it for IDPA competition for a lot of years, and it's been meticulously maintained but iti's all stock except for the sights. It's just a tough gun. I've since branched out to other types of handguns but I fully appreciate and respect Glock pistols.

 

[SoNic]

im thinking maybe the re-oiling I did just needed some time to penetrate?

Their notes indicated they replaced a slide spring, and made adjustment to the slide.

The more I run the G3C the smoother it becomes.

A weaker recoil spring doesn't give enough "umpf" to the slightly bigger rounds (more friction) during the return.
Oiling lowers the general friction that fights against the return, that's why helps.
Running rounds trough and cleaning the barrel helps honing those surfaces by bullet friction. Also the magazine springs get weaker and that lowers the friction too (between bullet and top of the magazine).
IMO that should not matter for a new gun, to me it points to a weaker spring. Is that a single spring rod?

My Hellcat (dual rate spring) eats absolutely any kind of ammo I can get my hands on. Those days I can't be picky...

PS: I might be completely wrong too

 

[TriStar]

A weaker recoil spring doesn't give enough "umpf" to the slightly bigger rounds (more friction) during the return.
Oiling lowers the general friction that fights against the return, that's why helps.
Running rounds trough and cleaning the barrel helps honing those surfaces by bullet friction. Also the magazine springs get weaker and that lowers the friction too (between bullet and top of the magazine).
IMO that should not matter for a new gun, to me it points to a weaker spring. Is that a single spring rod?

My Hellcat (dual rate spring) eats absolutely any kind of ammo I can get my hands on. Those days I can't be picky...

PS: I might be completely wrong too

My G3C was purchased last week (ostensibly for my wife). I ran about three mags or ball ammo through it immediately alongside my Hellcat and was thrilled with it. My Hellcat runs hollow point CorBon, range ammo, and Black Hills HoneyBadger 115 grn with no issues. The HoneyBadger has given my HK VP9 some issues as well. Might be useful to drop a photo of a HoneyBadger round here -

not surprising it gives some pistols feed issues, but the gel tests and the paper print alongside regular 9mm

tell me it is definitely worth the trouble - and it definitely seems to be feed ramp-related, having shot the round through both the VP and the Hellcat - hell I dunno. But anyway, the barrel feed ramp of the Hellcat has a wider rounder ramp cutout vs the VP9 and the G3C which have a tighter more square shape overall to the ramp cutout.
So I was just trying to cycle that ammo through the brand new G3C, not able to - bummer - then tried the CorBon hollows - fail - uh oh - then range ammo - fail - oh crap - and called Taurus.

SO, a few things: the rep was real nice, took down everything I said to pre-log my gun for a warranty claim service. She also emailed me a FedEx tag for Taurus-paid shipping there and back. Also she said because it was a warranty deal, it wouldn’t have the standard 35 buck labor minimum applied.

I was very pleasantly surprised. I also said since I’d just recently recommended a G2 to my brother, which he bought, I would like to have a talk with a higher authority and she ticketed me for a call from an “advocate” in 24-48 hours.

However she also reiterated the 200 rd SAAMI ball ammo break-in, which okay, but ammo is kinda scarce nowadays and it’s basically not a useful CCW if all you can put in it is ball rounds that will go right through bad people and hit innocent people. and the Hellcat and the VP9 required nothing like that. And again, the Hellcat runs whatever I put through it with zero problem. Anyway, I thought I’d try to cycle again with ball ammo, taking more care to not ride the slide this time, and ran two mags through it making sure to fully release the slide from all the way back. No problems. It does seem to be a tight assembly issue, like they engineer it right up front to optimize after the break-in, I guess.

Anyway I’m gonna be breaking it in foe a while and I’ll be at a range with my brother and his new G2 in a couple weeks so I’m gonna look at his barrel/feed ramp next to mine and maybe even swap it into the 3 if he will let me.

 

[SoNic]

the 200 rd SAAMI ball ammo break-in, which okay, but ammo is kinda scarce nowadays

Rack the empty slide 200 times

 

[TriStar]

Rack the empty slide 200 times

If you’re not pulling my leg, I think it actually takes putting live rounds through the thing. I do wonder about the slide release spring issue Taurus told
ghosttwo five it was, because 1, that’s out of left field like everyone said, but also because it’s persnickety as hell when I try to re-engage the slide after a field strip. Every time, it hits some kind of a snag going back, just short of being fully re-engaged/ready to rack. Wiggling it somehow gets it to the secret place where it magically goes back and is good to go.

 

[SoNic]

I was not joking. Oiling and racking might help.
IMO the magazine springs also will soften a smidge if you keep them loaded up to max... a week or so.

 

[ghosttwofive]

If you’re not pulling my leg, I think it actually takes putting live rounds through the thing. I do wonder about the slide release spring issue Taurus told
ghosttwo five it was, because 1, that’s out of left field like everyone said, but also because it’s persnickety as hell when I try to re-engage the slide after a field strip. Every time, it hits some kind of a snag going back, just short of being fully re-engaged/ready to rack. Wiggling it somehow gets it to the secret place where it magically goes back and is good to go.

I still think they did something to the barrel or something else that was not noted. I think there may be a design flaw, not in all of them of course, but the adjustments they did to mine just seem to add up as far as why it wouldn't cycle the HST 147 grain ammo.......but whatever the case, it's definitely fixed. I've taken it out three times since the repair, put about 250 rounds thru it, using a mix of FMJ, HST, few other hodge podge type ammo and had no issues at all. it's become a very reliable concealed carry handgun for me.

 

[TriStar]

I was not joking. Oiling and racking might help.
IMO the magazine springs also will soften a smidge if you keep them loaded up to max... a week or so.

I did dry rack it about fifty and I cycled a couple mags of the ball ammo through it again with no issues.
So I dunno but the re-assembly issue seems possibly to be related to the break-in/feed issues - getting it back on seems to be a matter of wiggling it a mm to where one little place gets right and then it slides in like “what?”

 

[TriStar]

I still think they did something to the barrel or something else that was not noted. I think there may be a design flaw, not in all of them of course, but the adjustments they did to mine just seem to add up as far as why it wouldn't cycle the HST 147 grain ammo.......but whatever the case, it's definitely fixed. I've taken it out three times since the repair, put about 250 rounds thru it, using a mix of FMJ, HST, few other hodge podge type ammo and had no issues at all. it's become a very reliable concealed carry handgun for me.

I sure thought it was more likely a barrel feed ramp deal. I won’t be surprised if they end up redesigning that in future. But the slide release spring sounds like it could actually be a culprit in this and ya just hafta wonder if they didn’t get a bad batch of those and don’t know which guns they went in + don’t want to/can’t afford a recall after their 2018 issues.

 

[ghosttwofive]

I sure thought it was more likely a barrel feed ramp deal. I won’t be surprised if they end up redesigning that in future. But the slide release spring sounds like it could actually be a culprit in this and ya just hafta wonder if they didn’t get a bad batch of those and don’t know which guns they went in + don’t want to/can’t afford a recall after their 2018 issues.

I like your theory, think you may be on to something. I've also got a G2C which will eat any kind of ammo you feed it and and never misses a trick. You can just about interchange most of the parts on the G2C and G3C so your theory that they may have gotten a defective batch of springs or some other defective gizmo makes sense. I've never had any issues at all with any Taurus handgun I've owned, the issue with the G3C is it as far as complaints I've got against my Taurus handguns. My G3 is an absolute tank of a handgun. Completely reliable and will take any kind of ammo.

 

[TriStar]

I like your theory, think you may be on to something. I've also got a G2C which will eat any kind of ammo you feed it and and never misses a trick. You can just about interchange most of the parts on the G2C and G3C so your theory that they may have gotten a defective batch of springs or some other defective gizmo makes sense. I've never had any issues at all with any Taurus handgun I've owned, the issue with the G3C is it as far as complaints I've got against my Taurus handguns. My G3 is an absolute tank of a handgun. Completely reliable and will take any kind of ammo.

So, either it’s a break-in issue, and at some point 200 rounds out I’ll have a great gun that eats everything, or it’s a barrel ramp issue, and I need to swap in a G2C barrel to see how the screwdriver head rounds like that, and if it’s all good, I go with that barrel and call it a fifty bucks solution I shouldn’t have had to solve, or I send it to Taurus (free shipping) and let them send it back (also free) having replaced the slide release spring and a tiny barrel adjustment in a month (free too) or a week, or whatever...
so Ghost you’ve had a ton of experience at this point and read all this - which option do you think I should go with?

 

[ghosttwofive]

So, either it’s a break-in issue, and at some point 200 rounds out I’ll have a great gun that eats everything, or it’s a barrel ramp issue, and I need to swap in a G2C barrel to see how the screwdriver head rounds like that, and if it’s all good, I go with that barrel and call it a fifty bucks solution I shouldn’t have had to solve, or I send it to Taurus (free shipping) and let them send it back (also free) having replaced the slide release spring and a tiny barrel adjustment in a month (free too) or a week, or whatever...
so Ghost you’ve had a ton of experience at this point and read all this - which option do you think I should go with?I

I about drove my OCD self nuts trying to figure it out myself. At the end of the day, and although I've been shooting handguns since the age of 5, I'm not a gunsmith. If you are gunsmith-y inclined, not sure if that's a word but I digress, then you may be able to diagnose and repair the problem yourself. In my instance, I think I should have sent it back to Taurus much earlier than I did and saved myself a bunch of trial and error headaches, especially since my issue was only with Federal HST 147 grain, at least to the extent of my knowledge it was. I'm sure there may have been other types of ammo the G3C wouldn't cycle but I never came across any other than the HST. For my money, and even though it cost me $50.00 to have the handgun shipped to Taurus, the turn around time was less than a week and it was fully repaired when it got back to me. So, in closing, I think I should have just sent it back earlier and got the warranty repair imho.

 

[TriStar]

Pretty much how I’m feeling about it but I have 30 days to use this FedEx label so I’ll probably keep it to take to the range with my brother and his G2C, see how it behaves with range ammo in front of him, but probably gonna send it in after that any which way. It seems likely they have a known issue like what they said yours was, and it’s just like a ten minute fix to get it to eat any bullet, and that’ll be real cool.

 

[TriStar]

Update: I have several boxes of this 4-flange version of the bad ass ammo shown above - oh- here’s a picture of it

and it cycles without issue through the VP9 (40 round magazine flipped through effortlessly) and and also ejects forcibly and feeds without problems in the G3C as long as I fully, forcibly rack the slide with no hesitation and release completely from the hard stop. That ammo kicks out harder than ball ammo in the same situation in fact. The four flange design vs the three flange of the Black Hills HoneyBadger is a big difference in profile and performance.
If I hesitate on the rearward motion at all, it’ll hang. If not it won’t. I believe it would actually fire without issue and I’ve got 40 rounds in a 40 mag that I plan to run through the VP9 in one fell swoop.
I think it’s the human element that hangs rounds while cycling the slide if there is any hitch in the backward movement. I think. So far.

 

[Bassbob]

I haven’t found anything my VP9 (9mm) won’t eat.

 

[TriStar]

I haven’t found anything my VP9 (9mm) won’t eat.

The 3 flange bullet above (HoneyBadger) gets it choked about 1/20 maybe. it cycles the 4 flange version no problem. Awesome carry ammo, both of them.

 

[TriStar]

The 3 flange bullet above (HoneyBadger) gets it choked about 1/20 maybe. it cycles the 4 flange version no problem. Awesome carry ammo, both of them.

Update: the VP9 ran through 40 rounds of the Underwood four flange round nonstop today. The G3C ran through 24 with no issues, and 12 or something of ball ammo.
I was in a bit of a hurry at ten yards and some of this COM holes were just seeing the Underwood out the door at five yards. Some head shots out of the VP at ten yards. The HoneyBadger is still my favorite but the Underwood is pretty bad ass too. 40 rounds is also light and low recoil, pleasantly loud. Yeah there were some wingers but whatever I was far enough away and running through the stuff fast to check for dependability at speed. All the holes are 9mm.

 

[Pandaz3]

I might have to see if I can get a .40 S&W extractor for a G3C as I have a Spare 40 barrel and RSA for my G2C PT-140, then I could buy a G3C and have it in 40, my preferred carry round.

 

[ShaneLiberty]

After my first day of shooting this thing at the range, I came back home and found this forum, and it's been very helpful. Thanks to all who've contributed to it!

Having said that here's a comment I left on the Youtube channel Christian Gun Owner - Mark Rogers
And his two videos on this gun entitled Taurus G3 9mm Pistol - First Review - Multiple Fails

(He did a second video which by the end shows which ammo worked consistently, and which were very problematic for anyone interested)

Love your videos on this gun and appreciate all the time you put into them, as well as the tests on all the ammo! Unfortunately I had A LOT of failure to feed issues our first time out at the range today, and hence why I'm going through videos and forums to try and find the problem. (To be clear I watched both videos entirely)

I was using:

Fiocchi 9mm, 115gr, ball - Jammed almost every single shot
Sierra 9mm, 124gr, hp - Jammed roughly every third to every other shot

As a very new gun owner who got this as my first pistol I really don't think I could recommend this gun to people. I've been all over videos and forums and other than your videos the former seemed to all praise it (hence why I felt confident buying it) the forums are citing all kinds of endless causes that might be contributing to these failure to feed issues with this model Taurus G3. And trying to figure out what it might be among so many potential problems, especially as someone who's knowledge of guns is very nascent, it has become exhausting, and are too many to cite here! (I'd have to go through the forums I was on for this model to list all the "Oh try this seems to help", "Maybe do that, helped mine a little" type replies - who wants that headache when all they want is a good self-defense piece they can for the most part rely on?)

Yes I get price and yes I understand that I can take a few steps such as clean, oil, and polish this gun etc. But there's far too many issues with it out of the box and out the gate. And to me it's like going out and buying a car, even if you're getting a good deal on it, only to have it fail right away on the freeway with people saying, "Oh yeah, you can't just drive that car, you have to get your hands under the hood and do this and do that yourself in order to get it to work properly. Oh, and you can only give it this specific type of fuel from this specific gas station." Yes, of course I plan on cleaning my guns and maintaining them. But to have these kinds of problems and failures so immediately, really?

I bought my girl her first gun and it was the SCCY CPX 1, (9mm compact) And as stubborn as the slide might be to rack, and as long and hard a 'snap' of a trigger pull it has, the thing has yet to fail us at the range ever, and I can trust it will protect us if needed! It's worked right out of the box and we haven't had a problem since and didn't have to get on forums to hear a whole litany of complaints and issues it might be! Nor have we had to systematically go through it and figure out which ammunition works and which don't. I know many makes of guns have all had their issues but I just can't behind this one!

My Dad's a long-haul truck driver all over the nation, and given these horrible acts of violence we see these days—including these mindless 'peaceful protests' where truckers going down the wrong section of freeway have at times been stopped and then pulled out their rigs and assaulted for daring to drive on a highway—he's talking about getting something, and I'm so glad I experience these problems before hand, as I WILL NOT be recommending this to him! The SCCY CPX 1? Sure Dad! Pay $300 (or even less) and take that with you as I think this little sweety will take good care of you!

I guess it's a good learner's first time mistake, and in still wanting to get it to work as best as I can it's going to only motivate me to really get into learning about proper cleaning, as well as polishing the ramp. (Another problem mentioned often on those threads that I'm going to try) But anything that has this many problems right out of the gate (seriously read the forums on the armory life forum site on the Taurus G3 and you'll understand) I just can't recommend it and won't to newer gun users!

When I first started looking into a Taurus as my first time pistol, people seemed to all say something to the effect of, "Oh yes, Taurus has had some major issues of reliability in the past with their semi-autos, but they've improved, especially with their G-Series". Sadly, I absolutely cannot, and will not be saying the same of this gun and company!

This is by no means any negative reflection on you though, brother! I found your videos after all these failures we had at the range today as I was trying to find answers. But for me personally, I'm seriously regretting my purchase and wish I had spent more on quality right out the gates, and I'd have to say if you're out there wondering if you should get one, meh, unless you really know guns and like to get into the details of them right away, I'd stick with something way more reliable.

Again I so appreciate both your videos and thorough reviews, and gave them both thumbsup and will becoming back to see and learn more in the world of guns from you! Thanks bro!

 

[Keystone19250]

After my first day of shooting this thing at the range, I came back home and found this forum, and it's been very helpful. Thanks to all who've contributed to it!

Having said that here's a comment I left on the Youtube channel Christian Gun Owner - Mark Rogers
And his two videos on this gun entitled Taurus G3 9mm Pistol - First Review - Multiple Fails

(He did a second video which by the end shows which ammo worked consistently, and which were very problematic for anyone interested)

Love your videos on this gun and appreciate all the time you put into them, as well as the tests on all the ammo! Unfortunately I had A LOT of failure to feed issues our first time out at the range today, and hence why I'm going through videos and forums to try and find the problem. (To be clear I watched both videos entirely)

I was using:

Fiocchi 9mm, 115gr, ball - Jammed almost every single shot
Sierra 9mm, 124gr, hp - Jammed roughly every third to every other shot

As a very new gun owner who got this as my first pistol I really don't think I could recommend this gun to people. I've been all over videos and forums and other than your videos the former seemed to all praise it (hence why I felt confident buying it) the forums are citing all kinds of endless causes that might be contributing to these failure to feed issues with this model Taurus G3. And trying to figure out what it might be among so many potential problems, especially as someone who's knowledge of guns is very nascent, it has become exhausting, and are too many to cite here! (I'd have to go through the forums I was on for this model to list all the "Oh try this seems to help", "Maybe do that, helped mine a little" type replies - who wants that headache when all they want is a good self-defense piece they can for the most part rely on?)

Yes I get price and yes I understand that I can take a few steps such as clean, oil, and polish this gun etc. But there's far too many issues with it out of the box and out the gate. And to me it's like going out and buying a car, even if you're getting a good deal on it, only to have it fail right away on the freeway with people saying, "Oh yeah, you can't just drive that car, you have to get your hands under the hood and do this and do that yourself in order to get it to work properly. Oh, and you can only give it this specific type of fuel from this specific gas station." Yes, of course I plan on cleaning my guns and maintaining them. But to have these kinds of problems and failures so immediately, really?

I bought my girl her first gun and it was the SCCY CPX 1, (9mm compact) And as stubborn as the slide might be to rack, and as long and hard a 'snap' of a trigger pull it has, the thing has yet to fail us at the range ever, and I can trust it will protect us if needed! It's worked right out of the box and we haven't had a problem since and didn't have to get on forums to hear a whole litany of complaints and issues it might be! Nor have we had to systematically go through it and figure out which ammunition works and which don't. I know many makes of guns have all had their issues but I just can't behind this one!

My Dad's a long-haul truck driver all over the nation, and given these horrible acts of violence we see these days—including these mindless 'peaceful protests' where truckers going down the wrong section of freeway have at times been stopped and then pulled out their rigs and assaulted for daring to drive on a highway—he's talking about getting something, and I'm so glad I experience these problems before hand, as I WILL NOT be recommending this to him! The SCCY CPX 1? Sure Dad! Pay $300 (or even less) and take that with you as I think this little sweety will take good care of you!

I guess it's a good learner's first time mistake, and in still wanting to get it to work as best as I can it's going to only motivate me to really get into learning about proper cleaning, as well as polishing the ramp. (Another problem mentioned often on those threads that I'm going to try) But anything that has this many problems right out of the gate (seriously read the forums on the armory life forum site on the Taurus G3 and you'll understand) I just can't recommend it and won't to newer gun users!

When I first started looking into a Taurus as my first time pistol, people seemed to all say something to the effect of, "Oh yes, Taurus has had some major issues of reliability in the past with their semi-autos, but they've improved, especially with their G-Series". Sadly, I absolutely cannot, and will not be saying the same of this gun and company!

This is by no means any negative reflection on you though, brother! I found your videos after all these failures we had at the range today as I was trying to find answers. But for me personally, I'm seriously regretting my purchase and wish I had spent more on quality right out the gates, and I'd have to say if you're out there wondering if you should get one, meh, unless you really know guns and like to get into the details of them right away, I'd stick with something way more reliable.

Again I so appreciate both your videos and thorough reviews, and gave them both thumbsup and will becoming back to see and learn more in the world of guns from you! Thanks bro!

First welcome to the forum, although I own a Taurus revolver I don’t own or have any intention to buy a Taurus semi auto, that being said you started out saying you are a new gun owner and this is your first gun and you are having issues with it, have you taken a moment to wonder if it’s not the gun? There are many threads on the forum that talk about how some guns don’t like certain ammunition, you mentioned trying two brands but there are a lot more out there. There is also something called limp wrist where the shooter is not holding the gun firmly enough during shooting causing the firearm to lose energy during recoil which would directly result in a failure to feed scenario. Just my thoughts.
Good luck.
Edit. I’m not saying the gun is not at fault as I have read that many forum members don’t have much good to say about Taurus semi auto’s I’m just looking at from a different perspective.