Factory Tour: Taurus is Thriving in Southwest Georgia

As part of our regular Select Fire series, Guns.com packed for the Peach State and got a behind-the-scenes tour of the new – and growing – Taurus factory.

A Long, Increasingly American, History

With a company lineage that stretches back to the 1920s, Forjas Taurus and now Taurus Armas S.A. has been making revolvers since at least 1942, greatly expanding in the 1950s and 60s to the point that they had three factories in Brazil. International partnerships and agreements with Beretta in the 1970s and Smith & Wesson in the 1980s continued to grow the reach of the company, as it filled both consumer and law enforcement/military contracts throughout Latin America.

Americans first started to see double-action Taurus revolvers on dealers’ shelves in the 1970s, at a time when the wheelgun was perhaps in its golden age of marketing. Customers soon found these interesting imports were of good quality – and at a competitive price. To meet the demand, by 1981 Taurus International Manufacturing was launched in Miami, and the spicy South Florida city would be home to the company's U.S.-based operations for almost 40 years.

Taurus ads 1970s 1980s — Americans have been trusting Taurus revolvers and pistols since the 1970s.

Still, most guns were coming into the U.S. from Brazil, with Miami doing little manufacturing. That shifted steadily over the years, and production ramped up in Florida. According to data from federal regulators, in 2007 Taurus only made 9,850 pistols – primarily small-framed .22s and .25s that could not be imported under regulations on sporting handguns – in the U.S.

Just a decade later in 2018, this had grown to 94,600 American-made handguns in a much wider array of calibers. And that isn't even counting the massive 187,104 mostly rimfire revolvers made in 2018 by its Miami-based Heritage Manufacturing subsidiary, a brand the company acquired in 2012.

Seeking to further expand, Taurus looked to Georgia.

Moving to the Peach State

In April 2018, Taurus announced a shift of its U.S. headquarters to a new facility in Bainbridge, Georgia. The initial $22.5 million investment looked to generate as many as 300 new jobs, while bringing a core of existing employees from the shuttering Florida facility to retain the knowledge base and skill set developed over the preceding four decades. Further, the move meant work for other firms in the area – for instance, Trulock Chokes in nearby Whigham, Georgia, has long performed subcontracting for Taurus's Heritage line.

Taurus factory under construction — Construction on the new 200,000-square-foot facility began in September 2018, promising 180,000 square feet of manufacturing space and another 20,000 square feet of administrative space. (Photos: Taurus)

By August 2019, the company announced that the first “Bainbridge” marked gun had rolled off its assembly line.

"We are very proud that Taurus USA has selected our community,” said Rick McCaskill, executive director of the Development Authority of Bainbridge and Decatur County, said in 2018 of the planned move. "This has been a team effort, and we stand as a team ready to make the construction and staffing of their facility smooth and seamless."

More than four years after those remarks by McCaskill, we caught up with him to see how the relationship between Taurus and the local area has blossomed in the meantime.

"There were many, many empty shops on the square here," McCaskill told Guns.com in a meeting in downtown Bainbridge. "All the development has happened basically since Taurus came."

Bainbridge Georgia collage — Bainbridge has a vibrant town center that is about as American as can be and has seen its population grow from 12,697 in 2010 to 14,468 in 2020.

"It's been good, it's been real good," said McCaskill, "and really opened our door up to a lot of other businesses."

Checking out the New Factory

Brazil and US Flags at Taurus factory — The plant maintains Taurus's traditional Brazilian roots. While a lot of firearms are still made there, particularly centerfire revolvers, the company is moving forward with an American flavor.

Taurus factory assembly line — The new factory is slated to employ over 300.

A new Executive series wheelgun for 2023 is the Taurus Judge, which is capable of exceptional accuracy out to 100 yards with the right .45 Colt load.

Taurus G3 series — The G3 line, the company's third-generation polymer-framed striker-fired 9mm pistols, is exceedingly popular.

Taurus G3 Tactical — The G3 has also gone tactical in recent months.

As is the new Taurus GX4, its fourth-generation gun. This micro-compact still boasts a 13+1 magazine capacity and is ideal for carry.

Rossi revolvers — Also new for 2023 is the return of the **Rossi** revolver line. With a separate company history that dates to the 1880s, Taurus acquired Rossi in 2008.

Taurus TX22 barrels — Taurus is increasingly making sure the Bainbridge facility is constructing more components and firearms in Georgia, recently shifting to producing TX 22 barrels domestically.

Taurus TX22 magazines — So many TX 22 parts, such as these magazine bodies.

Taurus TX22 — Speaking of TX 22s, here is the new Compact model, which is optics- and suppressor-ready right out of the box.

Taurus factory coatings — Coatings and finishes are in-house and getting increasingly more complex, with the company using Cerakote robots to ensure uniformity.

Taurus revolver under repair — Warranty and repair work is also done in-house, just off of the assembly line, with most modern models having a lifetime warranty. This is a change from when most of the company's guns were only covered by a one-year warranty.

Heritage revolver — Heritage is the largest revolver maker in the country in terms of quantity, producing no less than 492,584 wheelguns in 2021 alone. The second and third-place makers that year – Ruger (276,015 revolvers) and Smith & Wesson (232,357) – barely exceed that figure combined.

Heritage rifles — Heritage is making moves into the rifle arena as well.

Taurus factory test range — All guns are test-fired as part of the manufacturing process.

Taurus factory — The 73-acre complex, with over 200,000 square feet of space, has lots of room to grow.

But what of productivity? Well, last year's figures are still a trade secret, but according to regulators, the company made 290,780 Taurus-branded handguns along with 505,601 Heritage-branded rifles and revolvers in Bainbridge in 2021.

Even basic math tells you the company is well on its way to making a million firearms a year in Georgia – and just getting started.

–Copy and principal photography by Chris Eger, video by Scott Gara and Ben Philippi, additional photos and video by Paul Peterson.

A Long, Increasingly American, History

Moving to the Peach State

Checking out the New Factory

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