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Tara TM-9: What a Tangled Web of Intrigue for a Crappy Gun (ad-free)
🕑 Added 2023-08-09 12:00:03 +0000 UTCTara Aerospace is an arms factory in Montenegro that was privatized around 2013 or 2014, and a major stake in it was purchased by one Heinrich Thomet (formerly of Brugger & Thomet, and then the basis for a character in "War Dogs"). The first firearm the new Tara produced was the TM-9, and it was not very good.
The basic design concept is fine - it's a modern style of service pistol; polymer-framed, striker-fired, and chambered for 9x19mm. It has interchangeable grip backstraps and a rail for a light (no optics cut; it was too early for that). Where it differs most obviously from other options is the use of a true double-action-only trigger. The striker is fully forward at rest, and the trigger pull is responsible for fully cocking and then releasing it. This makes for a very long and heavy trigger, but it also simplifies the trigger mechanics and obviates the need for a manual or trigger safety.
The first production of TM-9 pistols was not of particularly good quality, but the factory needed money and so a batch was sold to a European distributor. They were not intended to end up in the US, but did end up purchased by Century, who brought them into the country and then discovered that they basically didn't run reliably. Slides not going fully into battery was a major issue in particular. While trying to figure out how to deal with this, Century secured a deal to sell them all to Gander Outdoors, which planned to have them all overhauled by America's Gunsmith Shop. Before that was completed, though, Gander decided to just abandon gun sales entirely and sold the guns back to Century as a loss.
Some began to get out onto the market, and American buyers were pretty annoyed at the reliability problems (not that you would know it form the generally-positive reviews in the gun press at the time). Having never intended the guns to get to the US, Tara's answer was to declare that the early production guns were actually only intended for use with "rubber bullets" and were never supposed to be sold as live guns at all (https://www.tara-arms.com/pdf/tara-arms_tm9-gen-1-rubber-bullet-use-only.pdf). The gun in this video is specifically listed in their warning by serial number, by the way.
Eventually, Century sold the remaining TM-9s to Centerfire Systems, who is now blowing them out pretty cheaply, with full visibility of this backstory (for the record, I acquired this one before the sale to Centerfire). Tara, meanwhile, is trying to sell their newer and presumably better model to Century, who so far refuses to buy any until the "rubber bullet" warning nonsense is removed form Tara's web site.
Comments
The barbecube
Truly one of the guns of all time
Kenneth Crips
Let the gangs in Chicago steal them it might save some lives.
Steven Minniear
The Tara Anything But Perfection .
Wayne S.
Wow! Something that makes a HIghpoint look good.
Regulus
I actually have something to contribute from personal experience for once! I've had this gun for a year. Oddly, some of the mags I received have differences. And there are some machining issues that took some dremeling to resolve. But you are definitely not using the DARE when you are shooting...you won't notice this during dry fire, but when using actual ammo, the trigger reset is only like 3mm...so this shoots very very quickly because the reset is so short. You're allowing the trigger to travel the full 22mm or whatever which is not something I actually do when I fire the gun. Also, you didn't get the full Tara experience ..my box, the one that says Tara Perfection? The rivets that hold it together were RUSTED 😂
Guido Schriewer
good it says perfection on it, huh. slide looks awful hell of a lot like austrian brand. what a bunch of... and once european gunowners got screwed with a lemon on their licenses (at least in germany) it is A PAIN to get out of a mess again! wouldn't buy such oddball JUST because... where the hell get magazins normal priced for that? been there done that. I don't have any issue with a DAO but with lemons. can one stage the trigger as with a revolver?
Douglas Biegel
A pain.
Mrgunsngear
Interesting backstory for sure
Thomas Batha
If I understand this correctly, the trigger pull is heavy for every shot, not just the first one? The older S&W semis left the hammer cocked after the slide cycled once. On the plus side, since this gun is out of battery on every shot, at least they designed it so it would not fire out of battery. Can't wait to get one.
