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Thread: Taurus PT1911, feasible 1911 for defense?

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  1. #1
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    Taurus PT1911, feasible 1911 for defense?

    Why the hatred? I've heard of finish, and hammer follow issues but don't other manufacturers 1911 style firearms have their(or had) problems from time to time?

    Aside from all of the Taurus bashing, why do you consider this 1911 a no go? Please provide some substantiation. Please don't post the typical Taurus bashing rhetoric.

    I've not heard of one instance of a 1911 KB from this model.

    ETA: I understand this is a low price point 1911, and will not compete with a 2K 1911.
    Last edited by SW-Shooter; 11-23-09 at 16:31.

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    I have a good friend with one and have had no problems with it. He also have a Kimber Raptor...both nice guns...

    I think PT1911 is a good gun for the money!

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    I wouldn't trust my life to one.

    I've only handled and shot two of them, but based upon the two that I've seen and what I've heard from others they are a fairly roughly assembled hodge-podge of parts.

    A guy at my work bought one to carry on duty to prove to us that you didn't have to spend a lot of a quality 1911. The plunger tube and firing pin stop all promptly fell apart within the first 1,500 rounds. He's now back to carrying the issued M&P.

    When there are much better options out there in the same price area, like the M&P 45 or Glocks, why bother with a gun of questionable quality?
    Last edited by kaltblitz; 11-23-09 at 16:41.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kaltblitz View Post
    I wouldn't trust my life to one.

    I've only handled and shot two of them, but based upon the two that I've seen and what I've heard from others they are a fairly roughly assembled hodge-podge of parts.

    A guy at my work bought one to carry on duty to prove to us that you didn't have to spend a lot of a quality 1911. The plunger tube and firing pin stop all promptly fell apart within the first 1,500 rounds. He's now back to carrying the issued M&P.

    When there are much better options out there in the same price area, like the M&P 45 or Glocks, why bother with a gun of questionable quality?
    I think by merely not owning one, and shooting one twice this is an unqualified opinion. But thank you for the info about the tube and stop. I'd more likely replace a few parts with Wilson or some other company. I'll await the next post from someone that has more experience behind the trigger of a PT1911.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SW-Shooter View Post
    I think by merely not owning one, and shooting one twice this is an unqualified opinion. But thank you for the info about the tube and stop. I'd more likely replace a few parts with Wilson or some other company. I'll await the next post from someone that has more experience behind the trigger of a PT1911.
    A simple thank you would have been good enough. The guy was trying to help you and you cop an attitude. I was going to give you my $.02 based off one used at a friends range as a rental but I think I can do without the attitude.
    Last edited by rubberneck; 11-23-09 at 18:31.

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    By the time you are finished switching out parts with quality replacements, your
    "savings" over a gun with an overall better reputation i.e. Springfield or used Series I Kimber will likely evaporate presuming a new Taurus purchase price of 550 to 600 for a blued gun.

    You have already contemplated a new firing pin stop and plunger tube. i suspect since you will have then gun that far apart, you will likely end up replacing the Taurus unique hammer with the key lock built inside of it. This will mean a bit of work to fit it and to get and /or keep a decent trigger job.

    Since you are replacing the hammer, you might think about replacing all the other internals with some type of matched set.

    I frequent a private board that is populated with the 1911 "gurus of old and some new. The collective universal opinion is the the Taurus 1911 is a good concept that contiues to be marginally executed on its best day.

    YMMV greatly

    david of vcdgrips.com

    FULL DISCLOSURE
    I own 2 1911s, both Kimber Series I guns
    I have only shot one Taurus 1911. It was a POS.
    It has since had 200.00 woth of new parts put it in by a guy who knows a thing or two about 1911s, it is now a marginal gun at best as the good parts only fit/function so so given the outofspectness of the frame, slide etc.
    Last edited by dojpros; 11-23-09 at 19:06.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by SW-Shooter View Post
    I think by merely not owning one, and shooting one twice this is an unqualified opinion. But thank you for the info about the tube and stop. I'd more likely replace a few parts with Wilson or some other company. I'll await the next post from someone that has more experience behind the trigger of a PT1911.
    how much more qualified do you think an opinion on this is going to get?

    because of the name and short, bad reputation, there are probably extremely few people on earth who've put high volumes of ammunition through one/some. so you're not likely to get any SME opinions either way.

    because people don't use weapons that have problems, you're also not likely to get anything more than "i had one, it broke at X round-count, so i stopped using it."

    quality is expensive.. if it's cheap, there's a reason. no manufacturer will produce a quality gun/part and sell it for less than it's worth. thats why all the good gear is expensive, and all the crap gear is cheap. if taurus produced a quality 1911, they would sell it for two to three times the current MSRP.

  8. #8
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    well, my .02...
    I've put about 1K rounds through one since I bought it slightly used over a year ago. I have had no problems or breakages. The trigger is nice and smooth, and I have no complaints so far. I have a couple of Taurus 92's, and while the triggers aren't as crisp on those as the Italian Beretta 92 import guns from a couple years ago (I have a pair of them), the quality on the Taurus 92's has been good also. I haven't had any problems with them either.
    Now granted, when I carry, I carry a small Glock 26 or 31SF because I have a small frame and the 1911 or FS92's would print like hell, but I have the Taurus' sitting around as home defense guns with tac lights on them, and I'd trust them to solve problems that came through the door.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by SW-Shooter View Post
    Why the hatred? I've heard of finish, and hammer follow issues but don't other manufacturers 1911 style firearms have their(or had) problems from time to time?
    Yes, practically every 1911 maker has put out problem guns. The problem here is that Taurus has a long and storied reputation for putting out problematic guns not in the 1911 pattern...which does not boost one's confidence in their ability to produce a reliable and serviceable specimen of probably the hardest extant pistol design to get right.

    Aside from all of the Taurus bashing, why do you consider this 1911 a no go? Please provide some substantiation. Please don't post the typical Taurus bashing rhetoric.
    It's not "rhetoric" to point out that a company has a particularly dismal history of putting out products that don't work very well. Taurus semi-autos have a bad reputation for a reason.


    ETA: I understand this is a low price point 1911, and will not compete with a 2K 1911.
    Then perhaps you're not really understanding the point...

    The foremost 1911 experts on this planet will tell you that if you want a 1911 you can bet your life on, you will have to spend about 2 grand on it. There are a number of reasons why they say this.

    Your thread asks specifically about betting your life on a Taurus 1911. Given that the people who know more about the 1911 platform than anyone else have already given us the advice that a duty quality 1911 STARTS at 1,500-2,000 dollars it seems to me that the question of whether or not the Taurus offering is feasible for self defense has been answered. For playing on the square range anything will do...but for a weapon you could bet your life (or the life of your family) on does it really make sense to try and use a notoriously difficult platform (the 1911) produced by a company with a long history of getting things wrong?
    Last edited by John_Wayne777; 11-24-09 at 07:40.

  10. #10
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    I owned a PT1911 for over a year. It was my first government model and I used it as a match [IDPA, single stack] gun. I found it reliable with my reloads, or any other load for that matter. It was also accurate enough for me. I sold it to fund another project. I got excellent resale value due to its popularity. I can't speak to any other Taurus firearms because I have no other experience.

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