Range Report On My New Stainless Taurus PT-1911 AR

[tex45acp]

Well I finally made it to the range yesterday afternoon with the gun and 300 rounds of different ammunition. If you haven't been watching the weather, it is extremely hot and dry here in south central Texas. Yesterday was no exception. The thermometer at the range showed 102 and 78% humidity. Yuck..so I really was hoping the gun would make my day worthwhile. I started out with 50 rounds each of: Winchester White Box FMJ, Federal FMJ, Mag Tec FMJ, American Eagle FMJ and Winchester SXZ. The last box was my favorite carry ammo Federal 230gr. HydraShok. I shot all groups from a bench, using sandbags as a rest fore and aft. This is not how I usually test my ammo but I wanted some real tests of the guns capability. Most ammo averaged 4"-5" groups with flyers from time to time. I had three failure to extract and one failure to return to battery using the Winchester SXZ, but no problems with the other loads. I cleaned the dirty gun and relubed it before the last group. Lastly I decided to get off the bench for the last 50 and shoot the gun like I would in a home defense situation. The target tells the story. The HydraShoks did as I expected and shot the best of the bunch. In the first 50, I had to make some sight adjustment to the rear sight which was about 3/32" off center. That brought the point of impact to within 1/2" of bullseye. I am happy wih the result, so much that I went by a gun store in the area to pick up some bullets for reloading and in the case they had a Streamlight TLR-2. I mounted it on the rail and did a little haggling over the price until I was happy, and it now has a new permanent home there. I palyed around with it and I have the laser dialed in at 12 yards to point of impact. The light is by far the brightest of any weaponlight I have ever seen. I am a happy camper and now have a new home defense gun, that is going to the range very often.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/mike_seale/TAURUS45002.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/mike_seale/TAURUS45003.jpg

[loupav]

Tex. It seems that you are happy with your new gun. :) If we were any closer I'd ask to meet at the range and check out your PT 1911. I've always been curious about the Taurus 1911's, and now that they have a rail in a stainless model. Wow! The only thing I don't like is the front slide serrations. But it looks like a cool pistol.

You'll be happy with your Stream-light. I have one on a P2000 9mm and have over 3k rounds down the pipe with it and all I need to do is change the batteries and tighten the locking screw from time to time. But it holds it zero well.

[tex45acp]

Tex. It seems that you are happy with your new gun. :) If we were any closer I'd ask to meet at the range and check out your PT 1911. I've always been curious about the Taurus 1911's, and now that they have a rail in a stainless model. Wow! The only thing I don't like is the front slide serrations. But it looks like a cool pistol.

You'll be happy with your Stream-light. I have one on a P2000 9mm and have over 3k rounds down the pipe with it and all I need to do is change the batteries and tighten the locking screw from time to time. But it holds it zero well.

loupav,

If you were any closer I would gladly meet you and let you shoot the gun. I have been happy with all the Taurus firearms I have. They have served me well and I can give nothing but praise of them. I too dislike the front cocking serrations (Grooves on a Taurus) but they seem to be a standard on todays guns. I did have a Rock Island Armory Tactical that did not have them. If that gun had been stainless and had a rail I probably would never have traded for this Taurus. But I did and I am now glad I did.
I do like the Streamlight TRL-2 with the laser. I had been kicking around different ways to add a laser to this gun, even trying the Crimson Trace Grips. If I had gone with them I would have had to trim back the offside thumb safety and that I did not want to do. My next thought was the Guide Rod laser system, but I decided to have something I could completely remove with little or no effort when I did not want it on the gun and the TLR-2 fits the bill quite nicely. The lights power is off the charts as well and that is a big plus for me since this is going to be my main home defense weapon.

tex