New Taurus PT1911
 

Finally, after a year of pondering, reading reports and forums, I broke down and got the PT1911 last night. Man do they put the anti rust crap on them! I took it home and stripped it down and gave it a thorough cleaning with gunscrubber and then re-oiled it down. The trigger is sweet. Can't wait to try it out this weekend.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Hope you love yours as much as I do mine. This is the best value gun deal on the market today!

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Don't forget to come back and give us an update after you've shot it some!

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

I'll give you my update right now, Vaughn............one bigjagged hole per clipful off the bench. No jams. They shoot as good as they look and that was with a box of reloads I had laying around for the last ten years.:)

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

OK here is the report. I went out yesterday and today. Shot a total of 400 rounds through the Taurus. Not a single hiccup. No jam, no stovepipes. It ran flawlessly.
Yesterday - At first I was a bit disappointed at the POI. Both factory and my handloads were printing 4" low and 3/4" right at 10 yds. But grouping well. Moved the target out to 25 yds, moved the sight to the left slightly. I adjusted my sight picture (rather than having the front sight dot directly on top of the rear sight dot I leveled the top of the front sight with the top of the rear. Firing all 8 rounds from the mag produced a hole a bit bigger than and inch with 2 flyers taking out the top half of the orange dot I was using for my aiming point.
Today - Pretty much the same as yesterday. The first 3 mags were shot from the rest with the proper sight picture and pretty much obliterated the orange dot. Enough of the shooting at paper. The next 3 boxes of ammo were simply playing. Someone was out shooting their shotgun and left a bunch of empth 12 ga hulls laying around. I tossed them up on the dirt bank and between 20 and 25 yds proceeded to hit them and send them flying or burying them in the bank on a regular basis.
I was impressed. Comfortable, nice trigger, accurate and reliable. Only problem is I spent the next 1/2 hour or so picking up all my brass to get ready for the next session.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Didn't fair out so well today. Still no malfunctions but I had a lot more flyers than before. It was probably me. I had some kind of junk in my eye that just wouldn't come out and couldn't get a clear sight picture. And the sun in my eyes shooting so late in the day. Still, Shooting at 25 yds, I can't argue with 5 mags full (40 rds) in a 5" group counting all the flyers. There was a huge hole about 1 1/2" in the target and no telling how many went through there.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Sounds like a pretty good testimonial to me, Bronko. Let me give you my address and you can mail me all that nasty once fired brass.:D

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

No way Pavomesa. I reload too. What load do you use? My load is 6.2 gr of Herco with a 230 gr FMJ. The POI is exactly the same as the Federal factory load. I was at the local gun shop and got a Fobus holster for the 1911 and picked up 2 boxed of Fed ammo for 12.69 a box. The way I figured it, it cost me about .24 per round handloading. So I got 100 pcs of brass for about $2.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Glad to see the good range reports. I picked up my new PT1911 in stainless three weeks ago, but it has been too damn cold here in Iowa to hit the range. Today it's about 5 degrees with 40mph winds. I'm no pansy, but I'm no fool either. I agree Bronko, it was pretty grungy on receipt, mine even had some machining fines in it. But I gave it a thorough cleaning and a new set of grips (crappy plastic ones come standard) and I'm ready to hit the range as soon as the weather cooperates.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Bronko - I haven't tried Herco but I like it as a pistol powder. What I am using is 6.5 grs of Unique and the 230 gr cast. It shot exactly where the sights said it should straight out of the box. I would rank this as pretty much a "factory duplication load." I've loaded up to 6.6 Unique with this but felt like it was just a wee bit hotter than necessary. In fact, I've just loaded some at 6.4 grs I want to try. I'm sure I'll end up sticking with the 6.4/6.5 load.

However, I'm also considering ordering some 200 gr truncated cone bullets. Some of the .45s I've owned over the years REALLY loved this bullet. I even had one odd 1911 government pistol that this was the only bullet it would even feed 100% of the time no matter what I tried with the round nose. Go figure.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

USNREThunter - Yeah, you navy guys are pansys!!! Just kidding. Mine came with the rosewood grips andthe black plastic ones.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Thank you for the updates. I may have to spring for one of these myself. I have wanted a 1911 but haven't wanted the price tag to go with it. I have a couple of Taurus (9mm & 357) and have been very happy with them so this seems like a good step.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

I can't complain about the Taurus so far. The only comment is the finish. Its not the bright blued finish found on the higher end models like Kimber, Colt, etc. but this is going to be a working gun anyway. A mirror blued finish would be nice but who cares. Beauty is only skin deep right?

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Well, the blue could be glossier but I just ordered this set of grips from Esmeraldato make up for it and these are no way her best looking set. And actually the Kimber basic blue on 1911's is the same basic finish. It takes a lot of time topolish a gun up for high gloss blue.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

I too have been eyeing them. I have a serious opportunity to buy one off of a very good friend of mine that has had 1 box of shells through it for $375, I'd assume y'all would encourage me to jump on it, right?

Based on your testimonies I don't think I'd go wrong.

Thanks!

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Yep, get jumpin'

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Your friend's loss is gonna be your gain. Grab it.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

I bought it this morning and I can't wait to get out and shoot it!

I was just wondering what y'all would recommend as far as factory loads for casual back-yard plinking?

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

Welcome to the club! I don't think of the .45 as much of a back yard plinker unless you've got a substantial back yard. If so, just get the cheapest round nose stuff you can get. I got a box of Winchester 230 ball ammo, 100 rds for $28. But mostly I'll be shooting all cast in mine...either 230 gr RN or 200 gr SWC.

If you reload, 45s can be a little tricky. Be sure you get your seating depth correct and be sure you TAPER CRIMP after loading. Any problems let us know.

Did you get a blue or stainless PT?

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

I do have a pretty damn big back yard. I have about 25 acres so it's not really a problem. I'll look for those Winchesters, that's pretty reasonable!


I bought the blue model. I've already been looking at holsters and grips. I can't believe how many different grips you can buy for them, and some of them are pretty damn ugly!

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

First off - congrats on a good buy. I got the Fobus c-21 holster for mine. Its nice and its comfortable. As for ammo I picked up a couple of boxes of Federal's American Eagle 230 FMJ. I bought them mostly for the brass and they shoot the same POI as my handloads. Cost was about $15 a box.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

LTBG, I should get my grips today from Esmeralda and hopefully they will be as nice as the photo above that I posted. The thing I like about her site is she puts her grips up and you pick the exact one you buy...rather than just give someone your CC number and hope they grab you a decent set of grips. Will see and report back.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

i just got inot the 1911 scene. got me a PT1911. love it. how do i get in touch with Esmeralda to get a set of those beautiful grips. those are little masterpieces.

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

jboy,

Go here: http://www.esmeralda.cc/
Find a set you like
Click "Purchase"

RE: New Taurus PT1911
 

You guys got gipped! I got the black plastic grips as well as the rosewood grips with my PT. But soon will not have either set on. I have a set of Crimson Trace laser grips coming in any day. I may have to shorten the right hand safety a little to accomodate the grips but that's no big deal.