Taurus PT1911 or alternatives?

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holycrikey

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Well, to start, I'm wary of Taurus customer support. I've heard of past problems. However, with the arrival of their new 1911 framed firearm, I am very very close to buying one, especially with the price tag it has.

Now, I've never fired a 1911 framed handgun, I'll admit it. I've fired Beretta's and HK's and Glocks and Springfields and S&W's, and I own a Walther P99. But for some reason, I simply haven't known anyone who has a 1911 for me to try. I've held them and have been impressed, so now it'll be my next handgun purchase.

Now, I have heard that the Taurus is not a good platform for those who wish to modify and tweak their 1911 down the road. But, as I'm a poor college student, this seems like a fantastic deal for the bells and whistles you get, and I'm hoping it'll get me a good feel for this classic frame.

So, with that, any comments? Any comments from owners would be especially appreciated.

Any opinions on alternatives in the sub-$700 price range? I've thought about a Springfield Mil-Spec 1911, but that too is still a bit on the end of my budget.
 
Get a Rock Island. $349. Works great, I have 2. The only mod I made was putting in a Wolff 17.5lb spring, and everything has been perfect ever since.
 
I have owned a PT1911 for a few months now. I own half a dozen other 1911s costing much more than the Taurus. Operation has been flawless with mixed ammo (from my reject ammo bucket) and several factory loads of various bullet designs. In my opinion I think the PT is a much better entry level 1911 than the Mil Spec. The PT has a few of the nicieties that we have come to expect from the higher priced lines. It is a true 1911, with internals simular to a series 80 Colt. Aftermarket parts are available from the usual sources and "drop in" just like they do in other 1911s. For about $500 out the door, you can own a decent 1911 in the PT. Or, you can buy a Mil Spec and put a couple hundred bucks in it to replace the sights, hammer, beaver tail, and install an ambi safety to trick it out like the PT, minus the front strap stippling of course. My advice is, if you want a 1911 pretty much ready to go out of the box, give the Taurus a try.
str1
 
You could always get a used stainless Colt and add wanted features as money permits. Really, there are lots of good used 1911's for under $600.

A new Taurus or RIA won't hold their value, but a used Springer, Colt, or Kimber will. If it's your first time with a 1911, that may be a consideration.

If you still want new with all the features, the RIA tactical is about $450. Forged slide, cast frame, good warranty and customer support.

Oh yeah, set aside about $50 for a couple of good mags.
 
You might also try out Dan Wesson, it might not be new but it will have all the trim. Still I don't think u can go wrong with a Taurus
 
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I have not shot one, but I understand it comes pretty loaded already. What is left to tweak? Buy it, shoot it, enjoy it, and if it is not enough, save your money and buy a custom one from Clark, Brown or any of the multitudes of custom builders.
 
+1 for the new RIA Tactical.

Last gun show Taurus PT-1911 was $530(one)-$580(many), for $75-100 more you can look for Kimber or Colt basic models. The RIA Tacticals were still under $400. The first PT-1911 I saw was $450, if they were still in that range it'd be a tougher choice, but seems Taurus has a hit on their hands and the prices have jumped up to being too close to list for my tastes. Personally I dislike the Heine "straight-8" sights, much preferring the Novak's on the RIA (or the Kimber Novak style)

Other than finish and a slight bit more trigger takeup (really only noticeable if you put them side by side and look for it), either of my RIA Tactical (I've a pair, once could be a fluke) hold up very well against my 2X+ more expensive Kimber TLE. Not that there is anything wrong with the business-like finish on the RIA.

IMHO the only thing you'll need to change on the RIA is the grips, but since everyone has their own idea of what's best, this is a great place for the maker to skimp since so many folks want to change them out anyways.

Both my RIA are fine with any mag that works in my Colts or Kimbers. The ACT/Novak that they came with worked fine and also worked in my newest Colt.

--wally
 
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I have the PT1911 and absolutely love it. Great gun, I paid a little less than $500 and looking back would gladly pay $600 for it. Unlike some fancy 1911's this thing will eat every kind of ammo and bullet type I feed it, and shoot'em accurately too.
 
I think that the taurus is the way to go, like you said you get alot of 1911 fully loaded for the price point i don't see why not to go with one.
 
From what I have heard the Taurus PT1911 is a pretty good gun but the prices are starting to climb as it becomes more popular . I have read a dozen or so threads where owns said the finish is already starting to wear though , considering it hasn't been on the market a year yet that isn't good .

I would get a Charles Daly EFS "yes I have one and a Daly EMS also" the Daly has all the features of the Taurus except the Heine sights .

Neither of mine have any finish wear and the EFS is two years old and has been shot over a 1,000 rounds easily .

If you get a Daly or an RIA full size do yourself a favor and replace the stock recoil spring with a new Wolf 16# one , the factory springs are a bit weak and you might have problems with Fail to Return to Battery with them .

Other than that the Dalys are still running about $50-100 less than the Taurus 1911's yet are worth just as much .
 
Now, I have heard that the Taurus is not a good platform for those who wish to modify and tweak their 1911 down the road.

That's not what I've heard, in the least bit. What I've heard is that it's very much like the Norinco 1911s in terms of fit, and it's made with good metal. Not only that, but it also has many of the after-market features which people would be likely to add, and the Taurus lock is a fairly trivial change, in the scheme of things.

A prominent gun forum member (in many forums) posted about it on my forums here:

Ok, so I tried it with these .45's and a Springfield Target 5" that is not in the picture. It is completely interchangeable so far. The Norinco slide was a little tight, but otherwise it swapped all parts with an Auto Ord, two Springfields and a Norinco. The Kimber has no bushing, plus the slide channels are too fat for any other guns slide. It's slide rattles around on other guns. The Springfields slides had less play than the Taurus's, but that is not saying much, as it is very little.
 
I have had my PT1911 for about 3 months. 1000+ rounds of all kinds of jacketed and lead bullets with zero malfunctions or problems. I own 4 Colts and I carry the Taurus. You can get a basic models of Colts or Kimbers for little more and spend a lot more for the bells and whistles you get with the Taurus. I paid $477 tax, NICS, out the door. The basic Springfield models are less and are nice guns but the Taurus package is nice. It's similar to the waythe Japanese sold cars in the late 60s and early 70s. everything is standard. No options. It's actually cheaper to make this way.
 
I have three, all were under 450 out the door. Charles Petty who knows more about .45's than most, considers it the buy of the year in a 1911. All of mine have worked dead nuts, the one I have played with takes aftermarket parts perfectly and as far as I can tell it is the best put together 1911 for under a grand now available.
 
Now, I have heard that the Taurus is not a good platform for those who wish to modify and tweak their 1911 down the road. But, as I'm a poor college student, this seems like a fantastic deal for the bells and whistles you get, and I'm hoping it'll get me a good feel for this classic frame

Why? They can have parts interchanged just like any other 1911, and have a forged frame and slide from good metal, so that is better than most.

I know your position though. I wanted one when they could be found for $450 or so, but didn't have the cash at the time. Now I have the cash, they've gone up about 80 bucks and just out of my pricerange again.
 
I'm interested in the Taurus PT1911 also, just can't seem to find any to look at in person ! And Bud's had a stainless Thompson 1911 custom that looked great last week for $ 575.00, and I've yet to see the stainless Taurus. Any opinions on the AO Thompson ?
 
I agree with BigO01...use the cash savings towards a holster,ammunition etc. Armscor makes the slides,frames and barrels for RIA, Charles Daly and STI Spartan. Some may say that cast isn't as good as forged....although all my Ruger revolvers are cast and are excellent...to each their own...The comment about resale is a valid point...a 60+ year old copy( in good shape)of a Colt 1911 is worth a lot of $$
 
You can tell that Taurus is either loved or hated. Everyone that actually owns a PT1911 has nothing bad to say, and everyone else that paid too much for their 1911's curse the PT1911.

I carry my PT1911 with confidence because it is well constructed and accurate. Sure the finish isn't the best, but I'm not too concerned because I planned on refinishing it. I feel that this pistols is a very good buy, especially when I paid $449 for it in December 06.

I would say it would be difficult to find a better 1911 for the same money. I originally wanted to buy a Norinco or RIA and have it worked on, but the gunsmith/gun shop owner said that the PT1911 was g2g out of the box. I would have to spend a lot more money to get the Norinco & RIA to compare to the PT1911. It was a good choice on my part and I don't regret it at all.
 
I am waiting for my Springfield 1911

I looked around for a long time and tried out a few, but when I had an opportunity to shoot an older Springfield 1911 at the range I was hugged. I have very little experience shooting 1911’s and there is probably a lot of nice 1911 guns on the market, I would have liked trying a Kimber as well, but never got the chance.

So I ordered a Springfield 1911 Loaded Long (6” barrel), and I hope, I made the right choice.:rolleyes:
 
Gun-Tests had a couple issues with the PT1911 they tested.

One was reliability problems with the factory mags - cleared up using mags from the other 1911s being reviewed.

Another was accuracy. If memory serves, repeatability wasn't bad but POI != POA with any of the several brands of ammo tested. I'd hazard a guess that the amount it was off at 15 yards wouldn't be noticable to someone like me.

Gun-Tests gets knocked on occasion but they state why they rate as they do and you can draw your own conclusions. If you replace mags anyway (or they just had a bad batch) and don't mind a little time with a drift and maybe a file, it looked like a pretty good deal.

The STI Spartan is close to the price point - don't know anything about that guy though.
 
I like gun tests, but I thought the grade was lower than it deserved to be because both problems were pretty simple fixes. While it sucks that the mags didn't work all that great for their sample, thats an all too common problem with many mags from many different guns. It's an easy fix, and Taurus will send you new ones for free. As it happens, my mags work like champs. The POI/POA issue is also fairly easy to resolve, although a tad more complicated. The sight is adjustable, but they were shooting low, as I recall. It is possible that they were not using the straight-eights correctly. The first time I used them, it was a little wierd, although now I wish I had them on every gun I own. It is also possible that they just happened to get the one that shoots low. Mine is very accurate. I draw my conclusions based off of my experience in this particular case, and I flat out love my gun.

Also, I have personally never even seen an STI gun!!!!
 
Do they all come with adjustable sights? I can't think why they'd mark it down if they could've remedied it with just a turn of a screw.
 
Do they all come with adjustable sights? I can't think why they'd mark it down if they could've remedied it with just a turn of a screw.
no they are all heini straigh eight, they don't make an adjustable sight model. you could drift the sights if you needed to.
 
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