Winner winner chicken dinner.
Give this one a look fellas. It's the Glock everyone wishes Glock would make.
Likes:
Thin
Light
Measurably less snap than Kel Tec PF-9 or Kahr PM9
Field Strips like a Glock
'Striker' fired trigger like a Glock
7 + 1
Fully adjustable rear sight (windage and elevation)
Good trigger
Dislikes:
I hate plastic sights - hate them on Glock, Kel Tec and this
Wish the sight channel would have been kept standardized w/other Taurus pistols so there'd be night sights already available
Indifferent:
Second strike capability - pull the trigger a second time if a dud primer is encountered and striker will recock and strike
Slide mounted thumb safety
Chamber loaded indicator
On paper, the Kel Tec PF-9 beats this in weight and thickness.
I owned both until recently when I sold the last of my two PF-9s. I tested them side by side for the last few weeks.
Accuracy with the 709 was really really impressive. Certainly outshoots me, and if I can find my targets I'll post performance pics subsequently.
When carried IWB in holster, thickness and weight felt the same to me.
If you can stand carrying the KT with the belt clip and not in a holster, it will be noticeably thinner due to the lack of holster material, but I could never get used to the naked weapon against my skin and I don't often wear undershirts.
Both are at the large end for pocket riding, but in cargo shorts it can be done. Weight difference is noticed here, but is slight, and disappears when you're not consciously focusing on it.
Either the KT or Taurus ride IWB or in pocket hugely better than a subcompact Glock IMO.
For the record, I like Kel Tecs. The PF-9 trigger although not heavy, was just too divergent from the Glock style trigger I'm more accustomed to, the 709 fits the bill.
At ~ $350, if Taurus gets this marketed the way it deserves to be and people actually carry and shoot these and not just fixate on paper stats, I predict this is going to take huge market share away from the Kel-Tec and Kahr polymer nines.