Taurus Report
OK, I’ve been hesitant to write a review of the new Taurus 1911 for fear of sounding like a gushing school boy after his first, …er, oh, never mind.
Anyway, I have had a fairly long (better then 40 year) association with the 1911. During that time I’ve owned more than a few ranging from $200 to $2000+ guns. (Note, this is in current dollars as I remember when new Colts were under $100.) However, as much as I like the 1911, I have to admit that many of the current production guns leave a lot to be desired and understand why many of the younger generation fail to appreciate the old war horse. During the last 30 years I have had very few new 1911s run as they should out of the box. Yes, they normally worked after “break-in” and with some tweaking but even then 100% performance was usually dependent on specific magazines and ammo. This is in direct contrast to the dozens of Sigs, Glocks, Berettas, CZs, HKs etc. that have passed through my hands.
This brings me to the new Taurus PT-1911. I know there are many Taurus distracters, I myself have written about the problems I encountered with my only Taurus revolver, but this gun intrigued me as it is one of the few 1911s on the market to use 100% in house designed and produced parts. This gives Taurus several advantages over other competitors at this price point. Most mid-line manufactures build guns by installing a bunch of sub-contracted, Indian manufactured, MIM parts into an imported or domestically produced 1911 frame/slide assembly. This leaves the gun maker little control as to overall dimensional and individual part QC. This lack of dimensional control leads to the tolerance stacking and reliability issues we see in many of the new 1911s. Examples of this include, slide stops too short to engage followers or too long hitting feeding rounds; extractor hooks too long/short; firing pin stops loose in slides and/or extractor allowing clocking; etc. The makers of these individual parts may do a great job but when part “A” is installed in frames made by X, Y & Z and has to interface with part “B” which was made by D, E & F you begin to see how important dimensional control is to limiting tolerance stacking and ensuring consistent reliability. There are only two ways to overcome this problem, the first is to hand fit the parts as is done on the custom and to a lesser extent on the semi-custom guns but this method is very cost prohibitive, the second is to take total control of the manufacturing process. By designing and manufacturing all parts in-house, Taurus has ensured that its part “A” will fit its frame and interface with its part “B” consistently with little fitting or variation.
I recently picked up a PT-1911 for $500 OTD. My initial examination was very favorable; the slide/frame fit was very good (tighter than my Colts, equal to my TRP, just slightly looser than my STI and DW CBOB) giving that nice no rattle feeling of quality. The barrel/slide/bushing fit was excellent with no play and very smooth in its locking/unlocking operation. All controls operated crisply with the proper quality feeling snicks & clicks with no over-travel or looseness. The barrel and frame feed ramp was prefect with proper gap and finished mirror bright, actually better than several of my customs. The checkering on the front strap and (unbelievably steel not plastic) MSH is a nice touch on a gun in this price range. The trigger broke cleanly at 4 pounds by my gauge. (Note, for reference this same gauge says my Heinie Custom breaks at 5lb and my STI at 6 lbs so it might be a bit off on the high side.) The sights, although not my favorite, are fine for their intended purpose. They are blocky like the Glocks which I find limiting beyond 15 yards but then again at my age the eyes are more limiting then the sights. The finish, as others have reported, does seem a little thin but no worst then several Sigs I’ve owned and at this level of quality to price ratio I can justify a refinish if required.
On the range the gun performed flawlessly. Over 400 mixed rounds of ball and SWC reloads, factory ball, and an assortment of JHPs fed, fired and ejected flawlessly. A large assortment of magazines was also used during the initial range session. These included the 8 round factory (ACT/Novak copy), Shooting Stars, Devel, CMC Power Mags, Wilson (7 & 8 rd), Colt, and Metalform (Note, the Metalforms came with my DW and were unreliable in it but they worked well in the Taurus.) All the magazines fit, functioned and initiated proper slide lock back when empted.
Accuracy was about what I expect from any production 1911, quarter size 7 yard groups and most 15 yard groups, with the exception of an occasional shooter induced flyer, could be covered with a silver dollar. POA/POI was well regulated and no sight problems (i.e. shooting loose) occurred.
One interesting side note, I have found most 1911s to be rather erratic ejectors but the Taurus seemed very consistent so I tried a little experiment. I placed a 5 gallon plastic bucket about 10 feet away at the 3:30 position and fired 100 rounds. Upon completion I found 89 of the 100 spent cases in the bucket most of the others hit the lip and bounced off. In reality this may not prove a thing but it is the most consistent 1911 ejection pattern I’ve ever seen.
Overall, I think Taurus has a real winner on their hands. This gun runs with the best I’ve seen and shows no pickiness in respect to ammo or magazines. Comparing feature to feature there is no present competition within $200-300 of it. Hopefully, this will be a gun that the 1911 novice can buy and expect the kind of “out of the box” reliability he has become accustom to from the Sigs, Glocks etc. One can only hope.
JAC
