Range report: Taurus PT709: brand new

[tooldawg99]

Like many of you others, I had mixed emotions about the Taurus reputation, having previously owned Revolvers and been totally satisfied, but also heard mixed reviews of the auto-loaders.

I was searching for a deep CCW weapon as I live in SOuth Carolina and at times the G26 is just too much gun. I am also an avid Curio and Relic collector, and at time my CCW rotation includes the P64 and the CZ-82. Still, I wanted something lighter and smaller for front pocket carry. I took a close look at the Kel Tek series, but found the fit and finish very lacking. It did not feel good in my hand, although it certainly was small. I really wanted to like the Kel Tek, but after an hour of handling one in the local gun store, I could not bring myself to buy one. It was there that I saw a PT709 and it felt wonderful... polished slide, great fit in the hand, smooth, compact, natural pointing ability... so I bought it.

Then I read horror stories about jamming, FTF, FTE, problem guns being sent back to the factory... had I made a mistake? One session at the range today would tell the tale.

I used the 9MM target ammo I had on hand: Winchester 115gr FMJ. Loaded up the clip straight out of the box. No preliminary cleaning, no oiling, just straight from the box to the range. If there was going to be a problem with this gun, I wanted to know, and I have no time or temperance for a high-maintenance prissy gun that has to be cleaned and oiled in order for it to perform... this is my GLock logic. Glocks go bang every time, and I trust it with my life. Every time, any time, all the time. I wanted the Taurus to have the same standard of reliability or I would get rid of it.

First clip at a B-20 target from 50 yards: all seven shots hit within the 7 ring, but the gun seemed to shoot slightly low and left. The trigger take-up took a little getting used to... lots of pull and then a crisp bang! Loaded up 2 more clips: all within the 7-ring, more centered, but still slightly left of dead-center. That's 21 consecutive shots: no FTF, no FTE. Two more clips: same result: 42 consecutive shots, 100% function.

I then tossed in two mags of older rounds I had loaded in my G26: Golden Saber, and other hollow points: 5 clips: loading in 6 at a time as my fingers are getting sore: total of 72 consecutive rounds and 100% function. I had my daughter fire off a few clips, and she had the same result: 100% feed, 0 malfunctions.

Long story short: we fired about 200 rounds today, several rapid fire to empty the clip, several double tap strings, and had 100% function. No cleaning, no oiling, and no problems. The last pistols I had that had the same result were my G19 and G26.

I intend to clean and lube the gun today, and next outing will be fine-tuning the sights. Will probably move the targets to 20-25 yards for any sight adjusting, although for a CCW, it shoots close enough to POA to be left as is. I already have a nice IWB rig for it, and an ankle Rig from DeSantis. I would not hesitate to take it as a CCW tomorrow. It is much lighter than the G26, conceals much easier as it is barely 1 inch thick at any point, and although the capacity is less than the G26, it seems to go bang every time the trigger is pulled, and I ran at least 3 different brands of ammo in several mags and did not have any failures. Nothing gets much better than that!

For those of you on the fence over this weapon, I can tell you only that I am 100% satisfied and could not be happier with this pistol. It beats the KelTec on virutally every point of consideration, is priced competitively (I paid $329 for mine with the plated slide), and does what a CCW is supposed to do: go bang each and every time you pull the trigger.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[jbum]

Love em that's all I can say...I think your in for a bashin though

[GM]

Glad you enjoy it.

[Rollo]

Glad it's worked out for you. If you get a good one they generally run like a dream. If you get a bad one it's a nightmare. I'm happy you got a good one. I have to admit I do miss that sweet trigger!

[C hawk Glock]

Buy the bull get the horns! haha..... Good luck.... I truly hope this runs well for you. Enjoy!!

[los]

Yep. Mine was good-to-go from the get-go, too.

Congrats.

[SpringerXD]

Glad it's worked out for you. If you get a good one they generally run like a dream. If you get a bad one it's a nightmare. I'm happy you got a good one. I have to admit I do miss that sweet trigger!

But what's good or bad seems to be the magazines. My PT145 was very disappointing until I bought new factory mags. These had different followers and it runs like a top with them.

Taurus seems to be doing a "mix and match" of mag parts at the factory these days.

[Lanner]

Yup. Mine is solid as a rock 600+ rounds through it with no ftfs or ftes except when I had shot way to much dirty ammo through it.

[VBVAGUY]

Glad you are enjoying yours. If I shoot mine this weekend, I will be at about 900 to 1000 rounds without any problems. God Bless :)

[kane4111]

i love mine i carry it everyday!

[searcher 45]

Hope your new gun serves you very well!!!

[BugDude]

I've got 1,000 flawless rounds through mine with no failures of any kind. Accurate and fun to shoot. These little guns are somewhat high maintenance in that they need the factory grease cleaned out, then need to be cleaned every 200 rounds or so, and they can be somewhat ammo sensitive (mine has eaten everything with no problem). I would recomment always chambering a round by locking the slide back, insert loaded mag, and release. When folks have tried to manually chamber a round directly and then released the slide on it, the extractors will break. I think one other poster nailed it in that the mags seem to be where a lot of folks have issues (easy fix). I have one mag that doesn't drop free and one that does. I carry the one that doesn't as my back-up mag and never had any other issues with it. Most extractor problems can be traced back to manually chambering. Just a few things to consider with this little gun. It's a sweet piece if you know what to expect.

[Viper7]

Glad it's worked out for you. If you get a good one they generally run like a dream. If you get a bad one it's a nightmare. I'm happy you got a good one. I have to admit I do miss that sweet trigger!

I totally agree, because I've had both. I bought a 24/7 Pro c 45 last fall, and it has been a wonderful pistol. Ten or twelve rounds mags, fairly easy to belt carry, good trigger, reasonably good accuracy for a 3.33 in barrel, and most of all, not one problem in 500 rounds.

On the basis of the 24/7 performance, [my first Taurus] I bought a PT745 in February. It was a disaster. Forty + FTFeeds in the first 250 rounds, plus a few mag drops. I tried 2 brands of ball and 2 brands of HP's, but it made no difference. I sent my one week old gun to Taurus for repair. They kept it for 5 weeks and 5 days. They replaced the release and solved the mag drops, but it would still FTFeed about every 3rd or 4th round. I sold it back to the store and bought another 45 pistol.

Contrast this CS to my experience with Kahr. I had a minor, nonfunctional problem with a PM45 I had bought used. I called Kahr and they said that they would have it picked up. Not only did they repair the problem on a used gun, but they replaced the recoil assy, polished the ramp, tested it, and had it back in my hands in 5 days. That's CS!!

[Takedown]

First clip at a B-20 target from 50 yards: all seven shots hit within the 7 ring, but the gun seemed to shoot slightly low and left.

Ae you saying that you were shooting at a target 150 Feet away?

I moved the target back to 10 yards (30 ft) the other day and couldn't imagine that I'd ever need to fire at something any further away than that using such a small pistol.

[Lanner]

Im shooting the Pt709 at 15-25 yards and its pretty damn accurate once the sights are adjusted.