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Taurus PT111 Millennium Pro (mini-range report and comments)

17K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  strider72 
#1 · (Edited)
I already posted this but it seems to have disappeared...nevertheless I shall repost it!

I have seen several good reviews about the Taurus PT111 Millennium Pro and I wanted to share my experiences.

I went into a gun store on Saturday intending to come out with a Glock and instead I came out wiht a Taurus! This from a guy that is a little disgruntled as I still have to send my M85 Taurus revolver back to be fixed.

It all boiled down to superior ergonomics for me. The Taurus fit my hand very well, no thats not accurate, it fit my perfectly. It just plain old felt good.

I swore I would never buy another Taurus...all the bad press in the forums and such, compunded with my own experience. But I always wanted to give them a break in the back of my mind. Their QC may be lacking but they are one of, if not the most innovative ccw firearms manufactures of the 21st century. They really have some fantastic ideas and their quality has come along way. They are far from perfect...but for $300 and change..I gave them a second chance. THey did not let me down so far!

My complaints before going to the range were all cosmetic. I bought the blue model with the new dovetailed Heinie sights (a major improvement with the dovetails as I have heard the previous screwed on style could come off). The blue finish has several imperfections and seems "thin"...but thats the limit of my complaints. The Fit was fantastic...heck I chould preen myself in the feed ramp...its that polished!

I headed to the range and decided to go minimalist. New Taurus, the two magazines, three boxes of Winchester "White Box" 115 gr. FMJ from Wally World, ear protection and a nervous smile on my face. I was expecting a disaster.

I had the mags loaded to capacity overnight and that helped making loading easier, but round # 12 was still tough.

I will give you the short version:

275 rounds later, only two failures. both were double-feeds, both were when I was deliberately limp-wristing, one right handed and one left handed. For a halitosis distance gun the sights were right on, out to 15 feet I OWNED everything, very fast and reflexive. Out to 20 yards they were still great. I was not shooting for accuracy today, no targets, just trash on a hill. Heinie “Straight Eight’s” have always been my favorite sights, and this gun came stock with them!

The ergonomics are AWESOME. She is a little bit of a beast though...not a lot of muzzle flip (as it is only 9mm) but still snappy enough that a triple tap is hard to keep on target. Double taps, no problem.

Lets talk about the trigger and trigger lock-work for a moment shall we. This gun could best be described as having a SA/DA trigger (NOT a DA/SA trigger). For all normal shots the trigger is in single action mode. Very long take-up with virtually no weight (think of the first shot on a Walther P99AS in SA mode) and then a slightly mushy but very light break. If the resulting firing pin strike fails to detonate the primer it reverts to a DA pull, long, mushy, but I cant call it heavy. Double and triple taps are easy thanks to a very short and positive "Glock Like" trigger reset.

This gun is designed to be carried cocked and locked ala a 1911 but if needed has second strike capability like a DA revolver or DA semi-auto.

I really like it. With the manual safety engaged you cannot even retract the slide or pul the trigger. Flick it downward and "little hand says it's time to rock and roll!". The engagement is positive in either direction and yet easy. It does not feel like it will accidentally engage or dis-engage. It seems as though it will take a deliberate act to move it.

Overall aside from minor finish blemishes I am a very happy camper.

I also carried her concealed for the day in a cheap IWB...very easy to do so!

My only real "regret" is that I did not get the stainless steel version. I like all black better for concealment, but since the only thing I have to bitch about is the finish why not!

My long term goals include getting this gun into the 1000 round count and see if any issues develop. I am not expecting them to but time will tell.





 
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#2 ·
Still not sure where the original went BUT after carrying this gun around for a week I have some more opinions:

1.) This gun is a great all around size...very handy, only slightly larger then my J frame.

2.) I love the trigger...even more so now that I have broken it un via dry firing.

3.) The sights are great, anyone know if I can get tritinum versions?

4.) I HATE IWB holsters. I am a big guy. I have "Love Handles". "Love Handles" are NOT conducive to jacking a pistol in your waistband. I am thinking a extreme crossdraw might be the ticket. I do A LOT of driving and am looking for an alternative to a shoulder holster (although I like my Bianchi that I carry my S&W 66-1 in).

5.) I cannot wait to put about 500 more rounds down the pipe this weekend snow or no snow!
 
#3 ·
Just a quick note to let you know that everything posted between about 4 am on Jan 28 and the early morning hours of Jan 31 is missing. When our old host shutdown the site on Wednesday morning they either deleted the database and restored it from a backup that only went through the morning of 1/28 or they somehow corrupted/lost the data from the morning of 1/28 on. We apologize for the problem this has caused, but be sure we are pursuing ways to force the old host to reimburse us for the damages.
 
#6 ·
There was no joy in Mudville...

Taurus, mighty Taurus, struck out!

So I went ice fishing and shooting today and took the little Taurus along with 300 rounds of WWB FMJ 9mm and 20 rounds of 9mm Federal Hydrashok.

Well I was worried about the JHP's feeding but that was a non issue.

But I never made it past the JHP's and bout 50 rounds of the FMJ. The Taurus "stroked out" and died.

Mid magazine, the captive recoil spring assembly ate it. Normally when you have the slide locked back the the spring stays INSIDE the slide and the plastic guide rod protrudes from the hole under the barrel. Well...somehow the spring forced its way out the same hold and that was all she wrote. I could barley clear and make safe as the slide was all locked up.

I was done fishing anyway so i took off and headed to the dealer where I bought the gun. Once warm and dry the two of us managed to get the gun dissembled except for the spring assembly still lodged in the slide.

He was real cool about it and is shipping it back to Taurus for me (even though I could) and is being a good sport.

I asked if he thought we could just cut the spring out and order a replacement but he advised Taurus is REALLY tight on parts and wants to see the gun. He also said that I could expect to be without it for 3-5 weeks as that was Taurus's regular timeframe with shipping and all.

I am really mad...not because the gun failed but I REALLY liked shooting it. no one in the group could believe how accurate it is. And the trigger just keeps getting better. Well...this just means I need to start all over with the round count when I get it back. The rest of the gun seemed fine.

But there was no way I was going to just hold onto 300 rounds of 9mm and not be able to shoot it so I consoled myself with another purrchase.

I got a MINT Star Firestar M-43. It is a single stack, single action, all metal compact pistol. I had looked at it many times and dissmissed it till I read up on it and saw that, while it was heavy was very reliable.

We will see...I will shoot some tomorros and do a range report on that...and I will keep anyone interested on how I make out with Taurus.

Again...don't buy Taurus UNLESS you are willing to take a chance and are willing to work at it to make it right. The rest of the gun has a lot of promise so only time will tell.

-Rob
 
#7 ·
Have a PT111 Pro myself. Only problems I have had with it was that it did not like Monarch 9mm steelcased ammo. Wouldn't eject them reliably. No problem with other ammo. Sweet little gun. Keep it in my Jeep.
 
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