[Rollo]

So I just picked it up yesterday. I admit, I have been wanting one for a while. My Glock 19 is a great gun but honestly...it is a bit bulky for me. I wanted something single stack to carry on days that I couldn't dress for the glock. I shot a Kel Tec PF9 and while it wasnt bad, I wasn't terribly impressed. I checked out a couple Khars and while the quality was good they just weren't all that comfortable for me and didn't have all the features I wanted. The Glock 26 was a obvious choice but again, it didn't have all the features I wanted and I wanted something a bit thinner.

Amazingly enough the one gun that had all the primary features I wanted was the Taurus 709. I found this a bit odd. Not because I dislike Taurus (this is my first one) but because what I consider a mid grade gun company was the only company to put all the features in one package. The reason I find that odd is because they are all features that I have heard a lot of other people talk about wanting in a CCW.

Any, first the pics. Sorry but these kind of suck. I haven't quite gotten the hang of taking gun pics.

Pictures by Rollotamasi - Photobucket

The one that is showing as a Glock pick is actually a pic of the 709 when you open it. I have no idea why its showing as a Glock pic.

The reason I purchased this gun is simple. Well, It's simple to me, it might not be so simple to others. I am a bit more "hung up" on my appearance then others. This isn't so much because I am vain as because I am a young black male and avoiding certain sterotypes is something I do with due diligence. All of my clothes fit and fit fell. I am a network administrator. Our dress code is business dress and I generally don't change clothes when I get home from work. Even on weekend while I will wear jeans they are normally accompanied with a pair of dress shoes and a nice dress style shirt. All fitting of course. So for me, wearing over sized clothes to conceal my weapon is not really a option. Also, I lost 40 pounds over the last 6 months so I enjoy wearing clothes that fit

Ok, lets move on to the gun.

Initial impressions are good. Quality appears to be good. Keep in mind I said good, NOT great. I would put it above Kel-Tec, on par with Ruger, below Glock and Sig.

Praises -
*External thumb saftey
*Width (This baby is THIN)
*Adjustable rear sight
*A sub-compact I can get a full three fingers on
*Loaded chamber indicator - This isn't a must but admit it makes me feel a bit better when doing dry fire practice.
*Weight - Fully loaded = 21 OZ. I'm in love
*Life Time Warranty

Things that annoy me
*No finger grooves - I like finger grooves

That's really my only gripe with the gun. My other complaint is that the 10 rounds mags aren't available yet but that's more of a complaint with the company then with the gun.

I will be heading to the range on Sunday morning to shoot it for the first time. I have 300 rounds of 9mm to run through it. I will post a range report Sunday or the day after. I REALLY hope it shoots well and is reliable as I am very happy with the ergonomics and general feel of the pistol. I'm not expecting legendary accuracy but I am expecting reliability or else it's useless to me. Hopefully I will be able to recommend this pistol as I think it will be a great CCW for a lot of people if it performs well.

 

[REVMAN]

I really like mine. I've shot a good many rounds through it with NO problems. Conceals great.

 

[REVMAN]

Also my dad bought one at the same time as I did and he has had the same great results with his.

 

[Ananael]

Good luck!:smile: Looking forward to the range report. I saw one of these in the gun store the other day ad it caught my attention. I'd like to know how it treats you!

 

[swmp9jrm]

Rollo: make sure you give your 709 a good cleaning before you take it to the range. There are a lot of them out there that are pretty gunked up with the white Taurus preservative grease. This stuff is plain nasty and can cause you some function problems. Seems that there are 'good' and 'bad' 709s - hopefully you got one of the good ones. I've had mine about 2 months and have several hundred rounds of various FMJ and HP ammo through it. It hasn't been flawless, but the couple of issues I've had with it I'm pretty sure were ammo related. You'll be surprised at the accuracy of the 709. I'm quite happy with mine. Good luck at the range.

 

[hogdaddy]

Great loking gun!! & Don't let the Tarus bashers get to you,My brother the
LEO 25 yrs carries a PT111 on his ankel eat every thing he feeds it,& no FTF
FTE or FTFire ; ) GOOD LUCK STAY SAFE H/D

 

[zacii]

I'm looking forward to your range report. I like these guns as well. They are a good compromise of size, caliber & price. I just need enough of you 1st time buyers to give good reports before I take the plunge.

 

[swmp9jrm]

Just to add a little more to my post - I've had my 709 to the range four times. Probably 300 rounds through it at this point. UMC, PMC Bronze, American Eagle, Golden Bear FMJ and Federal Hydra-Shok and Hornady Critical Defense HP. I wanted to try a bunch of different ammo to see how picky the 709 is - it isn't. In the first two trips to the range I had no feeding problems and no extraction problems. I did have three non-fire rounds: one PMC Bronze and two Critical Defense. All the rounds fired on the second strike pull of the 709. The third time at the range I had mis-feeds using UMC green box - after six in a row I put the gun down and shot my other guns. If this had been the first time out, I would have been extremely hacked - but the first two trips had been trouble free. I took the gun home, field stripped it and gave it a good cleaning. When reassembling it, I questioned myself on whether I had gotten the recoil spring properly installed after the last cleaning and thought that maybe this had been the problem with the mis-feeds. Took it to the range for the fourth time and had no problems whatsoever - shooting the exact same box of UMC I had had trouble with.

I've been very impressed with the gun. The felt recoil is quite reasonable for the size of the 709. It is easily as accurate as I am. It's small enough for me to pocket carry in loose jeans. And one of the primary reasons I ended up with the 709 is the manual safety.

As I said in my earlier post, I'm pleased with my 709. It's now my every day carry gun. I'll be at the range again this weekend putting some more practice rounds through it.

 

[12Rounds]

It looks good, good luck with it.
Congratulations on the weight loss.

 

[TX-JB]

Congrats! :congrats: If you want finger grooves try a Hogue Handall Jr. I added one to My Kahr and it made a world of difference.