Range Report PT1911SS 9mm

**SauerGrapes** · December 31st, 2010, 11:41 PM

Well I'm a day earlier than I thought on this report. I picked up my 9mm this morning and figured no time like the present!
Let me qualify this post with, I'M NOT AN EXPERT ON THE 1911! {nor any other gun} This is my second 1911, I only bought my 1st one, 3 weeks ago. I might make some side by side comparisons with my Springfield RO.

I got to the range a little early since I already had made plans to meet up with another guy to shoot his new M&P15. Isn't Christmas a fun time of year.....

.
I stripped it down and gave it a good cleaning in the back of my van.
I thought this was coming the Str8 eight sights, but it has the 3 dot Novak setup. The rear sight actually say "Novak" on it. Does that make this a standard Novac dovetail? I don't know. I've read about guys trying to put after market sights on yours, and these having funky non standard cuts.

I took 300 rounds with me to the range. All were 115gr. Federal, Blazer and WWB in FMJ. Remington 115gr HPs from wally world. I also took 50rds. of 115gr LRN reloads.{mid range in power 3.8grs. of Greendot}
At my gun club you have 2 options, 50' or 25yds. Or if you can qualify, you can shoot 50yds.{yeah right, that'll never happen...smirk} I decided to shoot at 50' to start since most of my shooting is at that distance and I was more concerned with function. All my shooting was 2 handed unsupported.

I started with one box of Blazer, Federal and WWB FMJ. Each box was sent down range on it's own target. Out of this first 150rds, not one round had any failures of any kind....sigh. The gun performed flawless!
Pretty much tore the center out of all 3 targets. No fault of the gun, I had my share of flyers.

Next I ran 100 of the Remington 115gr HPs on another target. At the end of this session there was nothing left of the center of the target the size of a softball. I did quite a bit of 5 shots at 1 second intervals with the HPs. I'm really liking this gun so far!

Next I decided to set up at 25yds and see how it would digest my reloads. Yeah I was feeling pretty good at this point.
I ran 50 115gr LRN downrange. With these loads I was concerned the gun gun wouldn't cycle them. Guess what, every round fed and ejected without a hitch! Recoil with the handloads was practically no existent.
I was pretty well spent by the end of the day in between shooting and playing Range Officer. My 25yd. shooting was about 8" circle. I'll shoot 25yds first next time.
Anyway, I feel pretty confident the fixed sights are right on, everything patterned in the center each target. The gun had NO FAILURES the entire session. Fancy self defense ammo, your on your own. I shot what I carry.
Another 300rds like today and I'll be getting a holster for this gun. I also want to use this for shooting informal steel and action matches at the club.

I'm very happy with the gun. It did exactly what I was hoping it would do. I think this will be a nice addition to my handgun fun.
Just a side note, I kinda looked at it side by side with my SA Range Officer.
As I said, I think it's a great gun for 565.00. Hell I even like the plastic grips! Go figure.

Let me nitpick a little though:
The trigger is a little mushy and heavy. 6lbs. I don't mind, the mushy creep has got to go!
The grip safety feels wierd to me, a lot of travel and a heavy spring.{no big deal, just different}
The safety IMO, should have a little better positive click. adjustment?

The good stuff:
I like the checkered front and rear backstraps. Not real sharp but really makes the gun feel nice in my hand.
The mags are better quality than the ones that came with my SA.
I like the Novac 3 dot sights a lot.
The slide / frame fit is nice. Some play, but nothing I'll worry about. {The Springfield is tight as a drum!}
And most of all, IT'S MINE AND I'M KEEPING IT!!!! :P

Constructive comments, opinions and questions always welcome.
Chet

**harold63** · January 1st, 2011, 03:23 AM

I have been waiting on someone who purchased one of these. I am happy to hear it went well. As I said on another thread, Taurus has stepped up its QC. I am wondering whether to add one of these to my Bull accumulation.

The sights, along with all of the gun, are manufactured by Taurus. Taurus manufactures mim parts for other gun companies, as well.

I have the PT1911 in .45, and I am very happy with it. The only bad thing about it is the parkerized finish is wearing to bare in some areas, but that keeps a couple of hundred off the price, which is ok by me. It is a finish (even the stainless) that is designed to hold oil, and you do want to keep it oiled as they will rust.

Plastic grips? Who said they were plastic? Damn! When I first held one, the first thing I thought was I don't have to change the grips. I don't care if they're made of dung, they feel great.

I didn't have a heavy trigger pull on mine, but it is mushy. It is good because it is one less pistol that I have to make the trigger feel mushy on since I like it that way. I use motor racing lubricants on my pistols, and on all of the trigger parts, I use wheel bearing grease (not the cheap stuff). It helps with the stacking.

As far as the checkering goes, some people spend some $$$ to get this ugliness done; yours came with it. As I said about Taurus's QC being better, I find that the mags are very good now, and the springs that come in Taurus mags are some of the best in the business. I just rotated the springs in a 24/7 Pro 9mm, and the springs are still the same length as when new. The spring was compressed for nine months. My PT 1911 mags have been flawless.

I am happy to hear a happy Taurus gun owner. Although I have some pistols I consider to be more show than go, my Tauruses take the brunt of my range work. They have held up far better than I could have ever hoped, especially considering what I paid for them...Happy shooting!

**clarion44** · January 1st, 2011, 05:19 AM

of both pistols!

**harold63** · January 1st, 2011, 10:23 AM

I still cannot figure out how to use the pasty thing to get them on screen. A gun forum is worthless if it does not have a "Is the 12 guage shotgun effective against the computer" thread. I have come close to starting this thread a number of times.

**JoeyBones** · January 1st, 2011, 10:30 AM

Nice writeup!

I am conflicted on this, as I now find myself wanting one, in spite of the following:

- Unabashedly not a fan of Taurus

- Don't know much about 1911's

- Love 9mm, and have stock piles of it. My favorite round.

- Don't really "need" any more range toys that are center fire....

Hmmm.... Yeah, I might need pics also

Nice job; Glad it is performing well for you!

Regards,

Bones

**FLICK** · January 1st, 2011, 11:59 AM

Chet, where did you find your PT1911 and did they have any blued ones??

**SauerGrapes** · January 1st, 2011, 01:17 PM

Originally Posted by FLICK

Chet, where did you find your PT1911 and did they have any blued ones??

I found it on Gunbroker. The guy had one gun, this one. I've seen the blued ones advertised, but they were never in stock or the site said, "available soon!"
I've been hearing that for a year now.

**WVBob** · January 4th, 2011, 01:31 PM

Nice report. I have a PT1911 in .38 Super and love it. I put a set of Hogue Wraparound Rubber Grips on mine because I like them. I've got just over 500 rounds through mine and the trigger is starting to smooth out. I've shot mostly 125 gr LRN and 147 TCL with some 130gr FMJ reloads. Have not had any kind of fails. Most of my reloads have been just short of max but the PT1911 handles the recoil.

**mrnyman** · January 5th, 2011, 12:26 AM

I love my PT1911 .45, never a problem 2 years now, eats anything i feed it, the only thing i couldnt stand was the the cheap plastic grips, so i replaced them with these, Hogue Kingwood grips, pretty, and yes as one of the other posters mentioned, you need to oil the blued gun finish, if you do it will take on a nice dark rich color like mine did. Great guns, now i'm thinking of addind a ss model to keep this one company.