The Great Taurus PT1911 Test- Live Thread- Updated from time to time-

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cyclopsshooter

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I have been a fan of 1911s since I was 14 and first shot my Dad's 70 Series Gold Cup. Since those heady days my 1911 hobby has grown in several directions but through most of it I have remained a Colt Snob... No need for Kimbers, Springers... (Though I do admire some of the higher end makes like Ed Brown or Wilson.. alas they are too spendy for me- I have even built a few pistols using Colt, Wilson, and Fusion parts.)
Often I have bashed lower end makes like Taurus or the Armscor made pistols, basing my opinion on overall fit and finish and what knowledge of metallurgy and manufacturing practices I have.
There are countless threads on 1911s, all full of opinions going each way on every make...

Yesterday, 4/19/2011, this Colt snob bought a Taurus PT1911 Stainless Steel 9mm. This pistol will serve as target plinker for myself and as a rental in my store's gun range.
The deal for the customers will be 10 bucks to rent the gun but the range and rental fee will be waived if someone can break a part on this gun using factory ammo.

So as time goes on, I will update this thread with round counts and maintenance.

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Day one: Chucked the cheap plastic grips- (Taurus grip screws do not seem to work with standard 1911 grips)

First 9 rounds was old CCI Blazer from a random bin, every case cracked but the pistol functioned fine.

Second mag was of Remington UMC... Cases looked bulged and every round jammed (same magazine)

Called Taurus because it was looking like the Chamber was out of spec. The rep first offered to replace the barrel but I expressed interest in a Storm Lake barrel so the rep offered to refund the value of the barrel ($115) Cant say I was disappointed by the service.

Later in the day I gave it another go using a box of 115 grain Speer Lawman. All 50 rounds functioned flawlessly and the spent casings looked good- Go figure...

The 50 rounds gave a 2" group at 10 yards about 3" low

Round Count 68
 
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thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing the performance over the long haul. IE thousands of rounds (10 or more) and high round count trips, 400+ rds in a trip. I look forward to following this thread. thanks again.
 
Called Taurus because it was looking like the Chamber was out of spec.
Click to expand...
Brand new gun broken out of the box? And you're a Colt/Springer snob? That's funny
 
Just ran two more mags to check reliability before putting it out for rent. Perfect

Shot three rounds of Hornady 115gr XTP 10 yards off hand all three rounds touched (4" low center)

Round count: 89
 
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This is a great idea -- thanks for doing the legwork / gruntwork of keeping track. I am tentatively putting a 1911 on the "next year" wishlist, have been following with interest the new Ruger, but also keeping an eye on for years the various "upper-lower middle class" choices in stainless (Springfield Loaded, S&W's budget SS offerings, the Taurus, etc).

Looks like it took a few rounds to break in? (But not all that many ... I am baffled and unhappy with the idea that a gun should take much firing to work as intended, but I'm a nut. But fewer is better than more.)

timothy
 
Yeah, Im looking at the Ruger too... There is a guy on here, think his handle is deadduck. He did a tour of Ruger and put up a review... Seems like they are making a quality firearm so I may just have to buy one of those too :)

The Taurus doesn't seem to be needing any break in- I think the second mag related problems were ammo related-Everything else is slick so far.
 
good luck with this and keep us all posted
my pt1911 .45 has never had a hickup yet with about 4k rounds so far and regular range trips
 
Soooo.....Was the barrell out of spec????

Or was it the ammo? Magazines? (I hear the factories are a weak spot?)

Will keep up with this thread for sure! Thanks for the efforts.

Just bought a PT1911 45 BHW cant wait for the weekend ! :)
 
Funny you should mention that Tomcat- By my standards the barrel IS outa spec but probably not by Taurus standards :p There is a faint bulgearound the spent casings... not enough that I feel it to be unsafe. I just rand 50 rounds through it and twice one mag failed to lock back the slide when done...

Ok,50 rounds of 124 grain Hornady ammo groups 1" higher than 115grain... Im hoping that 147 grain rounds will pretty much zero her in or I will be off to find an adjustable sight...

Round Count 189

Planing on shooting another 200 tomorrow :)

Still thinking about a Storm Lake barrel...
 
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Hi Cyclops! Go here...http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=590407

Range Report on 45 PT1911....

Watch your Slide Stop! MIM mine broke at round 16!

This was dis heartening on first outing but it is a 1911 nemesis!

I emailed Taurus and told them they should not be using MIM parts in such a critical area!

with that said .... they are not the only one doing it!

I ordered replacement from Midway Supply..Dont want MIM replacement!
Ordered a Swenson Extended (Cheap on Sale), A Ed Brown Hardcore (Guaranteed?), and a Wilson Combat Bulletproof (Machined)

Wont be far from a replacement now! :)
 
mine ran great for years. fed everything I tried. maybe 5,000 rounds. I sold it when I got out of 45, but was never dissatisfied with it.
 
Cyclops

Keep us posted on how this thing shoots with Hollow points. I am mostly interested reliability over accuracy though my two PT1911's in 45 ACP are more than reasonably accurate.
 
OP, you mention that the barrel is out of "your specs." What are your specs? Did you do any measurements with precision instruments to compare to industry standards for chamber dimensions?

Just curious but those measurements would help others make an informed decision.

Ralph
 
RDF: Yeah, did a quick caliper check and as I recall it was .0015 over... apparently it's enough to let cci blazer cases split. (I'm not familiar with 9mm tolerances though, maybe you can school me on that)

Ran 200 more rounds today- No problems of any kind. I am really beginning to appreciate the soft recoil of this pistol! Parts move remarkably smooth too.

CZ223: Good thought, I will look for some HPs to run- Did run some Hornadys and they cycled fine.

Tomcat: Good post, I'm anti MIM too,- my initial thought was to replace all of it with steel (Wilson fan)... but I figured I'd give it a chance.... It's not a defensive gun, just gonna let it go and let any weak spots if any show on their own :)

I have yet to clean the pistol yet (torture test and all) I did add grease to the rails after the first box of ammo. Pistol is showing no signs of choking.

round count: 389
 
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Thanks, I did some research on the issue. Lyman Reloading manual lists the diameter of the cartridge as .391" at a point .200" from the base. At the case mouth it is .380". There is a taper to the chamber from the mouth to the base.

Because of this taper, I personally do not like to use calipers to make the ID measurement. I prefer to use a ball gauge and OD micrometer or a set of "go" "no-go" gauges. Calipers can too easily be tilted and obtain a measurement that is slightly off. Of course you may have different views.

I'll continue to follow this thread because I'm interested in seeing how it holds up over time/usage.

Have a good day.
 
Thanks RDF. I think you are right about the taper.

Well, I took her apart for the first time since purchase day. She is a dirty girl! Left her that way though... The purpose of the tear down was to do a visual inspection, check out why the thumb safety was loose, and take a little tension of the grip safety (very stiff from factory)

So, as for the thumb safety, I am officially calling it problem number TWO (First being to dump the factory mags, they fed alright but were not reliable at locking back the slide)
The thumb safety is of a design seen before on steel parts... the fix was easy with steel, just give the retention tabs a squeeze and problem solved..
Not so with the MIM- I'm too afraid of the nibbs breaking off under pressure.
I put them back on for now- The grips seem to keep them in place, but sometime down the road they're gonna get the boot!
Past the 500 round mark- Overall quite happy with the pistol.

I ordered a Novak adjustable rear sight today which should solve the shooting low thing.

Have had no split casings other than the original CCI Blazer from day one.

Thinking hard about buying a Storm Lake .38 Super barrel and extractor.

Here is a pic of the thumb safety

IMG_0717.gif
 
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