Another go round' with a PT-1911

[gsbuickman]

Hiya guy's ..

I was perusing the local gun Grapevine looking for another handgun to add to my collection to go with the FN Belgian Hi Power I picked up recently, looking for something that piqued my interest while avoiding all the Tupperware Canik's and Blocks whenva pair of 1911's caught my eye. The 1st was a Ria loaded with Wilson components and the other was a newer Taurus PT-1911.

I tried to contact the guy with the ria but wasn't able to, however I was able to touch bases with the guy for the Taurus 1911 & Not only was he right here in town but he was at a little shopping center right here in my neighborhood so I hooked up with him to get a Hands-On look at it. I've handled and owned a few Taurus 1911's in the past and I wasn't real impressed, however it seems that Taurus has decided to step their game up a bit since then from the looks of this one. It's dowetailed with adjustable hiney Novak sights, a commander style hammer and a skeletonized trigger. Surprisingly the trigger on this one is smooth and light and can't be more than 3.5 - 4 lbs w/ a clean break . It also appears to have a hammer forged barrel that's clean and bright and the lock-up is nice and tight with no rattles anywhere and it feels good in the hands with the grips that are currently on it. He was only asking 4 Ben Franklins to break even on it & I liked what I seen, so I decided to bring it home with me and it won't cost me much to clean it up and make it nice ...

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

I have one similar to it, and like it alot. I found mine in a pawn shop earlier this year. It’s only about 4 years old. Nice pistol!

 

[Blkhrt13]

Makes we wonder if it’s just them stepping up. Did he say it was bought new?

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

Here is mine. The grips have been changed to Archangel aluminum grips. I may change those, but the pistol is well built and fitted.

 

[gsbuickman]

Makes we wonder if it’s just them stepping up. Did he say it was bought new?

No but he does work at one of the larger well-known pawn shops here locally and he did say it's one of their newer model handguns that they've made a lot of improvements on from earlier models .

 

[Blkhrt13]

I’ve been curious and was thinking about getting a Taurus or a Ria. I kind of lean currently to the Ria because it’s a series 70. Although they lack the bushing. I had a Thompson that was my first semi auto centerfire handgun. I regret letting it go. But I say that about them all. Let us know if it’s a good shooter.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

The taurus does have that stupid lock thing on it, but I just leave it unlocked and pretend it isnt there.

Otherwise, it has a nice trigger and seems to run great!

 

[Good Ol' Boy]

If it doesn't shoot 50k problem free rounds I'd send it down the road.


Now that I've got that out of my system, nice looking pistol. I've only shot one PT1911 that belongs to my buddy. They seem to be pretty well made.

I hope you have good luck with yours.

 

[entropy]

I have the PT1911AR; got it 13 years ago, and have shot a lot of my ball-type hamdloads through it. The internal parts are MIM, so be forewarned they should be replaced sooner than later. The Series-80 links in mine started flopping around inside the action and would lock it up. I took the opportunity while I had it apart to put the shim in, and replace the sear, disconnector, strut, and spring.

 

[gsbuickman]

The taurus does have that stupid lock thing on it, but I just leave it unlocked and pretend it isnt there.

Otherwise, it has a nice trigger and seems to run great!

Lock thing ? . If you're referring to a lawyer lock this doesn't have one and I've never seen a 1911 with 1 on it ...

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

Mine has a key lock on it that, when engaged, will lock up the entire gun. Cannot move slide, trigger, hammer, or thumb safety.

It doesnt affect trigger characteristics when not in use, so i pretty much ignore it.

 

[entropy]

On the top of the hammer, there is a receptacle for a hollowed out allen key. On the strike face of the hammer you will see a small hole-a post comes out of it when the key is turned.
Looks like this:


The key looks like this:

Now you've seen 2 1911's with a lawyer lock. If your Taurus doesn't have it, that's good. As sovblocgunfan said, I just ignore mine. He posted his pics while I was taking and loading mine...

 

[Wildbillz]

I bought a two tone one back in 2008. It sat in the safe for a long time and never got used. I took it out to burn up some old reloads I had and discovered what I had been missing. The PT1911 is accurate, has most of the upgrades a shooter would get done already there, cost efficient and just plain fun to shoot. I just finished putting 1000 rounds through it this year and have never had a frailer with it. Your grips look like they have been changed, but the rest of it looks like what came from Taurus. Extended safety, Low profile sights, flared ejection port, checkered front strap etc. If it doesn't have the lock on the hammer I would bet that was changed out.

WB

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

If it doesn't have the lock on the hammer I would bet that was changed out.

WB

Yes, I have heard this can be changed. Requires new hammer, and I think a new strut (not sure about that).

 

[Wildbillz]

I have heard that the locking mechanism can be removed from the hammer also. Take it apart and take out the locking part, guy I talked to said he did it and used JB Weld to fill the hole.

WB

 

[entropy]

Sounds like a professional job.

Yes, I have heard this can be changed. Requires new hammer, and I think a new strut (not sure about that).

Just the hammer. I looked into it, since I was replacing everything else, but as long as you can remove the strut pin from the hammer, you just need to replace the hammer.

 

[Charlie98]

I've owned 2 PT-1911's... they are both gone.

The first one shot very well... I was so impressed with it, and particularly the value of it at only $400 new, I bought another as a project gun.

The second pistol shot far left... more left than I could correct with the sights. I swapped parts and such between the two pistols, and even tried a different (Springfield) barrel... but nothing doing, I could not correct the poor POI. Additionally, the trigger would drag on the grip safety... you could actually feel the safety move when you pulled the trigger. I bought it for $400, I sold it for $385. Good riddance.

Back to the first pistol... it continued to shoot well, and I put about 3-4000rds though it. When it came time to break it down, clean it, and change the springs... I found the metal of the slide had peened into the firing pin retention plate... sort of welding it in place. I contemplated taking a Dremel to it, but decided the long-term solution was to get rid of this pistol, too, and get something else.

On paper, the PT-1911 looks like a decent pistol... it checks a lot of the boxes on a good 1911, but I found it was not necessarily the sum of it's parts, so to speak.

 

[Jeff H]

I like my PT-1911 just fine. Accurate, always goes bang. No issues. I wish there wasn't a billboard on the side, but that is about my biggest complaint.

Funny thing is that I thought the barrel/locking lug fit was a little sloppy so I bought an aftermarket one from EGW. After a few hundred rounds, it cracked. EGW replaced it and after another few hundred rounds, it cracked as well. Put the original Taurus one back in and have had no issues so I guess, lesson learned.

 

[1KPerDay]

I like my PT-1911 just fine. Accurate, always goes bang. No issues. I wish there wasn't a billboard on the side, but that is about my biggest complaint.

Funny thing is that I thought the barrel/locking lug fit was a little sloppy so I bought an aftermarket one from EGW. After a few hundred rounds, it cracked. EGW replaced it and after another few hundred rounds, it cracked as well. Put the original Taurus one back in and have had no issues so I guess, lesson learned.

That's carefully designed slop. Necessary slop.

 

[Jeff H]

That's carefully designed slop. Necessary slop.

Like I said, lesson learned.

Lot of photos of the blued one in this thread but I don't see many stainless so here is mine.

 

[1KPerDay]

That looks nice and well used. As it should be. That thing have checkering on the front strap? My Dan Wesson doesn't even have that. Colt neither.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

Mine does.

 

[whatnickname]

I’ve got a stainless PT 1911 in 9MM that extremely reliable. Of course that’s not the way it started out. I don’t see how they could have possibly test fired the pistol at the factory since only half the breech face on the slide had been milled flat...you read that right. The left side of the breech face was 1/16” raised above the right side. Obviously the pistol wouldn’t run. Cost me $100 to send it back to Taurus. They got it back to me in two weeks with the paper work noting: “ Slide defective. Replaced slide.” Too bad they didn’t properly fit the slide to the pistol. It went back to the factory a second time to address this issue. Today it’s wonderful. It has sat in the safe for the past few years. Shoots very accurately and is highly reliable. If anyone would like to buy this pistol the price is $400 + $30.00 S&H. It will ship from my FFL dealer to your FFL dealer. Comes complete with the factory box and two factory magazines. Serious inquiries only. I will text you pictures.

 

[BILLG]

I don't think there is any such thing as a Heiny/Novak sight.They are 2 very separate companies.It is one or the other not both.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

Yes, you are right. Initially, Taurus offered Heinie straight 8’s on their 1911’s. Then they went to a Novak system.

The unfortunate part about that is Taurus apparently did all their 1911 sights with a proprietary dovetail cut, meaning we can’t replace the sights with aftermarket stuff unless the slide is machined to accept a more common dovetail dimension.

It’s dumb. But I do otherwise like the pistol very much.