Got a new PT145- Thumbs up! (Kind of long.)

[mini14jac]

I had an earlier PT145 when Taurus first came out with them.
With that first gun, I was impressed with the small size, the light trigger, the "shootability", and the accuracy.
I think it may have been my first .45, and I liked it.
But... pins backed out, the rear sight rotated, and then the frame cracked

Taurus fixed it in about 3 weeks and my dealer gave me full credit on a trade.

Now, a few years later, it seems that the frame cracking issues have been resolved with the Millennium Pro series.
And, since I'm older, a little Locktite on the pins or rear sight wouldn't kill me.

I picked up a new PT145 on Friday, along with $90 worth of ammo.
I got some WWB and some aluminum cased CCI, both fmj, and some Rem. jhp, all 230gr.

I headed straight to the range, where I took the gun apart, wiped it down, and lubed the rails lightly.

Shooting the first mag, I had a light strike on the second round of WWB.
On the fourth mag, second round of WWB, same thing.
This did concern me, but both times the round fired with a second pull of the trigger, so I'm not sure it was a gun issue.
(Though I shoot a lot of the Win. White Box in 9mm, and I've never had a light strike before.)

Through 190 rounds, those were the only failures of any kind that I experienced.
No FTF or FTE at all.
The gun fed aluminum and brass, fmj and hollow point like it hadn't eaten in weeks. (I was hoping to pick up some Wolf steel case, but couldn't find any.)

Observations:
-The trigger seemed slightly heavy, but was very smooth. No grit like some earlier models. Reminded me of a revolver that has had a trigger job.
I'm used to Glock and Kahr triggers though, so I continually pulled my shots about 2" low at 15'. I'm hoping I'll get used to the trigger, and it will lighten up with use. As I neared the end of my shooting, my shots had crept upward.
-The gun was accurate. Shots were low, but to point of aim, frequently punching out 1 large hole by the end of a mag.
-The pins in the frame and the sights stayed in place.
-The safety lever locked positively in the "on" and "off" positions.
I don't plan on using it, so knowing it will stay in the "off" position is a good thing.
-Again, for such a small gun, recoil was very manageable. Slightly more than my Glock 19, but much more comfortable than my wife's S&W 642.
My hand is little sore today, but then I did shoot 190 rounds out of a pocket size .45.
-The bottom of my trigger finger was getting tender after the first 100 rounds, so I shot my 9mms for a while. No blister today, but if I hadn't swapped out I may have had one. I'm not sure if it was the bottom of the trigger, or the trigger guard that was hitting me.

The gun has no sharp edges, and fits nicely in my Milt Sparks Watch Six, which is designed for a G36, but holds the Kahr and G19 just fine.
The accessory rail gives the gun kind of a "pug" look that's not bad at all.

I did catch myself wishing that this gun had the same trigger as the new 24/7 .45. It's light as a feather!
But, I think the gun and I will get used to each other.

I don't buy cheap guns anymore, but I do like to find a good value for the money.
From what I've read the HiPoint carbines are an excellent value.
A S&W 642 is an excellent value.
And, now that Taurus is shipping the PT145 with two mags, I consider them to be a good value at $326 before tax.

A reliable, accurate, 10 shot .45 that fits in my 9mm holsters and isn't picky about ammo is a good thing!

 

[Lou22]

I bought my PT145 Mil Pro last year, and I likewise has some failure to fires in the first 150 rounds or so. After that it has been smooth sailing, no problems of any sort. I've had several DAO autos, and the PT145 has about the best trigger, on par with my Kahr PM9. Great, great gun. Shoots about 3-4" low at 21 feet, but if I raise the front sight to form a triangle with the dots, I can punch a 1 inch hole. I believe the trigger will get even better with use.

Lou

 

[old4x4]

I love mine! Dry fired it about 1200 times and fired it countless hundreds of times, all w/reloads. Never a jam of any sort. The trigger has smoothed out but it's still long. Gonna fire a few hundred in the morning w/some buddies. It's a nice hideaway 45.

 

[gunmetal]

My experience with the PT-145 MilPro

mini14jac, I think you and I have discussed this on another forum; but for the benefit of the other members here, here are my comments.

I have posted my first two range reports with this pistol elsewhere, here's a link to them:

http://www.unitedforums.com/forums/gunforums/tf/Forum6/HTML/000452.html

In summary, I have the following problems with mine:

1. The front frame pin walks out of the grip frame.

2. I have some collisions occurring between the feed ramp and the front of the mags.

3. The bottom of the trigger "bites" the bottom of my trigger finger in recoil (seems to be the same problem you're having.. not really a big deal though).

4. 1 FTF (see above report) so far.

5. Shoots low (mostly me, I think, but I believe part of it is inherent in the gun).

6. The striker "swipes" across the primer.


Despite the above issues, I think they are all small problems and although I was pissed off at first I am going to stick it out to resolve them. I still feel that this pistol has so much going for it, it's hard to find anything that can beat it -- not just for the money, but also when you don't even consider the price.

I took it out for the third time today and put about 100 rds. through it, all WWB FMJ. No functional problems. So now I am at about 1 failure out of maybe 300 or so rounds. I haven't shot any HP through it yet.

I do find the 1/300 failure rate with FMJ to be unacceptable for a defensive pistol, so I am going to be nervous about it for a good long time.. but for all I know, the round (CCI Blazer Brass) may have had a burr on the case or something that prevented it from chambering. Once I get a couple hundred more failure-free FMJ through it I'll start testing HP carry loads.

The trigger on mine did start out a little "gritty" but has since smoothed out.

Lou22, did you mean a triangle and not a rectangle? It seems to me that a rectangle would be the "normal" sight picture.

 

[rich52us]

Thanks for posting your experiences guys. I am seriously considering getting one of these compact babys for CC to move up from 9mm to .45 ACP. I fired a rental gun at the range last week and found it quite manageable, however it did shoot low for me too. Please keep us all posted. What are good IWB and pocket holsters for this gun (at the range I found it would fit in the front pocket of my Dockers)? By the way, here in Fl it seems there aren't any to be had right now and for the past month or so.

Richard

 

[Clipper]

As for the low shots...

...Dont use a 6 o'clock hold. On my PT-145 I use the front dot to occlude the target, and am dead on. This works well for me, as I use a peep sight on my MKII (yes, I have a hooded ramp, fiber-optic front, and peep rear rifle sights on a 10" bull stainless pistol). The AO big dot tritium sights I had on my Kimber Ultra Carry worked the same way. My PT-145 will hold 6" groups off a rest @ 30 yards with Win. silvertip HPs.

 

[Dave R]

Dont use a 6 o'clock hold. On my PT-145 I use the front dot to occlude the target, and am dead on.

Same for me. Wherever the white dot on the front sight was when the trigger broke, that's where the .45 black hole will appear on the target. I think they sight them that way at the factory.

 

[JJ Hiryuu]

I've been carrying a PT145 for a few months now. Mine is also the Mil Pro model, with a rail. I havent had a single issue, even straight out of the box. I find your problems kind of odd, as I shoot Winchester White box and CCI blazer almost exclusively, with no issues at all. The trigger is smooth and short enough for a DAO (my comparison is a Kel-tec P11, anything feels good to me now, short of dragging an anchor through gravel with my trigger finger).

I think my current round count is around 800 for this gun. If the problems persist, I would certainly send it back and give them a chance to make it work, because it is a great carry piece for the money.

 

[bigmike45]

The PT-145, in my humble opinion, is a great buy and one of most dependable guns I have ever shot. I have 3000+ rounds through mine and have'nt experienced one single failure. It is my constant companion and it shoots great. Here's mine and one of it's targets.

 

[mini14jac]

I'm confident more trigger time will take care of the low shooting.

I wrote the report above on Saturday, after shooting it on Friday.
By Sunday, my hand was pretty sore.
I guess 230gr loads in a 23oz. gun do have a little recoil.

No big deal. I don't plan on shooting 200 rounds in one range session very often.
And, it's been my experience that if I did shoot that much again soon, there would be less soreness.

I'm very pleased with the gun and I'm amazed at the way it fits my hand.
It's had a good clean and lube, and I've dry fired it quite a bit.

Looking forward to the next range trip.

gunmetal,
I did read your post before deciding to get another PT.
I would suggest LockTite on the pins, but since you are having the feed ramp problems too, I'd let Taurus fix both issues.
If you ask nicely, they may pay shipping both ways.

I think the Internet buzz on these guns is mostly positive.
One dealer I use, and one poster have said that the PT145s are back ordered.
Glad I got mine!

 

[USP4Me]

Hello all,

First time poster here. I bought a PT145 MilPro about a year ago specifically for off duty carry. The first time to the range, everything was great. The second time however, was a different story. After the second range session and obligatory cleaning, as I was removing the recoil spring the end of it shot off and hit my wall. This retaining end (which is a threaded piece) had come off due to where it screwed in to had cracked. Taurus sent me a replacement in a few weeks. Anyway, I get the new spring, install it and go out to the range. This is where I had the scariest problem- the pistol intermittently refused to fire. I'd squeeze the trigger fully, and no bang. I'd let the trigger out and squeeze again, and it would fire. It did this about 20 times, and pardon my lack of knowledge of it's internals, but the "hammer" didn't trip when the trigger was squeezed fully. I sent it in to Taurus, and after a month of waiting I called and asked how it was progressing. The customer service rep said they hadn't even looked at it yet. Two weeks later, I received the pistol back with a repair invoice saying that pins were replaced, something was adjusted and a note from them saying I needed to clean it. I sent the pistol to them uncleaned so that it would help them experience what I was experiencing. We all know about Murphy's Law, and I didn't want this pistol to miraculously start working once their techs got a hold of it. Anyway, I've put a few hundred rounds through it since I got it back with no problems and would recommend it to anyone considering buying one.