I'm buying my son a gun for house defense. I'm deciding between the SD9VE and Taurus PT111 Millennium Gen 2. I have the SD9VE and it's a great gun, but reviews on the Taurus are good also. The Taurus is about $80 less. Any info on the PT111? Am I nuts to even consider the price difference?
Gun choice
- Thread starter edknn
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Omaha-BeenGlockin
Member
Own both---the S&W is probably a little higher quality overall - but I haven't had a problem with either of them.
bannockburn
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Had a PT111 Gen. 3 years ago. Didn't really care for certain ergonomic aspects of the gun but overall it was well built and worked fine. No experience with the S&W SD9VE.
There are a bunch of other things to consider before even getting to price.
Does he know how they shoot for him (not you, him)? Does he have much experience shooting handguns? Would he prefer a long gun of some sort?
bobinoregon
Member
I have an SDVE 40 and it seems to be a pretty decent gun, can't imagine the 9 being any different
Was at a shoot outing with some buddies a while back and one has a sd40 and the other has a gen 4 glock 23. The glock had about 3 rounds of a certain ammunition that it didn't like and wouldn't ignite the primers. I don't remember what ammo it was, but anyway the sd40 ate the rounds the glock wouldn't. The sd9/40 is one of best bang for bucks in my opinion. I have no experience with the pt111. Reports however indicate that it's one of Taurus's better guns. With the s&w warranty and being American made I would probably go that route
I do think if the only use case for the firearm is home defense, there are better options than a handgun in general and better handguns for that purpose than a 12+1 sub compact.
But if you're set on buying him a handgun, 20 or so bucks at the range will buy your son the opportunity to try a number of guns out to see how they feel and how they shoot.
Another cheapish gun is the SAR B6P, but it is DA/SA, and has a manual safety. Anyway, here are a few threads on the Taurus:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=793028&highlight=Taurus
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=779876&highlight=Millennium
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=769027&highlight=Millennium
moe.ron
Member
I would give him a card that says "lets go shopping for a gun" and let him hold them and choose.
He wants a handgun to his wife can also learn to use it . For him alone, he would probably get a shotgun.
If that's the end goal then it really needs to be his wife who picks the gun. In my experience most guys are interested enough to become proficient with just about any decent pistol. It may not be what you like, but you can live with it.
Most women who are casual shooters on the other hand, just won't shoot it if they don't like it. Trying to pick for them will leave you broke and banging your head against the wall. I never would have guessed that my girlfriend would shoot a pocket sized .380 best. Several "experts" at the gun stores told me to get her a full size 9mm as they are easiest to shoot. Said if she didn't like it that she needed better training etc. etc. I took her to a range and let her rent anything she wanted to try and she shoots a P380 better than most men, go figure.
mongoose33
Member
I'm kind of a fan of getting the same thing--you could have spare parts for both, disassembly and cleaning will be identical, unless you think there's something wrong with the one you have, that's the one I'd suggest to him if I were you.
Trunk Monkey
member
Buy him a gift card and let him pick out his own gun
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