PT145...yes or no?

[unclmnky]

I found a PT145 for $250. Everything I have read is hit or miss with Taurus. Either someone had a lot of issues or someone loves it. I also noticed that most posts were from 06-08. The price for this little guy has me intrigued but not sure if I should get it.

 

[Beaux Nehr]

Go for it.
My mom has one, and it's very reliable.

Ugly trigger, but whatever.

 

[wally]

I have one of the older first generation DAO ones. It works well, but I've come to the conclusion that when the barrel gets below 4" I'd rather have a .40S&W instead of .45ACP as I'm afraid the velocity of .45ACP in a sub 4" barrel drops too much to insure adequate penetration. The .40S&W having the same sectional density and being about 100-150 fps faster in the same barrel length is a better choice here, IMHO.

If the one is question is PT-145 Millennium Pro on the slide it its the newer model and should be fine. If its the plain Millennium model, like mine, do some Googling, as serial number ranges of the problem guns have been posted.

 

[mesinge2]

I have a PT-145 Pro. Many years of shooting and god only knows how many rounds and I only experienced one jam, a FTF, during the break in period (within the first 200 rounds).

A word of caution: there are different generations of the PT-145, PT-140, and the PT-111. The later mag won't work in the older model and vice versa but the mags look nearly identical and are not marked. The only way to tell is the length of the spring.





Click Images to Enlarge

 

[dovedescending]

My brother has a 145 Pro as his CCW. He doesn't have any problems except one. The mags are a little hard to seat without giving them a MAJOR slap as they go in. Other than that, it seems to shoot and function well. Not my favorite, but I don't care for plastic guns

 

[DasFriek]

If its the current generation with SA/DA id say yes, I paid $375 for a PT745 which is the same gun with a single stack instead of the double stack.
I never had any issues except for the gun being a handful at the range, But it is about the smallest .45acp you can get next to the Kahr PM45.

 

[benzuncle]

I've shoved 1200+ rounds through my PT-145. It has been nothing less than superb in the reliability dept. No FTF's; no FTE's. For a short barreled concealed carry piece, it is suprisingly accurate. And it carries 10+1 rounds of 230gr Remington Golden Sabers. Big pills... I plan to own another.

 

[phoglund]

I haven't put large numbers of rounds through mine (Millenium Pro model) but it has operated perfectly for the shooting I have done. Its a small firearm for 10 rounds of .45ACP. I keep mine at my bedside with a Insight X2 Laser/Light Combo on it for late night identification and targeting.

Paul


P.S. An AR with a TLR2s is nearby if I have time to get to it.

 

[basicblur]

Tread lightly...

If it was a first generation, think I'd pass.
I have a 2nd generation-there's a lot to like 'bout it, and it was slated to be in my CCW rotation, but after less than stellar range results (off the paper accuracy) it was eliminated for that purpose. I kinda lost interest-gotta get it back to the range and troubleshoot one o' these days to see if it's a gun or ammo problem (maybe it just HATES WWB?), but it was so far off I kinda doubt it was an ammo problem. I tried the same ammo in my other guns, and it was plenty accurate.

I knew I was taking a chance when I bought, but it seemed Taurus semi-auto QC was catching up to their revolvers, which seemed to have made improvements over the years.
Can't tell you if the 3rd generation is an improvement-I think Taurus may have had a window of opportunity AFA QC, and that window may have passed? I'm thinking they haven't been able to maintain QC (such as it was) with the recent increase in sales?
I have a relative that's a gunsmith, and in one 4-visit stretch to the shop, 3 of those times he was working on a brand new Taurus before the store could put it out for sale-I don't like those odds!
He tells me there is no one particular model-it's across the board.

 

[Beaux Nehr]

I agree that it has an unexpected quality of accuracy.
Not too hard to make 15 yard bullseyes if you take your time, and it's easy enough to keep it in 8s and 9s when you don't.

 

[larryh1108]

If the words PT145 PRO are on the right side of the slide then it's gen 3. If the right side of the slide says PT145 and the left side says Millenium Pro it's a gen 2 and if the left side says Millenium and the right side says PT145 (no pro) then it's gen 1.

I love my PT145 gen 3. I love the DA/SA feature tho I really like SA like my 1911s have. It is a small and light .45ACP and the recoil is not as bad as it would seem. You have to get used to the long take up of the trigger in SA but when you are used to it you find you stage the trigger while locating the sight picture and break the shot when you have the shot. It feels like it's about 7-8# in DA and 4# in SA mode.

No failures of any kind. Feeds everything reliably and ejects with no problem. Nice little gun with lots of firepower at a reasonable price. I could not be happier.

 

[Pilot]

I think the PT145 Mil Pro is one of Taurus's best. Mine has been 100% reliable and much more accurate than it should for its size. Excellent buy.

 

[gb6491]

There is a fairly long thread about magazine issues with the PT145 at taurusarmed.net: maybe the last PT145 mag topic we will ever need?
Has this been resolved or was it a "hit or miss' kind of thing?
regards,
Greg

 

[weregunner]

It's been resolved.

As for the Taurus PT145:
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic=29050.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic=26914.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic=27096.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic=26139.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic=27446.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic=24656.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/in...?topic=22316.0
__________________

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=495249
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=36918.0

 

[Beaux Nehr]

Not a single one of those links is functional, weregunner.

 

[Yo Mama]

Great gun, buy now. I bought mine new for 250, but that was like 4 years ago now.

I'd stick with new on Taurus. Sorry, I know used guns are fine, but with a Taurus , and especially the pt145, I'd suspect something was wrong with the gun for it to be given up.

 

[ritepath]

I bought my gen3 used with 13 rounds being shot down the pipe for 250 off a co-worker. It was bought new in March. I love the little gun and can shoot it better than my M&P 9c....I do have problems however with my magazines feeding HPs.

I tried modifying one of them but only made it worse...oops my bad. Both still feed FMJ without any problems, never had a FMJ problem.

I've read about newer mags being out there for it, but I won't buy unless I can actually look at them and compare them to mine and the pics over at Taurus armed.

Here's a question for my fellow owners are there funky tooling marks where the rails ride at the back of the frame? And more funky stuff on the underside of the slide? (Really need to post pictures)

I wanted a 45 to see how I liked the round and now have my eyes set on a G36.

 

[Joe3of3]

My Taurus PT145 Mil Pro is JUNK!

I purchased a brand new PT14 Mil Pro (3rd generation; serial #NAU97xxx) on 7/28/08, and loved the size, shape, feel, accuracy, ammo capacity, etc.!

On 11/18/09 it was returned to Taurus, as 20% of the rounds Failed To Fire, using 3 magazines, and 3 brands of factory ammo. I had replaced the firing pin and firing pin spring assembly twice, before sending it to Taurus, but the problem continued. Taurus replaced the firing pin and firing pins spring assembly!!!

The second return was on 3/29/10, when the Failure to Fire rate was around 25%. Taurus replaced the "Firing Pin Block Pin".

The third return, on 4/13/10, was for Failure To Fire in 40 rounds (two brands of factory ammo); and seven Failure To Feeds (ammo did not move up inside two different magazines). Taurus "adjusted magazine body", and replaced the barrel with a used one, and returned it after it was passed by their "Review Board"! :banghead:

The fourth...YES, I SAID THE FOURTH...return was on 11/29/10, after twenty rounds were put through the PT145, two failed to fire, even after twelve (12) trigger pulls, and two others fired on the fourth (4th) trigger pull. Every primer was deeply dimpled, but the fired rounds each had a gouge from the dimple towards the primer's edge. Taurus returned my "weapon", with (UNKNOWN) "part damaged...replaced" on the invoice. A call to the service department confirmed that they did not know what part was replaced! A message left for a Taurus supervisor did not get a return call...

 

[FLAvalanche]

Joe, is your timeline right?

You claim the 2nd return was 3/29/10 and the third was 4/13/10. Which means Taurus fixed and returned your pistol in two weeks.

My experience with Taurus says that's utterly impossible. Taurus can't fix anything in two weeks. And their "Review Board" is the 2x4 their incompetant gunsmith uses to clobber your pistol prior to return.

A call to the service department confirmed that they did not know what part was replaced!

That is normal for Taurus customer service.

A message left for a Taurus supervisor did not get a return call...

As is this.

 

[LiveLife]

+1 on the 3rd Gen PT145 Mil Pro with SA/DA trigger. Bought last year with the stainless slide. I have not been a fan of Taurus in the past years, especially the DAO trigger but now consider the Gen3 PT145 one of most underrated 45 compacts.

It is just about the smallest grip double-stack 45ACP with great ergonomics and naturally pointing 1911/Sig like grip angle. The slide length is shorter than Glock 26/27 and grip length is comparable to Glock 19/23. It shares the same holster as the XD pistol and the slide width is slightly wider than Glock 9/40 models.

Have fired several thousand rounds of jacketed, plated and lead reloads without any FTF/FTE. PT145 will feed/chamber LSWC without any issues. The well broken in trigger is a very light and smooth 4 lbs in SA and will put all rounds into one hole at 5 yards using 200 gr LSWC reloads and 2" at 7 yards.

 

[Nushif]

My wife owned the Millenium Pro of that kind and it ran like clockwork. Great gun. Th only reason she sold it was because she wanted a .22 plinker and because we don't reload .45.

I am sorely tempted every time I see one in 9mm.

 

[Joe3of3]

Sorry for the slow response, but yea the timeline is correct. Shocked me when FedEx pulled up and delivered it. But, it still was not right; would not fire reliably. The PT145 was returned for a fifth time! Taurus agreed to replace it....that was five weeks ago and I still call several times a week to see when my replacement weapon will be shipped!

 

[jeepmor]

My PT145 Mil Pro has run like a champ and is my CCW gun. I have at least 2-3K rounds through the gun. Serial # range NYF 1XXX. I bought my wife a 9mm model and it has run as well also. Sorry to hear of others troubles. But I've seen my PT145 and PT111 outperform multiple higher dollar pistols, a Sig and a Kimber, in reliability at the range.

I was concerned over short barrel penetration issues also. As a test, I fired into dry treated fir lumber.

With 185 gr XTPs, I was able to reliably punch all the way through a 4x4 at ~21ft. When I backed that 4x4 with a 2x4, the bullet just stuck in the 2x4 surface, or bounced out after going through the 4x4. I didn't have a 40 for comparison. Not ballistics gel or anything, but a simple enough to understand statement of short barrel 45 penetration.

 

[NMGonzo]

Taurus agreed to replace it....that was five weeks ago and I still call several times a week to see when my replacement weapon will be shipped!

Well ... they are going to replace it after all.

Wonder if something in the slide was out of spec, really curious.

 

[roadliner]

I bought my gen3 PT145 last December for ccw. It has functioned flawlessly so far. In fact, I was so impressed with the gun that I bought a 24/7 OSS 45 a month later. Both guns shoot hardball, semi-wadcutters and hollowpoints without a problem.