Hypnogator
Member
Range Report: Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro
OK, call me a cockeyed optimist. After my Kel-Tec P-11/40 physically broke for the THIRD time with less than 2,000 rds of 9mm and 200 rds of .40, I knew I needed a new carry piece. I don’t care HOW good the warranty service is, I can’t accept a gun that may break 3 rds into a 10-rd gunfight. I’ve always preferred the .45 ACP, and when Taurus came out with their compact .45, I thought it sounded like an ideal carry gun -- until I started reading about all the cracked frames in the early production models. So I bided my time, trying to get that blasted P-40 conversion kit to actually work (unable to, after 4 trips to Kel-Tec), until Taurus got the problem licked, or something better came along.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, I made a training trip to Houston, and had time to stop by Cheaper Than Dirt on the way back. The dirty scrounges had a new stainless Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro on the shelf for just shy of $400.00. Blast! I had the money, too. And the darn thing just felt so good in my hand, I couldn’t get it pried out before they pried $456.00 out of my account to purchase said piece, bribe the Governor, and pull a couple of boxes of ammo off the shelf. For that, I got the weapon, box, 1 magazine (no more extra mags included by Taurus) magazine loader, cleaning brush, and instruction book. I probably could have gotten a better deal at a gun show, but I’m not physically in Texas all that often, and the price didn’t seem too bad when blue PT-145 Millenniums are going for $350.00 - $370.00.
Of course, I had to stop by the range at Bass Pro to try it out. I only had limited time and ammo, so I only put 50 rds of Fiocchi FMJ and 9 rds of Federal Hydra-Shoks through the weapon. Here are my impressions:
Appearance:
The fit and finish of the weapon are excellent. The stainless slide and barrel, coupled with the black composite lower are very attractive. The old Millennium pistols have clunky-looking safetys, but the Pro has much better-looking safety and slide stop levers that protrude less and will be less likely to snag on clothing.
Ergonomics: The pistol fits my hand like it was designed for it. I have fairly narrow hands with fairly long fingers, and the weapon with magazine in place fills the palm of my hand without hanging below it, or leaving my little finger hanging. It feels solid -- more like a steel-framed weapon than a Kel-Tec, or even a Glock. It points naturally for me, so when I focus on the target and bring it up, the sights are right where I’m looking. One other thing -- the slide release lever extends back far enough that I can close the slide with my thumb from a firing grip. I’ve always had to turn 1911s slightly in my hand to release the slide, or do it with my non-firing hand.
Sights: Large and sharp. The white dots on them are larger than on most other pistols. They are extremely easy to see and line up against either light or dark backgrounds.
Safetys: The safety is easy to engage or disengage with the thumb without altering the firing grip. It functions perhaps just a trifle too easily, giving me the impression that it might be easy to accidentally disengage when holstering or drawing. The key-lock works as advertised, and gave no problems, although I have a vague uneasy feeling about what would happen if it decided to engage itself. I haven’t heard of that ever happening, though. According to the manual, it should never be engaged with the slide retracted, or it will cause damage to the pistol. I don’t plan to test this, but this sounds like a design flaw that will cost a lot of warranty work over the years. Never underestimate someone’s ability to do stupid things.
Trigger Pull: Surprisingly light, albeit squishy. Nowhere near the horrendous trigger pull of the Kel-Tec. Very similar to a Glock, with what I would judge to be a 4-5 pound pull. Trigger travel is also quite short, similar to a Glock. A Gold Cup it ain’t, but the trigger pull is light and short enough that the manual safety isn’t at all superfluous.
Recoil: Moderate muzzle flip, but by no means punishing. I wouldn’t consider shooting gloves to be necessary unless your shooting session would extend to several hundred rounds. Nowhere near the stinging slap of a short-barreled .357 Mag, or the violent flip of the Kel-Tec P-40 that would cause the grip overhang to wear the skin off of the back of my thumb at the first joint.
Reliability:
Mixed. I stripped and cleaned the weapon before I went to the range, removing the generous amount of oil the manufacturer provided. It digested the ball ammo without a hiccough. I could not MAKE it malfunction with FMJ. I tried limp-wristing it, shooting it on either side, even upside-down. It just chugged away. Even when I fired holding it with just my trigger and middle finger, it just fed flawlessly. Because of the limited ammo, I fired the Hydra-Shoks after about 30 rds of ball, loading first four and then five Hydra-Shoks to top off the magazine, then chamber-loading a ball round before inserting the magazine. I had two failures to feed with these rounds, both of them on the second round in the magazine (third round fired). I was limp-wristing at the time, so I don’t know whether that might have influenced the test, or not. Both rounds nose-dived into the feed ramp and stuck with the edge of the hollow point at the juncture of the barrel and feed ramp. The other rounds all fed fine, so I don’t know whether I may have to have some adjustment done on the gun, or just make sure I keep a firm grip. I’ll update y’all when I get a chance to shoot some more HP. Parenthetically, the manual says the weapon is guaranteed to feed only round-nosed FMJ ammunition reliably.
Accuracy: Good to Excellent. When not trying to throw the gun off by holding it oddly, I could easily keep all the FMJ on a head-sized bullseye target at 7 yds. The Federal Hydra-Shoks were unbelievably accurate. I put three of them touching each other in the center of the Sackie-sized bullseye at 7 yds, and kept all 5 of the next string in the head-sized target at 15 yds. I would be confident in trying for a head-shot at that range.
Overall, I think this one's a keeper. Of course, it could start shedding parts, or breaking in the future. May have to fiddle with it to get it to reliably feed JHPs, but I had to do the same thing with my Detonics when it was new. I'm very pleased so far, 'tho this is hardly an exhaustive test.
OK, call me a cockeyed optimist. After my Kel-Tec P-11/40 physically broke for the THIRD time with less than 2,000 rds of 9mm and 200 rds of .40, I knew I needed a new carry piece. I don’t care HOW good the warranty service is, I can’t accept a gun that may break 3 rds into a 10-rd gunfight. I’ve always preferred the .45 ACP, and when Taurus came out with their compact .45, I thought it sounded like an ideal carry gun -- until I started reading about all the cracked frames in the early production models. So I bided my time, trying to get that blasted P-40 conversion kit to actually work (unable to, after 4 trips to Kel-Tec), until Taurus got the problem licked, or something better came along.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, I made a training trip to Houston, and had time to stop by Cheaper Than Dirt on the way back. The dirty scrounges had a new stainless Taurus PT-145 Millennium Pro on the shelf for just shy of $400.00. Blast! I had the money, too. And the darn thing just felt so good in my hand, I couldn’t get it pried out before they pried $456.00 out of my account to purchase said piece, bribe the Governor, and pull a couple of boxes of ammo off the shelf. For that, I got the weapon, box, 1 magazine (no more extra mags included by Taurus) magazine loader, cleaning brush, and instruction book. I probably could have gotten a better deal at a gun show, but I’m not physically in Texas all that often, and the price didn’t seem too bad when blue PT-145 Millenniums are going for $350.00 - $370.00.
Of course, I had to stop by the range at Bass Pro to try it out. I only had limited time and ammo, so I only put 50 rds of Fiocchi FMJ and 9 rds of Federal Hydra-Shoks through the weapon. Here are my impressions:
Appearance:
The fit and finish of the weapon are excellent. The stainless slide and barrel, coupled with the black composite lower are very attractive. The old Millennium pistols have clunky-looking safetys, but the Pro has much better-looking safety and slide stop levers that protrude less and will be less likely to snag on clothing.Ergonomics:
The pistol fits my hand like it was designed for it. I have fairly narrow hands with fairly long fingers, and the weapon with magazine in place fills the palm of my hand without hanging below it, or leaving my little finger hanging. It feels solid -- more like a steel-framed weapon than a Kel-Tec, or even a Glock. It points naturally for me, so when I focus on the target and bring it up, the sights are right where I’m looking. One other thing -- the slide release lever extends back far enough that I can close the slide with my thumb from a firing grip. I’ve always had to turn 1911s slightly in my hand to release the slide, or do it with my non-firing hand.Sights:
Large and sharp. The white dots on them are larger than on most other pistols. They are extremely easy to see and line up against either light or dark backgrounds.Safetys:
The safety is easy to engage or disengage with the thumb without altering the firing grip. It functions perhaps just a trifle too easily, giving me the impression that it might be easy to accidentally disengage when holstering or drawing. The key-lock works as advertised, and gave no problems, although I have a vague uneasy feeling about what would happen if it decided to engage itself. I haven’t heard of that ever happening, though. According to the manual, it should never be engaged with the slide retracted, or it will cause damage to the pistol. I don’t plan to test this, but this sounds like a design flaw that will cost a lot of warranty work over the years. Never underestimate someone’s ability to do stupid things.Trigger Pull:
Surprisingly light, albeit squishy. Nowhere near the horrendous trigger pull of the Kel-Tec. Very similar to a Glock, with what I would judge to be a 4-5 pound pull. Trigger travel is also quite short, similar to a Glock. A Gold Cup it ain’t, but the trigger pull is light and short enough that the manual safety isn’t at all superfluous.Recoil:
Moderate muzzle flip, but by no means punishing. I wouldn’t consider shooting gloves to be necessary unless your shooting session would extend to several hundred rounds. Nowhere near the stinging slap of a short-barreled .357 Mag, or the violent flip of the Kel-Tec P-40 that would cause the grip overhang to wear the skin off of the back of my thumb at the first joint. Reliability:
Mixed. I stripped and cleaned the weapon before I went to the range, removing the generous amount of oil the manufacturer provided. It digested the ball ammo without a hiccough. I could not MAKE it malfunction with FMJ. I tried limp-wristing it, shooting it on either side, even upside-down. It just chugged away. Even when I fired holding it with just my trigger and middle finger, it just fed flawlessly. Because of the limited ammo, I fired the Hydra-Shoks after about 30 rds of ball, loading first four and then five Hydra-Shoks to top off the magazine, then chamber-loading a ball round before inserting the magazine. I had two failures to feed with these rounds, both of them on the second round in the magazine (third round fired). I was limp-wristing at the time, so I don’t know whether that might have influenced the test, or not. Both rounds nose-dived into the feed ramp and stuck with the edge of the hollow point at the juncture of the barrel and feed ramp. The other rounds all fed fine, so I don’t know whether I may have to have some adjustment done on the gun, or just make sure I keep a firm grip. I’ll update y’all when I get a chance to shoot some more HP. Parenthetically, the manual says the weapon is guaranteed to feed only round-nosed FMJ ammunition reliably.Accuracy:
Good to Excellent. When not trying to throw the gun off by holding it oddly, I could easily keep all the FMJ on a head-sized bullseye target at 7 yds. The Federal Hydra-Shoks were unbelievably accurate. I put three of them touching each other in the center of the Sackie-sized bullseye at 7 yds, and kept all 5 of the next string in the head-sized target at 15 yds. I would be confident in trying for a head-shot at that range.Overall, I think this one's a keeper. Of course, it could start shedding parts, or breaking in the future. May have to fiddle with it to get it to reliably feed JHPs, but I had to do the same thing with my Detonics when it was new. I'm very pleased so far, 'tho this is hardly an exhaustive test.
Can anyone shed some light on this?