Range Report: Taurus PT111 Millennium Pro

[Jackal]

Wow, you guys are unlucky. My little PT111Pro, with the green frame, has over 600 rds of mixed bulk ammo through it without one single malfunction, ever. I have only cleaned it once at the 400rd mark and I never even cleaned it when I purchased it "new from the factory". I would guess that for every unhappy owner that you hear about, there are prolly 1000's of happy owners. I will say, that I too shoot this gun to the left. No matter how hard I try, I cannot get the groups to move over, even with the rear sight scooted over.

 

[bb21]

No problems for me

I have a PT-111 MP, and it is great, only one FTF with WWB in around 1000 rounds, with the majority being hand loads. For the money they are excellent guns, I have read quite a bit about them and my conclusion is if you have a Pro Model the chances of getting a lemon are not too good. As you can see there are some problems but I think that comes with any brand, you do probably take a little more of a chance with a lower priced gun. The 24/7's seem to have even fewer problems than the Mil Pro's and from what I have seen the PT145 is probably the most popular and reliable of the Mil Pro's.
Good Luck and Be Safe!

 

[MEPH]

recoil spring problems

Appreciate the pics and responses.
I do have the new spring p/n ending in 811 as pictured above. It fits a little looser than the orig spring. I can only pull the slide back to the point where the hole for the disassembly latch pin is aligned to about the front of slide catch notch.
The ..633 spring goes together with ease. The new style just wont work. Even tryed pulling back slide with excessive force.
Called Taurus this week their sending another 811 spring. Hopefully it works and this one i got was just made wrong or something.
I hate the cust service. Since Apr 07, they act as if this recoil spring problem is just an isolated incident. Other than that i really like my PT111.

 

[MEPH]

recoil spring

I knew I wasn't crazy.
I received my 2nd 36100811 recoil spring. this one is painted green, instead of yellow like the first one they sent me that would not pull back far enough.
I've put 100 rds of winchester range ammo. No problems.
Back in business!

 

[jpwilly]

I have a gen 3 PT145 Mil Pro that has been trouble free for over 500rnds now. I've got a PT1911 too with 1600+ rnds and so far both have been trouble free thank god! But I know that Taurus and every other manufacturer can't make a perfect pistol every time and somebody is going to have to use their warranty. Unfortunately Taurus customer service isn't winning any awards here in cyberland.

 

[Adam5]

I have about 800 rounds through my PT111 Mill Pro. It's been 100% flawless. I did have to move the rear sight over some, but that just compensates for the fact that I squint when I shoot.

 

[Ukraine Train]

I went back today with my new spring installed and put 50 rounds of FMJ and a dozen 147gr Gold Dots through it with no problems. I think it's fixed (fingers crossed). As a side note, my dad had his new-to-him CZ82 and it's a pretty nice piece, too. He got it from AIM and it's nearly perfect. It's much more comfortable than my Makarov but still has that really snappy recoil I don't like much.

 

[Southbound]

I've had a PT111 mil pro (9mm) since last December, and I've put around 3500 rounds through it with no problems. It did start to fail to go all the way into battery occasionally once after 500 or so rounds without cleaning.

Excepting the one torture test I've always cleaned it after every shooting session, and the ammo used has been 90% 115gr WWB. It has very little wear overall and it doesn't look like anything is going to go bad soon.

 

[weregunner]

Have an older PT111 Mil/pro. No FTFs.No FTE's. Works well with standard pressure loads and +P rounds. Ones that are at specs described in the manual. While the manual states nothing above a 124 gr. at 1225 fps., there are +P loads at that velocity or near it. Don't use the +P loads above that speed.

Since standard pressure loads do want I need to there seems little need for +P use for the most part. Minimal velocity gain is not worth more recoil, muzzle flip, or wear and tear on the gun and owner.

Gun eats even WWB,Brown Bear,Silver Bear,and Remington, or UMC ammo. Federal HSs go through fine.

115 gr.,124gr., and 145-147gr. rounds all feed and function well through this pistol.

 

[Blckmrbl]

PT111 Mil Pro - Solid Pistol

I've had my PT111 Mil Pro for about 2 years now, with ~1600 rounds through it (primarily WWB). I have only experienced a couple of FTFs, with a second trigger pull always successfully firing the round. Mine has a DAO trigger that is smooth but long and I have found it to be challenging to get the gun to group to my standards. The accuracy is probably good enough for most real world situations but I would feel better if I could get it to group a little tighter/more consistently. I've heard that the latest models have a DA/SA trigger of some sort and I've considered trading mine in for one of these.

Is the new trigger worth trading my older Mil Pro in for?

Also: At the range last night I found that a buddy's 24/7 mag fits my PT111.

 

[weregunner]

There are 24/7 magazine that fir the PT111 Mil/pro.
Granted the trigger is something to have to work with, but DAO type triggers take dedication and whole different mindset /training regimen to stay proficient.

Here's some links on just this subject. PT Mil/pros of any kind have similar performance parameters or similarities. So these links are valid.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=408.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=766.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=2206.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=1708.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=2272.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=1780.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=2019.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=2418.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=3233.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=766.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=1744.0

If Mo won't go to the mountain it's time to bring the mountain here.

 

[sksbubba]

Ukraine Train, I also have a Pt111 with the recoil spring that has pertruded twice. What was the process you had to go thru with Taurus, did you just call them and say you had this problem and they sent you recoil springs or did you have to send in spring/pistol?
Thanks

 

[Ukraine Train]

After explaining the problem to their rep, he told me to just send the recoil spring in and keep the gun.

 

[KI4LIV]

I've had a PT-111 Pro for about a year and a half now. It's had over 3000 rounds put through it.

My wife, who just get her CCW license, wanted to try it out to see how well she could handle it.

She absolutely loves it - EXCEPT - about 5 magazines into our range trip, the magazine catch sheered itself CLEAN OFF!

The button is still there on the outside, but there now is nothing to hold the magazine from falling out unless you hold it in place!

I've contacted Taurus and they will be happy to send me a replacement part if I am willing to remove it, or to replace the part themselves if I send them the frame.

It's plastic - things like this will happen!

Between the PT-111 Pro (that I still have) and the PT1911 that I sold recently (due to .45ACP prices!), I've been happy with every Taurus purchase that I've done!

 

[Ukraine Train]

Thought I'd give an update... the gun had been shooting fine for a few months until a couple weeks ago. If I would rack the slide and then let it slam shut, the gun would go into DA mode. If I slowed the closing of the slide with my hand then it would stay in SA like it should. I didn't shoot it after this but I expect that during normal slide cycling it would just continue to "decock" itself into DA mode. Shipped it to Taurus yesterday.

 

[ARTiger]

My last 2 Mil Pro's . . . PT140 mag catch broken <100 rounds . . . PT111 recoil spring pushing through front of the slide <300 rounds. Both Gen 3's.

Personally I have lost any faith whatsoever in the reliability of their firearms - period. This manufacturer makes and ships what are supposed to be defensive firearms to be used in life or death situations with obvious defects in design and workmanship.

They'll get no more "chances" from me simply because if I ever truly need a handgun to work for serious purposes, the one chance is likely all I'll get.

 

[Bezoar]

Taurus is not the only one to use plastic for an end cap. look at most current production 1911, plastic to keep the spring from blowing out the front.
Plastic itself is an ok material. However the qualities and mechanical properties of any kind of plastic changes with each batch that is made. Hence if you tracked down serial numbers of springs that poped through the slide, and compared to production batches, youd most likely find that the bad parts come from the same batches of inferior plastic.

Sure they should have used metal, heck, i bet some of the machinists in here could make brass or steel or even aluminum washers to put in the slides if they wanted, which the factory should look at.

 

[ARTiger]

It wasn't the plastic end cap that was the issue with my 111. The spring's end diameter was too small - the whole recoil assembly rod, endcap spring and all come through the slide front. The plastic actually does it's job which is to hold the spring on the rod.

Some type of washer would probably work (as would a correctly dimensioned spring in the first place).

 

[Ukraine Train]

I got the gun back today. It was only gone a week and it appears to be fixed. They only replaced the frame pins. They seem to go by the old "if there are parts left over it must be right" rule because there's no slide cap. Time to call them... again.

 

[Flopsy]

Thanks for posting. As time goes by, I'm more and more glad that I bought my Cougar instead of the PT111, those were the 2 I was considering.

I know there are many who got a good one and are satisfied, but it's clear to me that you're playing the odds when you go with Taurus, and my luck never made me comfortable rolling the dice.

 

[equitytrader]

Things like this are what make me wonder what these Taurus defenders are thinking.

 

[Adam5]

I sold my PT111 two months ago, when i got bit by the 1911 bug. Atthe time of sale it had close to 1500 flawless rounds through it.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Gun eats even WWB,Brown Bear,Silver Bear,and Remington, or UMC ammo. Federal HSs go through fine.

That's the ONLY good thing I can say about my PT-138. It will eat anything you feed it.

 

[marksman13]

Just got rid of my PT111 Mil Pro yesterday. It was okay. Very accurate once I adjusted the rear sight to compensate for its tendency to shoot to the left. Had a couple of FTEs and Failures to go into battery in the first 200 rounds or so, flawless after that.

It was my wife's pistol and the grip was uncomfortable to her. She always shot really low and the recoil from that light pistol really hurt her hands. Traded the Taurus even for a EAA Witness Compact and she shoots it much better.

 

[Ukraine Train]

Thought I'd give a final update. After they sent me TWO caps that were too long, I pleaded with them to please please send me the right part and they finally did. Now I can put it up for sale. No more Taurus for me.