Taurus 709 Slim - opinions???

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Hokkmike

Hokkmike

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Looking at a used as new Taurus 709 Slim in 9mm for $299 at the LGS. It really does look new in appearance. Doesn't look like the former owner shot it much if at all. Comes with two 7 round magazines, case, and all papers include Taurus registration.

If you have any thoughts on the gun please share.

Thanks to you.
__________________
 
I haven't shot the gun... fondled it a bit in the gun shops. My take... this is one of several Taurus's that the mfr seems to have gotten right. IME, most of the feedback is pretty good about this gun.

I went so far as looking at several holster makers to see what was available... there was more than I expected.
 
I like the one I have. It's a good carry in the hot months. I did have a problem with light strikes when I bought it and LGS sent it back for me. About 3 weeks later it cameback and haven't had an issue since. I would buy it again. Very comfortable to slide in your pocket.
 
Mine never malfunctioned, it was easy to conceal, and it felt good in my hand. However, once I started shooting it I found that it did not work well with my extremely long hands and fingers. For someone with "normal" sized hands it would probably be great.
 
I traded a dealer for a Taurus slim in 40, the week they came out. I had an "Alloy" 38 that they only made 2 years, and he wanted it for his wife. So I traded even for the Slim. Never fired it, I put it in Gun trader, and sold it for $400.oo the first day. But I was dying to shoot it.
It was a very small 40, that looked very smart. If it shot as well as the 9mm it would have made a great carry
 
I've seen a few people have various major issues with them at the range. Maybe Taurus ironed out some of the problems since the model was first released -- I have no idea. I can see the attraction, but I would never be able to trust one enough to depend on it as a CCW. There are far better options that aren't that much more expensive. Buy once, cry once, and all that.

If you're dead-set on one, though, $300 is a pretty terrible deal for a used one. There are NIB Slims available for under $260 on GB right now. The only advantage to this used one would be if the previous owner shot it into working condition, saving you the expense of burnishing the ill-fitting parts through live fire in order to achieve whatever ultimate level of reliability the gun is capable of.
 
It's interesting that many guns that work well in 9mm don't function nearly as good in 40, other than glock and M&P, I have seen and read so many articles on even CZ, saying their gun was made for 9mm so stick with the 9. and the Shield, "mine dropped mags in 40" fine in 9. and many others, including Kahr etc
 
My son has carried the slim for about 2 years now. His is a .40 not the 9mm. It shoots well enough, I don't recall him having any issues as to operation. He loves the way it carries, light and easy concealed. His main complaint is the slim grips and small size coupled with a .40 recoil is NOT a gun you take for a fun afternoon on the range!
 
I just sold one and bought an S&W Shield. The pistol is very easy to conceal but my problem with the gun was the ergonomics. Just didn't work for me when I shot it but it felt so good at the display case. The two things that didn't work for me was the size of the butt from front to rear, it was a bit too short and a bit too thin in width. That caused the pistol to move laterally in my hand and I had to readjust my grip after each shot. The trigger is a striker fired mechanism but it has a long pull and my trigger finger would hit on the thumb of my supporting hand when I shot the gun. These two things cause inconsistent accuracy. The pistol never malfunctioned, shot every brand of ammo I put through it.

If you can, shoot the gun before you buy it. I wish I had.
 
My wife bought one for CC, and so far it has worked flawlessly, but the total round count through it is still <200 rounds. It has a better trigger than the Keltec and Diamondback mini-nines, and is only a tiny bit bigger than either. It also has double-strike capability, if that means anything to you.
 
It's what I went with.
I narrowed it down to the 709 and the Ruger LC9. I went with the Taurus because of the trigger. The Ruger doesn't reset until you let all the way off of it. I've heard the new ones do but they didn't offer it when I bought mine.

I sit at a desk all day so in the warm months I carry mine in a Galco ankle holster.
ankleholster_zps8e40e221.jpg

Now that its gotten cooler I carry OWB in a De Santis holster and leave a blazer on for concealment.
 
I picked up a new PT740 Slim (40 cal version) a few years ago for off duty carry (LEO). I like it better than the baby glocks for concealment. I think I got lucky when I bought it because the trigger felt like a tuned 1911. I carry 135gr Fed. HST's in it since they are fairly soft shooting for a 40 cal. at 1200 fps.

But here's the crazy part. Right after buying it I realized I needed a pistol to shoot in the off duty match at the NRA NPSC Nationals (bullseye type shooting) and that match requires a 3.5 inch barrel or less. It was all I had at the time so I figured what the heck. Even the referees chuckled when I presented it for inspection right before the match. I got the last laugh when I took 3rd place with it against a lot of very pricey custom chopped 9mm 1911's and other high dollar pistols that would never really be carried at any time.

So yeah, I really like mine. I wish the sights were a little bigger but they do ok out to 25 yds. It probably has 1000 rds of all kinds of factory ammo and my reloads thru it and has never choked once. It's a keeper.

If you find the grip too small just stretch a short section of old bicycle tubing around it to fatten it up a little. I have a bunch of Glocks and I found that the Glock leather pancake type holsters fit the Taurus quite well.
 
709 is my EDC. Just a suggestion based on my own personal experience... get the one with the stainless slide if you can. The bluing is very thin, and I stripped off a lot of the finish cleaning it after a hot sweaty day this past summer. I sweated through the leather holster, and found the right side of the slide (I'm a lefty, worn IWB, so it was the body contact side) covered in rust.

Cosmetically, they leave something to be desired. Sights aren't great, but aren't horrible, either. Bluing is thin and will rust quickly in the right environment.

Conceals extremely well for a 9mm. Accurate enough inside 10 yards, gets sketchy for me outside that. Never had a malfunction, though. Feeds and fires everything I've put through it.

I put the Pearce pinky extensions on my mags, improved my accuracy with the full grip, and didn't really print any more when concealed.

Not bad guns at all. They, as mentioned, are one of the model designs Taurus got right.
 
I've had one for a few years now, and have been generally satisfied with it. It is very concealable, and I've not had any functional issues with mine. When breaking it in I noticed it was consistently shooting low, even with the elevation adjustment on the rear sight cranked all the way up. I called Taurus and they sent me a lower profile front blade and it's shot spot-on ever since. If they would offer it without that thumb safety it would be ideal...
 
I've had a 709 for a couple of years. When I first got it, the trigger pull was a bit gritty, but after a bit of dry firing it smoothed right out. It has a longer pull, like a lot of small carry guns, but it's smooth. The sights are good for what it is, and holster options are plentiful. I have yet to have any sort of malfunction with it including running some old Norinco ammo in it, which has choked many other 9s. I have even shot it in a couple of IDPA BUG matches and it has been great. My hands are small, so the grip is fine for me.

To sum up, nothing about it is spectacular except the reliability. Trigger, sights, grip, etc are all good enough for it's intended purpose. I think it is a great gun for the price, but not the 3 bills you're looking at for a used one.
 
One thing no one meantioned is the scarcity of mags for the PT709. I bought one extra at LGS and it was $45 They are hard to find and the prices are crazy high. Just something else to think about. Oh and mine only came with one mag (guessing LGS kept the other one)
 
get the one with the stainless slide if you can. The bluing is very thin
Click to expand...

Agreed. The blueing on my slide is already wearing after only a year of carrying.
Not that big a deal of course as it doesn't effect function, but it would be nice to have the stainless slide.
 
After seeing the $219 price at PSA, I thought about getting one for myself, but then I noticed that it only came with one magazine. My wife's came with two: one standard mag and one with the grip extension. I looked everywhere I could think of, and the only magazines that are actually available are on ebay and range from $65 to $100 each. That is a deal breaker for me because one magazine isn't enough, and I'm not paying those prices for a lousy seven round magazine.

Gunbroker has about a hundred PT709s for sale, and not a single magazine for any price. A bit more research showed that there has been a shortage of 709 magazines for well over a year, if not two. Apparently, Taurus has been churning out 709s with one mag, and can't be bothered to make extra magazines for them (or even outsource them). Heck, they were no bargain when they were going for $35-40 before they disappeared.

If anyone knows where to find 709 magazines for a reasonable price, let me know. Supposedly, you can modify Hi-Point magazines to work, but that seems like a poor second choice compared to having factory mags available.
 
I got an extra mag at a mom and pop gun/ lawn mower repair shop. Paid just over $30 as I recall. I pay about the same for my 2nd/ 3rd gen Smith & Wesson mags.
 
USAF_Vet said:
I got an extra mag at a mom and pop gun/ lawn mower repair shop. Paid just over $30 as I recall. I pay about the same for my 2nd/ 3rd gen Smith & Wesson mags.
Click to expand...
It seems this may have been a fluke. It looks like a most 709 owners have some difficulty obtaining extra mags. I'm going to try the Hi Point C9 8 round mag trick, see how it goes. I've seen modified Hi Point .45 mags work in 1911s, so I suppose it is possible. There's a YouTube video about modifying a C9 mag to fit the 709.
Read elsewhere, I think it was the TaurusArmed forum, that the Hi Point mags wobble front to back and can nose dive, causing a misfeed.

If they work, I'd only use them for the range and carry the Taurus factory mags only.
 
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