Taurus PT 145

[tinygnat219]

Old Dog,

Picked up one (of the last) pre-Pro Milleniums in .45, looked interesting, felt good in the hand, was very inexpensive.

Totally Agree. However, Form didn't follow Function with this gun. It simply failed in a spectacular way. My PT 145 in SS was a 3rd Generation.

In the past couple/three years, this pistol has never once malfunctioned. Strange looonnnng sproing-y trigger pull, but dead-on accurate once one masters the trigger. Nice, big dot easily picked-up sights.

Mostly Agree. Again, mine malfed bigtime. My PT 145's trigger was clean and crisp. More of a SA on the first pull, longer pull on the DA side. Strange concept, but neat. Sights were "ok" as I don't care for the Heinie Sights but they worked.

More'n a few thousand rounds down the pipe of this one, later picked up a PT-145 Mil-Pro which is only slightly different cosmetically (no drastic cut-outs on the slide for the controls), improved trigger pull, no problems with a few hundred rounds through it.

Mine had less than 200 rounds through it when the Guide Rod / Spring thingy started poking out the bottom from underneath the barrel.

I feel the PT-145s can be exceptional carry pieces and my experience indicates the model can be 100% reliable. Easily concealed, feels good in the hand, good sights, a serious caliber, more than adequate accuracy for its intended purpose ... what's not to like?

You came up with the reasons why I wanted this gun. Mine was all this, EXCEPT for the reliability. This was Taurus product #7 for me and my disgust for the lack of quality in their products finally made me mad enough to have a firesale on them.

I do believe the 745 came out much later than the 145 and was not, in fact, its predecessor.

I think you have it the other way around. The 2nd Gen 745 I bought was DAO and had come out years before the 3rd Gen 145. Again, different guns, but same style. My 745 was a single stack .45 with the DAO trigger. The PT 145 had the SA/DA trigger and was a double stack. It also had a slightly longer grip if I remember correctly.

Should be noted that the firing pin channel needs to be kept clean, the recoil spring/guide rod reassembly requires attention to detail (yes, you can reassemble this pistol incorrectly)

Gun was meticulously cleaned and reassembled correctly after every range session. I am not one of these types that likes to abuse their tools. As one of my old shopteachers said: "Take care of your tools and they will take care of you." I even clean my Glock and AK-47 after a range session as I am not going to be the reason the tools fail because of lack of maintenance.

and you need to use the correct mags (there are different versions out there). All this can lead to malfunctions.

Never had any success finding aftermarket Taurus mags, so I had to buy straight from the manufacturer. All mags used were the correct ones.

Quote:
Skip Taurus and go with the Sig. You will be much happier

Yep, that's great advice; tell someone to go out and spend 500 more bucks on one pistol and they'll be happier. We all love our SIGs, but come on, now. The SIG P-239 does feel better in the hand to me, is slimmer, has a much, much better trigger, is clearly a much higher quality pistol than the Taurus and is a great pistol in its own right, though comparing it to a PT-145 is comparing apples to oranges -- fewer rounds in a lesser caliber.

Thank you. You made my argument for me. Besides, the OP asked for an "apples to oranges" comparison on opinions regarding both platforms. I stand by my original statement of "don't buy the Taurus", and I am glad you agree.

 

[Cayoot]

I have had one for about a year now. It had some feeding issues at first, but after a couple hundred rounds, they went away as long as I keep it clean.

My preferred SD load is a 255 grn SWC loaded heavy. The 145 Pro will feed the SWCs as long as I don't put more than 7 rounds in the mag. If I want to load 10 rds, those first 3 rounds have to be of the jacketed variety.

 

[jake3501]

I've owned a 2nd Gen PT145 DAO for three years, over 1,000 rounds, not a burp, hiccup one, I love this pistol, never leave home without it.