Taurus PT100AF and PT101AF: better than Berettas?

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1KPerDay

1KPerDay

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I bought this “stainless” (actually nickel plated) .40 caliber Taurus PT101AF in 1994. It was either my first or my second gun purchase ever, the other being a S&W Sigma .40 (the original one that got them sued by Glock). The 40 caliber craze was in full swing and no self-respecting American would consider buying an inferior Euro trash 9mm.

The 1994 AWB meant that the extra 11-round mag cost me like $60 rather than the $15 it should have, but I had to have that one extra round of freedom. :D

I shot it quite a bit back in the day but haven’t shot much .40 in about 15 years. I got it out today and tried it next to my similarly old but much less used Blue PT100AF. Both are great shooters and have been very reliable. I much prefer the frame mounted safety/decock levers over the slide-mounted Beretta version.

anyway, here’s a video for any interested.
 
Your lucky. I want to find either a 100 or a 101 and have not had any luck. I have looked locally, I have tried auction sites, and the money on them is silly. I have a PT99 and I love that gun. One of these days I will land a 40 cal cousin. And then a .380 cousin too.
 
WestKentucky said:
Your lucky. I want to find either a 100 or a 101 and have not had any luck. I have looked locally, I have tried auction sites, and the money on them is silly. I have a PT99 and I love that gun. One of these days I will land a 40 cal cousin. And then a .380 cousin too.
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Oooo get the 19-shot .380 if you can. Those were cool.
 
I has a Taurus .40 stainless 100 AFS back in early 2000 that I purchased used. The slide developed a hairline crack just above the breech face and when I sent it in to Taurus they sent me a brand new replacement no questions asked. It’s been a great gun over the years but sits in the safe most of the time lately.
 
I bought a NiB PT99 in 1989. I still have it. It still works fine. No telling how many thousands of rounds I've put through it. It's accurate and reliable. The trigger is not great, but it's okay. I like the controls. Slide-mounted safeties are an abomination.

My Beretta is a Model 96 in 40 caliber. I got it when the "big dump" was in full swing, and every self-respecting law-enforcement agency was ditching their clunky 40 calibers to buy inferior Eurotrash 9mm's instead. ;) One of my preferred vendors went through 2-3 dozen of them, a few at a time per week. This was the last one, a Frankengun made from a "normal" Italian frame and an American DAO slide. It's accurate and reliable. The trigger is a little better than the Taurus.

Owning both, I would not say the Taurus is better than the Beretta. They're just different. They have a proper frame-mounted safety, instead of the frame-mounted abomination of the Berettas. The Taurus models with adjustable sights are as common as the fixed sights. It's a sample size of three, but my Beretta and my FiL's have slightly better fit and finish than my Taurus, and their triggers are a little better.

Choose the one you want. It's probably win/win.

TaurusPT99

TaurusPT99


View media item 1867
 
So that DAO looking thing has DA/SA guts right? That’s cool. You just have to lower that hammer manually like a CZ?
 
Lennyjoe said:
I has a Taurus .40 stainless 100 AFS back in early 2000 that I purchased used. The slide developed a hairline crack just above the breech face and when I sent it in to Taurus they sent me a brand new replacement no questions asked. It’s been a great gun over the years but sits in the safe most of the time lately.
Click to expand...
The rear sight pin went missing from mine in about 1997 and I contacted Taurus to try to get a new one. They made me ship them the gun on their dime to replace it LOL. But they paid shipping both ways and had it back to me in a couple of weeks with a new 25 cent roll pin installed.

it broke again in about 2008ish I guess, maybe later… anyway I called them again and they sent me a couple pins and (IIRC) a fresh recoil spring at no cost. And I told them I bought the gun used and was happy to pay for the part. I’m a fan.
 
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1KPerDay said:
Oooo get the 19-shot .380 if you can. Those were cool.
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Probably going to just turn my pt 99 into a swap top and get a custom barrel made. Heavy springs paired to a custom barrel turn a full sized 9mm into a very interesting blowback .380. Someone on here did it with a helwan brigadier. I would do the same with a PT99. But yeah, the factory built .380s are slick. I would do a 32 as well but they are exceedingly rare to run across and they are expensive too.
 
1KPerDay said:
So that DAO looking thing has DA/SA guts right? That’s cool. You just have to lower that hammer manually like a CZ?
Click to expand...

Yeah, it operates like a normal DA/SA, but it doesn't have a safety or a decocker. I like it that way. The fewer controls, the better, IMHO.
 
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