Taurus seems to have problems with lite strikes....
My gen II PT-111 always had lite strike issues with WWB... never with UMC or SD ammo.
I traded it in for a gen III PT-111, because I really wanted the SA trigger. I set up to load 9x19 around the same time.
I already had a lot of Win small pistol primers that I use for .38 spl, so I used them on my 9x19 reloads as well.
guess what.... the other week I had my first lite strikes with the new PT-111 on my 9x19 re-loads....
again... not with Trailblazer, UMC or SD ammo.
I've always heard that Win primers were on the harder side.... but they certainly go bang 100% of the time in every other gun I load them for.
My reading has led me to believe that the problem is the finish on the machined hole that the firing pin slides in.
After much searching, I found disassembly instructions (sans pics
) to take out the plug and spring and pull the firing pin.
My time has been totally consumed with a barn building project. And on top of that, my club has had both the rifle and pistol ranges shut down for almost a month....
so no time to play time for me lateley....
My plan is to do the detail strip and put lapping compound on a pipe cleaner and run it back and forth in the hole to polish it up.
If only I can find the time....
Flushing the firing pin hole with brake cleaner seemed to help on my previous PT-111....
if the detail strip isn't to much of a pain (the instructions I found warn of a spring that goes "boing" when you release the plug) I'll add that to my regular cleaning routine.
I've read two reports of lite strikes on the 709 now and I suspect it's the same issue.
I'm an ameture hobby basement machine shop guy.... and am learning the hard way that a good finish involves a fair bit of work and often it's time consuming hand work....
Pulling a part right off of the CNC mill and sending it off to the assembly dept. will likely not give the smooth finish needed for sliding metal parts. The last 20 parts machined before the reamer is changed may have a finish that is degraded just enough to cause failures.... esp. after you get a little carbon in there.
Taurus has good designs at good prices.... and I've happily owned three of there products. They do seem to be falling down on the final inspection, hand touch up category, however.
It's a shame, because they certainly could do better. It's not rocket science, but rather quality management and going the extra mile.