What's the Verdict on the Taurus 1911?

[Olympus]

I've been looking into an affordable 1911 for quite some time. I would prefer a Kimber or Springfield but don't nearly have the budget for that. I started looking into Rock Island Armory 1911s and have heard good things about them for being affordable. The more and more I keep hearing great things about the Taurus 1911. A friend of mine had a 24/7 and it was a total piece of ****, so I'm a little leary of Taurus because of that. But I've read tons of consumer reviews and articles about how great the Taurus 1911 is. Does anyone on here have any specific experience with them, good or bad? I'd love to know before I decided to order one. I called a dealer friend to get a price quote and he said $565 for the stainless but his distrubutors were completely out of them.

 

[Eric F]

Same as you. I have heard many many good reports and a few not so good. All in all I think they would be a good purchase. Just keep in ming no one ever produces 100% all the time. Even hand built Sti's get a lemmon once in a while.

 

[Steve H]

I've had my PT1911 for a few months now and about 400 rounds. I'm very happy with it.

 

[electronrider]

You need to do more research on your own, and get a feeling for Taurus. Some people will have nothing to do with them, others ( like myself) have absolutely no problem with them. I love my PT1911. Do a search, and you will find owners on both sides of the fence.

 

[Walkalong]

I would not have one because of the safety built into the hammer. I would buy a Springfield Mil-Spec long before buying a Taurus 1911. If Taurus had used one of the established FPS setups it would not be nearly as bad. Other than that they have a nice feel to them. For not much more money you can do better.

 

[ZeSpectre]

All of my comments regarding the Taurus 1911 can be found in this post from late 2007.

I kept the gun until just after the new year and then sold it because I had so much other "Taurus trouble" I had started wondering when (not if) I was going to have trouble with it as well.

I'm always happy for the folks who get a good Taurus because the good ones are GREAT but it seems like you have to trust pure blind luck to find one of the good units <sigh>.

 

[cerberus65]

I shot my brother's Taurus 1911SS this past weekend. Nice gun! Almost made me want to get one.

I noticed a couple of things as I shot it. The trigger had some creep in it. The internet tells me that 1911 triggers are supposed to be the best of the best of the best so I was expecting something akin to a single action S&W trigger pull. My model 60 has no creep at all and maybe that set my expectations too high. Not sure. I was able to compensate and had no trouble shooting it accurately.

The other thing I noticed was that all the cases I picked up had one edge of the rim deformed (bent forward). I don't know if that would be a problem for reloaders but I thought I'd mention it.

But all in all it was a very nice gun. My brother said he'd shot ~400 rounds without a hiccup and we had no issues with the box we shot.

 

[Olympus]

Thanks for all the feedback. I've been doing search after search on the internet and have found way more things speaking favorably about this gun than bad. It's usually the die-hard Springfield and Kimber people who have bad things to say about this gun. I'm definitely going to keep my eye open for a deal on one.

 

[kwelz]

Great Gun, I have the railed version. So, so finish on the blud guns but other than that no complaints.

A lot of people complain about the safety in the hammer. Bt hammers are relativly cheap and I don't like the style they use fromthe factory anyway so I plan on replacing mine.

The Gun shoots very well and I have had 0 Mechanical problems out of mine Right now it is getting refinished by a local Duracoat guy who has done a few of my other Guns.

If I had to do it over again I would have gotten the stainless version. But that has nothing to do with how the gun functions.

 

[rellascout]

I think there are better values out there.

The finish is poor. It will not last long. For some people this is not an issue. There have been reports of a lot of safeties sheering off. I believe this is due to poor MIM production. MIM that was not properly formed tends to break right away.

My favorite 1911 dealer has had 8 come back to him with issues. He has sold about 50 of them I believe. The latest one blew apart. Take that for what it is worth.

If it were me spending my money I would look at the RIA cheaper and just as good if you want a low end 1911 shooter. As others have stated the next step is a SA milspec.

 

[GE-Mini-Gun]

...There have been reports of a lot of safeties sheering off...

What safety sheared off?

 

[rellascout]

Thumb safeties

 

[Onesiphorus]

Had one, sold it, bought a used S&W 1911SC, haven't looked back. Now I can hit what I'm aiming at.

 

[XDKingslayer]

Most of the reports from the Taurus 1911s have been good. There have been a few posts here of the safeties breaking. My fathers has been running well, but he replaced his safety to accomodate lasergrips.

The finish on each and everyone that I have seen is sub-par, including my fathers. Especially on the roll marks. Half of the roll mark is blued the other half is silver. Just the usual poor consistancy that is becoming normal with Taurus.

I have run quite a few different rounds through my fathers. It's very accurate and has fed everything we've put through it. It took it a couple hundred rounds to become very accurate.

Now, it's still a Taurus. Their attention to detail is questionable. Their customer support is almost always a horror story. Poor answers, long wait times.

I was in the same boat as you. I wanted a nice entry level 1911 with some extra goodies at a decent price. It came down to the Taurus and the RIA Tactical.

I pick up my RIA Thursday. Unless you want a rail on your 1911, I'd recommend the RIA over the Taurus because of Taurus' inconsistant quality and poor customer support. RIA has people on the m1911 forums for support. Can't beat that.

 

[Olympus]

I started out looking at the Rock Island 1911s to begin with. They seemed like a good value for the money and everyone I spoke with had good things to say about them. However, the ones I have seen that are brand new in the box have finishes that were even worse than the Taurus. I'm really holding out for a stainless anyway. I like the longer, curvier (like my women) beavertail on the Taurus. The Rock Island guns to me look like really cheap toy pistols. There is no checkering like on the Taurus either. Just little details like that make me lean toward the Taurus.

 

[AndyC]

Worse finishes? You're perhaps referring to the parkerized finished of the RIA?

 

[rdoggsilva]

Go to Taurusarmed.net or m1911.org and read the post on the pt1911. Also read the post on the other 1911,s brands. You will find the good, the bad and the ugly on all the 1911 manufacturers.
I have a pt 1911 and have put close to 2000 rounds through it with out a hiccup. The only thing I have changed is the grips.

 

[possum]

welcome to thr, i have heard nothing but great things about them from those that own them. use the search function and there you will find lots of intel on the taurus 1911, also check out the m1911 forums and there will be alot of info on there.

i own a sa mc operator, but i would have no problem owning a taurus especially with the great reviews that they have recieved.

 

[gcrookston]

I've owned one now about 7 months and 4k rounds. No failures of any kind. I didn't care much for the large billboards on the slide, so I removed them and dura-coated the slide. I have no complaints.

 

[Olympus]

I know what you mean about the advertising on the slide. My thought if I got one would be to get an aftermarket blued slide and put on the stainless frame. But thanks to everyone who has commented about their experience.

 

[lee n. field]

I would not have one because of the safety built into the hammer.

It's a 1911. It's not like you can't get parts. Replace the hammer if the lock bothers you.

 

[XDKingslayer]

It's a 1911. It's not like you can't get parts. Replace the hammer if the lock bothers you.

Why go through all that when you can buy another brand of 1911 without the thing?

 

[Hoffy]

I like mine. If I were buying one today, I would get this SS one delivered for under $570 and pay the transfer fee: http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/21_50_495/products_id/17286.

 

[wristtwister]

I shot one a couple of months ago and wanted to keep it... if that's a recommendation...

WT

 

[peacemaker45]

I've got two. They're both pretty nice guns. Accurate, and feed anything. They're not perfect, however. The finish is thin, and extremely rust prone. I've carried a number of blued guns, but none of them have rusted as quickly as these. Last summer, with the gun living between me and a leather seat, even oiling the thing morning noon and night wouldn't keep ahead of the rust. I finally got fed up with it, and treated one of them with Sweetshooter, and had the other Melonited. That solved that problem. The only other issue was that one of them, the lock in the hammer broke, rendering the gun nonfunctional. both guns got their hammers replaced after that little adventure.