1911.COM : Taurus Pistols : Taurus Pistols : Taurus PT1911

Posted: Feb 12th 2010, 08:21 PM

Well, I certainly wish I had some good things to say about this gun. It's certainly a nice looking piece. But I haven't had a chance to fire it yet. It's back at the Taurus factory. I purchased it new in the box a couple of weeks ago at a local gun store. I'm pretty thorough about cleaning, inspecting and testing my firearms before they ever get near any ammunition. In this case, I'm glad I did. This PT1911 suffers from hammer follow. That is, when you rack the slide, the hammer drops with my finger nowhere near the trigger. And I don't mean just to half cock. An alarming number of times it would drop all the way, striking the firing pin. If there had been a round in the gun there could have been a very unexpected bang. Especially when closer inspection revealed that the firing pin block was not functioning...at all. Needless to say, I am more than a little annoyed at the apparent lack of quality control at Taurus. To think they would let a gun out the door in that condition is rather shocking. And when I returned it to Taurus I was told they had a 4-5 week backlog on repairs. They should call it customer dis-service.

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Posted: Feb 12th 2010, 09:51 PM

Damn, nice catch! I hope they do you right, but from what I've heard about Taurus, they will.

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Posted: Feb 13th 2010, 12:53 PM

Holy Moses,

I would also contact the store you bought it from and alert them to the problem.
Also I think the store should give you credit for the piece,nullify the sale
and accept the burden of waiting for the repairs.
Very heads-up on your part. Taurus should have their top CEO
contact you personally and offer it's grave apologies

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Posted: Feb 13th 2010, 09:00 PM

Screw the repairs, I am with LR, I would want my money back if it was new like that...and a top dog apology.....Or they sure as hell better send me a NEW one....If that was my 24/7 Pro, someone would have ate it....

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Posted: Feb 22nd 2010, 02:30 PM

The saga continues.

I did take the gun back to the store where I bought it. They agreed it was inexcusable, but said my recourse was to return the gun to Taurus.

But there's more. When I called Taurus about the problem originally, they told me to return the gun to them....at my expense. I was told their policy is to pay shipping if the gun is less than a year old. But they claimed mine is older than that. I told them I didn't care how long ago it was made. I bought it brand new, in the box. An argument ensued and before they'd pay the shipping on it, I had to send them documentation proving I just bought the gun...which I did.

Well, today, I get a bill from Fedex for the shipping costs. Yet another call to customer service. I will say that, unlike other times I've called, the person I spoke to today was actually polite and helpful. I'm sure Taurus management isn't aware they actually have a nice person working for them. After looking it up, he agreed they should have paid for it and told me to fax the paperwork to him and he'd take care of it.

The interesting thing is, the shipping charge was $85. You have to wonder just how much profit margin Taurus has on their guns that they can afford to pay $85 for shipping, plus the time their people have spent on the phone with me, plus parts and labor to do the repairs, and presumably another $85 to send it back to me, and still make money off it. Hell, I only paid $599 for the gun. Figure the dealer gets a cut out of that. When do they reach a point when their costs to fix defective guns exceeds the money they get from them?

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Posted: Feb 22nd 2010, 04:55 PM

I thought that firing a firearm before it left the factory was something that all manufactures did. Even Stag will test fire and zero a complete upper before sending it out. My Para and my Kimber both came with the expended cases that were fired for testing. What a bunch of idiots. I'm glad I don't own a Taurus Auto.

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Posted: Feb 23rd 2010, 08:59 AM

Hey now.....my 24/7 Pro has not let me down yet, I have over 500 rounds through it, maybe more...I think that is what they get for trying to copy a Legend......LOL

No offense meant RG, it truly sucks what happened.

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Posted: Feb 23rd 2010, 09:22 AM

This may be unpopular with everyone in here but RG, but here it goes.

Taurus sucks. Plain and simple. First, they are a Brazilian company, with the US contingent being located in Miami, FL. Brazilian companies are notorious for the shittiest customer service on the planet. Taurus got in the business of making guns by stealing from other manufacturers. Beretta had a facility in Brazil back in the day to manufacture guns for the Brazilian military and when they got fed up and moved out, the Brazilians had stolen the plans and were left the tooling to make Beretta knock-offs. Their quality control is for shit, and their customer service in Brazil is run by engineers. They have been plagued by magazine issues on several models of pistols. They just go ahead and ship out the gun with these mags and let customer service catch up when the production is at a surplus. I know people than have waited months and months to get replacement magazines from Taurus USA that lived with in a few miles of their US operation. I just recently inspected a PT1911 that a coworker bought just a few months ago and it is already pitting. WTF? They must use inferior metal on the slides and then do a shitty job of protecting it. If you can't wear a duty pistol out in the elements without it pitting in the first couple of months, what good is it? He contacted Taurus, and I'll save you the response.

I'll say it again, but I've heard more horror stories about Taurus than any other gun manufacturer out there. I work with people that have forgotten more about guns than I've ever known, and not a single one of them would spend a dime on one. I know someone that boxed up 24/7 compact and sent it back to Taurus with a letter that said, 'You can have this one back. Sell it again to someone looking to commit unintentional homicide.' That's a pretty fed up customer in my mind, and the second story I've been privy to about this kind of shit quality control on Taurus. His fired when it was dropped from waist high and put a round into his car. Luckily no one was killed.

I hope I didn't piss anyone off. I wouldn't spend a dime with that company.

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Posted: Feb 24th 2010, 04:12 AM

Nobody for you to piss off around here Roomy... We are all allowed to have our opinions... They are like assholes.. we all have them and they all stink... :-)

I have owned a couple of Taurus revolvers and one semi-auto that were all good guns. But.... I have a Taurus pump action rifle that is more useful as a boat paddle than a firearm.

-Tac

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Posted: Feb 24th 2010, 06:32 AM

Well that was quite a statement 'Room 055' (

), the tone reminds me of another member who seems to have dropped of the grid.....

You know it's funny, back in the day when I had my Beretta s I used to just say that they were crap and copied one of the best guns ever made, well that being said, I know getting stuff for my 24/7 Pro has been a chore, most of the accessory company don't make stuff for them...
talk about a bunch of

but I have to say it works for me, the cost was right and hey I guess I got lucky on it....first time for every thing..

Would I trust it in a combat situation, well that is another story, but for range fun and keeping the crack heads away, it will do....unless some one out there has a SIG or Glock they want to give me....in a .45 if you please...

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Posted: Feb 24th 2010, 08:03 AM

Roomie,

Tac's right. We're all entitled to our opinions and sometimes they don't align with another posters view, but that's ok. It's what makes this site different from all the others out there. You can dissent and not be blacklisted for doing it.

Ethron made a good point, your post looks a lot like CJ back in the day. He's definitely off the radar...I miss his rants and rather enjoyed yours.

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Posted: Feb 24th 2010, 08:43 AM

Oh, BTW. I do think Taurus makes great revolvers. I've never owned one, but their revolver reputation is why some people have bought their auto loaders. Sorry about the rant. When I was on duty a couple of weeks ago, a cohort brought in a Taurus 1911 that looked like it had been stored outside in the rain. He said it had 150 rounds through it and has been kept in an air conditioned house. All areas of the slide that had been machined (serrations) and all wear areas where rusting and developing pits. He showed me the receipt from a local dealer who told him to talk to Taurus because he was dropping Taurus from his line up. This is a gun shop that caters to LE mind you. The magazine issues were from a year ago, so the backlog may have been due to the over demand caused by election time. Having a pistol with a bad magazine and no replacement in sight is useless and reeks of poor quality control and customer service. If I recall correctly, it took about 3 months to get a replacement mailed about 5 miles. The accidental discharge upon impact with the ground was scary, but it's not like other manufacturers haven't had drop test issues. I guess it's the culmination of these things that taint me towards Taurus. Oh well. My opinion mates. Sorry for the buzz kill.

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Posted: Feb 24th 2010, 09:22 AM

Recoil,

BBBBBUUUUZZZZZZ, wrong person.....

MP......

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Posted: Feb 24th 2010, 10:05 AM

Wow, that was a lot to consume on the Taurus. Me personally, I don't think I would buy one. I thought the same things about them when they came out with their Beretta copy back in the day. I'm wanting an M9 Commercial or 92FS. But I think I'll get a Beretta.

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Posted: Feb 24th 2010, 03:03 PM

I am with Room, they have good revolvers but thats where it ends in my opinion, I tried my hand at there semi auto pistols and learned my lesson. They should have stuck to making tools. Berreta should never have sold their plant to them, now their excellent pistols are associated with Taurus's crap. Sorry I'm just bitter towards them.

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Posted: Mar 13th 2010, 11:13 PM

Well, after 5 weeks, I got my PT1911 back. The documentation says they replaced the seer, the firing pin and the firing pin safety, and made adjustments. Of course, I won't know until I get it to the range, but it checks out. The hammer is rock solid and stays put, no matter what I do. And the firing pin block safety now works perfectly. To me, that was the biggest issue, and what truly made the gun dangerous. If the firing pin safety is working, it doesn't matter what the hammer does. The gun can't fire unless the trigger is pulled.

I've got mixed feelings at this point. I bought this gun because I've never owned a 1911 before and wanted one to go along side my Uberti SAA. More or less a nostalgia thing, having both the famous Colt 45's. Well, clones of them anyway. Anyway, given the problems I had with it, I did a significant amount of research while it was in the shop, including buying the AGI Colt 1911 Technical Manual and Armorer's Course. Excellent investment by the way, no matter what make of 1911 you have.I've also spoken with several other PT1911 owners.

Basically, the consensus is, there's nothing inherently wrong with this gun IF its been properly assembled and adjusted. And that's due to the nature of the 1911 design in general, and not specific to Taurus. Apparently the 1911, although solid and robust, is quite finicky by nature when it comes to proper assembly. Especially when it comes t that three blade leaf spring. Incorrect fit or tension on any of the three spring blades can cause a whole catalog of problems. I'm told the problems my gun had are quite common in guns that have been tinkered with by kitchen table gunsmiths. The 1911 is one gun where you REALLY have to know what you are doing before looking under the hood.

So it appears that the PT1911 is an excellent gun, again, IF its properly assembled and adjusted. So my problem isn't so much with the gun as with the rather alarming lack of quality control that allowed such a gun to go out the door. It shows that this gun went through virtually no checks or tests after it was manufactured. In my mind that is inexcusable.

Like I said, the gun appears to be rock solid now. And it has a whole list of features you don't generally see in a gun in that price range. Ambidextrous safety. Beaver tail grip safety. Full length guide rod. Skeleton trigger and hammer. Flared ejection port. Polished barrel throat and feed ramp. Heine straight eight sites. Quite a list for a $500 gun. Of course, the real test will come when I can get it to the range. But I have high hopes.

More to come.

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Posted: Mar 14th 2010, 08:15 AM

'Brazilian companies are notorious for the shittiest customer service on the planet.'

Hope they got it right the second time around.

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Posted: Mar 14th 2010, 12:04 PM

You know what though... there are some hot Brazilian women out there.

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Posted: Mar 14th 2010, 01:19 PM

RG, I hope 'Take 2' works out for you. Taurus or not, lemons happen... but there are some companies out there that they happen to more often. I truely hope they made it right and you end up with a gun you love and trust. Few things are more satisfying that a good running 1911... (IMHO)

-Tac

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Posted: Jun 23rd 2010, 06:17 PM

Just finished reading this thread. I've been eyeing the PT1911 for quite awhile, and I know half a dozen guys who've bought them, and love them.

However, you can't discount the problems that are related here, or the poor customer service. There is one thing, however, that makes me think I would still give one a shot. There is simply no other .45 on the market that comes with as many 'smithing type add-ons out of the box as the PT1911.

Now, I owned a custom built combat .45 25 years ago, and I had all the bells and whistles on it to enhance performance in combat pistol matches. That gun cost me nearly $800 back then. Today you couldn't touch it for less than $2500. So, to get almost all of those add-ons in a box stock factory pistol for about $600 give or take, is nothing short of phenomenal in this day and age.

It is worth taking a chance in my opinion. The guys I know who did certainly don't regret it. (But I'm a cheap bastard.

I think stuff like STI, Kimber, Wilson Combat, etc., are WAY overpriced.)

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