So, I bought a Taurus pistol...and I'm not ashamed? Who knew?
For those of you who get the cursed email flyers, you know Palmetto State Armory occasionally runs some stupid-cheap sales that just...taunt you into buying. I'd been noticing for a while they've been advertising the Taurus PT111 Millennium Gen 2 (G2) lately for under $200 bucks. That seemed pretty cheap, so I did some research and the word on the street is that the PT111 G2 is a pretty good gun. Some good in-depth reviews in print and in video, from people I consider to be legit reviewers. Now, all those positive reviews get mixed in with 1) the fact that Taurus makes/has made some really horrible guns; 2) their rep for QC is a bit spotty; and 3) they've made/make some really, really horrible guns. I had the pleasure(?) of firing one of the PT111 Gen 1 guns for an entire day, and it was such a piece of shit. Badly designed, and yet poorly executed. Worst trigger I've ever seen or shot. A real clunker.
So I was skeptical when I read the reviews, but it's a small-frame, striker-fired 9mm, holding 12 rounds, and it's only $199...so what the hell. How bad could I get hurt?
$199.99 + $17 shipping + $20 tranfer = $236.99 into the safe.
Ordered Sunday, 28 Jun. Shipped from PSA Monday, 29 Jun. Arrived at my FFL Wednesday, 1 Jul, and I picked it up later that day on my way home from work. Kudos to PSA and my FFL: 72 hours from "click" to "mine."
Pretty standard stuff. Manual, warranty card, gun, and two magazines. (Nice touch with the two mags.) The second magazine comes in its own "magazine sock." WTH?
The important stuff.
Overall, a pretty ordinary looking striker-fired, polymer-framed 9mm. Safety is small and unobtrusive, and can be ignored as I intend to do.
Breaks down into "standard" pieces: frame, slide, barrel, captured recoil assembly. Breaks down using the now Glock-standard disassembly.
3 dot sights. Fully adjustable rear (very low profile) and "Glock-like" front sight (screw in the bottom of the slide to remove the sight).
The gun feels surprisingly good in the hand. The texturing give a solid purchase without being abrasive. The grip is also very slim for a weapon holding 12 rounds in the mag.
It is significantly shorter than the Glock 19.
The height is about the same, but it's noticeably narrower through the grip.
Grip size is evident here.
My normal day-to-day warm weather carry is a Kahr P9 I've had since a week before forever.
As you can see, they're pretty comparable in size.
Height is about the same. The P9 is a bit narrower, but not by much, considering the PT111 is a 12-round mag.
Width from above.
But looks don't tell much of a story, so I headed to the range today for a check out. I brought the two factory magazines, along with a Mec-gar P228 9mm magazine. It turns out that Sig P226/P228 magazines fit and feed perfectly in the PT111. Thanks, Internet, for that fact.
The gun fits very well in the hand. The grip is narrow enough not to give the "clunky" feel of the baby Glocks. If I had to describe it, I'd say it was more like the M&P series, if that makes sense. The "beavertail" is deep enough to prevent any slide-bite, which my Glock 19 has a painful tendency to do.
I'm not a fan of 3-dot sights, but these worked fine, and shot POA/POI. I'll probably black-out the rear dots.
Although 150 rounds isn't a full check-out, the gun gobbled all 150 rounds with no hiccup. The P228 magazine extends out the bottom a bit, but would make a perfectly acceptable "second magazine," once the fun got going. The trigger has a long take-up to a "crisp" break with almost no stacking. I was dropping steel plates at 15 yards as fast as I could move the front sight and squeeze. If I had an input, I might not change the weight, but I'd move the trigger breakpoint forward; it's farther back in the triggerguard than, say, a Glock.
Overall, I have to say I'm impressed, and no small amount surprised by that fact. The fit and finish on the gun is far better than $199 would lead you to believe. For God's sake, that's Hi-Point territory. The gun fits my hand better than the baby Glocks, is smaller than a G19, and almost as small as my beloved P9, while carrying more ammo and an arguably better trigger. I have to wring it out a lot more, but I could actually see this gun becoming a regular carry gun. It's small, light (22 oz), it handles well, and it carries 12+1 in a compact package. There's a lot to like here.
In fact, the biggest hurdle to carrying this gun might be the part about having to explain to people that I'm carrying a Taurus...
For those of you who get the cursed email flyers, you know Palmetto State Armory occasionally runs some stupid-cheap sales that just...taunt you into buying. I'd been noticing for a while they've been advertising the Taurus PT111 Millennium Gen 2 (G2) lately for under $200 bucks. That seemed pretty cheap, so I did some research and the word on the street is that the PT111 G2 is a pretty good gun. Some good in-depth reviews in print and in video, from people I consider to be legit reviewers. Now, all those positive reviews get mixed in with 1) the fact that Taurus makes/has made some really horrible guns; 2) their rep for QC is a bit spotty; and 3) they've made/make some really, really horrible guns. I had the pleasure(?) of firing one of the PT111 Gen 1 guns for an entire day, and it was such a piece of shit. Badly designed, and yet poorly executed. Worst trigger I've ever seen or shot. A real clunker.
So I was skeptical when I read the reviews, but it's a small-frame, striker-fired 9mm, holding 12 rounds, and it's only $199...so what the hell. How bad could I get hurt?
$199.99 + $17 shipping + $20 tranfer = $236.99 into the safe.
Ordered Sunday, 28 Jun. Shipped from PSA Monday, 29 Jun. Arrived at my FFL Wednesday, 1 Jul, and I picked it up later that day on my way home from work. Kudos to PSA and my FFL: 72 hours from "click" to "mine."
Pretty standard stuff. Manual, warranty card, gun, and two magazines. (Nice touch with the two mags.) The second magazine comes in its own "magazine sock." WTH?
The important stuff.
Overall, a pretty ordinary looking striker-fired, polymer-framed 9mm. Safety is small and unobtrusive, and can be ignored as I intend to do.
Breaks down into "standard" pieces: frame, slide, barrel, captured recoil assembly. Breaks down using the now Glock-standard disassembly.
3 dot sights. Fully adjustable rear (very low profile) and "Glock-like" front sight (screw in the bottom of the slide to remove the sight).
The gun feels surprisingly good in the hand. The texturing give a solid purchase without being abrasive. The grip is also very slim for a weapon holding 12 rounds in the mag.
It is significantly shorter than the Glock 19.
The height is about the same, but it's noticeably narrower through the grip.
Grip size is evident here.
My normal day-to-day warm weather carry is a Kahr P9 I've had since a week before forever.
As you can see, they're pretty comparable in size.
Height is about the same. The P9 is a bit narrower, but not by much, considering the PT111 is a 12-round mag.
Width from above.
But looks don't tell much of a story, so I headed to the range today for a check out. I brought the two factory magazines, along with a Mec-gar P228 9mm magazine. It turns out that Sig P226/P228 magazines fit and feed perfectly in the PT111. Thanks, Internet, for that fact.
The gun fits very well in the hand. The grip is narrow enough not to give the "clunky" feel of the baby Glocks. If I had to describe it, I'd say it was more like the M&P series, if that makes sense. The "beavertail" is deep enough to prevent any slide-bite, which my Glock 19 has a painful tendency to do.
I'm not a fan of 3-dot sights, but these worked fine, and shot POA/POI. I'll probably black-out the rear dots.
Although 150 rounds isn't a full check-out, the gun gobbled all 150 rounds with no hiccup. The P228 magazine extends out the bottom a bit, but would make a perfectly acceptable "second magazine," once the fun got going. The trigger has a long take-up to a "crisp" break with almost no stacking. I was dropping steel plates at 15 yards as fast as I could move the front sight and squeeze. If I had an input, I might not change the weight, but I'd move the trigger breakpoint forward; it's farther back in the triggerguard than, say, a Glock.
Overall, I have to say I'm impressed, and no small amount surprised by that fact. The fit and finish on the gun is far better than $199 would lead you to believe. For God's sake, that's Hi-Point territory. The gun fits my hand better than the baby Glocks, is smaller than a G19, and almost as small as my beloved P9, while carrying more ammo and an arguably better trigger. I have to wring it out a lot more, but I could actually see this gun becoming a regular carry gun. It's small, light (22 oz), it handles well, and it carries 12+1 in a compact package. There's a lot to like here.
In fact, the biggest hurdle to carrying this gun might be the part about having to explain to people that I'm carrying a Taurus...
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