I recently bought a taurus PT1911 with the heinie "straight 8" nite sites and love ALMOST everything about it. All 1911 parts are interchangable EXCEPT the sites. I noticed with 230 gr standard pressure loads,it shoots about 2" low at 15 yards. This might not be a problem with some people,but being an EX competition shooter,I'm a "freak" about my guns shooting EXACTLY to point of aim. That's why I have adjustable sites on all my handguns except strictly close range defense only guns. After an agonizing couple hours on phone,with taurus,heinie,brownells,and midway,with repeated calls and having to dig out dial calipers,I was able to determine taurus makes licensed copys of the heinie sites that are NON STANDARD ODDBALL dovetail groove wider than any other pistol or site manufacturer currently offers. At this time,you CANNOT get any adjustable site that will fit it,nor can you make 1 fit as the dovetail slot is wider than all others. And to top it all off,taurus customer support got smart with me on the phone! They actually don't care!!!!!!!!! So I'll NEVER buy another taurus product,or reccomend them to anybody ever again. Even IF it's excellent in all other areas. I got my very first hint when ordering extended slide stop,upon trying it in gun,I had to dremel it slightly in order for this "drop-in" part to work.
Sorry to hear it. Good customer service is such a no-brainer -- the easiest and most cost effective way to promote your business. So it always amazes me that so many companies can't/don't/won't do it right. You should post this complaint on the Taurus section of m1911 forum. The manufacturers keep an eye on the site, and while it probably won't get you any real resolution to your problem, at least you can get the satisfaction of knowing that you flipped them off in front of a very large and knowledgeable community. Just a thought.
That sucks brother. I have thought for a while that the Taurus model was a good 1911 for the money, but if what you are saying is true across the board of their production line, I may need to rethink that assessment. The fit and finish looks good, but if the performance isn't there, all you have is a purty piece of crap. Sorry to hear - good luck with a resolution. I can't even think of an aftermarket site maker that you could contact. Have you tried Heinie directly? Maybe they know of the problem and have a resolution they haven't put out yet? JD
Stalkingbear,I know what you mean. I have always liked Taurus guns and have several,about a month ago I bought a Taurus 24/7 OSS 45acp,it has Novak sights.But shooting Remington 230gr,it is 6" low at 25ft-not yrds. I have searched with every sight mfg and no one has an adjustable sight for it. But good news for you,Champion sights is working on a set for the Taurus 1911 now and should be out soon,and then they are coming out with one for the 24/7 from what the guy in their tech dept. told me a couple weeks ago. THB
Thanks txhillbilly, that's great news. I've been working with it, filed front sight down a tad, and put an arched mainspring housing on it-now it's dead on. The point is they should have standard size dovetail on an 1911. Oh well, I'll likely buy the champion site when it comes out.
Dillinger, I never said it didn't perform, just that it bugged the hell out of me that it shot a lil low and nobody made sites to fit. After filing front site down,replacing mainspring housing,which by the way the cross pin on regular mainspring housings have to be drilled bigger,I've shot about 1800 rounds thru it without the 1st malfunction of any kind. Now we can keep pop cans rolling out to about 31 yards with it. Also changed grips,barrel bushing,slide stop,and a few other goodies as well as hand fitting it. But it DOES go bang everytime you pull trigger-even straight out of box (after cleaning of course as anybody would with any new gun). They are good alternative to higher priced options if you just want to buy a 1911 new for 500$ and just go shoot it. Where I had difficulty with is non standard parts when I expected standard size 1911 parts interchangability.
S.Bear - that is good to hear. I am glad that you have been able to come to a useful finish to your problem and the weapon is performing as expected. It sounds like you did a little gunsmith personal on her, which is to be expected. JD
Over 3,000 rds and no malfunctions of any kind yet. It's kind of growing on me. Am getting about 2 to 2 1/2" groups at 50 yards. The only sour taste in my mouth is when I think of the taped conversation I have between me and customer service. Have concluded it's good pistol for somebody on budget wanting to shoot it straight from box.
That is good to hear. So, all in all - for both a gunsmith and personal owner perspective: Would you, or would you not recommend this pistol to a family member on a budget? It sounds like you would - but let's get it in writing for the other members should the subject of Taurus come up again. Thanks for the constant updates along the way S.B. JD
Yes, for someone on a tight budget, it's the most gun you're going to get for your money, and I would reccomend 1. For someone that wants to get 1 and shoot it bone stock-go for it. All 3 of the Taurus handguns I currently own have been 100% reliable. I've also seen several other Taurus handguns-especially later made examples, and all have been 100% reliable. It does feature most of the popular "bells & whistles" parts out of box. As for a basis for building a custom, which I bought it for, no. The most suprizing Taurus I have is an Millienium pro .45 which shoots dead on out of box at 18 yards-and small groups too! It's the ONLY firearm I have, other than the tiny Ruger LCP I have that I havn't done ANYTHING to-even no trigger job. The reason I viewed it (PT1911) as basis for custom is it's hard even for a gunsmith to order all the "enhanced" parts it has for the same amount of money as the complete gun. The only way you can come close is to go with Essex frame/slide and I'm SURE you know how much work they require. I still havn't totally handfitted slide/frame/link/bushing to my satisfaction, but feel once I do, accuracy SHOULD improve at least by 1/2"-1". It's doing pretty good at 2"-2 1/2" honest groups at 50 yards considering that's a compilation of ALL the different types/weights I've fed thru it. I can consistantly hit pop cans out to about 60 yards slow aimed fire now. It's also easy to hit multiple IDPSA targets with while being timed. NO WAY I'm going to embarrass myself by posting my sslllooowww times though.
In that case, with your permission, I would like to change the thread title to something a little more based in what you have determined to be the case. Something like: Taurus 1911 - 1 Thing I found to be a Problem Since it would appear you still recommend the weapon, just not as a platform do a build or race gun on. Is that fair? JD
