Re: Taurus PT 1911 -- GI Parts? General Comments

Hank wrote:
# Hello,
#
# A friend is thinking about picking one of these up. He is concerned
# with interchangeability w/ standard GI parts. Since they have the
# patented Taurus lock, at least some parts must not interchange, but it
# almost looks (pictures I've seen on the web) like the lock is mostly
# localized to the hammer. I read on one person "dropping in" a
# replacement hammer, but nothing else on parts compatibility. Does
# anyone here have any experience?

The Taurus PT-1911 seems to be pretty much a standard 1911 but with
something like a Swartz-style safety. To see how people have tricked-
out their PT-1911s by substituting in standard parts go here:

http://forum.m1911.org/forumdisplay.php?f=115


# He's fired my High Standard "crusader compact" and likes it OK but
# wants a full sized 1911 and has read that the Taurus is forged (vs.
# cast for the High Standard) and also that the Taurus has lots of
# extras. Another friend bought Taurus semi-auto this summer and raves
# on and on about how wonderful it is.
#
There are pros and cons to the pistol.

Cons:

The bluing was _way_ too soft and soluble. At every contact surface of
holster and body it came off in large areas, due to my rather caustic
sweat. And wherever the finish came off it rusted. Less than 6mos.
before having it refinished in Gun-Cote. With the customer service
I've had from Taurus in the past, I'm confident they'd have fixed it if
I'd given them the opportunity.

The firing-pin safety is annoying. When reassembling you must avoid
inverting the pistol. Since the Taurus I've gotten a 1911 w/the Swartz
firing-pin safety and must be getting better at it. So maybe this will
go away entirely with time.

Seems very picky about magazines )-:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pros:

Seems very picky about magazines (-: ... that characteristic may not
be all bad.

Looks mighty sharp OotB. The Gun-Cote cost the nice fill color in the
printing on the slide.

OotB it has a very nice trigger.

Lots of ergonomic extras: nice scalloping behind the trigger;
checkering on front-, back-straps and bottom of the trigger guard;
ambidextrous thumb safety.

It feeds hardball, Federal Hydra-Shoks and Hornady XTPs very reliably.

The Heinie sights are as good as any low-profile fix sights I've used.

Shoots very well.

For the price, this pistol _does_ include a lot of nice features.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Taurus is a good deal for the right person. If it's for range
shooting and home defense, not carry in a holster, the only real
short-coming would not come into play. If I had to do it over again
I'd buy a Taurus only in stainless steel. The cost of Gun-Coting it
was the difference between the price of the Taurus and a pistol with
a tougher finish.

HtH,
--
"No one has ever become poor by giving."
- Anne Frank, Holocaust diarist(1929-1945)


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