Thoughts on Taurus PT1911?

[DanCCW]

I just bought my first 1911. I've wanted one for quite a long time. It's a Taurus PT1911. It's not the top of the line but I wanted to start with a cheaper 1911.

What modifications you guys would suggest?

What are your thoughts on the barrel bushing compensator?

[Brian D.]

Shoot a few boxes of ammo through it before spending money on parts.

[DanCCW]

Shoot a few boxes of ammo through it before spending money on parts.

I had waffled for two days on this gun, so I ran out of time to hit the range with it today. Before I bought it, I had rented a Springfield 1911. I couldn't miss. It was chambered in 45 ACP. My "favorite" caliber is .40 S&W. So I was surprised at the recoil being less. The rental was so much fun to shoot. After that, I did a whole bunch of research and found match barrels, grips, mag wells, modded slides, and a bunch more. So I like to tinker and build. So I'm curious what you guys would recommend. What have you tried? What worked? What didn't?

[Jim-in-Toledo]

Shoot a few boxes of ammo through it before spending money on parts.

^ What he said.

If it ain't broke, don't "fix" it.

Seriously, Everyone has their own distinct wants, preferences, and needs.
You have to find out what works for you and your particular usage.
And the only way to figure that out is to shoot it a bunch and figure out if anything should be changed to fit "YOU".

[CCIman]

--- own it for a year, and at least a 1000 rounds before adding stuff you don't really need. You will find that the rental gun was broken in, this one you will have to do it yourself.

Unlike the polymer guns, no two 1911's are alike, and very few parts just drop in and work right. If you don't want the frustration, leave it alone.

[Dave Shooter]

Welome to the wonderful world of 1911s! The original Lego set of pistols.
Many things that affect function will need to be fitted. Other stuff can just be bolted on.

If you get the Brownells catalog you can see 100's of accessories for 1911.

What generally doesn't work is el cheapo parts, especially if poorly fitted. That has been my personal experience anyway.

If I remember correctly (pics would be nice) the Taurus already has a lot of what used to be custom mods: beavertail, commander hammer, long trigger, full length guide rod (there are zealots on both sides who claim these are either absolutely necessary or evil incarnate).

The first and most important thing is reliability. Even if it's just going to be a range toy you want to have confidence in it. I concur with take it out and shoot it. Once you established a baseline then you can know if mods improve it, make it worse or nothing.

Bottom line, first thing I'd recommend you get would be .....magazines! Poor mags can indeed cause malfunctions, borrow some Wilson's, Chip McCormick, Mec Gars, etc. and see what works in your pistol then go buy some. The gunshow 3 for $20 stuff I would probably avoid. Magazines are consumable, even the good ones can eventually wear out or get cracked. A lot of folks mark their mags so they can see if one particular mag is causing problems and replace it.

Have fun and be safe!

[CCIman]

The stock mags may work just fine, if they don't then start looking for others. You might want to try generic no name mags to see if they function reliably-- if so, your gun is a winner

Mags are a 1911 sucker bet-- everyone wants to sell their brand of 1911 mags-- none of them (with a name on them) are cheap.

[budman70]

I have 2 of the pt 1911s. one in 45 and the other in 9mm and they are just fine. Both eat anything I feed them.

[welshj]

I have the PT1911AR in .45.
The polished stainless with the rail. Wasn't really loving the shiny bling look, but it was on sale for $599. Couldn't beat it at the time, MSRP was 900 some dollars.

(^ factory gun, not mine)
Now, it's my favorite I love it. Her name is Lucille.
I have only ever had one real FTF with it. Turned out it was a bent/dented cartridge.
I had one issue with it at first, couldn't keep a good group. At first I thought it was me...my first pistol.
Turned out the front sight post was loose. Has a set screw lock on it that was loose, tightened and re-sighted her in.
Shoots decent ever since. Better than I am really with it.

One thing I really liked about them was out of the box, mine had many "custom" features from the factory.
Beaver tail, chamfered polished feed ramp/chamber throat, ambi-safety, checkered front and rear grip and trigger guard, hammer lock out safety feature, novak sights...
I polished the gold pieces on a buffing wheel, and lightened them a bit so they don't look so... garish/brassy.
Will eventually get some rosewood grips, or crimson trace laser grips as I don't really care for the black factory ones.

I had done a fair bit of research before getting it, as I knew I wanted a 1911.

At the time, Taurus had actually began re-.... building? their reputation and beefing up their quality control.
I've fired probably several thousand rounds, and she's still tight. (slide)
Several forums, customer reviews... anything I could read pointed to a good gun.

And the lifetime of the firearm factory warranty got much praise from what I'd seen.
Right down to stripping and re-polishing a frame for a customer because it had a scratch on it.
It was not what he sent the weapon in for, but done and refitted and test fired before he got it back.
I've been very happy with her.

I bought my kimber ultra carry, and out of the box had to polish the painted feed ramp.
Then chamfered the sharply flat unfinished chamber throat.
Had to go back for a replacement magazine because one was too big- hard to get in and release from the magwell...
Front sight on this one was loose as well, factory sights. Had to have it peened to keep it in place. Will replace them soon too...
was much more satisfied with the tuarus.

[Morne]

What are your thoughts on the barrel bushing compensator?

Don't get one. They're useless. Actually, worse than useless. The .45 ACP is a low pressure round that gets no perceptible recoil reduction from a comp.

All they do is add length. If you're looking at a full-size 1911 clone and saying to yourself, "Gee, I wish this gun was just a little bit longer for no particular reason," then go buy a long slide or AMT Hardballer. If you want to wring every last ounce of speed out of the venerable .45 ACP then find a carbine chambered in it, adding an inch or two to a pistol barrel doesn't do much.

I have 1911 clones that I have swapped out virtually every spring/pin/part on. They were rusty junk guns when I bought them. If yours isn't a rusty piece of junk then there's really no call for it.

[OHIOSTEVE]

son bought a brand new pt1911 to take his police academy training with ( last one to use a .45 at edison state I believe) second magazine through it the extractor broke.. he borrowed my colt and finished his course BUT took the gun back to the seller who replaced it ( I know they are not supposed to but he did because of the schooling situation) brought the new one home.. about 3 or 4 magazines in the extractor on the new one broke. He bought a new extractor, replaced it and sold the gun. Personally I would not own one.