“That gun is a piece of junk.” “I wouldn’t own one if it was free.” “Parts fell off my gun the first time I shot it.” Anyone who has spent any amount of time reading gun blogs and forums have read the above comments time-after-time.

And, it doesn’t matter what gun is being discussed – all guns are junk – if you can believe the Mall Ninjas and Armchair Commandos. It just never ceases to amaze me how regularly I read these comments; and, it doesn’t matter what firearm is being discussed, there are a lot of people claiming that particular gun is a piece of junk. If you don’t believe me, log-on to some of these blogs and forums for yourself.

I’m here to tell you, most of these self-proclaimed gun “expurts” are just plain full of beans – as well as being full of themselves. Take most of what you read on these blogs and gun forums with a grain of salt. I learned a long time ago, when I was in the US Army, to simply ignore “latrine rumors.”

Ok, now that we got that out of the way, I want to talk about the Taurus PT1911 series of handguns. It’s not a well-kept secret that I’m a huge fan of the 1911-style of handgun. I cut my teeth early on with 1911s – way back in the 1960s. The 1911 is still my all-time favorite handgun. Oh sure, from time-to-time, something new catches my fancy, especially some of the new polymer handguns, but when the dust settles, I’ll more than likely pick-up a good ol’ 1911 over just about anything else.

Like everyone else, I can appreciate a high-quality custom 1911. Over the years, I’ve built-up more than a few 1911s from the stripped slide and frames – making ‘em to my own liking. However, ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll tell you that I honestly appreciate a good bargain in a firearm. Enter the Taurus PT1911 line of handguns.

The second PT1911 I purchased was from an early first production run. It was a pretty good gun – not a great one. The fit and finish wasn’t quite up to the usual Taurus standards in my humble opinion. The gun shot extremely well, and it always went “bang” when the trigger was pulled – and that, my friends, is extremely important in my book. It didn’t take Taurus long to get things right on their PT1911 line-up though. Like any new product, there were birthing pains and tweaking that needed to be done. One good thing about any Taurus firearm is their lifetime warranty – Taurus will make it right if you have any problems with any of their firearms.

Ok, what we have here in the Taurus PT1911 is not your run-of-the-mill stripped down, basic mil-spec 1911. Far from it! I won’t bore you with all the custom features on the PT1911 – you can read it yourself on the spec sheet on this website. I’ll just touch on some of the highlights, and the more important features that I think are needed.

The gun under review here is the PT1911 with the duo-tone finish. The slide’s stainless steel flat sides are polished “white,” while the rest of the slide and frame are nicely done in a black oxide-type finish – and the finish is extremely durable. In my humble opinion, I think this is the most attractive PT1911 that Taurus is putting out there.

Guess I’m getting old(er) ‘cause I’m of the Jeff Cooper school of thought when it comes to a fighting 1911. First of all, I think you need a gun that is 100% reliable. Secondly, you need a gun that has a decent trigger pull. Lastly, you need a gun that has usable sights. The PT1911 has all of these qualities – and a helluva lot more, too. The first PT1911s came with Heinie Straight Eight sights – very good sights, and many people insist on them on their 1911s. If possible I prefer the 3-dot variety of sights on my handguns. The current run of PT1911s have the outstanding (Wayne) Novak-designed rear sight, with two white dots on it, and the front sight carries a single white dot. For my eyes, it’s a very fast set-up – it’s hard to argue with Novak sights on any fighting handgun.

I rarely run across any 1911 pistol that I don’t change something on, and the Taurus PT1911 is no different in this respect. Many people I’ve talked to like the checkered hard black plastic grips on the PT1911 – I don’t! They are a bit too thin to my way of thinking – guess this comes from years and years of shooting 1911s with thicker wood grips on ‘em. This is not meant to be a put down of the grips Taurus is putting on most of their PT1911s – far from it – it’s a subjective thing for me. Then again this is a 1911, and I have to justify changing something – anything! The good news is, Taurus is offering their Bull’s Head Walnut grips, Walnut Checkered grips, or Mother of Pearl grips as an option now. Some of their guns even come with these fine grips. I had a pair of the Bull’s Head Walnut grips, but before I had a chance to try them out – one of my German Shepherds discovered ‘em and that’s the end of the story. The “joys” of raising German Shepherds!

The PT1911 comes with an ambidextrous safety. There was a time, very long ago, when I thought all my 1911s had to have this – these days, I can take or leave an ambi safety on my 1911s. Again, this is purely a subjective thing. I’d like to see Taurus offer a single-sided safety on all their PT1911s, with the ambi safety as an option. The safety snicked on and off with authority, which is always a good thing.

The grip safety is of the beavertail variety, and well-fitted – very well-fitted. It clears the trigger stirrup about halfway down when the web of your hand depresses it, can’t ask for better than that. The front-strap is checkered at 30-LPI. I’d like to see the checkering a little bit deeper, though – but it does the job it was meant to do – keeping the gun firmly anchored in your hand. Personally, and this is a subjective thing (again). I’d like to see 25-LPI checkering on my 1911s.

Each Taurus PT1911 comes with two, well-made 8-rd magazines – that work! This is important, as many early attempts at 8-rd 1911 .45ACP mags didn’t function as intended. A hard plastic bumper pad is attached to the bottom of the mag to protect it should the mag be dropped during a speed reload.

The trigger! It’s match-grade with a slight take-up before releasing. On my PT1911 Duo Tone sample, it broke at 4.5-lbs exactly – it broke cleanly, too. If you want a lighter trigger pull than this, on a gun meant for street carry, then take it to your local gunsmith for some custom tuning. Personally, this is about perfect for a carry gun – any lighter and you’re inviting disaster in a life or death situation.

Let’s get into the meat of things. As I mentioned earlier, if you want to read about all the custom features of the Taurus PT1911 line-up, check out the specs section of this website. So, how did my sample shoot? Yeah, that’s an important thing, ain’t it? In more than 400 rds of shooting, I did not experience a single malfunction of any type. Whenever I get any semi-auto pistol, I like to run no less than 200 rds down range before I trust it for carry. The polished feed ramp and throated barrel probably have a lot to do with how reliable this gun ran – again, it’s one of those custom features you’ll pay a gunsmith big bucks to do on a lesser 1911. The slide-to-frame-to-barrel fit was on par with the best of ‘em, too. I’m sure this contributed to how well the gun functioned.

During my testing, I used several versions of Winchester ammo – most of my function testing was done with good ol’ Winchester USA 230-gr. FMJ “ball” ammo. I also had a very limited supply of the new Winchester Supreme Elite, Bonded 230-gr. JHP personal protection fodder on-hand. I hoard my limited supply of this ammo; so, I only ran a box of 20 rds through my PT1911 to see how it would function – not a bobble or glitch. I think it would be an outstanding street load for any .45ACP chambered handgun. I also had a variety of Black Hills Ammunition that can always be counted on. The BHA blue box reloaded 230-gr ball load, the red box 230-gr. JHP load, and a limited supply of their 230-gr. JHP +P load.

Ok, if you think I’m like some of those “other” gun ‘riters who measure groups with a caliper down to the hundreds of thousandths of an inch, you got the wrong guy. You will never see my groups measured 2.78496 of an inch (as an example). I like to round-off my groups sensibly. At 25 yds, most of my “benched” groups, shot over a rolled-up sleeping bag on the hood of my car, were around 3 inches…some were under that, some a tad over that. That’s more than an acceptable performance for any combat-ready fightin’ pistol if you ask me. If I had to pick one outstanding load in my testing, it would be the Winchester Bonded 230-gr. JHP fodder – it turned in one 5-shot group that was 2”. I was on my game – that day!

The folks at Blackhawk! Products supplied me with several holsters for my testing. I’ve become a big fan of the Blackhawk! line-up. For tactical or military operations, I’d easily select the Blackhawk! SERPA Tactical Lever 2 thigh holster and never look back. What’s nice about this holster is that it is newly designed to carry any railed 1911 – without an accessory mounted on it. If you happen to select the Taurus PT1911 railed .45ACP, then the SERPA Level 3 Light Bearing tactical holster will work just great. For concealed carry, the Blackhawk! Products Leather Slide holster with integral spare mag pouch will work splendidly.

I mentioned that I think the PT1911 Duo Tone is the most attractive in this line-up from Taurus. If this one isn’t to your liking, then you may like the all-black version. Are you into stainless steel? Then Taurus has you covered once again. Do you need a 1911 with an accessory rail? Yep, Taurus has you covered again.  Do you need that railed gun in a stainless or “blued” version?” Got ya’ covered once more. How about a light-weight PT1911? This is getting boring isn’t it? Taurus has you covered with a version with or without a rail. Is the .45ACP caliber not to your liking? Then the soon-to-be-released Taurus PT1911 in 9mm or .38 Super might grab your attention. And, just to whet your appetite a bit more, Taurus will release a hi-cap double-stack PT1911…that I hope to report on once they become available for us all. Some PT1911s even come with tritium night sights.

I can always find something I want to change on most 1911s, and I already mentioned the grips – again, a subjective thing for many of us 1911 lovers. If you really don’t like the ambi safety, you can have your gunsmith install a single-sided safety for you.

I like to save the best for last in my articles, and that’s the suggested retail price. Taurus is a real leader in this respect. I believe you get more for your money in a Taurus than many other firearms; and, many gun shops deeply discount Taurus firearms. I can’t give you the exact price you’ll pay for your Taurus PT1911 because it depends on which model you want, and what your local gun shop is selling ‘em for. In my neck of the woods, Fast Cash Gun & Pawn, in Lebanon, OR, the PT1911 Duo Tone is selling for around $650.00. You can easily pay twice this much for a similar 1911, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be getting twice the gun – far from it.

If you’re looking for a high-quality 1911 these days, with numerous out-of-the-box custom features, then look no further than the Taurus PT1911 line-up. I’m betting you’ll find something that will tickle your fancy in more ways than one. Taurus…Quality! Taurus…Value!