wgoforth wrote:I do not have the 740, but as you can see from my armory, I am a Taurus affecianado. The 709 is now fine after sending it back twice to Taurus with issues. The problem with these smaller guns is tighter clearances, less forgiving....so more tendencies towards problems (ie, picky on ammo).
As to wearing out faster... Taurus has an unconditional lifetime warranty. No problem.
As to more muzzle flip.... nice thing about striker fired is a lower axis/bore ratio to deal with that.
My suggestion is the 709. They have worked the bugs out (as opposed to the 740 which then would have to have bugs worked out, so you don't want first run...paying to be a beta tester). At close range, the 9mm is fine. And that's all these are intended to be for is a closer range. BUT, 90% of personal defense is 12 feet and under, mostly under 9 feet. 9mm ammo is a whole lot cheaper and easier to find. I don't want to start the 9mm vs 45 debate, but the instructor of our urban combat class said that the 9, 40 and 45 will now do the same things due to better bullet construction and govt regs on how far a bullet can go before stopping in the body.
While I think that a lower bore axis
helps, subcompact .40s have always had a more pronounced recoil. Pair that with a light weight small package, and you have a gun thats trying to jump out of you hands! I would advise OP to shoot before you buy because you need to hit what you're aiming at and be able to stay on target most importantly.
The caliber size and the relative weight would seem to produce a lot of felt recoil and muzzle flip in that package to me...most likely too much for any extended range sessions. I can't say definitively as I haven't personally shot one, but I know my 4" Walther in .40 produced quite a bit of snappy recoil and fair muzzle flip, and it has a bit more heft than that little puppy. My 709 shoots great now that it had the extractor fixed (bad initial batch) and recoil is not bad for me especially considering size and weight I am getting rid of it only because its not practical for me to have 3 carry guns with different safeties and I want to streamline calibers a bit.