Range Report: Taurus PT 111 Millenium Pro 9mm

DMoses · #1

Let me start off by saying that when I went to the gun show last weekend I had no intention of purchasing a new pistol. I have wanted to get my wife a pistol and was leaning towards a Glock 19 but really didnt have the cash for 1 at the moment. When I came across the PT 111 at the show and saw the price($270.00), my first thought was that it was probably a poor shooting, malfunction prone, cheaply made pistol. Boy was I wrong, at least after 150 rounds I was wrong.

I took it to the range with my wife and brother. My wife has very little shooting exp. and my brother doesnt have much more. I carry a "Kimber Pro CDP" and prefer the 1911 model. I have considerable more exp. than the 2 put together and I practice on a routine basis.

Earlier this week I had read a couple of posts on other forums from people who had owned this pistol and both complained about the trigger pull being so long. Knowing this beforehand, I took the time to explain to my wife how to acquire the proper sight picture and properly squeeze the trigger.

I started with 2- 12 round mags at 3 yards just to get a feel for the gun. To my surprise the gun put the bullets where I put the sights. So I then let the wife try and she didnt have any trouble keeping the shots at center mass. I then moved the target to 7 yards and still I was able to keep the shots inside 3-4 inch groups. I tried some double taps and rapid fire which gave me some pretty good results. My wife on the other hand was dropping all of her shots very low and to the right. Even missing the target a few times. I then let my brother shoot it and he was having some issues with the accuracy also.

I then decided to let them shoot my .45 and both shot it very well at 7 yards. I was very surpised with how my wife shot the Kimber and so was she. It gave her a confidence boost to be able to put the bullets roughly where she aimed. Now I just gotta keep her hands off my "baby".

After some more shooting of both guns I came to the conclusion that in the hands a an experienced shooter the PT 111 was well worth the money I paid. We had not 1 malfunction from the gun!

I would recommend this gun to anyone, as long as they took the time to learn the trigger. I dont know why I did'nt have any trouble with it considering the fact that of the last 8 pistols I've owned, 6 were 1911's with a much shorter trigger pull.

Anyway, I hope this helps anyone that was looking for a pistol for the wife or even one that is smaller and lighter than their normal carry gun. I think I'll use it for special instances when my Kimber is just too heavy or big too carry.

Now off to try and convince the wife why I "NEED" an Ed Brown "Executive Carry"!

OverEasy · #2

Maybe if you give her the Kimber, she'll let you get the Ed Brown.

Valetine's day is comming up.

You can just send me the box of candy for suggesting such a good idea.

Regards, OE

DMoses · #3

OverEasy wrote:Maybe if you give her the Kimber, she'll let you get the Ed Brown.

Valetine's day is comming up.

You can just send me the box of candy for suggesting such a good idea.

Regards, OE

LOL thats too funny but you know what......It just might work!

I sent her a link to the Ed Brown pistol and she promptly called my office and said "what in the world do you need with a $2400 pistol?"

I tried to explain that it was my "dream" gun and her reply was..."you mean more like a fantasy"

bauerdj · #4

Glad to her you made out so well with the PT111 Pro. I bought one about 3 months ago and had lots of problems with it - mainly failure to feed. I also found it to be not very accurate, especially at 15 yds, I was lucky if I could keep all 12 rounds on paper. It did improve with use, I got to the point of 1 FTF per 100 rds but that was the best it would do. (at the beginning I had an avg of 1 FTF per magazine) Too bad, I liked the way it felt in my hand and it appeared well made, but I wasn't willing to take a chance on the FTF problem and traded it in on a Glock 19. I am gload I got the Glock, better accuracy and not a single FTF in over 1000 rds now, but I am beginning to wonder if I just got a lemon with my Taurus, I recently tried a friends and it gave no problems on feeding though it was not as accurate as the Glock.

I probably made a mistake trading it in on the Glock, should have paid full price and sent the PT-111 to Taurus for repair.

DMoses · #5

I have a Glock 23 and I really like it, however it doesn't compare to my Kimber CDP. I have yet to have any problems with either gun.

I agree with you that the Glock 19 is a better pistol than the PT 111 but when considering the price the PT 111, IMO is an excellent buy. Being that it was purchased for "personal protection" I didnt bother to shoot it beyond 10 yards.

My problem now is that since the wife has so much trouble with the trigger maybe I should sell/trade it for the gun that I originally wanted to get which is the Glock 19. In a perfect world, I could just pass down to her the Kimber CDP and purchase the Ed Brown but she aint gonna go for that, lol!

She has shown an interest in shooting IDPA with me, so I think the 9mm would be better suited for her anyway.

OverEasy · #6

DMoses,
If you are able, you should take your wife to a range that rents guns and let her try a few. It's cheaper than buying her ones she doesn't like.

That's what I did with my wife. I thought she would like a Glock, she didn't. I thought she might like a Kahar, she didn't. She really dislikes my Kel-Tec P11 with +p ammo. She didn't like the feel of the grip safety on the SF XD, she didn't even want to shoot it.
She liked the SIG P239 and that's what she bought. (and the Hogue grips)

Champion Firearms in College Station has a large selection of rental guns and a fine indoor range. Not to mention really nice folks running the place.

Call around to any range you can find and see if they have rental guns and which ones they have. It's been almost 2 years since I did it and I can't remember who had what.

Red's Indoor range in Austin was OK, but loud!! It's an indoor 100 yarder and you are right there with the guys shooting rifles. They were nice to us and an older guy behind the counter(owner/manager?) offered to let my wife shoot his personal SIG P239 because they didn't have one to rent.

What I found out was she doesn't like the small light weight guns because the recoil on them is harsher. She likes a heavier gun that soaks up some of that recoil. And the hand fit, feel part is personal too.

Good Luck, OE

bauerdj · #7

On the subject of recoil I was very suprised to find that tre precieved recoil was substantially less with the PT-111 then with the G19