Part I

(A Bit Of History = How It All Started)

John Moses Browning was a firearms genius.  Volumes could be written about the man and his accomplishments.   One of his greatest, if not the single greatest accomplishment of his career was the design of the Model 1911, semi-automatic, .45 ACP chambered pistol.  Browning’s design came at a time when other semi-automatic pistols were somewhat delicate, extremely complicated, or downright fussy and lacking in reliability.  Some of the designs of that era encompassed all these faults!

 

Browning’s Model 1911, semi-automatic, .45 ACP pistol was different, much different.  It was simple, strong, reliable in the extreme, and would stand up to hard field use and just keep going.   After WWI, Colt continued to manufacture the 1911, and found an eager police and civilian market for the now famous pistol.   Calibers such as .38 Super were added.   It followed suit that crafty pistol smiths would take a hard look at the 1911. They realized there was market for ultra precise, match-grade target guns, and tuned; enhanced target/duty/carry guns, etc.  The all-steel 1911 was the perfect platform to build such guns.   

 

There were a few complaints about the military issue 1911.  The sights, while snag proof, (as the military intended them to be) were abysmal for truly accurate shooting.  The short grip safety; and spur hammer often led to the web of a shooters hand being “bitten” as the slide came back in recoil.  The thumb lever of the safety was very small, and set up for right-handed persons only.   Browning didn’t consider the 8% of the population whose claim to fame was being southpaw when he designed the 1911’s safety lever.    The trigger pull (generally) was long, gritty and heavy (Note.1).   The ejection port, while totally adequate to clear empties, often dented the empty brass case mouths (Note.2). 

 

Some of the usual modifications and or additions made by pistol smiths were:

 

• More visible, and or adjustable sights

• Beavertail grip safety

• Spurless “Commander” style hammer

• Enlarged & lowered ejection port

• Custom ventilated trigger and or adjustable trigger

• Tighten up slide/frame tolerance

• Polish feed ramp

• Throat & polish barrel, or replace barrel

• Custom barrel bushing

• Checker frame for better gripping

• Larger safety or ambidextrous safety

• Chamfer magazine well

• Larger magazine release button

• Pads on bottom of magazines

 

This is just a partial list.  Some very exotic 1911’s were (and are) built.  What could be done was limited only by your checkbook, and the amount of patience you had!  Work by the best pistol smiths was (and still is) expensive, and delivery schedules tended to be on the long (often very long) side.  For many years, if one wanted a match-target grade or enhanced target/duty/carry 1911, this was about the only way one could be acquired (Note.3&4). 

 

In the mid to late 1970’s, things changed a bit.  Companies arrived on the scene that only produced match-target grade and or enhanced duty/carry 1911’s.  All carried a pretty stiff price tag.  Some of these guns were (and still are) very good.  However, there was trouble in paradise.  A few of these companies were not able to deliver orders with any sort of reliable schedule.  Some of the pistols had serious reliability issues.  Stories abound of pistols making one, two, or even three trips back to the factory to sort out various problems. 

 

Some of these companies, while producing a fine product, had financial issues.  Often the companies went from owner to owner.  Some factories moved from state to state.   Some operations closed their doors, only to resurface a couple years later.   New owners, acquiring the “name” of a defunct company; would disavow products produced by previous owners (Note.5)

 

Some fellows lost faith in printed gun magazines of the day.  Companies supplied a “test gun” to gun writers.  That one, single gun made the circuit with all the gun writers, regardless of whom they wrote for.   Such “tool room” guns were touted to the stars.  If actual production pieces lived up to the tool room gun, all was well.  Sadly, many production examples of those guns left lots to be desired. 

 

I personally recall being on the range, and seeing serial # 11 of a certain gun that supposed to be the ultimate enhanced duty/carry gun.  That particular model was all but impossible to find.   That pistol could only get thru 2 rounds of fresh factory ammunition without jamming!   Changing magazines did not help.  The pistol had more then one type of problem too.  The owner, less then happy with his very expensive wunderkind; was mumbling things best not said aloud in polite society.  The company producing the pistol admitted to serious design and production problems with the model.  Fixes were announced and attempted, the company finally folded.  I, for one, would not like to be stuck with pistol.  It amounted to little more then an expensive and interesting paperweight! 

In at least one instance, a production version of a certain gun was never released on the market, even though stories had been written to whet the appetites of panting buyers. Again, a single tool room gun had made the circuit!

Many fellows, wanting a special gun; simply went back to the tried & true pistol smith, and saved their money for the long awaited day when their hand-built piece was ready.

Part II

(The Gun = A New Take On An Old Design)

 

What about a factory produced gun though?  A 1911 type that is totally factory produced, yet embodies all the custom touches and features that separates it from the average “Government Model” 1911.   I like many others, was waiting for just such a gun.  A gun produced by a solid company with a reputation for quality, and really stands behind their products.   Enter Taurus International Mfg, Inc.!  The Taurus PT1911 is the gun, it’s available now, and at a price that won’t look like your next mortgage payment.

 

http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=59&category=Pistol

 

 

Taurus International Mfg, Inc.

16175 NW 49 Ave.

Miami, FL 33014

Phone:  (305) 624-1115
Fax:  (305) 624-1126

Taurus is coming close to its 6^th decade in business.  Taurus holds the much-coveted ISO 9001 rating from International Organization for Standardization for superior manufacturing and marketing practices.

In 1984 Taurus took the industry by storm when it announced a lifetime repair policy to the original owner of a gun. This was an unprecedented move.  Other gun manufacturers have followed suit.    American gun buyers started to sit up and take notice of the company from Brazil.  Every year Taurus introduced new, and innovative guns.   Now, Taurus has an enhanced target/duty/carry 1911.  The PT 1911 is one serious piece of work!

 

I was at WEST TEXAS MILITARY SURPLUS, 2413-34^th St, Lubbock, Texas 79411, 1-(806)-785-4867, www.gunsandblades.com when the big brown truck delivered a shipment of guns.  Among the other goodies in the box was a Taurus PT1911, caliber .45ACP!   Not only that, but it was the very first one to arrive in Lubbock Texas!  Used to seeing regular “Government Model” 1911’s, my mind began to tick off all the subtle differences evident when I gave the Taurus PT 1911 the once over. 

First, the PT1911 is simply pleasing to the eye.  The all-steel frame has a “satin” finish.  I have always enjoyed this type of finish; it’s both stylish and practical.  Not as glossy as some, but not bland looking or rough feeling like phosphate finishes.  The slide is bead blasted, giving it a non-reflective matte, flat-black finish.   Light will not reflect in the eyes of a shooter, causing him or her to loose target acquisition.  Looking down the top of that slide revealed a special set of sights.

The sights of the PT1911 are outstanding.  The pistol is outfitted with Heinie www.heinie.com, “straight eight” 2-dot sights Taurus wisely put a well-known and respected set of custom sights on the PT 1911.  Fellows with custom enhanced target/duty/carry 1911’s almost always have some form of custom sights.  What could be better then getting those sights on your pistol right “out-of-the-box” as they say?  Taurus includes an Allen wrench so the sights can be adjusted for windage. 

The ejection port is lowered.  Many “Government Model” 1911’s really beat up brass as it’s ejected from the pistol.   This isn’t an issue for the military; they don’t reload.  For those of us who handload, we want our brass in as good shape as possible.  The lowered port gives brass plenty of room top eject without a case of  “case mouth crunch”. 

Looking into that ejection port revealed a stainless steel barrel.  The feed ramp leading up to the barrel showed a mirror polish.  The Taurus PT 1911’s barrel throat is mirror polished and the throat is perfectly contoured.  We’ll check it out the Taurus barrel in greater detail later.  

 

Pulling back the slide disclosed the fit of slide and frame to be excellent.  Not to tight or too loose.  Such a combination insures reliable functioning, yet creates the potential for outstanding accuracy.

The hammer is of the style commonly called “Commander”.  It doesn’t have the spur in the manner of the “Government Model”.  The vast majority of target or enhanced duty/carry 1911’s use the “Commander” style hammer.  Taurus incorporates a lock in the hammer, and includes keys for it.  The lock is totally unobtrusive, and once put in the unlock position, has no effect on the functioning of the pistol.

 

The grip safety is an extended beavertail type.  Again, this is a standard modification of pistol smiths.   A combination of “Commander” style hammer and extended beavertail grip safety keep the web of the hand from being “bitten” during the cycling of the slide.

The PT 1911 has expended-lever ambidextrous safeties, a