Taurus PT111

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

Anyone here own a Taurus PT111?  Is it a decent firearm for the price? Reliable? Accurate?

Asking for a friend, obviously, as I would never own an evil gun.

[kodiakisland]

It may work just fine, but I would never trust it with my life.  A S&W shield can be found for around $375 new.  For not much more money I believe the shield offers quite a bit more value.

There is an older thread on here about it:  http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=614171.0

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

It may work just fine, but I would never trust it with my life.  A S&W shield can be found for around $375 new.  For not much more money I believe the shield offers quite a bit more value.

There is an older thread on here about it:  http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=614171.0

I looked at the shield also, but was intrigued by the single and double action functionality.

My last, err, my friend's last S&W we the piece of junk Sigma .40 cal.  So, I was hesitant.

Thanks for the link and the input. I guess I could have simply read down a few threads and found the info I wanted.  In my defense, it was 5:50 am when I posted this.

[kodiakisland]

I probably wouldn't have looked for a thread on it either before posting.  It's not a subject you would expect to be discussed regularly.  Now, if we only has a search function.  Didn't we used to have that ability here?

[Ragnar Hogbrok]

I probably wouldn't have looked for a thread on it either before posting.  It's not a subject you would expect to be discussed regularly.  Now, if we only has a search function.  Didn't we used to have that ability here?

Once upon a time we did.

[DOGALUM]

Sigmas were turds.  The Shield is a great gun for what it is.  Taurus...not worth the risk IMO.  Too many issues.

All that said,  my advice is to always take kodiakisland's advice when it comes to firearms.   He is as knowledgeable as anyone on here.   

[kodiakisland]

All that said,  my advice is to always take kodiakisland's advice when it comes to firearms.   He is as knowledgeable as anyone on here.   

I doubt that.  I just do a lot of shooting.

[kodiakisland]

I'll add some thought on a few other pistols.

Over the last 3 weeks, I've taken 4 women and 2 men out to my range in 4 or 5 different trips.  We shot a G43, S&W Shield, Ruger LCP, Sig 938, Ruger SP101 to evaluate for their CC needs as well as shot a Wather PP, Ruger MKII target, Beretta M9, and some foreign made 9mm I had never heard of and never want to see again for reference.  I also had my full size and commander size 1911 if they wanted to try them.

One man and one woman had a lot of shooting experience and one women had some.  The other two women and one man were really new to shooting but had shot before.

No one really liked shooting the LCP, but most could hit with it.  Only one person really liked the P938.  The others were split between the shield and G43.  I liked the G43 the more I shot it and was really impressed with the LCP.  I put a lot of rounds through it and developed a blister on my trigger finger, but that thing was as accurate at 12 yards as anything else.  It was easy to put 6 shots into a 4 inch group.  When moving out to 20-25yds, it became a lot more difficult to score hits with, but that's not what it was made for.

No one could really use the revolver as the trigger pull is hard to master at first.  Everyone liked the Walther, but the PP is a bit big and heavy for a true CC pistol.

My daughter and wife both shot my 45s as well as the two men.  My daughter was by far the best shot with them, but she shoots regularly and is pretty good with just about anything. 

Several of the women had problems working the slides.  I don't think it's a strength issue, but more technique and mind set.  I think the women could shoot anything they put their mind to.

All of these were samples of one, so I really don't want to comment on reliability, but just peoples impression with how the gun felt shooting it.  Most of them didn't hit a lot with anything, but they need practice and I would have them shooting a 22 a lot more first.

I don't think there was enough difference between any of them to recommend one over the other.  Personal preference and what feels good to the shooter is probably more important.  I am trying to track down a G42 this week as I want to put it through the same rounds as the others.


One other thing we did was try some Hornady Critical defense Lite loads for the 9mm.  I would place two rounds of the lite loads between regular rounds to see if anyone including me could tell the difference.  I think I could but I also knew when I was shooting them, but no one else could.  I'd say they are not worth the extra money as they seem to recoil as much as standard loads.