Taurus PT1911 .45 ACP

“Lucille”

I’ve owned my Taurus PT1911 for 7 or 8 years now. It is my favorite pistol/handgun I’ve fired yet. It was the first firearm I bought and I’ve never regretted it. I’ll openly admit it, I was a little scared to go shoot it for the first time. Sure, I’d done my research, knew all the features on it, specifically from this manufacturer, but I had never fired a handgun chambered any bigger than 9mm and this .45 ACP was a little intimidating to say the least.

First Shots…

Nothing could stop me, I was on my way to the nearest store that sold ammunition. I walked right passed the nice lady at Bi-Mart who must have assumed I was a regular because she just buzzed me right in (I get that a lot). I bought 150 rounds and headed directly to the local gun range. I was on a mission. I had forgotten any kind of target…so I dove into a dumpster to find what had been shot up already and made due.

I placed my target about 20 yards away (moron) got myself into a way too upright stance, let loose the slid, acquired my target (some upright vacuum box, wanna say it was a hoover) hesitated. A lot. Over thought. Soooo much. Thumbed the safety and backed off. Stepped back, shook it off, leaned forward more, thumbed off the safety, eyeballed the F*@% out of that vacuum, squeezed off a shot that went so high it nearly split the top of the box.

Now, some things about this gun; I bought it used. Well used. It was scratched up here and there, but the stainless steel looked solid other than a few deep-ish scratches. When I say I bought it used, I mean I bought it from a pawn shop. The grips on it are thick rubber, lightly textured Hogue grips that I am actually really happy with. The finger cutouts fit my hand really well. I’ve found the size of the frame, the give of the rubber and placement of the trigger make this gun really comfortable to shoot with these grips. It did not come with the stock grips however everything else is stock as far as I can tell.

Back when I purchased the gun, I wanted to make it into what I thought a kick ass gun was. To my credit, I do still think this configuration looks pretty slick however after actually firing the gun several hundred times (think I’m just shy of 1,000) I can say that the Hogue grips it came with are sooooo much better than the pretty “mother of pearl” Ace of Spades grips I ordered from China.

The muzzle break up front is a little ridiculous too. Really though, even at .45 ACP the weight of this gun makes something like this totally unnecessary. Not to mention, it also made it impossible to fit in most holsters.

Now, back to the gun itself and away from me making silly aesthetic decisions with this gun.

Pros:

-.45 ACP excellent stopping power

-pro/con heavy stainless frame is pretty heavy which negates the majority of the recoil.

-Easy operation

-Hogue Wraparound Grips, rubber gives just enough when gripping, finger cutouts fit my hand perfectly. Other guns I have really appreciated an aggressive texture, this gun/grip doesn’t warrant it.

-Dual safety (have never used the 3rd safety which is this ridiculous key turn safety that completely disables the gun. Ok for traveling maybe)

-Manual safety/mag release are really comfortably placed for my hand size. I find I can operate this gun efficiently and quickly. Haven’t done many high intensity drills or anything but I really like it.

-Take-down/cleaning is super easy

-It looks bad ass and is an intimidating full sized pistol that’d cut you down without batting an eyelash

Cons:

-Holy shit it’s such a heavy gun to try and carry around. It’s one thing if I’m going hunting, hell yes I’ll take it and have no trouble toting it on my hip (wish I had a leg holster but that’s another conversation) I live in a state where open carry is legal and I will often open carry when I go fishing or hiking or anything really outdoorsy, but this big bastard just tugs my belt down like it’s trying to pants me and I’m fighting to keep my belt at my belt line the whole damn time.

I really don’t have any other complaints about this gun aside from the fact that I paid out the ass for a used gun at a pawn shop just like a million other suckers. I love this gun and will keep it as my home defense/hunting companion until I find a reason to ditch it.

4.5/5 too damn heavy to carry often enough to have no complaints.

The link below is the current listing that most resembles my PT1911:

https://www.taurususa.com/firearms/pistols/taurus-1911/taurus-1911-pistols-45-acp-8-round-stainless-matte-stainless/

What I’d like to do to this gun:

-High Vis/Night Sights. Since my primary use for this weapon is home defense, night sight just make tons of sense.

-Magwell. Again, my proficiency with this weapon is decent, I need more range time (should have completed closer to 5k rounds fired by this time) but quick reloads are just sloppy on this thing. More practice maybe, but still, a flared Magwell would be awesome.

-Mayyyybe a spring kit?

I’d honestly like to replace some of the hardware. Some of the screws are looking a little haggard. The sights are ugly and faded. Maybe I could get the whole thing a good polish? IDK, leave me some feedback. Comment below and let me know what you think would do well or any recommendations.

Thanks for reading!

See you,

SpaceCowboyBill…

#TaurusUSA #TaurusPT1911 #1911 #Guns #Outdoors #HogueGrips