Taurus PT740 Slim named American Rifleman "Handgun Of The Year"

[Grunt67]

I've been looking at the PT709 for some time for a carry gun, and also for the

wife. Seems like Taurus has the bugs worked out of this model. As soon as

finances permit...I'm going to take the plunge for this gun. Currently have

a XDM 40, full size, but it's just a bit bulky & heavy for carry.

Will need to caliber down to 9mm for the wife. The 40 is a bit much for her.

All need now is to win Powerball & I'll be in business, LOL.

Won't be trading the XDM, BTW. It has found a home here.

[camp]

wouldn't do it, a friend made the mistake of buying a Taurus slim had to send it back to the factory 6 times because it did every thing but work, they finnaly gave him a new one and although it does work it shoots so far to the left it is unusable so it to is off to the factory

[daddyo]

Gee, I wonder how much Taurus paid AR in advertising fees.....

Edited April 22, 2011 by DaddyO

[gotigers]

The Taurus slims look good and seem like a good design, but i have read to many stories of issues. Especially with the sights being way off. That wouldnt be so bad, but Taurus CS is slow. You may not see it for months. The LC9 might be worth looking at.

[JeffL]

Taurus is handgun of the year? What a crock of ****. Like DaddyO says, they just paid out the wazoo in advertising.

[Caster]

I guess I'm the luckiest guy in the pistol world. Every Taurus I have and have ever had works perfect right out of the box. It's not that I don't believe the complaints, but it sure is hard to.

[hipower]

I guess I'm the luckiest guy in the pistol world. Every Taurus I have and have ever had works perfect right out of the box. It's not that I don't believe the complaints, but it sure is hard to.

Same here. I currently own 7 Taurus products from a Model 85 revolver to a stainlessPT1911. I've had not a single problem with any of them. In fact I've bought and sold probably a dozen more in the last ten years, and the worst thing I can say about any of them is that I didn't like the hiene sights on several of them and had a PT111 that had too long a trigger pull to suit me. YMMV

[Guest peacexxl]

I have bought 4 Taurus handguns, including a TCP 738 as a birthday gift for my Mom last week. The PT709 is among my collections and I love it. Yes the sights were off at first but they are easy to adust. The key is to loosen the set screw holding the rear sight down and them make adjustments to windage and elevation. It is remarkablely comfortable for such a small gun. Especially with a Hogue Handall Jr on the grip.

NOTE: This is my personal firsthand experience. Not to discount anyone else's, but of the 4 negative posts above, 2 simply state that Taurus bribed the magazine and the other two are of something heard from a friend and of horror stories "read" about issues with Taurus.

I'm not saying, ...I'm just sayin'.

[Guest FiddleDog]

I've only had a good a experience with Taurus. I'm not sure if the 709 warrants the handgun of the year, but it did introduce a lot of features to the 9mm bug gun that hadn't been there prior to it's appearance. I think it was the first dbl/single stricker fired bug that I'd seen, and the fit and finish is quite good. The trigger resets REALLY far back, so that will take some time getting used to, and you'll end up using more finger on the trigger that you would with other firearms. It's ha some time to work the design bugs out, so it should be good. I think it's still considered gen1 so you'll hear some complaints, but then, you'd hear complaints on new releases regardless of what make they are (Gen4 Glock 9mm, CZ PO7, LCR, etc...).

[daddyo]

I have bought 4 Taurus handguns, including a TCP 738 as a birthday gift for my Mom last week. The PT709 is among my collections and I love it. Yes the sights were off at first but they are easy to adust. The key is to loosen the set screw holding the rear sight down and them make adjustments to windage and elevation. It is remarkablely comfortable for such a small gun. Especially with a Hogue Handall Jr on the grip.

NOTE: This is my personal firsthand experience. Not to discount anyone else's, but of the 4 negative posts above, 2 simply state that Taurus bribed the magazine and the other two are of something heard from a friend and of horror stories "read" about issues with Taurus.

I'm not saying, ...I'm just sayin'.

I didn't say they were bribed. Those were your words.

I NEVER believe gun rags. Just sayin'....

[Guest tlondon]

It does seem that Taurus is trying to solve the customer service issues they have had. In the linked thread nobody had a bad experience with them.

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/gunsmithing-troubleshooting/54194-taurus-lifetime-warranty.html

[Grunt67]

Probably many of us make the rounds on gun forums, and have read all the horror stories

on Taurus quality problems, CS, etc. On the other hand, some of these problems seen to

have been corrected. Human nature, myself included, when you have one bad

experience with a product, it leaves a permanent bad taste in the mouth.

My wife had a Taurus 24/7 40S&W, that worked fine. Finally sold it because it was

just too much gun for her.

I keep a box of salt handy when reading forums. Same can be said when reading

gun mags. I'll agree making the PT740 Handgun Of the Year may be a stretch, but

it can still be a decent gun.

Just saying, LOL

[johnboy]

I had a 740,it was a good gun.It was pretty accurate to 15 to 20 yards.I just couldnt get used to the trigger pull and didnt like the recoil.Ran several different brands of ammo through it and never had a problem.Sold it and got a ruger sp101 in .357 and its a keeper.

[eapking]

The NRA (American Rifleman) is pretty tight with Taurus. I would not put too much stock in their "awards".

[CWW710]

Just one more opinion, but I have done nothing BUT brag on my PT709. I absolutely love this gun. No doubt one of my personal favorites for all-purpose carry -- size, weight, power,reliability...I have put at least 1000 rounds thru mine and it runs flawless. I've carried for about 15 years and spent most of that trying to find the perfect carry gun for me - I found it!

I'm yet to fire th PT740 but I'd love to. I'm actually a bigger 40 fan than I am a 9.

[johnboy]

Never tried the pt709,but the 740 had a pretty good kick to it.

[kesava]

I guess I'm the luckiest guy in the pistol world. Every Taurus I have and have ever had works perfect right out of the box. It's not that I don't believe the complaints, but it sure is hard to.

+1,

This! I have owned many, and no failures. I have had more issues out of Kimber than Taurus.

I have never personally met anyone with issues with Taurus issues either.

[Capbyrd]

The NRA (American Rifleman) is pretty tight with Taurus. I would not put too much stock in their "awards".

I believe that you will also notice that AR gave shotgun of the year to the Remington versa-max. Keep flipping through the pages and you will find a quarter page recall notice for the versa-max. Pretty much negates any credibility the awards had.

And in my time in the lgs, I've seen at least three Taurus semis come in and be traded off for function issues. One tcp and two 709s.

[Guest 10mm4me]

You ever notice who must of the advertising spaces in American Rifleman are taken up by...Taurus. I will be blunt when I say, there is no way in H E double hockey sticks a Taurus anything is handgun of the year.

[Guest Ronbo]

I have had good and bad experiences with Taurus. I'm not likely to buy one again unless I find a sweet deal on a used 65 or 66 4" revolver, preferably in stainless! It seems you either get a great wednesday gun or a monday/friday one from them. Kinda like the '80s colts!

[PirateQui]

That award seems really unlikely to be legit to me... But my sister loves her 709, for whatever that's worth.

[Grunt67]

You ever notice who must of the advertising spaces in American Rifleman are taken up by...Taurus. I will be blunt when I say, there is no way in H E double hockey sticks a Taurus anything is handgun of the year.

Well, in this particular issue of AR, Taurus has 1 ad, while Kimber has 5. Springfield

as 2, etc.

While I'll agree, as I said in an earlier post, that I don't see the 740 as Handgun of the

Year, I can't see bashing it either.

To each, his/her own.

[Guest coldblackwind]

I've had a tcp, and 2 709's, traded all 3 of them. Just don't like them, especially the trigger. The TCP worked fine when I had it, and I know the original owner, and it worked fine for him too, but I ran into the guy I traded it to and he didn't get a full mag through it before the entire gun locked up, he had to send it back to taurus and immediately traded it off as soon as it got back. The 709's worked fine, just didn't like them. I do have 1 taurus, it's a snub nose ultra light .38, but no more semis for me.

[Oh Shoot]

Note it specifically for the .40 model only.

Did it come out at same time as the 9mm one, or a more recent edition?

- OS

[Grunt67]

Note it specifically for the .40 model only.

Did it come out at same time as the 9mm one, or a more recent edition?

- OS

OS, the 709 was 1st. then the 740.