Thanks for pointing this out. I was about to buy a few boxes of 185 gr for concealed carry. I guess I'll go with the 200 gr variety.Cimarron said:
A PT145 Range Report
I bought a Millennium Pro PT-145 yesterday and I got out to the country to shoot it this morning. So here are my observations...
Nice gun... can't fault the quality of what I saw or handled. 10 rounds of .45 ACP definately add weight to the gun, but still not bad compared to the Springfield GI 1911A model I sold.
I intentionally fed the gun everything in my inventory... 230 gr JHP, 230 gr FMJ, 230 gr LSWC. The gun ate them all without a hiccup. However, because of the heavy recoil springs, my LSWC 185 gr plinking loads just wounldn't cycle. The springs in the little gun are heavy and it will definately take a full house load to cycle the slide consistantly.
The gun does shoot low, but if you read the Heinie sights page on the Taurus, you will note that these sights are not designed for a 6 o'clock hold. I found the most accurate solution was to sight with the front dot dead on and above the level of the rear sights. The "double eight" with a hair of separation brings the sight up to close. The adjustment of the rear sight for windage is very nice... and the dovetail looks very close to the standard width for the government model 1911.
Like everyone else, the recoil wasn't anything near what I expected. Yes, it kicked more than the 1911 but with the lighter weight and shorter barrel, it was still pretty mild. Actually my full house .40 S&W in my Browning High Power kicks more. I did wear a shooting glove the handle brusing in the web of my shooting hand... learned from heavy .357 shooting, but don't think I really needed it.
There were no malfunctions other than what would be expected with the light 185 gr loads and some random hard primers from my reloads. The magazines held 10 rounds out of the box (the loading device is a real help with that 10th round).
I cleaned the gun before I went and after I came in. I would guess that even on the range a good scrubbing with a nylon brush after every 100 rounds wouldn't be a bad thing. Some powders are cleaner than others, but on a little gun and a short barreled .45 "cleanliness is next to Godliness."
Shooting rapid fire was no problem... and actually was as accurate as the slow fire. It may have to do with the concentration on keeping the front sight on target and less on the trigger pull.
All in all... It was a GREAT session. With the right ammo, I'd not be afraid to stake my life on this gun... when you pull the trigger, it goes "bang" in a big way... and when you can keep all of your bullets on a 11x14 sheet at 15 yards you are doing good!
Nice gun... can't fault the quality of what I saw or handled. 10 rounds of .45 ACP definately add weight to the gun, but still not bad compared to the Springfield GI 1911A model I sold.
I intentionally fed the gun everything in my inventory... 230 gr JHP, 230 gr FMJ, 230 gr LSWC. The gun ate them all without a hiccup. However, because of the heavy recoil springs, my LSWC 185 gr plinking loads just wounldn't cycle. The springs in the little gun are heavy and it will definately take a full house load to cycle the slide consistantly.
The gun does shoot low, but if you read the Heinie sights page on the Taurus, you will note that these sights are not designed for a 6 o'clock hold. I found the most accurate solution was to sight with the front dot dead on and above the level of the rear sights. The "double eight" with a hair of separation brings the sight up to close. The adjustment of the rear sight for windage is very nice... and the dovetail looks very close to the standard width for the government model 1911.
Like everyone else, the recoil wasn't anything near what I expected. Yes, it kicked more than the 1911 but with the lighter weight and shorter barrel, it was still pretty mild. Actually my full house .40 S&W in my Browning High Power kicks more. I did wear a shooting glove the handle brusing in the web of my shooting hand... learned from heavy .357 shooting, but don't think I really needed it.
There were no malfunctions other than what would be expected with the light 185 gr loads and some random hard primers from my reloads. The magazines held 10 rounds out of the box (the loading device is a real help with that 10th round).
I cleaned the gun before I went and after I came in. I would guess that even on the range a good scrubbing with a nylon brush after every 100 rounds wouldn't be a bad thing. Some powders are cleaner than others, but on a little gun and a short barreled .45 "cleanliness is next to Godliness."
Shooting rapid fire was no problem... and actually was as accurate as the slow fire. It may have to do with the concentration on keeping the front sight on target and less on the trigger pull.
All in all... It was a GREAT session. With the right ammo, I'd not be afraid to stake my life on this gun... when you pull the trigger, it goes "bang" in a big way... and when you can keep all of your bullets on a 11x14 sheet at 15 yards you are doing good!
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I thought it was just me ... I seemed to shoot mor accurately firing rapidly than I did taking my time.
I have a hard time with mine shooting low and to the right (right handed shooter).
I have a hard time with mine shooting low and to the right (right handed shooter).
Nice report, Cim. I guess I'm about convinced that the PT145 is the way to go for a .45. I've been considering several other more expensive guns, but for $300+some change, I don't think I can go wrong here.
The Taurus website calls this a DA/SA but the description says "Double Action Only". Which is it? I really like the way the 24/7 Pro is SA unless it doesn't fire, then reverts to DA.
That's the why the 3rd gens are.
So, at 3rd generation PT145 is SA/DA but the 2nd generations ones are DAO? Is there an easy way to tell the difference by looking at them?Flyer said:That's the why the 3rd gens are.
3rd gen. PT145PRO will have the following visual characteristics:
1) left side will have the word "MILLENNIUM" engraved on the slide.
2) right side will have PT145 PRO on the slide near the muzzle.
3) will be fitted with Heinie "straight 8" two dot sights
4) the serial number should have a Z as the second character starting from the left.
***those are the few that i can think of while looking at my gun. another characteristic is the SA/DA trigger system. if you rack the slide then fire you will notice that it is SA, as would be when you have a round in the chamber. after you pull the trigger, pull again (without racking the slide). this should be a longer DA pull. if you rack the slide again you will see that it has gone back to SA, the standard method of fire for this gun. a better description of the SA/DA trigger system is available by watching the Taurus 24/7 Pro video. The mil pro and the 24/7 pro share the same trigger system.
http://www.taurususa.com/video/taurus-corporate-video.cfm
1) left side will have the word "MILLENNIUM" engraved on the slide.
2) right side will have PT145 PRO on the slide near the muzzle.
3) will be fitted with Heinie "straight 8" two dot sights
4) the serial number should have a Z as the second character starting from the left.
***those are the few that i can think of while looking at my gun. another characteristic is the SA/DA trigger system. if you rack the slide then fire you will notice that it is SA, as would be when you have a round in the chamber. after you pull the trigger, pull again (without racking the slide). this should be a longer DA pull. if you rack the slide again you will see that it has gone back to SA, the standard method of fire for this gun. a better description of the SA/DA trigger system is available by watching the Taurus 24/7 Pro video. The mil pro and the 24/7 pro share the same trigger system.
http://www.taurususa.com/video/taurus-corporate-video.cfm
The quickest visual identifier is the dovetail straight 8 Heine sigts.
Shooting 185 grs work find, but try them out to be sure they have enough punch to cycle the slide. On my gun, the reloads that have 5 grs of Bullseye seems to be about as low to cycle them enough. I presume that most 185 gr JHPs should have enough power.
Also, most folks complain about the PT145's shooting low. I have filed the front slide to just above the front dot to raise the aim. I would love to find replacement sights for the Taurus models... since it looks like most use the same sights (24/7 and 1911).
Shooting 185 grs work find, but try them out to be sure they have enough punch to cycle the slide. On my gun, the reloads that have 5 grs of Bullseye seems to be about as low to cycle them enough. I presume that most 185 gr JHPs should have enough power.
Also, most folks complain about the PT145's shooting low. I have filed the front slide to just above the front dot to raise the aim. I would love to find replacement sights for the Taurus models... since it looks like most use the same sights (24/7 and 1911).
Had the same concern the first time I shot mine.. low and left for me. Found the sweet spot in shifting my grip a bit and it's dead on out to about 25m. It isn't putting 10rnds in a 1" group, but I don't think it's designed with that in mind.
Cimarron, how did you actually acheive this? could you put a step by step for this modification? i was noticing with mine that to accurately shoot you need to put some space between the two dots, not making an actual 8. its more like dot-space-dot, aligned above each other.Cimarron said:I have filed the front slide to just above the front dot to raise the aim.
i thought about your post but was not seeing how to file the sight down and re-attach it without snapping it off and maybe using some super glue.
Mine, too, was shooting unacceptably low. Very slowly, by hand, I filed the front sight down to just a hair (literally) above the white dot. At 10 & 15 yards, my PT145 now shoots to point of aim.
My PT145 (3rd gen) has always shot low & left. It groups about 4" @ 25 yrds with factory HP ammo. For qualification, before I retired, I just adjusted high right POA on the B24 target to keep everything in the 10 ring. Bought a set of Williams adjustable sights and installed them, but the front sight was way too tall. Replaced it with a HiViz front sight (that I read about on this forum) and all is well. keeping the PT145 clean does help reliability, but they can get very, very dirty and still shoot well.
Man, you resurrected a really old thread ! 
I miss the days of no Taurus lawsuit.
I miss the days of no Taurus lawsuit.
I still enjoy the heck out of mt PT-145, at 10 yards it is spot on.
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