[TonyB]

I bought a pt111(not the pro series)and while I've had zero problems,I have heard that there was some with the early models.So what should I be keeping my eye out for?I don't shoot it a ton,once in a while at IDPA,and I occassionaly ccw it.
like I said ,I've had zero problems w/ any ammo,it's accurate and a good weight and it was 1/2 the price of a Glock26.....

 

[Qwiks draw]

The early Pt111s are nice little pistols. Feeding certain JHPs may be a problem. The newer ones have a full ramp for feeding JHPs. That is why I upgraded to the Mil/pro version. Hardball ammo fed well through my old one, but would not want it for defense. Some of the older PT111s have spongy triggers. May not be the case with yours. My Old PT111 liked 124 grain and 147 grain bullets over the 115 grain loadings. Some of the 115s were so short they had trouble feeding up the ramp and into the chamber. Other than that there should be no problems. Holsters that fit PT111s early models will not fit the Mil/pro version. Frame size dimension differences between old and new ones.

 

[TonyB]

Been using Golden Sabres for SD..no feeding issues.also shoot mostly 115gr Winclean w/out a problem either...I'm actually using a holster for a glock 26.....must've got a good one.

 

[Qwiks draw]

There have been plenty of good older PT111s still out there. Some just had '"issues" with certain bullet profiles. I upgraded as a choice more than anything. Sabres are supposed to hang up on steep or short ramps, but like everything else, there are exceptions and nothing written in stone. Since my Pt111 had some issues I decided for the change. Glad to here yours works so well. Despite all the negative so called info(especially on the net) Pt111s are fine. Convential Wisdom is not always that. ;D

 

[edison]

I have one of the original PT111 models. No problems with mine, though admittedly, I haven't shot it much these past 2-3 years. Obviously it's a DAO. It definitely has a spongy trigger. I could shoot it well, but only if I shot it alone. I always had to stage the trigger. By that I mean I would pull the loooooong trigger to a point just before it would break, make my final sight and then pull through the final fraction of an inch to cause it to fire. This took a little longer than you might take with a single action trigger. That said, the thing was rock solid. I still keep it in one of my stash areas. (smile) I replaced it with a MilPro 9 mm basically because of the nicer trigger.

As for known problems, I'm going back a few years now, but as I recall, some of the original PT111s self destructed when the frame pins backed out. It didn't appear that this was a major issue for most pistols, but there was at least one example which was broadcast around the web. This was different from the problem with the original PT145s which developed cracks in the rear of the polymer frame. Again, both problems were reported with the EARLY original PT111s and PT145s. I haven't heard a report of a frame crack on a PT145 in years. Any issue with the PT111s also appear to have been corrected with the later models. There never were many reports of disintegrating PT111s.

Shoot well,
edison

 

[TonyB]

Yeah,the trigger does take getting used to.But I'm a revolver guy,so it doesn't bother me.Now lately I've been shooting my PT945 in SA...so it will be interesting to see when I shoot the PT111 if I have problems.a few weeks ago, I took the 111 out to get rid of some ammo..I mixed it up and had no failures of any kind.