I've been thinking about getting a .45 for a long time, and the PT745 is on the list of possibilities. I like the size and weight of this gun, but haven't had a chance to shoot one yet. Any owners of this model out there, how do you like it? Looks like it might be an excellent big caliber carry gun for those times when you might have to go into a really rough part of town!
PT745 Millenium Pro
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I bought one, then traded it in for a PT-145. The single stack magazine makes the 745 a bit narrower but the overall height and length of the gun is the same. That small difference in the width of the grip didn't really make a significant difference in concealment. I suppose on a 5 ft 90 lb person the slightly narrower grip and lighter loaded weight might be significant. I like having 10+1 instead of 7+1 at my disposal.
I pick up my PT145 today, I looked hard at the P45 Kahr & the PT745. After handling all three decided on the PT145 for the extra capacity, better warranty than Kahr plus $250 less & very slightly wider (1/8") grip than the P745. The 145 & the 745 share the same slide so the overall width is the same & with the 745 I wouldve had to think about carrying an extra clip which would take up more space than the additional width of the 145's grip. I also read several post like the one above where people had traded their 745's for 145's or had both & settled on the 145.
Unless you keep the magazine extension on the 745 you are left with no place for your pinkie, and the extension would look harder to conceal. Most I've heard that go "deep cover" remove it for the flat magazine bottom. When shooting a .45 the extra purchase of the fourth finger is nice... makes the gun just a bit more controlable.
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32 Posts
I also looked at the PT-745 at a gun show two months ago - it was thinner than the PT-145 and less rounds - no real difference in concealment. I bought a PT-145 two weeks ago and I am really happy with it. It is my first .45, after buying at 24/7 and PT-111 for myself and a PT-138 for my wife.
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5 Posts
I've had a PT745 for over a year now. Many hundreds of rounds through it. Mostly to test it after Taurus screwed up repairs on it. That was frustrating as heck, but finally on the third try at repairing it, they put a good technician on it who addressed root problems vice putting band aids on symptoms.
First off, the good stuff about it.
Very accurate, compact and comfortable to shoot. It's a real bullseye taker at 30'. My little wife likes it better than my 9mm because it's more comfortable and recoil is softer! How many guns get comments like that? A .45 that's more comfortable than a 9mm? Cool!
I chose it over the PT145 because my wife has small hands. That slightly wider grip on the PT145 made a difference to her as did the extra weight of a few rounds of ammo. It's our "house gun". So seven rounds is plenty. I like the way the trigger stages. I can hold it as it ramps up in pressure, steady up and finish the squeeze. If I don't get a bullseye it's usually my fault. Although both sights did come loose one trip. Drove my son and I nuts 'till we found it. I put Loctite on the screws. No worries since then. It's well past a thousand rounds now. We use it at the range every month.
Problems.
(By the way, I'm an engineering tech. Have been all my adult life. I wrote detailed accounts of the problems and my own ideas of what may be wrong for the Taurus techs. I didn't leave 'em in the dark.)
I seem to be the only person I can find who got a bad one. It was like hitting a bad lottery! Many failures to fire. 20%+! Often, it fired poorly. Like a poor strike on the primer barely setting it off. Poor combustion meant rounds hitting low, poor slide operation, gasses flying out the ejection port and often a failure to feed the next round properly. I thought it was a poor spring on the striker or a bad firing pin. I sent it off to Taurus.
2 months later it came back. The tech there "adjusted" the feed ramp with a Dremel and wrecked it's mirror finish. Problem still the same and now it won't even feed HP ammo anymore! (Useless as a house gun now.)I used mostly Winchester white box as per Taurus's recomendation. But frankly it doesn't seem much better than Wolf ammo. I find the gun likes Aquila PMC and S&B and other name brands much better.
Back off to Taurus again. 6 weeks......
It comes back. Same buggered feed ramp. But now they've adjusted a spring somewhere. The exact one is still a secret to me. :
But it IS better. But still not right. 10% failure to fire. But combustion is good enough that there are no more failures to feed or orange gasses coming out the ejection port when the slide was working visibly slow after a poor set off.
But 10% failure to fire is still UNSAT in my book. That just ain't right.
I talk to Taurus again. The supervisor wants it back and says he'll recommend a replacement pistol. I send it back.
Six weeks later...
Same gun comes back to me. No replacement. But the good news is this time they put their "A" team on it. New barrel so the feed ramp problem they caused is fixed. New striker spring and firing pin and other adjustments. I put 100 rounds of WWB through it. 2 failures to fire. I put a box of Aguila and S&B through it. 100% great. A box of PMC. Great white muzzle blast from that stuff. Ran 100% OK, no more WWB in my house! I tried a box of Wolf just to see if it would get indigestion. It did. 4 failures to fire. But that stuff does seem to have hard primers. Only my XD45 will eat Wolf ammo with no problems. My other handguns don't care for it.
I consider it fixed now. I don't mind putting good ammo in it. It's a compact pistol and needs good ammo and good ignition so that little slide will have the kinetic energy it needs to make the pistol function. Many compact large bore pistols are like this from what I've read on different boards. My XD is a full size and therefore has more mass and inertia in the slide as it operates. More forgiving of lesser ammos.
On one hand I was really bent out of shape over this while it was going on. I bought the XD45 to use while the Taurus was gone those months.
On the other, I was really glad that Taurus didn't give up and stood behind it. I know in the many shops I have worked in over the years, some mechanics are better than others. All techs are not equal.
Now that it's been over half a year since it was finally fixed right, I'm happy with it and it's a keeper. My wife and son and I are very proficient with it. Good house gun for self defense use. So yes, I'd buy a Taurus again. Their warranty is good!
I shoot at a Marine Camp range. I run into a number of LEO's who use a PT745 or PT145 as their carry weapon. No one I have ever met at the range or elsewhere has ever had a problem with one of these. I just happened to get the sour one. But they made it right. That's what counts.
And it is a damn good little .45. Many good points going for it.
Your character is qualified by the way you handle your problems. In this case they made darned sure that the third time was the charm. I can only imagine the professional embarrassment of not getting it right the third time!
First off, the good stuff about it.
Very accurate, compact and comfortable to shoot. It's a real bullseye taker at 30'. My little wife likes it better than my 9mm because it's more comfortable and recoil is softer! How many guns get comments like that? A .45 that's more comfortable than a 9mm? Cool!
I chose it over the PT145 because my wife has small hands. That slightly wider grip on the PT145 made a difference to her as did the extra weight of a few rounds of ammo. It's our "house gun". So seven rounds is plenty. I like the way the trigger stages. I can hold it as it ramps up in pressure, steady up and finish the squeeze. If I don't get a bullseye it's usually my fault. Although both sights did come loose one trip. Drove my son and I nuts 'till we found it. I put Loctite on the screws. No worries since then. It's well past a thousand rounds now. We use it at the range every month.
Problems.
(By the way, I'm an engineering tech. Have been all my adult life. I wrote detailed accounts of the problems and my own ideas of what may be wrong for the Taurus techs. I didn't leave 'em in the dark.)
I seem to be the only person I can find who got a bad one. It was like hitting a bad lottery! Many failures to fire. 20%+! Often, it fired poorly. Like a poor strike on the primer barely setting it off. Poor combustion meant rounds hitting low, poor slide operation, gasses flying out the ejection port and often a failure to feed the next round properly. I thought it was a poor spring on the striker or a bad firing pin. I sent it off to Taurus.
2 months later it came back. The tech there "adjusted" the feed ramp with a Dremel and wrecked it's mirror finish. Problem still the same and now it won't even feed HP ammo anymore! (Useless as a house gun now.)I used mostly Winchester white box as per Taurus's recomendation. But frankly it doesn't seem much better than Wolf ammo. I find the gun likes Aquila PMC and S&B and other name brands much better.
Back off to Taurus again. 6 weeks......
It comes back. Same buggered feed ramp. But now they've adjusted a spring somewhere. The exact one is still a secret to me. :
But it IS better. But still not right. 10% failure to fire. But combustion is good enough that there are no more failures to feed or orange gasses coming out the ejection port when the slide was working visibly slow after a poor set off.But 10% failure to fire is still UNSAT in my book. That just ain't right.
I talk to Taurus again. The supervisor wants it back and says he'll recommend a replacement pistol. I send it back.
Six weeks later...
Same gun comes back to me. No replacement. But the good news is this time they put their "A" team on it. New barrel so the feed ramp problem they caused is fixed. New striker spring and firing pin and other adjustments. I put 100 rounds of WWB through it. 2 failures to fire. I put a box of Aguila and S&B through it. 100% great. A box of PMC. Great white muzzle blast from that stuff. Ran 100% OK, no more WWB in my house! I tried a box of Wolf just to see if it would get indigestion. It did. 4 failures to fire. But that stuff does seem to have hard primers. Only my XD45 will eat Wolf ammo with no problems. My other handguns don't care for it.
I consider it fixed now. I don't mind putting good ammo in it. It's a compact pistol and needs good ammo and good ignition so that little slide will have the kinetic energy it needs to make the pistol function. Many compact large bore pistols are like this from what I've read on different boards. My XD is a full size and therefore has more mass and inertia in the slide as it operates. More forgiving of lesser ammos.
On one hand I was really bent out of shape over this while it was going on. I bought the XD45 to use while the Taurus was gone those months.
On the other, I was really glad that Taurus didn't give up and stood behind it. I know in the many shops I have worked in over the years, some mechanics are better than others. All techs are not equal.
Now that it's been over half a year since it was finally fixed right, I'm happy with it and it's a keeper. My wife and son and I are very proficient with it. Good house gun for self defense use. So yes, I'd buy a Taurus again. Their warranty is good!
I shoot at a Marine Camp range. I run into a number of LEO's who use a PT745 or PT145 as their carry weapon. No one I have ever met at the range or elsewhere has ever had a problem with one of these. I just happened to get the sour one. But they made it right. That's what counts.
And it is a damn good little .45. Many good points going for it.
Your character is qualified by the way you handle your problems. In this case they made darned sure that the third time was the charm. I can only imagine the professional embarrassment of not getting it right the third time!
Good to hear service made it right for you, even if it took three times. I'm planning on buying one or the other (745 or 145) haven't decided yet. Depends on the deal I can find. Could go either way. Thanks for the informative post!
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80 Posts
I have a 745. I have shot the 145 and can't tell a significant difference other than slight thickness and a weight issue. You will be more comfortable with the 745 concealed. I have no problem with 6+1. You are unlikely to get attacked by an entire gang. And more unlikely to still be alive after the first 6 you better make the first 1 or 2 count. Pick the one that feels the best in your hand.
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119 Posts
Speaking of what fits better in your hand... the 745 was a bit narrow for me. The ever so slightly wider 145 grip felt better. It's like trying to write with a really skinny pen, like the stylus on a PDA. A normal sized pen feels better.
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80 Posts
I did wind up putting a hogue handall on mine to make it perfect.
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