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Is the Taurus PT-111 Millennium Pro a good CCW handgun?

I had the pleasure today of shooting my Taurus PT-111 Millennium Pro, a compact 9mm (Taurus calls it a "medium" frame) with a capacity of 12+1. This is my usual carry weapon, so I'm familiar with it; I only wish I could shoot more often and get tighter groups, but the cost of doing so is constant and consistent practice, and that means a lot more than I can afford in ammo costs.

The grip is comfortable at approximately 5" in circumference, and the trigger, mag release, and safety are all within relatively easy reach. (The mag release is perhaps a bit too easy to reach-In the past, I have released it while squeezing the grip a bit too tightly, but not this trip.) The sights are Heinie "Straight 8"s which took a little getting used to and required a bit of tweaking to get a bit closer to POA, and the short barrel doesn't make that any easier.

I set my target at seven yards for self-defense distance practice and loaded two mags and one in the pipe. I emptied the first mag to center mass of a half-silhouette target, and the second into (mostly) the head, then reloaded another 25 WWB 115gr. FMJ rounds, firing them rapidly to the upper portion of the 8 and 9 rings. I had only one malfunction in my test, a double-stack in my third set.

I'm not displeased with the accuracy, and I place the responsibility for any lack thereof on myself, not on any failing of the weapon or sights. There is a fair amount of felt recoil for a 9mm, but nothing uncontrollable or even difficult to accustom oneself to, and follow up shots are not at all difficult to deliver.

At just over a pound in weight, the 6 1/8 inch length and 5 1/8 inch height of the PT-111 tends to almost disappear in my IWB holster with a good belt and a loose-fitting polo shirt and jeans. It's only 1 1/8 inch wide, too, with a double-stacked mag. This is the first gun I've carried on a regular basis, but I can't imagine something being much more comfortable unless it was a mouse gun in pocket carry.

The Taurus PT-111 is also a remarkably simple gun to clean, having only the frame, the slide, the barrel, mainspring, and lock pin when disassembled. A good dose of Gunscrubber does very nicely and a bit of oil keeps it in good working order. Any further disassembly is suggested to be referred to a qualified gunsmith, which I am not. (As it happens, this is the gun used for the example at http://www.kaptain.us/guns/clean.html, although mine is of the third generation)

I enjoyed the opportunity to shoot for my own skill as well as for whatever benefit may be derived from this review.

Good luck and good shooting!

Cogito, ergo porto.

Blessings,
St. Michael

Carryconcealed.net Forum Moderator and Contributor

Taurus: http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?id=18&category=Pistol

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