Taurus 709 Slim

[Scott in Houston]

Ok here is my wrap up from my previous post...

been having trouble with the new 709 FTF
Problem now seems to be solved.
The main 2 things I did to solve my issue are...

1. clean the snot out of it and make sure the firing pin mechanism is well oiled (as previously noted they pack a ton of grease in these at the factory)
2. started shooting better quality ammo
today I shot 100 rounds of Remington UMC with ZERO FTF issues and just to see if this was the problem I loaded 1 mag of Monarch and sure enough the 4th monarch round was a no fire. see ya Monarch and White box Winchester I know your cheap but I'm done with you.

If you buy a less expensive gun, but can't shoot cheaper ammo, doesn't it make it a more expensive gun in the long run??

Seriously though, I've seen the response to many gun issues as, "Run better ammo." That seems like a problem to me. I want my gun to be able to run the cheapest of cheap stuff as well as the good stuff. I'll pay extra up front for a Glock or other gun that I know will always go bang, then bang again with the cheapest stuff Walmart or other places have to offer.

[Katygunnut]

Ok here is my wrap up from my previous post...

been having trouble with the new 709 FTF
Problem now seems to be solved.
The main 2 things I did to solve my issue are...

1. clean the snot out of it and make sure the firing pin mechanism is well oiled (as previously noted they pack a ton of grease in these at the factory)
2. started shooting better quality ammo
today I shot 100 rounds of Remington UMC with ZERO FTF issues and just to see if this was the problem I loaded 1 mag of Monarch and sure enough the 4th monarch round was a no fire. see ya Monarch and White box Winchester I know your cheap but I'm done with you.

If you buy a less expensive gun, but can't shoot cheaper ammo, doesn't it make it a more expensive gun in the long run??

Seriously though, I've seen the response to many gun issues as, "Run better ammo." That seems like a problem to me. I want my gun to be able to run the cheapest of cheap stuff as well as the good stuff. I'll pay extra up front for a Glock or other gun that I know will always go bang, then bang again with the cheapest stuff Walmart or other places have to offer.

Thats why I like Glocks.

I must be the exception. No problems with my Taurus PT-709 running WWB or anything else. Don't get me started on my Taurus PT 24/7 (45 cal), however. That thing has had all kinds of problems.

Taurus really seems to be hit or miss in my experience.

[DoubleJ]

Ok here is my wrap up from my previous post...

been having trouble with the new 709 FTF
Problem now seems to be solved.
The main 2 things I did to solve my issue are...

1. clean the snot out of it and make sure the firing pin mechanism is well oiled (as previously noted they pack a ton of grease in these at the factory)
2. started shooting better quality ammo
today I shot 100 rounds of Remington UMC with ZERO FTF issues and just to see if this was the problem I loaded 1 mag of Monarch and sure enough the 4th monarch round was a no fire. see ya Monarch and White box Winchester I know your cheap but I'm done with you.

when you say FTF, do you mean Failure To Feed, or Failure To Fire?

I have a PT709 "Slim" and I have about a 1/50 Fail To Fire issue. it'll light strike the primer (dent, no bang), which pulling the trigger again (with their fabled second strike capability) results in nada. if I eject the round, re-chamber it, it will fire the second time.

It appears that the only way to have this looked at (other than paying a gunsmith a bajillion dollars to look at himself) would be to send it back to Taurus. Even if it's a warranty issue, they didn't seem too keen on sending me a prepaid envelope, although I've heard other people have better luck.

I don't really feel inclined to spend a bunch of loot sending the gun off, but I'll need to to get it squared away (as far as I can tell).

Other'n that, I like it. it's my "gym/workout" gun, and I like the single action trigger. the initial take-up is a bit long (think a DA/SA in SA mode), but the reset is fine, and the SA pull is nice. I can put a bunch of holes in a fist-sized target at short range (no marksman's feat but by what I consider self defense distance, it's serviceable).

[mrfunnyman]

Yes it was failure to fire.

My first box of 100 rounds with no misfires was today after the above mentioned actions.
Could have been either cause but none the less I am happy with the gun now, it shoots great and straight.

Taking CHL class this Saturday now I can put my mind to other things than "is my gun gonna go bang when I squeeze the trigger?"

To my earlier comment about "cheap ammo" maybe I should have said dirty or not so clean. I did notice that the the magazine had a lot less residue on it after 75 or so rounds than I did before with the wbw and the Monarch.
A clean gun is a happy gun. I'll continue to shoot the slightly more expensive rounds, btw I also use a little better oil in my vehicles than most (at least I seem to pay a little more) I assume its better.

[DoubleJ]

sounds like we've had the same issue. What did you specifically do to clean out the firing pin area. I'm no GunSmith by any means, and typically only know how to take off the slide and remove the barrel, so any help is appreciated. Maybe I could just get it UltraSonic Cleaned, or something...

as an aside, I had the same "issue" when I shot some Hornady Critical Defense ammo, as well. but if it was still "dirty" from previous use, then I could understand.
thanks for the reply.

[MrShootert]

I bought one of these a couple of weeks ago because of the way it felt in my hand vs the other slim 9 mm out there (initially I was going for a Ruger LC9). The 709 just felt better and I liked the trigger pull too. I took it to the range for the first time last weekend and put 220 rounds through it. 50 American Eagle 115's, 50 Remington UMC 115's, and 100 Win NATO 124's, and 20 Speer Gold Dot 124+P. No problems with feeding or firing.

However, I had two other issues:
1) Out of the box it was shooting way low and left at 7 yards. I had a hard time getting it sighted in, probably because I was simultaneously trying to get used to the trigger pull and grip. Fortunately, it has adjustable sights. In the end I had to adjust them all the way right and most of of the way up, and finally it was accurate enough to make me happy.
2) The slide failed to lock back on the empty mag when firing (but locked back fine when operated manually) . I thought OK this is just a break-in issue, so I kept shooting and working on accuracy, but it was still doing it after 200 rounds, then I started to worry about it . Then on my last couple of mags I looked at where my thumb was, sure enough it was resting on the slide release. As it turns out it takes almost no pressure on the button to stop the slide from locking back while cycling under fire .

So in the end with these two issues solved (I hope) it is a very nice handling little gun, recoil was fine, even with the NATO and +P Gold Dots, and was much lighter feeling than my 38 snub with standard pressure rounds.

When I got it home - Man! was it dirty inside. Probably that Winchester NATO stuff. So I cleaned it up. Now I've just picked up 300 rounds of even cheaper Monarch stuff, and 40 rounds of Hornady critical defense. If it shoots up all the crap Monarch stuff and then the Hornady without any mechanical issues, then I may have found a reliable replacement for Snubby S&W (who will still be backup)- I'll let y'all know how that goes.

[mrfunnyman]

I had the same problem with mine shooting low left. My nephew who is a small arms instructor for the Coast Guard, took me to the range and proved to me that the problem was me. I was anticipating the recoil in a big way. We figured it was mostly due to the difference in the trigger pull in comparison to what I am used to. (the trigger pull on the Taurus seems to take about a 3 foot pull compared to my Glock) My normal gun is a Glock 27 and the trigger pull on the two guns is night and day different. He went through a few drills with me and now I am much more accurate with the Taurus.

I also had significant issues with failure to fire and recently some issues with the slide locking back on the last round fired.
This happened after running about 50 rounds of Monarch through the gun. The Monarch stuff really left the gun dirty. I have sworn it off for the Taurus. Most everything else that costs more than $10 a box seems to feed just fine through the Taurus.

[MrShootert]

OK went back to the range on Friday evening with my new PT709. I arrived with 250 rounds of Monarch brass case 9mm, and 50 rounds of Hornady Dritical Defense (turns out the Hornady comes in 25 rnd boxes instead of the usual 20 in the defensive ammo brands ). I planned on shooting all of it. I fired off 200 rounds with out any failures whatsoever and my shooting with this little gun improved greatly since my first outing. Only thing is, I started to develop a blister on my finger that rests on the base of the grip, and somewhere before round 200 the blister popped (ouch), so after finishing that box I fired off one box of Hornady's no problems there either (except my finger). By then the blister was looking like it was going to bleed so I thought I better stop. So that's at total of 455 round through it without any failures (that weren't my fault - see my first post on this thread). So I really like this gun - it's a keeper

[DoubleJ]

I used one of those UltraSonic cleaners on my Slim, recently, and have not had any Light Primer Strikes since then. I am guessing that there was some gunk that had either built up, or came from the factory in and/or around the firing pin, causing the light-strikes.

I'ma keep it, and see if it builds up again, but otherwise, I'm happy!


as for the Hornady, Critical Defense FTX ammo, yes, the 9mm comes in 25rd boxes, but it should be noted that the .45ACP CritDef ammo comes in a 20rd box, although the price is the same (according to AmmoToGo's website).

[RPB]

OK went back to the range on Friday evening with my new PT709. I arrived with 250 rounds of Monarch brass case 9mm, and 50 rounds of Hornady Dritical Defense (turns out the Hornady comes in 25 rnd boxes instead of the usual 20 in the defensive ammo brands ). I planned on shooting all of it. I fired off 200 rounds with out any failures whatsoever and my shooting with this little gun improved greatly since my first outing. Only thing is, I started to develop a blister on my finger that rests on the base of the grip, and somewhere before round 200 the blister popped (ouch), so after finishing that box I fired off one box of Hornady's no problems there either (except my finger). By then the blister was looking like it was going to bleed so I thought I better stop. So that's at total of 455 round through it without any failures (that weren't my fault - see my first post on this thread). So I really like this gun - it's a keeper

***Pat on MrShootert's back***

I wish the anti-gun people understood the PAIN we go through sometimes. You know, "them CHLs who hardly shoot any bullets except to qualify for a couple minutes and never go to the range again"

Sounds like you are confident it's a reliable gun with that ammo and had some practice. Blisters aren't real fun.
May you never need to shoot 200 rounds in one session for actual self defense

Thanks for the followup report.

as for the Hornady, Critical Defense FTX ammo, yes, the 9mm comes in 25rd boxes, but it should be noted that the .45ACP CritDef ammo comes in a 20rd box, although the price is the same (according to AmmoToGo's website).

That's correct, I just got 20 boxes on sale,(Midway had a sale) and waiting anxiously for my new sights and barrel (and mag loader-it was missing) which haven't been shipped yet from Midwest Hunter's Outlet ... building a new (to me) customized Stainless XD45, I bought at the last gun show, "used".

[e-bil]

What ultrasonic cleaner do you have / use?

[DoubleJ]

I used the one at *my* local range, Bellevue Gun Club, which has a Gun Cleaning room.
here's their blurb on the specifics:
GUN CLEANING ROOM
The in house gun cleaning room is complete with 2 utlrasonic cleaning tanks, aqueous part washer, compressed air, and a sink to wash up in. We also supply gloves, rags and cleaning brushes. Platinum members have free access to the room, there is a $5.00 fee for all other membership levels. (Excluding Bronze)

[PostShooter]

What is it about this gun? Does Taurus kick back to the retailers?

I've walked into three stores in the past few weeks looking to see either an LC9 or a PF-9. And all three said, "Don't have either of those, but I have a 709 here. Take a look."

I'm all for not letting a potential buy just walk out the door, but if I wanted a 709, I would've asked for a 709.

[mrfunnyman]

Not sure about the kickback to retailer but I guess its possible. I have 2 cary guns, one is the 709 and the other is the Glock 27. I love both guns but quite honestly I usually grab the 709 as feels much more comfortable, lighter and of course slimmer.

[e-bil]

Maybe because it is the same type of gun and they have it in stock. Most places will try to not let money walk out the door if the have a close substitute.