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I went out shooting with a friend on Saturday, and he mentioned that he had a pistol that someone gave him for him to try out. It is an older Taurus Millennium PT111 9mm. He said it was horribly dirty when he got it, so he cleaned it and then wanted to test it out. Turns out I was kind of in the market for one of these anyway so I offered to buy it if he had no use for it and he agreed, and later we worked out a trade that wound up sending the gun home with me.

Anyway, he loaded it up with a full mag worth of Blazer 115gr FMJ and he proceeded to shoot an entire magazine on an 8" target at 7 yards no sweat. So then he said "here, you try it". I tried it and shot a whole magazine and who knows where they went. Maybe one or two on the 8" target, the rest, no man's land. Clearly it's shooter, not the gun. Just to make sure I wasn't losing my mind I grabbed my Kahr and loaded it, shot the whole magazine into about a 3" group with a couple in the bullseye. Welp, I guess I can at least shoot some gun! Anyway, I shot a few more through the Taurus and still couldn't find where I was hitting. Next time, bigger target is in order. I plan to give this gun to my wife anyway. It has a safety which I think might actually be a good thing for my wife, it's higher capacity than most of the other guns she has looked at (revolvers, single-stack Kahrs) and I like the "second strike" of the Taurus so it was on my short list of guns to try for her. Just happened into the right deal.

I took the thing home and cleaned it and it was still very dirty. I guess I am much more meticulous about cleaning than my friend, and he is much more meticulous than the friend who gave the gun to him. On reassembly I managed to get the barrel cockeyed and it would not go into battery. Looks like this is a common problem. Solution is to hold the gun upside down when dropping the slide with it empty (no magazine). The barrel is loose as a goose when the gun is empty.

My wife had a PT-111 for awhile. She could get the first round or two on target without much trouble but if she didn't pay very close attention to what she was doing she suffered from "who knows where they went".

Seemed the long, stiff trigger pull caused her to start pressing and almost breaking her wrist over. Anything close to rapid fire and she was all over the place.

We since got rid of it and replaced it with an XD. MUCH better for her.

Our two other pistols have similarly long and hard triggers. The other gun my wife was considering is a Taurus DAO revolver. I don't think the long/hard trigger is going to make or break it. But I still might wind up trading it for something else eventually, like a P3AT. I am sure my wife can learn to shoot this one just fine but she may never be able to find a way to conceal something this big.

For now we have it in the car. I might just keep it and leave it in the car indefinitely besides an occasional range outing.

mr.72 wrote:I tried it and shot a whole magazine and who knows where they went. Maybe one or two on the 8" target, the rest, no man's land. Clearly it's shooter, not the gun. Just to make sure I wasn't losing my mind I grabbed my Kahr and loaded it, shot the whole magazine into about a 3" group with a couple in the bullseye.

There's probably nothing wrong with your shooting other than you just aren't used to the feel of this gun. I've never shot the Taurus or the Kahr but I'll bet the feel and action is very dissimilar.

This is why I always stress to folks new to CHL that they need to pick the pistol they want to carry, then practice, practice, and more practice, and then don't change.

TDDude wrote: There's probably nothing wrong with your shooting other than you just aren't used to the feel of this gun. I've never shot the Taurus or the Kahr but I'll bet the feel and action is very dissimilar.

I suppose so. This trigger really is not a lot unlike my SW9VE but it's definitely firmer and longer pull than my Kahr. However I think the main difference is not the trigger, but the pinky-less grip.

I might try and go out and shoot a bit more this weekend, see how it goes. Not sure I'd ever carry this one because of the manual safety. In fact I am just about inclined to try and trade it for something without a safety, maybe a P3AT.

If you don't like a pinky-less grip, you'll likely hate the P3AT. (IMHO)

LarryH wrote:If you don't like a pinky-less grip, you'll likely hate the P3AT. (IMHO)

You're right, of course. But I didn't choose this gun, I just happened into it. My wife is 6' tall and 135 lb, built like a model and she dresses like a 20 year old. So finding any gun she can conceal is going to be difficult and this Taurus isn't going to fit the bill. The idea of a P3AT is so my wife might be encouraged to get her CHL and carry. Right now all of our pistols are just too darn big. I am sure she can learn to shoot anything, she's a natural with our other pistols. But a P3AT may even still be too big. Maybe a P32.

Odds are I'll just keep the Taurus and buy a pistol especially for my wife to carry. Won't hurt to go out and learn to shoot this one. It's not that I don't like the no-pinky grip, just that I am not used to it. I might get a grip extension. With the right holster, this gun could be a good middle-ground option between the 8 rounds in the Kahr and 17 in the Sigma.

My female family members don’t like the P3AT trigger at all. I am sure if they shot it more they would change their minds. Anything takes getting accustom to unless the person has enough money to buy their own guns and stop taking mine. Anyway...get her to shoot the gun several times if she is having problems. It is my experience that some people just want what they do to be easy and not have to work and learn. Where is the fun in that???