opinions on taurus pt99 vs 101 vs pt1911?

Question

As in the title, looking at getting a full-size pistol. Leaning towards Taurus because of the lower price, and Taurus' possible reliability issues don't seem to be too bad with these. The difference between the 99 and 101 is they are 9mm and 40s&w respectively. Haven't decided which caliber would be better for my purposes. I am not going to try to use whichever of these guns I decide on as a concealed weapon, just all too large IMO, would get a separate pistol for that. Looking mostly for defense like walking through the woods or target shooting, accuracy is something I want. I believe the Beretta p92 was originally designed as a 9mm, but Beretta has the 96 in 40 as well. Don't know if the 9 would be more reliable because it was the original design load. 9mm is obviously cheaper and perhaps more available, but not planning on shooting all that much so not a big concern. So any opinions on the pt99 vs the pt101? Or should I just spend the extra $120ish and get the pt1911 in 45?

any opinions on another full-size that won't break the bank? The Berettas are a good $200 more than the Tauruses, finding it difficult to justify spending more on that than a 1911, even if it is a Taurus.

Answer 1

sir,
i own a colt 1911, and a taurus pt99. i have had my colt since bought new in 1991, with approx 5,000 rounds through it. it has had major reliabitlity issues from day one, including 3 visits via a gunstore and ups to the colt factory. very poor quality control. my taurus,however, was bought second hand and a bit "worn looking" i have put about 12,000 rounds through it since i bought it in 1994. i have had not one misfire, not one failure to feed, not one failure to extract. zero malfunctions. total. the taurus is the official military sidearm of most of south america's armies. i do not beleive that they are substandard in any fashion nor by any process of manufacture. taurus also has a lifetime warranty. its a quaility weapon and it works every single time. the colt did not. and the colt has no warranty. if you arent going to war, or shoot as often as i want to, i would say that the taurus is definetly the best value. in my area a taurus pt99 in used condition is about 280$. a comparable colt to mine is 600$. at the bigbox sports store here the taurus pt1911 in 45acp. is 620$. another thing to consider is ammunition. a box of 50 9mm 115 grain fmj "target/plinking/everyday" bullets are anywhere from 8 to 10$ a box of 230 gr fmj in 45acp is a minimum of 14 dollars. there is the issue of stopping power, but the 9mm is the standard arm of most of the worlds armed forces. it does work. i would lean to the taurus and take the money i saved and buy a crate of bullets for about 60$ a few new mags for about 50$, and save 2-300$ and learn to shoot well and save a few bucks. good luck!

Answer 2

Either one will most likely do what you want it to do. Odds are if you disassembled both guns and threw the pieces in a box, you could put them back together randomly and both guns work fine given the same/similar models. I'd lean towards the Taurus because I've had good luck with my Taurus firearms, and I like their lifetime warranty. That being said, I own a Springfield, too, that I'm pleased with. Almost everyone makes a 1911 now, and they're almost a commodity item unless go with a really bargain basement brand . . . or something really high end. For many people, what matters most is options that come with the 1911 like ambi-safeties and the like because, eventually, most people are going to put aftermarket parts on their 1911 to improve performance, feel, and looks. If one is going to do that, it's probably better to start out with a 1911 that has some of the parts you'd normally swap out already allowing money to be spent other places. It's sort of a waste to pay extra for a gun only to take 30% of the parts off for aftermarket, anyway. If you're going to build a 1911, as silly as it sounds, it's almost as easy/cheap to build an inexpensive gun as it is an expensive starter gun.

Answer 3

Taurus Pt 99

Answer 4

I've never seen any reliability issues with Taurus that didn't also exist in other guns, but then again I've not seen that many Taurus pistols.

On the 9mm v.s. 40, there is a *tiny* difference (with modern bullets and powder) in terminal ballistics. ABSOLUTELY THE MOST CRITICAL thing is accuracy.

9mm is (most places) cheaper to shoot than 40, meaning you'll be able to practice more.

Practice is critical.

If you have a source of .40 ammunition that is cheaper than the rest of us can get 9mm, then the 40 is a *slightly* better round.

Otherwise get the 9mm for now and buy more bullets to shoot.

Your best bet however is to go to your local commercial range and rent several different pistols in different calibers and figure out which one is most comfortable for YOU.

Then work some extra overtime and get that one. The better the gun fits your hand (ergonomicly speaking) the better it will "point" making it easier for you to get good hits with.

Answer 5

just my opinion: I would stay away from Taurus. I have written here often about the problems I have seen, and experienced with Tarus personally. Taurus went from cheap junk guns to a decent firearm for quite a while. But every once in a while they seem to revert back to low quality. Yes they have a lifetime warranty BUT, if you're always having to ship it back and wait for taurus to repair it, what good is it?
I had a shipment of new Taurus revolvers in .3578 mag arrive at the shop. I removed them from the boxes and started to place a couple in the showcase when I noticed a little problem, Taurus had miss drilled the holes in the cylinder, drilling them at the thinnest part where the "flutes" were, instead of the thicker part. I sent them right back. My sister in law had admired one of my pistols for years and kept trying to trade me out of it. She finally offered to trade me a 9mm taurus pistol, brand new, with a bunch of extra mags, holsters etc and threw in enough cash that I finally agreed. I took the Taurus out to shoot it, thinking I'd give it to my daughter. Half way thru the first magazine, the extractor started failing to extract randomly. Rather then mess with it, I went ahead and shipped it back to Taurus, who received it on July 3rd. I called a week later to check and was informed they would not get to it for another week. I called a week later to be informed they were "almost to it". This went on until August 23rd when they finally "got to it". A week later I had it back. so, it tells me that Taurus has such a backlog of firearms needing repair that their quality still has not improved. I took it out to test fire it again, and the extractor broke. I fixed it myself and got rid of it the same day
Beretta is slightly better in my opinion, but still not high on my list for reliability in combat conditions. Again based on personal and second hand info from the troops over in the big sandbox. Including my brother, a medic, who almost died because he drew his beretta, went to chamber a round to shoot a bad guy and the pistol jammed. Luckily, another team member with a S.A.W. hosed the bad guy before he got a shot off at my brother.
Walking in the woods, I would not recomend a pistol anyway. You need a good revolver. I'd suggest a good quality revolver chambered in .357 mag as a minimum. With 158 grain semi jacketed softpoints, you can take a deer, or stop a black bear. (yes I know it will generally take more than one hit from a .357 to stop a bear) Also, you can shoot lighter .38 special loads in it for plinking. Look at police trade ins thru J&G online or at local gunshops. A good used S&W model 19 or even a 66 can be had very reasonable. My next choice would be a .44 mag. I know these aren't "wonder pistols" or maybe not so "cool" to carry, but if you want the job done, use the right tool. I'm a fanatic .45acp shooter for self defense but when I hit the field, if I'm only gonna carry a side arm, it's a .44 mag every time.

Answer 6

Tauars had problems in the past most addressed most fixed....I have a (3rd Generation)Mil Pro PT145 .45acp, this is a sub compact with 3.25 in barrel, yet, I compete in IPSC with it, stright out of the box factory sites and it preforms flawlessly. And the price is right. For similar money look into the Springfield XD series.

Answer 7

I agree with pathfinder. Taurus makes low quality guns.If you are deadset on getting a Taurus tho, go for the PT101 in 40sw. I had one years ago and it was ok, but ya get what ya pay for.

Answer 8

I personally will have nothing to do with any Taurus. I consider them inferior guns, produced by inferior assemblers.