picked mine up today. no time for pics or shooting but my first impressions:
1) it has a manual safety, even better for "mexican" carry
2) its a little thinner and a bit taller than my glock 26
3) it has the glock trigger and the glock-style takedown, which is very easy and familar to me. the trigger pull is infinitely better than on the keltecs.
4) fit and finish are good, much better than on the p3at i had. this looks and feels like a SD pistol, not a plastic POS.
5) after i broke it down, i will say the gun was very dirty. lots of packing grease and some gunk in the barrel. all came off after a bath in Hoppes #9. gun looks tip-top now.
6) for those with larger hands, the grip might be difficult. purchasing the extended magazines should help, as with the glock 26/27.
7) i look forward to shooting this gun. this will likely become my go-to carry gun, either in situations requiring discretion, or as a backup to my 1911s, pt99 or glock 26.
"a little thinner than my Glock 26". I have a Glock 26 and the only thing keeping it from being my primary carry pistol is that it will remove your appendix if you have it incorrectly placed.
The 709 is more rounded than the Glock as well. I'll probably end up getting one. My impression from handling it is that it's a well made piece.
i handeled 1 at a dealer last week. slim,almost felt to slim. also,a little bigger(longer) than i thought it would be. trigger felt pretty good,except 'extra long'. it did still feel like a TAURUS though,good or bad.
Another more important change of design, is the capacity. Taurus originally stated the capacity would be 8+1, which is still stated on their web page, erroneously:
i finally fired mine. the recoil is similar to other pocket guns like the p3at- its not particularly fun to shoot. i noticed that accuracy was much better by wrapping my left index finger around the trigger guard ( would be nice to NOT have the goofy elongated guard). i wasnt getting too good of groups, even relative to my own ability (which isnt much ). then again, i consider this to be like a snubbie- intended for up close and personal.
i put about 50 rounds through it without a hiccup. feeds federal JHP without issue. i picked mine up for much less than $400. but i think if you are considering the Keltec or Ruger route, this is a better option in a better caliber- even if it is a bit larger than its competitors.
I purchased one today and put over 200 rounds through it with 2 failures, both light strikes after 100+ rounds. Review link below in different forum. In short, the design of the gun, from an ergonomic point of view, is one of the best I've handled.
nice write-up. i personally like the glock 26 in terms of shooting, but the ergonomics of the taurus are hard to beat. i do wish it had a normal trigger guard though....
I'm not sure why but the glock wants to beat my hand a bit. It's not really much different, but my grip on the 709 is much better. I shot both today and I really prefer the 709. But in terms of problems, it's 0 for the Glock, 1 (maybe) for the Taurus.
Would any of you say this would be small enough for possible pocket carry? I've been thinking about getting a PF9 for a backup/deep conceal gun. Would this fit the role pretty well? I'm wanting something I could possibly pocket carry, but in a full power caliber.
Had a chance to handle one yesterday at PSS. They have a good price on it - $338 (ish.) The fit and finish were good, better than a PF-9 (IMHO.) However, the grip was so slim, that it was almost too small compared to the size of the slide and trigger guard, and not comfortable for me, and I have fairly small hands. I think it could have benefitted from having replaceable backstraps. The trigger was good, although weird never having messed the Taurus "double-strike" mechanism. If I ended up getting one, it might be one that I'd have to put a Hogue Grip on, even though I don't normally like them. The PF-9 fits my hand better.
I got to take a look at one yesterday at PSS on my lunch break. Grip is skinny, more so than the Keltec or Kahr, IMHO. Like Disposable Heart said a few weeks ago, there's no place for my pinky. My hands aren't big, and there just doesn't seem like much real estate for a good grip. It seemed really solid, though. Might be a bit big for pocket carry, at least my pockets, but IWB @ 4 o'clock it'll disappear. An extended mag with pinky grip would make this.
Almost had my hands on one today. Was at the Mishawaka Gun Exchange browsing and seen one in the case. Continued to look a few cases down and 5 min later when I stepped back to see it someone one was doing the paperwork on it. Was priced at 399.00 (which I think is high but since there hard to find right now to be expected.)
I'm gonna be checking out both this and the keltec pf9 when I get the money saved up. But I'm heavily leaning towards the 709 with all the good stuff I'm hearing so far.