Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Taurus 24/7 9mm


I love writing about Taurus handguns because it brings the Taurus haters out in full gale force.  One of the things I love is that most of the haters have never fired one, held one, or even seen one in-person.  Granted, pre 1980's their models were not quite up to their level of their competition but that was over 40 years ago.  In the mid-1980's the shooting public began to notice that their revolvers were looking a lot like Smith & Wesson models and their semi-automatic pistols began to look like the venerable Beretta 92 (there are reasons for that but you can find that information on the internet, I'll not go into it here).  I was living in Los Angeles at the time and if you could find a Beretta 92 they were going for $800-$900 bucks which was two rent payments for me at the time (remember this is in 1987 dollars).  However, Turner's Outdoorsman had plenty of the Taurus 92s in both blue and stainless steel (which was something Beretta did not offer).  They flew off the shelves and for good reason; they provided value, reliability and accuracy.  To overcome the perception of the products that they produced in prior decades Taurus provided a lifetime warrantee.

Today Taurus continues to provide the same value, reliability and accuracy but they have added innovation to the mix.  While their small frame revolvers still bear a resemblance to Smith and Wesson products their larger frame revolvers have a distinct look all their own.  Similarly, their model 92BB and 92SS still look like Beretta pistols but they also turned their engineers loose and begun bringing out some marvelous pistols of their own design.  

On May 23, 2008 I reviewed the Taurus OSS .45 ACP which Taurus produced for the U.S. Military's .45 ACP pistol trials to replace the Beretta 9mms they were currently using.  At that time I stated that the troops would be better off with the Taurus pistol because it offered reliability and accuracy along with the power of the .45 ACP cartridge.  Fast forward to July 19, 2009 and I reviewed the Taurus 709 slim which has become the most read posting on my blog with 94,506 page views, 246 of those occurring in the last 7 days.  The posting also generated 95 comments.

So let's turn our attention back to the Taurus 24/7 and start with the specifications:


Caliber:
9mm
Weight:
28 oz.
OAL:
7.28”
Finish:
Blue
Action:
DA/SA
Sights:
Adjustable Rear
Capacity:
17 + 1
Barrel Length:
4.20”
MSRP:
$539.00

The 24/7 is everything I have come to expect from Taurus starting with excellent ergonomics.
The grip of the 24/7 is nicely curved and comes with a larger back strap should that be a better fit for you.  The front strap has generously applied finger groves that actually fit my hand rather than squishing my fingers together to make my hand fit the grip as happens on other pistols.  The pattern molded into the grip allowed me to get a good purchase on the Taurus without shredding my palm to pieces or leaving the imprint of the grip in my hand once the evaluation was complete.  The safety, slide release and magazine release are all in easy reach of your thumb.  A couple of features that I like are the contoured thumb rest and the trigger finger indent on the frame about the trigger housing.  There are a currently a variety of schools of thought about the placement of your thumbs when shooting and if you prefer the thumbs up or thumbs forward method then the thumb rest will be of no moment to you, but if you place them down or as I do which is strong hand down and support hand up then you will appreciate the thumb rest.  The index finger indent is really a passive safety feature because once you place your trigger finger on the indent and you finger will naturally begin to find the indent which helps keep the finger off the trigger.  This may be especially important for new shooters who need to develop muscle memory and safety habit of removing their finger from the trigger when not firing.  

This leads us to the trigger.  The 24/7 has the "Glock" style "trigger within a trigger" trigger safety.  The pistol is listed, right on the frame as being DA/SA DS meaning Double Action/Single Action with Double Strike capability.  While technically correct this is a little bit confusing so let me break this down.  When the slide retracts, whether through recoil or whether it retracted due to you chambering a round, it presets the striker making it ready to fire in single action mode.  Even though my sample sported a 7.5 pound trigger pull it was more like 5 plus 2.5.  What I mean by that is it took 5 pounds of pull to engage the sear and get the pull to the breaking point and 2.5 pounds for the break to occur at that point.  The pull was smooth, the break was clean and all of this means that the manual safety must be engaged if you are carrying with a round in the chamber.

The Double Strike capability is a neat feature in my opinion.  If the cartridge in the chamber had a hard primer and doesn't fire upon the first hit you can pull the trigger again, in double action mode, and strike the primer once more.   In my experience, most of the time the round fires on the second strike.  Now we have all been taught to tap and rack if a round does not fire but in the heat of a shooting situation (or stressful training) most people will invariably attempt to pull that trigger a second time and that is when they realize that the round did not go off initially.  The Double Strike feature will probably fire the round without the shooter realizing that it did not fire the first time around.  Also, considering the 24/7's 17 + 1 round capacity it is pretty certain that you will lose your count on how many rounds you have fired (remember Dirty Harry..."I know what you thinking punk.  You're thinking "did he fire six shots or only five? Now to tell you the truth I forgot myself in all this excitement").   Again, I am talking about during the heat of battle, not when you are casually shooting at the range.  If you have ever read Jim Cirillo's book about being on the NYPD stake-out squad he tells us that when firing in the line of duty auditory exclusion took over and he did not hear his revolver actually firing.  Again, one more reason you may not realize that your pistol did not fire.

It's Target Time
Due to our current ammunition drought all ammo fired was Magtech 115 grain FMJ.


This was the first round I fired with the 24/7 and it, again was another one of my famous "near perfect-one shot groups".  I hastily set the pistol down and reeled the target in for posterity.


Here's 18 rounds at 25 feet.

17 rounds at 31 feet

15 rounds at 40 feet.

15 rounds at 50 feet

As you'll note the pistol shot a little low for me.  The 24/7 does sport adjustable sights...
...and if this were my pistol, which is wasn't, I would move the sights up and just a tad to the right so that I could punch out the orange bullseye every time.  

The 24/7 is ergonomic, reliable and affordable.  The MSRP is $539.00 and I'm guessing that you'll find one for less than $500.00.  At most shooting distances it is surgically accurate and it is easily man-sized accurate out to 25 yards.  In these economic times this pistol makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons.

8 comments:

  1. I have two Taurus pistols...a PT99AF that I've owned for over 25yrs and a PT1911 that has one of the nicest triggers I've ever used. Both guns are very reliable and I would have no problem trusting my life to either of them.

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  2. Anonymous8:34 PM

    Just a short FYI , purchased a Taurus 809 C a few months ago. 250 rounds down range with no problem, flawless operation. I'm a south paw so the ambidextrous magazine release is a real positive aspect. 17/1 and or 13/1 gives me confidence with any situation that requires the buger finger to hit the bang button and know that this firearm will perform. Sorry to here some feel poorly about Taurus firearms, but I'm one who is sold on them. Unbeatable combination of price, quality and performance .

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  3. I have 24 7 pro 9mm and it shoots accurately..when me and my bro decided to go to shooting range to compare my 24 7 pro 9mm to his gloc 17 gen4 its a quite surprise that the 2 pistol perform the same..no regrets on my 24 7 pro

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  4. Anonymous10:03 AM

    If got the PT 111 Millennium Pro since 2005 and the PT 111 Millennium G2 since 2015. Both in 9mm. After 10 000 rounds in the Pro I quit counting. Have in the first gun now several recoil springs replaced because of the rounds fired. I replace it every so 4000 + rounds shot. But that is just me doing maintenance on a reliable gun.
    The G2 has now also over 3000 rounds fired. I carry the G2 on a daily base.
    Never had any hiccups with that weapons.
    The only thing to complain about was the Heini sights on the Pro. Replaced them with William sights and live happily ever after.

    Have ordered the PT 247 G2 with 4.2" and 17+1 clip and hope to become again a reliable gun for home defense.

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  5. I was searching to see if anyone else is having the problems that i've had and ran across your blog. Please know that I am not a Taurus hater as you've described above. I just bought my first Taurus pistol (40 cal Millenium G2)in mid-dec. I was very excited about the purchase so I came home and went out to shoot. After 11 rounds the trigger safety had broken. The pistol would still fire but obviously not as it should. I boxed up the gun and sent it in for repair the next day. Taurus recieved the gun from fedex on the 15th of Dec. I have contacted them several times about the status but have only been met with unhelpful people that just seem to be giving the run around. They told me they logged the gun into their system on the 22nd (7days after they received it. Wow) and then it didnt even show up in their website until a week later. I just contacted them again today (2/1/2016) because tomorrow will be 6 weeks. 4-6 weeks is what I was told for typical repair time. Now I am told that they do not have the trigger safety in stock to repair the gun and cant give me an ETA on when it will be repaired. Again I am not a Taurus hater but this has been the worst experience I have ever had when purchasing a firearm. Wish I would not have wasted my money. Lesson learned I guess. Now I'm just hoping to get the gun back sometime in the next few months.

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  6. I was not a Taurus hater, but after waiting now for 11 months for my pistol to be returned I am not happy with them. I just get the same run around with this company. Purchased a PT-145 and it was junk. Sent it back for repairs. They said it could not be repaired and they were going to replace it. Still waiting. The company is a joke. Would never purchase from them again. Glad you have had great luck. They say they have a lifetime warranty. That is a good thing because you will need it.

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  7. Anonymous7:51 PM

    I have owned several Taurus handguns. After my encounter with their customer service department on a warranty issue on a Taurus TCP 738 I will not purchase another.

    When you send a weapon to them under warranty it goes into a black hole of customer service. They WILL NOT communicate with you to tell you the status of your repair, they expect you to contact them to check the status. This doesn't seem that bad until the gun you sent in has to be replaced and they are waiting for you to provide them with an FFL so they can ship a replacement, but they never contacted you to get the FFL.

    It's been over 2 months and they can only tell me the gun is on back order with no eta to ship. OH and they don't refund for defective products.

    Buy it if you want, but buyer beware the support you get is inferior.

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  8. Anonymous6:58 PM

    I am hooked on Taurus.
    I was a Walther freak carry walthers PPK since i was 16 years old. Than tried Beretta Cheetah, Diamondback, Bersa Thunder, PK 380, HK P8, HK 2000, P99, PPX, PPQ, PPS, S&W M&P, Ruger, Beretta StormX4 and the other guston guns. Bought more accidental than planned a used PT111 Pro and get hooked completely. That gun shoots like a Pro. Dirt, Water, Sand and you pull the fire button and bang there it goes and not a single regret what happen to the gun. Nothing happen after cleaning like new. Have William Sights on the Pro after a while because I thought the snowman sights was not the best Idea of Taurus ever. That gun has now 15 000 plus rounds, I mean all kind of brand, reloads even Iwans metall cases through the gun with not a hiccup.
    Than the second PT 111 Millenium G2. The gun is 20 grams lighter than the pro. First I had trouble with that gun out of the box. Failure to feed and I shipped it back to Taurus. 5 Weeks later it came back and now is it like the pro. 6 000 rounds since including reloads and Iwans metall and no hiccups at all.
    Both weapons shooting like champs, very accurate like a special tool. I am very happy with those guns wouldn't trade it for anything. The Millenium G 2 is my EDC
    The 24/7 G2 has now 8223 round shot.
    I've bought the 24/7 G2 and same here. Problems with failure to feed. Shipped it in and now I have a gun that eats it up. Any brand, FMJ, TMJ, HP, XTP reloads, any brand and Iwan ammo. name it it fires always. Accurate up to 25 yards and a good Home defence gun.
    On all guns I replace the recoil spring after 4000 plus rounds as a maintenance measurement regardless of brand or caliber.

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