Taurus 709 Slim

[jmgroves]

Anyone have experience with the Taurus PT709 Sim? Looks like an ideal concealed carry weapon to me.

[G.A. Heath]

I have one. I like it, it shoots well but I really don't carry it. The reason I don't carry it is that I have a number of other guns I prefer over it.

[pbwalker]

It's what my wife carries and she loves it. Never had any issues with it...

[Napier]

The best small modestly-priced 9mm made. During the day at home I carry a Kel-Tec PF-9 in a Kangaroo Carry just because it's so cheap I don't care if I sweat it out. But I would cry if I ruined the Taurus. If a smallish 9mm is appropriate for the way you're dressed, the Taurus is great.

[maverick2076]

Meh... It's OK. A buddy has one, and Ive put a few magazines through it. It has a good size, and is very thin, but I find the trigger guard to be overly large for the pistol, which interferes with a good shooting grip for me. I also found the trigger to have a gritty feel to it. Fit and finish were not the best. I was left with the impression that it was acceptable for what it was, but nothing I would buy.

I carry a Kahr CW9, so I like the single stack 9mm. However the CW9, which is Kahr's entry level pistol, is a much more solidly built weapon than the 709. Fit and finish is better, the trigger and slide are smoother, and the ergonomics are better. My only complaint about my CW9 is that the checkering on the front strap is too agressive. A Hoogue Handall JR fixed that.

For approximately $50 more, the Kahr is a whole lot more pistol, IMHO.

[philbo]

The only negative I had with the 709 was the trigger. It was extremely long and did not break cleanly. Other than that it was an extremely reliable pistol. I'd choose the Taurus before the KelTec PF9, but if I could get a CW9 for less than $50 more, it would be my first choice as well.

[maverick2076]

Champion in CS has new CW9's for $402, IIRC. I bought mine there for $350 "used", although there wasn't a mark on it.

[mrfunnyman]

I have a new 709 I bought 3 weeks ago. Love it except for one thing...
I have shot about 350 rounds through the Gun with at least 10-15 FTF.
I have cleaned the snot out of it and today I have "super oiled" it and will take it to the range tomorrow with a little higher grade of ammo and she how it does. 1 more FTF and it's going on vacation to Florida for repair. Other than this I love the gun.

[kalipsocs]

I was given a Taurus Slim 709 for Christmas last year by my mother. I tried to like it, but it gave me nothing but trouble from the start. Fit and finish was poor as spent casings would lodge between the breach face and the top of the slide on the last couple rounds, customer service was even poorer as i got nothing but attitude from the employees after long wait times AND had to drive 30 mins to pick up the pistol after the first repair because of a huge shipping mess up caused by taurus which got it essentially stuck at fed ex in new braunfels, then the pistol still was having the same issue as before but worse as now it was jamming after every spent casing, sent back again with all the same crappy customer service.

After that trip, i took it out, shot 2 mags through it to ensure it worked, sold it, and used the money towards a Kahr. Im sure there are many out there that will prove to be plenty reliable for people, but given the whole experience i had with taurus i will never be buying a product with their name on it again and will do my best to warn people before they consider buying one. Im know Im not the only one with a story like this when dealing with taurus products or service. For the price, I would be looking at the KelTec PF9 or the soon to be released Ruger LC9. For a little more, the CW9 or the Sig 290 would be another bet.

YMMV though....

[chuckybrown]

I've got two of the 709's.

1) CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN when you get it home.

2) They HATE Monarch or Winchester White Box ammo. Period.

Otherwise, they do great, and I carry one of them every day with Winchester PDX1 147 grain ammo, which the little guns cycle very well.

Let's face it, I'd like to carry some of my larger guns, but having a fully loaded XDm .40, or my Para P12 on my hip isn't always an option. The little 740 conceals easy, even in
an OWB holster.

My .02 cents.

Peace.

[Scott in Houston]

All forums and message boards show complaints, etc. but if you go to the Taurus forum, you'll see a MASSIVE amount of complaining about all their products. I bought a little Taurus TCP (their LCP competitor) and had issues, so I got on their forums. They now have a dedicated forum just for complaints.

Their QA is bad. They put out a lot of bad product. They put out some good ones too, so YMMV.

What I found with my TCP was that it hated the cheap WWB ammo, but does fine with all others so far. However, when I first got it, it sucked with everything... including expensive defensive ammo. I finally had to send it into Taurus, and got it back 6 weeks later. It's worked 100% with all non-WWB ammo since.

I spent a lot of money on ammo testing and breaking it in. I won't buy another Taurus product again myself, either. Yes, they have a lifetime warranty and they will generally help you when you send it in, but it's not worth the hassle. I can spend more money on other brands and not have that hassle... I'll take the latter.

The irony is that I almost never carry the TCP anyway. The whole mouse-gun thing just doesn't make me comfortable, but that's another subject for another thread.

[The Annoyed Man]

Have you considered the Walther PPS as an alternative?

[G.A. Heath]

I have a number of Taurus products, only one has had to go back due to issues with materials or workmanship. That firearm went back recently and was gone maybe three weeks (just before thanksgiving) before it came back home in proper working condition. I can say that most people who buy Taurus products are often new, or inexperienced, shooters and simply do not know what they are doing which causes a lot of "My gun came from the factory broken" message board noise. I can can also say that as a lower priced manufacturer they do let more defective items into the market than a manufacturer who spends more time (which means more money) on quality control. When you pay less for a new product you do risk having to send it in under warranty, but my experience with Taurus customer service has been positive with a real quick turn around.

[tqu9047]

When I bought my last hand gun, I was undecided between the Taurus 709 or the Kel Tec PF9. I went on Taurus blog and found that many,many people were having problems with the 709. So from there I was leaning toward the PF9. When I went to go buy one, nobody had the PF9 so I bought a Kel Tec P11. I absolutely love it. I have only had problems with S & B ammo, otherwise it eats everything. I have no qualms or fears when I carry this. You just have to get used to the trigger.
Otherwise, my other carry is a Taurus PT745. This is another handgun that eats everything that I have put in it and it is my main carry in a Supertuck. My son got a Taurus 24/7 in 45 last week, at the gun range that day, we took the center rings out of 3 targets with 150 rounds. Both are very accurate, and both will be carried regularly.
Just my $ .02


Tim

[mrfunnyman]

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.