In the past I always wore a little Iver Johnson in 32 S&W when we’d go trot lining. Why, you ask, would I wear a sidearm to go
trot lining? The answer is Gar. We fish for catfish, but we often get a gar
on the line. Because of their mouth full
of razor sharp teeth, you can’t just grab them and unhook them. You have to kill them, and thence the
sidearm. Well, last spring my friend
was running the boat, and I was pulling up lines, and lo and behold I pulled up
a five and a half foot alligator gar. I
let the line go very fast. I pulled out
my revolver, pulled the line back up and shot the gar to little effect. In fact I fired five rounds into its head and
it didn’t seem to notice. It took my
friend’s .357 magnum to put the thing down, so I decided it was time for a
little fire power upgrade. The pistol I
ended up buying was a little Taurus PT709 slim which compared nicely in size to
my little .32, but fires the much more powerful 9mm parabellum.
So, the problem was that we didn’t go fishing anymore that
spring or summer and I never fired the gun.
When I finally got around to taking the Taurus down to my range, I was
unpleasantly surprised to find that it jammed about ever third round. Bummer.
I’ve had a Taurus PT92 for years and it has never missed a lick, even
with the cheapest ammo.
The good news is that Taurus has one of the best warranties
in the gun business. I shipped it off to
the factory with a letter of explanation and they repaired it for free and
returned it within three weeks. No
warranty card, no writing in for a repair order, nothing. They also sent me an e-mail saying that they
had received the gun, called me to confirm my shipping address, sent another
e-mail saying it was being repaired, and a third e-mail saying that it was
being shipped back. They stand behind
their products no matter how old they are or where you buy them. I had a friend that bought a Taurus with a
broken firing pin at a garage sale. He
mailed it in, and they put in a new pin for free and mailed it back to
him. So, anyway, I got the gun back, and
it hasn’t jammed since.
Now for the technical stuff.
The PT709 Slim is 6 1/8’ long, 4 ½” tall, and, including the slightly
protruding safety lever, 1” wide. It is
chambered for the 9mm parabellum. When
fully loaded with 7 in the magazine and 1 in the chamber, mine weighs one pound
and 6.4 ounces. The lower frame is a
nice heavy polymer and the slid is steel.
The name “Slim” is well earned. The profile is very slim.
The only protrusions are the manual safety lever, which
sticks out less than an eighth of an inch,
and the slide release which sticks out even less.
The magazine release is located near the front of the grip
and has a very low profile. This keeps
the release from snagging on anything, but it is a little awkward to curl your
thumb around and press it down. Maybe my
thumb is just too short.
In addition to the manual safety there is also a trigger
safety to prevent discharge unless your finger is actually pulling the trigger.
There is a chambered round indicator on the back of the
bolt. This indicator sticks up about a
sixteenth of an inch and is easily felt with the thumb to determine if you have
a round chambered.
The PT709 feels good in the hand. Due to its small size you can only wrap two
fingers around the grip, but it does not feel awkward and the gun stays under
good control with this grip.
The grip is nicely textured and a small depression at the
top of the grip provides a place for your thumb to rest.
The grip is situated in such a way that slid pinch is
virtually impossible when the firearm cycles.
The slide itself is deeply knurled in order to facilitate
racking it back, but it still takes a good grip and a firm pull to operate.
The sights have a low profile and the familiar three white
dots to help with target acquisition. A
very nice feature is that the rear sight is fully adjustable for both elevation
and windage.
The Pt709 is striker fired so there is no external
hammer. The trigger pull is around five
or six pounds. Because it is striker
fired, the first trigger pull is long.
The first time I shot this gun I thought it was never going to fire, but
the trigger finally broke, fairly crisply, and the gun discharged. You don’t have to let off all the way on the
trigger for subsequent shots so the long travel is only on the first shot. It takes a little getting used to, but you
fall into the rhythm pretty fast.
Recoil is not nearly as bad as you would expect for a 9mm
that barely weighs a pound. Smaller
individuals should not be afraid that the recoil will be too much to handle.
Accuracy is very good considering that the PT709 only has a two
inch barrel. I shot this 7 shot group
off-hand from 30 feet. The bull is 2 ½”,
and I’m not a great shot, so I’m happy with the way it shoots.
The slide locks back when you fire the last round making mag
changes quick and easy. Just hit the mag
release button to drop your empty mag, shove in a fresh one, and thumb down the
slide release. You’re back in business
.
The PT709 field strips for cleaning using the same system
that Glock has made famous.
First remove the magazine, take the safety off, and clear
the round in the chamber.
Then pull the slide back just slightly and pull down on the
little tabs located on each side of the frame just below the chamber. This will release the slide.
Now pull the trigger (you did make sure that there wasn’t a
round in the chamber, right?), and move the slide forward and off of the frame.
Push the slide spring forward and up to remove it.
And lift the barrel out of the slide.
The PT709 lists for a little over $400 US, but you should be
able to find one for $350 or less. They
now come with a hard case and two magazines, but at the time I bought mine from
DICK’s they apparently did not. Very
unfortunate because the mags are expensive.
So there’s the Taurus PT 709 Slim. If you’re looking for a small 9mm, I don’t
think you’ll go wrong with this one.
Posts
