Taurus 1911B-1 Initial Impressions and Review

**datdamnmachine** · Posted On: 12/21/2010 4:54pm

I recently purchase a Taurus 1911 as I've always been curious about the 1911 model and wanted to get my hands on it to try it out. This is re-cap of my initial impressions of the firearm after shooting some rounds through it as well as function checking, inspection, tear-down, and cleaning. When I get more rounds through, I will try to post a more detailed review.

I currently have a Springfield XD45 as my first and current carry gun and were looking for some other 45 model handguns as a potential replacement/compliment to my XD. I decided on the Taurus mainly due to price/quality. Many reviews and reports I've read state that the Taurus 1911 is just as good as many of the other higher-end 1911 manufactures or better due to the price being more reasonable than others (can find them as cheap at around 550.00). I decided to take the plunge. See picture below (not of mine but that is basically what it comes with):

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The Package:

It comes with 2 8-round magazines, cleaning brush, keys to the Taurus lock system, and the gun itself along with manual and registration card. The gun itself is coating with a nice bit of factory goo so you will need to clean that off and re-lube beforehand (at least that is what I did).

Take-down:

Considering how easy it is to take about a XD, the 1911 was pretty crazy but after a few times, it isn't too crazy. Of course pushing in the recoil spring plug to start and finish dis-assembly/assembly is a pain in the ass.

Weight:

Since this is an all metal gun, it has some weight to it but I wouldn't call it heavy. Since I carry my XD with all 13 rounds of 45acp, the weight doesn't feel much different.

Performance:

I fired of only about 35-40 rounds of hollow point mainly to function test the the weapon. The recoil was lighter than my XD which is probably due to the weight of the gun and the 5 inch barrel as opposed to the 4 inch barrel. It also was quite a bit more accurate, again, possibly due to the weight reducing felt recoil/muzzle rise and the longer barrel.

Magazines:

This part sucks. The 8-round magazines cause failure to feed on the first round in all of them. Essentially, with the slide open and the magazine inserted, when you release the slide the round does feed unless you either rack the slide back up push up on the magazine. Other than that, the magazine functioned OK. I'm assuming that these magazines use standard 7-round 1911 magazine springs along with an extended magazine well adapter. As such, the tension is probably incorrect for feeding the first round. I've read about this online previously regarding 8+ round 1911 magazine. Fortunately, I have some 7-rounders to replace these.

Summary:

So far, it looks, feels, and, with the exception of the magazines, shoots fantastic. More rounds will be required to be put through to get a full idea of how well of a performer this is, but if it continues to function well, I wouldn't mind using this as a carry weapon.

I will note, however, that there are very very few commercial holsters for this model of 1911. This is due to the this model having the accessory rail on it which is a bit larger than other 1911 models such as Springfield and Kimber. As such, holsters for those models won't fit these. The ones that I have been able to find are in the 50+ range and the better ones appear to be in the 90+ range. Mind you, I'm talking about fitted, molded holsters such as kydex and formed leather. You shouldn't have any problems with a normal nylon holster. Me personally, I prefer paddle holsters.

As I put more rounds through it, I will give a final review.

**Lord Skeletor** · Posted On: 12/21/2010 9:35pm

Glad to see that you got a new piece. Give it some "break in" time...nearly all of your feed issues are going to be as a result of the magazine/ammo combinations...but give it some time. Glad you got a gun that you seem to like. Show us some groups that you shoot at 7, 15, and 25 yards.

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 12/22/2010 1:23am

Those magazines look like the ACT magazine that came with my Rock Island Armory M1911A1. I didn't have any problem with it during my first (and only) trip to the range, but I hear they can be finicky when it comes to hollow points.

I have learned enough in the last 19 months to distrust my Chip McCormick Shooting Star magazines (eight round), and Check-Mate Industries magazines come highly recommended. I recently ordered three of these, and the quality is immediately apparent. These things are almost as heavy empty as the Shooting Stars were full.

If you want to stick to seven round magazines, Check-Mate's GI feed lip model (also available in stainless) has a tweaked design which makes it more tolerant of hollow points.

**datdamnmachine** · Posted On: 12/22/2010 2:02am

Yeah, I will definitely report more when I get some additional range time. It probably won't be until next year sometime, what with the holidays coming up. Hopefully I can make a trip the second or third week of January. I have some 7-rounders from Mecgar. I will also run the 8-rounders through some more as well. Hopefully this is something that will break in with time but we will see.

I also, finally, got my Taurus Millennium Pro PT-145, compact .45 auto pistol. Will put it through some rounds as well to see how well it performs and will provide some initial thoughts on it as well in a future thread.

**Mr. Machette** · Posted On: 12/22/2010 11:41am

If you feel like investing a couple extra bucks into a flawlessly manufactured magazine, these gents make a very high quality product.

http://www.mec-gar.com/main.html

$25 for a 1911 mag is a bit steep, but Mec-Gar is the real deal. They simply don't deal in lemons. The extra money is for all the corners they don't cut in material and production tolerances.

Shoot Safe, and enjoy man! Every firearms enthusiast should own a 1911. (If you ask me, they should be issued to all American males on their 18th birthday, but that's another story... ;p )

**datdamnmachine** · Posted On: 12/22/2010 12:15pm

Originally Posted by Mr. Machette

If you feel like investing a couple extra bucks into a flawlessly manufactured magazine, these gents make a very high quality product.

http://www.mec-gar.com/main.html

$25 for a 1911 mag is a bit steep, but Mec-Gar is the real deal. They simply don't deal in lemons. The extra money is for all the corners they don't cut in material and production tolerances.

Shoot Safe, and enjoy man! Every firearms enthusiast should own a 1911. (If you ask me, they should be issued to all American males on their 18th birthday, but that's another story... ;p )

Those are the 7-rounders I have. You can find them for a pinch over 12 bucks at bigsupplyshop.com.

Yeah, I'm a big believer in that as well. They should also be issues and AR15 as well.

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 12/22/2010 6:43pm

Originally Posted by Mr. Machette

$25 for a 1911 mag is a bit steep, but Mec-Gar is the real deal. They simply don't deal in lemons. The extra money is for all the corners they don't cut in material and production tolerances.

FYI, I paid $21.95 each for my Check-Mate magazines; I would've mentioned that I bought them from Top Gun Supply at that price, but the store's out of stock now.

**datdamnmachine** · Posted On: 1/09/2011 10:54pm

Quick update:

Magazine issues seem to be OK. It may have just been a needed break-in period or the fact that I may have been unconsciously riding the slide back when chambering a round. In any event, I've shot ball point, hollow point, and reloads and it has worked well with only one failure to feed with the reload. This is using three factory 8-round magazines. It's currently my carry option as my Springfield XD had a bent recoil spring assembly and I just now received the replacement from Springfield (no charge and great customer service I may add). I've shot about 150-175 rounds out of it so far. So far, I'm vary pleased.

I am looking into purchasing the Springfield Lightweight Champion Operator with night sights. If I like the night sight option, I will have some installed on my Tuarus as well as sending it in to have the NP3/Roguard special applied (after my shotgun, of course).

I will report more as I continue to break it in.

**Robstafarian** · Posted On: 1/10/2011 12:01am

Originally Posted by datdamnmachine

If I like the night sight option, I will have some installed on my Tuarus as well as sending it in to have the NP3/Roguard special applied (after my shotgun, of course).

Please, post your opinions of NP3 and/or Roguard. I am seriously considering having them refinish my RIA.

**datdamnmachine** · Posted On: 1/10/2011 2:30am

Originally Posted by Robstafarian

Please, post your opinions of NP3 and/or Roguard. I am seriously considering having them refinish my RIA.

I can't comment on Roguard as of yet but I can on NP3. Absolutely love it! It is standard on POF rifles, one of which I own. It's one of the reasons I've decided to give it a try on my shotgun. Cleanup is way easier with a NP3 coating.

One note: It will still take some elbow grease for the parts that really take the brunt of carbon buildup (in the case of my POF rifle, the gas plug). Then again, it depends on your method of cleaning, i.e. "get it all off now" or "soak for a while then clean" with your solvent/CLP of choice. Even without the cleaning, most of the carbon buildup wipes right off. Again, keep in mind, this is a gas piston AR so the gas plug is essentially taking almost ALL carbon fouling.

That said, thumbs up from me.