New Taurus PT111 G2

Hdonly · January 18, 2018, 02:03 PM

First day I had several failures to fire. The slide would close, but not enough to push up the loaded chamber indicator and the gun would not fire. Rack the slide and fire the next round. Put the previous failed round back in and no fire. Is the chamber cut a little short or the case a little long? Too late to measure accurately as my buddy fired them all in his gun. Tore it all apart and did a thorough cleaning ( ya, should have done that in the first place) The situation improved, but I still had one to fail, then fired after reloading it. Short chamber? Just need to shoot it more? Only fired about 100 rounds through it.

Siggy-06 · January 18, 2018, 02:29 PM

I'd say fire another 100 rounds and possibly a different brand of ammo/grain as well.

Hdonly · January 18, 2018, 02:37 PM

Just bought some different brands. As soon as it warms up a little, I will head out to the range and see what happens.

TailGator · January 18, 2018, 02:40 PM

Factory ammo or reloads? If the former, what brand? After cleaning, did the one bad round fail to go into battery or just fail to fire?

Hdonly · January 18, 2018, 03:16 PM

Commercial reloads. The one failure after cleaning failed to go into battery. Maybe the bullets seated out too far? I need to measure a few of what I have left. I have some brass Blazers and some Winchester to try next.

jad0110 · January 18, 2018, 03:19 PM

Also, keep track of which magazines you are firing (I put a little piece of tape with a number written on it on the floor plate of each of my mags), and note when the failure occurs (first or second round in the mag, last round, things like that). A lot of the time you can trace issues like this to a bad mag or weakening mag spring.

Hdonly · January 18, 2018, 03:27 PM

Brand new mags and gun although that doesn't mean much. I will mark the two magazines so I know in the future.

Wishoot · January 18, 2018, 03:37 PM

I fire a lot of commercial reloads in 9mm. They tend to lean towards the cream-puff side of the power spectrum. Factory stuff should cycle a bit more reliably.

Hdonly · January 18, 2018, 03:57 PM

I have a Ruger P89 that just really doesn't care what you put in it. It just shoots everything. I have never had a failure of any kind with it. A few thousand rounds through it. I hope the Tarus gets to that point cause I love the way the Taurus feels in my hand. Just a natural pointer.

brian33x51 · January 18, 2018, 06:02 PM

I've only had one failure on mine, and that was a limp wrist by my 14 yro daughter. Other than that its always been reliable. I've only run factory ammo in mine, winchester white box, aguila, IMI, remington...

I replaced the trigger with a 20usd one which took it from an okay pistol to a great one.

TailGator · January 19, 2018, 11:04 AM

I'd be interested in hearing what happens with the name brand ammo. "Factory" reloads to me just means "high volume" reloads. I know there are some companies whose volume is high enough to gain a reputation, but there are some others with quality control problems, too. At this point, I would be looking at the ammo harder than the pistol, myself.

Prndll · February 19, 2018, 08:55 AM

From what I've been seeing of the problems that most people seem to be having with this pistol (other than user error like limp wristing and ammo issues) deals with failure to return to battery.

The impression I'm getting is that PT111 owners tend to not pay much attention to the slide safety lock mechanism.

This lock is essentially a threaded screw setup that may or may not be fully engaged or disengaged. If the lock is partially engaged, the slide can hang. In this condition, continued racking and firing can wear down the lock internally and the problem goes away. Many people never have any issue with it as the lock never gets engaged and stays fully disengaged. When this gun is bought new, it should come with a key for this safety lock but if bought used, that key might be missing. When buying the PT111 used, the buyer might not even know that there is any such thing.

This is IMHO the only real problem with this gun and I would consider it a design flaw. It just isn't so bad that it can't easily be overcome. Ya just have to know about it.

hdwhit · February 19, 2018, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Prndll wrote:
This is IMHO the only real problem with this gun and I would consider it a design flaw.

I agree that the Taurus safety system is pretty much an unnecessary complication and you'll be happy to know that in the latest generation of the P111, it has been removed.

hdwhit · February 19, 2018, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Hdonly wrote:
Commercial reloads.

The first time I take a new or new-to-me gun to the range, I shoot commercial ammunition through it. This is to eliminate my reloads as a potential cause if something goes wrong. After that, everything I shoot is what I have loaded myself.

In 40+ years of reloading, I have purchased less than 300 rounds of center-fire ammunition.

chaim · February 19, 2018, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Tore it all apart and did a thorough cleaning ( ya, should have done that in the first place) The situation improved, but I still had one to fail, then fired after reloading it.

So, you first shot it without cleaning it after taking delivery of the gun? If so, I'd consider it a do-over from when you cleaned it and you only have had one bobble. Why? Taurus doesn't oil their gun, they use thick packing grease for transport. It is all the more important to thoroughly break down and clean your gun before you use it. So, anything you shot before doing this, don't count it. I say that as someone who used to be a big Taurus fan but has not been for a number of years now.

That said, if from a practical perspective you have one bobble, keep shooting it with different ammo types and see if you have any more problems. Once you have a few hundred trouble free rounds through it, you can probably trust it (the exact number seems to vary by the person). If I misunderstood and you cleaned it from the start, still do the same, but you may want to run more rounds through it before trusting it.

zipspyder · February 19, 2018, 05:04 PM

First thing is take the new gun apart, clean any grease off then lube it properly. Then get some standard store bough ammo to cycle through it the first couple of mags. Not a big fan of reloads unless I do it myself.

jetinteriorguy · February 21, 2018, 06:20 AM

When I first got mine I had the same problem. It was my handloads, the bullets were seated too long. Compared to my other pistols it seems to have a shorter throat and is a little more finicky. Once I got that right it's been perfect.

jonb32248 · February 21, 2018, 06:06 PM

My experience is that it's new a tight so you need to shoot it after cleaning it . Don't over lube it! My Walther PPS M2 LE was like that on the first two mags had some failure's but none since.

January 18, 2018, 02:03 PM	#1
Hdonly Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2013 Posts: 340	New Taurus PT111 G2 First day I had several failures to fire. The slide would close, but not enough to push up the loaded chamber indicator and the gun would not fire. Rack the slide and fire the next round. Put the previous failed round back in and no fire. Is the chamber cut a little short or the case a little long? Too late to measure accurately as my buddy fired them all in his gun. Tore it all apart and did a thorough cleaning ( ya, should have done that in the first place) The situation improved, but I still had one to fail, then fired after reloading it. Short chamber? Just need to shoot it more? Only fired about 100 rounds through it.

January 18, 2018, 02:29 PM	#2
Siggy-06 Senior Member Join Date: September 2, 2014 Location: Florida Posts: 1,148	I'd say fire another 100 rounds and possibly a different brand of ammo/grain as well. __________________ Flicks just like a lighter, just a different kind of fire.

January 18, 2018, 02:37 PM	#3
Hdonly Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2013 Posts: 340	Just bought some different brands. As soon as it warms up a little, I will head out to the range and see what happens.

January 18, 2018, 02:40 PM	#4
TailGator Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,787	Factory ammo or reloads? If the former, what brand? After cleaning, did the one bad round fail to go into battery or just fail to fire?

January 18, 2018, 03:16 PM	#5
Hdonly Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2013 Posts: 340	Commercial reloads. The one failure after cleaning failed to go into battery. Maybe the bullets seated out too far? I need to measure a few of what I have left. I have some brass Blazers and some Winchester to try next.

January 18, 2018, 03:19 PM	#6
jad0110 Senior Member Join Date: May 30, 2007 Posts: 761	Also, keep track of which magazines you are firing (I put a little piece of tape with a number written on it on the floor plate of each of my mags), and note when the failure occurs (first or second round in the mag, last round, things like that). A lot of the time you can trace issues like this to a bad mag or weakening mag spring.

January 18, 2018, 03:27 PM	#7
Hdonly Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2013 Posts: 340	Brand new mags and gun although that doesn't mean much. I will mark the two magazines so I know in the future.

January 18, 2018, 03:37 PM	#8
Wishoot Senior Member Join Date: June 5, 2009 Location: Milwaukee, WI Posts: 1,093	I fire a lot of commercial reloads in 9mm. They tend to lean towards the cream-puff side of the power spectrum. Factory stuff should cycle a bit more reliably.

January 18, 2018, 03:57 PM	#9
Hdonly Senior Member Join Date: January 5, 2013 Posts: 340	I have a Ruger P89 that just really doesn't care what you put in it. It just shoots everything. I have never had a failure of any kind with it. A few thousand rounds through it. I hope the Tarus gets to that point cause I love the way the Taurus feels in my hand. Just a natural pointer.

January 18, 2018, 06:02 PM	#10
brian33x51 Senior Member Join Date: January 24, 2005 Location: Denver area Posts: 221	I've only had one failure on mine, and that was a limp wrist by my 14 yro daughter. Other than that its always been reliable. I've only run factory ammo in mine, winchester white box, aguila, IMI, remington... I replaced the trigger with a 20usd one which took it from an okay pistol to a great one.

January 19, 2018, 11:04 AM	#11
TailGator Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 3,787	I'd be interested in hearing what happens with the name brand ammo. "Factory" reloads to me just means "high volume" reloads. I know there are some companies whose volume is high enough to gain a reputation, but there are some others with quality control problems, too. At this point, I would be looking at the ammo harder than the pistol, myself.

February 19, 2018, 08:55 AM	#12
Prndll Senior Member Join Date: July 24, 2017 Location: Texas Posts: 123	From what I've been seeing of the problems that most people seem to be having with this pistol (other than user error like limp wristing and ammo issues) deals with failure to return to battery. The impression I'm getting is that PT111 owners tend to not pay much attention to the slide safety lock mechanism. This lock is essentially a threaded screw setup that may or may not be fully engaged or disengaged. If the lock is partially engaged, the slide can hang. In this condition, continued racking and firing can wear down the lock internally and the problem goes away. Many people never have any issue with it as the lock never gets engaged and stays fully disengaged. When this gun is bought new, it should come with a key for this safety lock but if bought used, that key might be missing. When buying the PT111 used, the buyer might not even know that there is any such thing. This is IMHO the only real problem with this gun and I would consider it a design flaw. It just isn't so bad that it can't easily be overcome. Ya just have to know about it.

February 19, 2018, 05:04 PM	#16
zipspyder Junior member Join Date: June 13, 2017 Posts: 429	First thing is take the new gun apart, clean any grease off then lube it properly. Then get some standard store bough ammo to cycle through it the first couple of mags. Not a big fan of reloads unless I do it myself.

February 21, 2018, 06:20 AM	#17
jetinteriorguy Senior Member Join Date: April 28, 2013 Posts: 3,173	When I first got mine I had the same problem. It was my handloads, the bullets were seated too long. Compared to my other pistols it seems to have a shorter throat and is a little more finicky. Once I got that right it's been perfect.

February 21, 2018, 06:06 PM	#18
jonb32248 Member Join Date: February 20, 2018 Location: Missouri Posts: 25	My experience is that it's new a tight so you need to shoot it after cleaning it . Don't over lube it! My Walther PPS M2 LE was like that on the first two mags had some failure's but none since.