Saturday, July 23, 2011
The New Taurus 709 Slim Subcompact Review
Salams,
For the past couple of months I have shifted my attention to subcompacts from compacts and full frame pistols for carry. My ideal conceal carry gun needs to have the primary quality of making me forget that I am actually carrying it. Over the past two years I tried carrying the Walther PP, Akdal Mini06, Canik Compact, Glock 26, Glock 19, PT 909, Cz Duty and Cz Rami but all made their presence felt while sitting down or driving. Holsters did help lessen the carry feeling and weight distribution but in turn made themselves felt.
Then I found the newly launched PT 709 from Taurus's SLIM series. Holding this little pistol for the first time I was amazed at it's slim profile and features. It's is DA/SA, has a 3 inch barrel, holds 7+1 rounds and weighs around 540 grams. The sights are semi adjustable, there is loaded chamber indicator and an external key locking mechanism found on most Taurus pistols.
As you can see from the pics, this little gun is heavily influenced by Glocks. The take down is similar as found on Glocks and Taurus have incorporated a Glock like 'Safe Action' trigger in the Slim. The safe action trigger, the firing pin block, the external safety and the key lock gives this little pistol an amazing four safeties ! Ambidextrous thumb and finger placements are molded into the polymer frame, the trigger guard is extended and the grip is aggressively checkered to keep the pistol gripped firmly in your hands.
The mags are of good quality and load the 7 rounds without much fuss. They fit easy and drop free when loaded and partially when unloaded. The slide release (kinda hard) and sights (adjustable) are both average and nothing special.
Shooting the pistol for the first time took me by surprise as the single action trigger was insanely hard, so much so that I missed the 2x2 target altogether at 15 M. I have never shot such a hard single action trigger in my entire life. The double action pull was smooth at around 6 pounds, the S/A should have been around 4 ideally, instead it was around 14 pounds ! It took everyone at the range by surprise, the standard joke being a glass of orange juice and nuts being required after each trigger pull
The trigger makes the gun useless for paper target shooting unless fixed to a more manageable pull. I tried shooting 4 targets with it to share with you guys but was so ashamed at the results that I did not take any pictures. I would normally say that I was having a bad shooting day but putting the Slim down after 5 shots I picked up my Glock 17 and shot a 97/100 at 15 M's on the next target. I invited other shooters fire my pistol and share their opinions and everyone was hiding targets left right and center
The recoil is also above average and after a few shots you notice a carbon copy of the grip checkering on your hands. As for ammo realibility, around 300 rounds of all kinds of ammo were put though the gun it did not misfire or fail to eject at all. The gun was shooting rather low for me so I took out a screwdriver and began adjusting the sights only to find that the low profile adjustable sight was already adjusted as high it could go. The loaded chamber indicator works but at the same time is not really very visible, the safe action trigger safety works well.
The finish of both guns is good, but the Rami wins in all categories across the board like:
1). Accuracy (Rami is insanely more accurate, infact giving most full frame pistols a run for their money)
2). Sights (Rami has Tru Dot / Tritium Sights)
3). Grip (Rami has Rubber grips which are also wide giving a better grip on the gun).
4). Recoil (Rami's additional weight (200 grams more) better grips and double recoil spring give it much softer recoil)
5). Capacity (Rami holds 10 or 14 rounds to Slim's 7)
6). Firing System (I always rate hammer fired pistols over striker fired ones)
7). Trigger (Rami has a much better DA/SA trigger)
8). Heritage (Rami is a CZ, do I need to say more)
The Slim on the other hand has a few points over the Rami:
1). Safeties (Slim has 4 vs Rami's 1 (only firing pin block), decocker doesn't count)
2). Take Down (Slim is much easier to disassemble than the Rami. Took me 5 secs to disassemble the Slim vs 30 secs for the Rami)
3). Weight (Slim is lighter than the Rami which weighs as much as full frame Glock 17!)
4). Profile (Slim has a well... Slim profile making it much easier to carry)
5). Snag (The Slim is a really snag free pistol, will explain more below)
6). Ease of Carry (The Slim wins)
7). Price (1xRami = 2x709's)
It was obvious the Rami is a much better gun, but I tried to put it to my own little test which has more marks for me than any other. I should forget that I am carrying the gun. To test it out I was leaving for Islamabad a few days back and I took both guns with me. I put the Rami in my jeans pocket and started the drive to Isb, every 5 mins I would fidget and adjust the pistol, looking down I could see the pistol outline clearly through the fabric. The metal gun also felt cold and heavy. After about 30 mins I just got tired, took it from my pocket and placed it in my car.
On the way back, I put the Slim in my jeans pocket and within 10 minutes I had forgotten that I was carrying. Infact when I reached Lahore, had tea and gup shup for two hours, then a family member asked me if I bought anything new, I responded by saying yes I did and it's in my car. Then I remembered that I had put the Slim in my pocket when leaving Isb, patted my jeans and there it was ! That is what I call a carry gun, it was in my pocket for 5+ hours and I completely forgot about it.
I should also say that removing the Rami from one's pocket and removing the Slim from one's pocket are two very different experiences. The Rami's slide rail edges get stuck in fabric, the sights as you can see from the pictures above are quite high profile and get stuck routinely, the dovetail grip also sticks and so does the magazine butt plate. The Slim is another matter, everything that I outlined causing a hindrance to drawing the gun is not there, look at the 2nd and 4th pictures from the top and compare. Doing a little gun withdraw from pocket test, I could pull the Slim out in under 2 secs while the Rami took around 5 secs.
Conclusion:
The Rami is the better gun but the Slim is good alternative in a much more economical budget. The trigger issues if present can be fixed by spending Rs. 1000 which can be counted towards the cost of the gun.
For me forgetting I am carrying is the most important thing. If the gun is reliable enough, 7+1 rounds of 9mm hollow points are enough to take care of any business.
For the past couple of months I have shifted my attention to subcompacts from compacts and full frame pistols for carry. My ideal conceal carry gun needs to have the primary quality of making me forget that I am actually carrying it. Over the past two years I tried carrying the Walther PP, Akdal Mini06, Canik Compact, Glock 26, Glock 19, PT 909, Cz Duty and Cz Rami but all made their presence felt while sitting down or driving. Holsters did help lessen the carry feeling and weight distribution but in turn made themselves felt.
Then I found the newly launched PT 709 from Taurus's SLIM series. Holding this little pistol for the first time I was amazed at it's slim profile and features. It's is DA/SA, has a 3 inch barrel, holds 7+1 rounds and weighs around 540 grams. The sights are semi adjustable, there is loaded chamber indicator and an external key locking mechanism found on most Taurus pistols.
The mags are of good quality and load the 7 rounds without much fuss. They fit easy and drop free when loaded and partially when unloaded. The slide release (kinda hard) and sights (adjustable) are both average and nothing special.
Shooting the pistol for the first time took me by surprise as the single action trigger was insanely hard, so much so that I missed the 2x2 target altogether at 15 M. I have never shot such a hard single action trigger in my entire life. The double action pull was smooth at around 6 pounds, the S/A should have been around 4 ideally, instead it was around 14 pounds ! It took everyone at the range by surprise, the standard joke being a glass of orange juice and nuts being required after each trigger pull
The trigger makes the gun useless for paper target shooting unless fixed to a more manageable pull. I tried shooting 4 targets with it to share with you guys but was so ashamed at the results that I did not take any pictures. I would normally say that I was having a bad shooting day but putting the Slim down after 5 shots I picked up my Glock 17 and shot a 97/100 at 15 M's on the next target. I invited other shooters fire my pistol and share their opinions and everyone was hiding targets left right and center
The recoil is also above average and after a few shots you notice a carbon copy of the grip checkering on your hands. As for ammo realibility, around 300 rounds of all kinds of ammo were put though the gun it did not misfire or fail to eject at all. The gun was shooting rather low for me so I took out a screwdriver and began adjusting the sights only to find that the low profile adjustable sight was already adjusted as high it could go. The loaded chamber indicator works but at the same time is not really very visible, the safe action trigger safety works well.
1). Accuracy (Rami is insanely more accurate, infact giving most full frame pistols a run for their money)
2). Sights (Rami has Tru Dot / Tritium Sights)
3). Grip (Rami has Rubber grips which are also wide giving a better grip on the gun).
4). Recoil (Rami's additional weight (200 grams more) better grips and double recoil spring give it much softer recoil)
5). Capacity (Rami holds 10 or 14 rounds to Slim's 7)
6). Firing System (I always rate hammer fired pistols over striker fired ones)
7). Trigger (Rami has a much better DA/SA trigger)
8). Heritage (Rami is a CZ, do I need to say more)
The Slim on the other hand has a few points over the Rami:
1). Safeties (Slim has 4 vs Rami's 1 (only firing pin block), decocker doesn't count)
2). Take Down (Slim is much easier to disassemble than the Rami. Took me 5 secs to disassemble the Slim vs 30 secs for the Rami)
3). Weight (Slim is lighter than the Rami which weighs as much as full frame Glock 17!)
4). Profile (Slim has a well... Slim profile making it much easier to carry)
5). Snag (The Slim is a really snag free pistol, will explain more below)
6). Ease of Carry (The Slim wins)
7). Price (1xRami = 2x709's)
It was obvious the Rami is a much better gun, but I tried to put it to my own little test which has more marks for me than any other. I should forget that I am carrying the gun. To test it out I was leaving for Islamabad a few days back and I took both guns with me. I put the Rami in my jeans pocket and started the drive to Isb, every 5 mins I would fidget and adjust the pistol, looking down I could see the pistol outline clearly through the fabric. The metal gun also felt cold and heavy. After about 30 mins I just got tired, took it from my pocket and placed it in my car.
On the way back, I put the Slim in my jeans pocket and within 10 minutes I had forgotten that I was carrying. Infact when I reached Lahore, had tea and gup shup for two hours, then a family member asked me if I bought anything new, I responded by saying yes I did and it's in my car. Then I remembered that I had put the Slim in my pocket when leaving Isb, patted my jeans and there it was ! That is what I call a carry gun, it was in my pocket for 5+ hours and I completely forgot about it.
I should also say that removing the Rami from one's pocket and removing the Slim from one's pocket are two very different experiences. The Rami's slide rail edges get stuck in fabric, the sights as you can see from the pictures above are quite high profile and get stuck routinely, the dovetail grip also sticks and so does the magazine butt plate. The Slim is another matter, everything that I outlined causing a hindrance to drawing the gun is not there, look at the 2nd and 4th pictures from the top and compare. Doing a little gun withdraw from pocket test, I could pull the Slim out in under 2 secs while the Rami took around 5 secs.
Conclusion:
The Rami is the better gun but the Slim is good alternative in a much more economical budget. The trigger issues if present can be fixed by spending Rs. 1000 which can be counted towards the cost of the gun.
For me forgetting I am carrying is the most important thing. If the gun is reliable enough, 7+1 rounds of 9mm hollow points are enough to take care of any business.
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