Taurus 709 Slim - First review and quick thoughts

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I had a lengthy post in this forum a while back regarding my experience with Taurus firearms customer service. The short version of a long, long story is that the pistol that I sent in was replaced with a newer, slightly different model (a PT 24/7 in 9mm) after about a 6 month delay. The good news is it has been fantastic in the time that I have had it and has proven to be handy and reliable.

I had been planning to purchase another handgun, intended for concealed carry. I've got a couple of the .380 pocket pistols (Taurus TCP and Ruger LCP). I like both of them, but was thinking I would like to step up in caliber to a 9mm. This put me in mind of either a Taurus 709 or a Ruger LC9.

As fate would have it, Sportsmansguide had a sale on the 709 and I had a some gift cards to use, so I decided to try the 709. It came in last night and I picked it up at the local FFL, getting home just a little bit before dark and had some time to run a few rounds through it.

I went through a box of Remington UMC and a box of Tula steel-cased. The only problems I had was twice with the Tula, after I loaded the magazine and pulled back the slide, the first round jammed. I really think this is because instead of crisply letting go of the slide, I think I "rode" it just a little bit. After I very intentionally started letting the slide snap forward as soon as I pulled it back, I had no problems.

I shot enough that I noticed it was shooting just a hair low and adjusted the sights accordingly. I am a poor shot with a pistol (at best - I need more practice), but I was able to keep them on the paper at 7 yards. When I have some more time, and daylight, I'm going to get set up better and see how accurate I can be with the little pistol.

Overall, first impressions - extremely positive. The trigger has a long draw but a good break. I found the recoil to be extremely manageable, and I attribute that to how the pistol fits my hand - very well. I like how it feels better than the Ruger LC9.

Anyway, I thought about tagging this onto the old Taurus thread, but was afraid it might be buried, and at least with this in its own thread, it might be easier to find later if anyone is searching for it.

Good luck and take care.

 

[Gunny]

Over the years, I've had several Taurus pistols and never had a problem with any of them. Right now I've got a Model 66 with 6" barrel that I picked up in a trade and the fit and finish on it is as good as any S&W I've ever owned. Good crisp trigger, reliable and accurate shooter.
I've also got a 22 LR Tracker with a 4" barrel. I will admit that the action was a little rough when I first got it, but I finally shot it enough that it smoothed out and now it feels pretty darned good to shoot.
I'd never walk away from a Taurus deal solely because of the brand.

 

[k0ua]

Let me give you a couple of pistol tips that would be much more helpful in person.

Grasp your pistol with your strong hand with about the force you would hold a hammer. Not too little, but not a "death grip" either.
Then take your weak hand (always shoot with two hands whenever possible) and fill the gap on the other side of the pistols grips.

With your thumbs both pointing forward along side the slide of the pistol with the strong hand thumb above the weak hand thumb. The weak hand is pressing in against the grips with modest pressure.

The grip on the pistol should be as high up on the grip as possible without endangering any of your hide in the path of the slide when it reciprocates. The higher you can grip the pistol the better you will be able to mitigate recoil forces, and also your grip will be more consistent.

When the grip is achieved, it should feel "good" without tremors or strain. The arms are extended in an approximate isosceles triangle, but do not lock your arms rigid. Leave a little "give" in your arms. Stand square to the target with your feet at a comfortable distance apart. The weight of your body should be on the balls of your feet not your heels. Do NOT lean backwards, if you lean any at all, lean slightly forward.

Place the pad of your index finger square on the trigger. Pull with ever increasing pressure toward the rear on the trigger until the shot breaks. If you place your finger too near the end of your finger, or too far back near the crease, both of these locations can cause a pulling or pushing of the firearm towards the left or right. this causes horizontal stringing of your shots.

No matter what else you do, each shot needs to be consistent. Same grip, same trigger stroke, same stance etc.

Sight alignment. While describing this will be difficult without visual aids, here goes:

Focus primarily on your front sight. The target and the rear sight should be slightly blurry. You cannot focus on all three at once, and the older you get the more difficult this becomes. Hence you will see older shooters using red dot reflex sights and conventional scopes because their eyes are just not what they used to be.

With your focus on the front sight, align the front sight in the notch of the rear sight with equal "daylight" on either side of the front sight and the front sight level with the top of the rear sight. Place the top of the front sight in the middle of the target (we will not be using the 6 o'clock hold for our purposes here). While maintaining sight alignment, pull the trigger as outlined above.

IF you do all the above with precision and consistency, your groups will improve with practice. I guarantee it!