Taurus PT145 Break In Questions

I recently purchased my 2nd Semi Auto Pistol ever, a Taurus PT145 Mil-Pro. I liked it because it fit my hand, held 10 rounds of .45, and the price was good. I've got a fairly decent collection of revolvers and decided to try this semi-auto. Other than the issue M9 I shot in the Air Force, which never seemed to jam or mess up, I've only owned one other, a S&W 3913 9 mm about 19 years ago. I sold it and wish I had not.

When I put the first box of 50 rounds of Federal (Maroon Box) 230 gr. FMJ through it and had a few too many failure to feeds. The shell would get stuck crooked without going into the chamber.

I've read about the FTF problem with these pistols and was wondering how many boxes of ammo should I shoot before I need to get worried that this is not just a break in issue?

Also, the primers did not have a nice round dent in them, it looked like a semi-jagged teardrop. Is that normal?

Would this be an issue with the pistol, the magazines, or the ammo? I saved the brass, would a gunsmith be able to tell by the dents in them what was happening?

One more thing, it shoots off to the left really bad. The rear hienie sights are all the way to the left. They have a set screw, which I loosened. For some reason, I could not get them to slide to the right, even with the set screw all the way out. How hard should it be to get the sights to move? Is there something else besides the set screw holding them?

I'm not used to having so many issues when I get a new revolver.

Expertise is appreciated, flames are not. Thanks!

Go over to www.taurusarmed.net and poke around there. Lots of good info.

paramedic70002 said:

Go over to www.taurusarmed.net and poke around there. Lots of good info.

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Thanks!

All semiautos need breakin to some degree. My thousand dollar SIGs took about 300 rounds each. This sounds more like a mag problem than a pistol problem. Mags need breakin, too. I have two Taurus: M-85--oustanding snubbie, and a 24/7 OSS that shoots consistently low but has a laser on it now so it's a moot issue. A lot of people knock Taurus pistols--never their revolvers which are as good as S&Ws. I happen to like them. Give it some time, but I'm thinking mag issue.
You should be able to drift the rear sight to the right if it shoots to the left. The problem may be a front sight that is way out. There are tools to drift a rear sight and any gunsmith can do it for a few bucks. If you continue to have problems, send it in to Taurus. They are slow as molasses at turnaround, but generally do a good job when you finally get it back. Good luck!

It would appear, after reading the Forum linked above, that Taurus has a mag issue with some of the PT145 mags. They had pictures of the offending mags and they match mine to a T.

Unfortunately, Taurus does not admit that there are more than one version of the mag but they will swap you out if you send them in. My understanding is that you may get the good ones for the return, you may not.

Other than the issue with the mag, I love this pistol.

It has a decent trigger, fits my hand, and I was able to keep it on target out to about 15-20 yards with sights that definitely need adjusting. My rear sights will not slide in the groove they are in even when I totally remove the allen screw. I do not know how much force I can, or should, use without risking damage to the gun. I tapped lightly with a small hammer and a wooden dowel but they would not budge. I can't keep using "KY windage" because in a self-defense situation I would not have the time.

Take it to a gunsmith. With the right tool, moving a dovetailed sight should take about 30 seconds. If not dovetailed, he can completely remove and reset it. Only cost a few bucks.

I have a 745. Same pistol but yours is double stacked. Winchester white box is almost necessary to break in that pistol- my person opinion. Most ammo will catch on the feed ramp. The rest of your jams will be stove pipes. The rest of your failures will be due to your thumb hitting the mag release by mistake.

Once you are broken in- you will most likely not be fitting any hollow points in that pistol without a jam. The nose will occasionally catch the feed ramp.

Your most reliable self defense round will be ball ammo with that pistol.

And once you're broken in- the pistol will be very very reliable and deadly under 10 yards. I cherish mine with 6+1 of Winchester white box. Do what you gotta do. just my opinion.

cscitney87 said:

I have a 745. Same pistol but yours is double stacked. Winchester white box is almost necessary to break in that pistol- my person opinion. Most ammo will catch on the feed ramp. The rest of your jams will be stove pipes. The rest of your failures will be due to your thumb hitting the mag release by mistake.

Once you are broken in- you will most likely not be fitting any hollow points in that pistol without a jam. The nose will occasionally catch the feed ramp.

Your most reliable self defense round will be ball ammo with that pistol.

And once you're broken in- the pistol will be very very reliable and deadly under 10 yards. I cherish mine with 6+1 of Winchester white box. Do what you gotta do. just my opinion.

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Have you tried Gold Dots? They seem to feed in guns that nothing else will--HPs. I've found Federal HSTs feed perfectly in my .45s and 9s, just like their predecessor, Hydra-Shoks, did.

Yeah I've fiddled with several different types of hollow points- some have wider mouths some have very narrow mouths. While hand-racking- it is possible to chamber one of the hollow points with a much more narrow mouth- look for a hollow point with a very very round nose and just a tiny opening at the tip- instead of a HP with a huge hole in the nose creating a very flat tip. Once hand-racked and chambered- these more narrow hollow points still want to catch on the feed ramp if there are any ridges or indents carved around the opening of the hollow point.

In other words- after 2 years of carrying the 745- I would never EVER run HP for self defense- ever. They Just won't reliably feed every time.

But like I said- break it in with some ball ammo and carry it. You won't be disappointed- and yeah you'll definitely be able to defend yourself.

cscitney87 said:

Yeah I've fiddled with several different types of hollow points- some have wider mouths some have very narrow mouths. While hand-racking- it is possible to chamber one of the hollow points with a much more narrow mouth- look for a hollow point with a very very round nose and just a tiny opening at the tip- instead of a HP with a huge hole in the nose creating a very flat tip. Once hand-racked and chambered- these more narrow hollow points still want to catch on the feed ramp if there are any ridges or indents carved around the opening of the hollow point.

In other words- after 2 years of carrying the 745- I would never EVER run HP for self defense- ever. They Just won't reliably feed every time.

But like I said- break it in with some ball ammo and carry it. You won't be disappointed- and yeah you'll definitely be able to defend yourself.

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Doing the right thing. You need to be 100% sure of your PD weapon, even if you have to rely on lesser rounds. One other thought, jacketed expanding (full copper) bullets are available. They feed like FMJs, which they are, but expand. May want to look into them.