I’ve been trying to decide what to replace my Ruger LCR with for sometime now and I’ve narrowed it down to a Taurus PT-740 or a Beretta Px4 Sub-compact. Quite a difference in those two I know, but my reasoning was if one of them would disappear in my pocket better, that’s the one I’d go with. If neither did, I’d go with the Beretta. May as well go for more shots right?
So yesterday I went down to X-Ring and checked out each. As it turns out, the PT-740 not only fit my Uncle Mike’s #3 pocket holster, it disappears pretty well in my pocket. The Beretta is just a little too fat. I was kind of pulling for the Beretta, but it just wasn’t meant to be. So I bought my first Taurus ever.
My first impression after I broke it down to clean was “Holy crap, this is the filthiest new gun I’ve ever bought!” Maybe that’s a Taurus thing. After I finished cleaning it I started checking it out to see how it worked. The first thing I noticed was the frame rails, ejector, slide catch, and various other parts were stamped, not milled forgings. Well, after all, it was a couple of hundred dollars cheaper than the Beretta. They were well made stampings so I didn’t give up on the Taurus yet. I put a couple of snap caps in and cycled them through several times. Everything seemed to work well. So off I went to the range.
The first shot was an eye opener. I thought the LCR kicked pretty hard. This little Taurus seemed like it wanted to fly away. A .40 S&W in a 19 oz. gun produces substantial recoil to say the least. But since the first shot was dead center I was pretty happy. I started at 15 feet and shot a really nice group off hand, nothing out of the nine ring. Elevation was low, but the sights are adjustable. I moved it back to 25 feet and bench rested it and held the same groups, actually a little tighter. Back to off hand shooting and other than a few flyers, nothing out of the seven ring. After 100 rounds, no jams, hang fires, or any other problems. Not bad for a brand new gun. There is quite a bit of travel in the trigger, but it breaks nicely. I think I’ll get used to this little pistol. Maybe in a few months, I’ll go back for a full size Px4 as well.
