Day and night defense: Taurus .45 ACP model 24/7

Guns Magazine, March, 2009 by John Taffin

The Taurus PT 24/7 OSS, as most firearms from Taurus do, exhibits fine workmanship, imagination, innovation, and a relatively low price tag. Shooters have four choices when it comes to choosing a 24/7 in .45 ACP. Barrel length choices are 4.2 or 5.2 and either version can be had all black or with a tan-colored frame. My test pistol is the longer-barreled, tan-colored .45 ACP.

The Taurus PT. 24/7 has several safety features none of which are obtrusive. If I remember correctly, Taurus was the first major manufacturer to come up with an internal safety lock, which is externally operated. On the PT 24/7 the Taurus Security System operates with a key and is a hardly noticeable. It is accessed by very small round screw head above the thumb safety on the right-hand side of the slide. There are five other safety features on the 2417. Two internal safeties prevent a negligent discharge if the pistol is dropped and only disengage when the trigger is pulled to the rear. One of these is a firing pin block and the other is a trigger safety blocking the trigger bar.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

External safeties include a loaded chamber indicator on the right side of the slide and a small red-colored plastic cocking indicator at the rear of the slide. Finally we come to the ambidextrous thumb safety, which has three positions. Even though the 24/7 is striker fired, it can be carried cocked and locked by moving the thumb safety up from the firing position to the safety position. If the thumb safety is pushed up all the way up the 24/7 is de-cocked.

[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]

When the safety is in the cocked and locked mode and pushed to the firing position the trigger pull is approximately 6-1/2 pounds; if the pistol has been de-cocked it can still be fired by moving the lever to the firing position, however it requires considerably more than 6-1/2 pounds to fire the 24/7. If for some reason the 24/7 fails to fire the pistol is now in the de-cocked mode and the trigger can be pulled again for another chance at a recalcitrant cartridge.

Sights are excellent. They are fixed Novak sights with three dots, one in the square front sight and the other two on both sides of the square notch rear sight. They are big, bold, square and easy to see. Both the front and rear sight are set in a dovetail locked in place with a set screw and either one can be adjusted for windage, and the steel slide has large serrations on both sides below the sights for easy manual operation. Magazine capacity is 12 rounds, the slide stays opened on the last round and. thankfully, there is no magazine disconnect.

The polymer frame, which in this case is tan colored, has a comfortable grip a rounded backstrap and minimal finger grooves on the frontstrap. Both straps are thoroughly covered with small molded-in dots for a secure grip, which is also aided by serrations on both sides of the panels.

[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]

Fully realizing both grips and felt recoil are highly subjective. I will say I find the grip to be excellent which adds to the "soft-shooting" feel of the 24/7. The magazine release is found on the left side behind the triggerguard, is easily accessed, and the magazine releases positively when it is pressed in. It is not ambidextrous, however it can be reversed to accommodate left-handed shooters. The frame also has a molded in accessory rail for the attachment of a flashlight or red laser sight.

I shoot for groups separately with the chronograph coming first. This serves two purposes. I have enough trouble doing one thing at a time without trying to accomplish two things, so once the chronographing is finished. I can then concentrate on firing groups. A second, and probably more important, reason for chronographing first allows the firearm to settle in and also expose any problems.

With the 24/7 several times the last round in the magazine would come straight up and be caught between the barrel and the slide. Whatever was causing this problem worked itself out by the time I was ready to shoot on paper and no malfunctions whatsoever occurred while using 22 different varieties of .45 ACP, both standard and P loads, from nine manufacturers.

My normal procedure for testing any firearm on paper is to allow myself one throwaway round so the 24/7 was fired with six rounds with only the best five shots being counted. Any test-firing consists of sight alignment, trigger squeeze, and above all concentration, none of which now personally exist as well as they did two decades ago, or even last year. Such is life! A fourth factor can be added in with most new firearms and that is the trigger pull itself. Even at a measured trigger pull of 6-1/2 pounds on the Taurus PT 24/7, my hands and fingers are still strong enough I would not find this to be a problem in a defensive situation, however it does enter into the equation when shooting for small groups on paper.

All test groups were fired at 20 yards and it appears, from my testing at least, the Taurus PT 24/7 will handle any quality factory ammunition flawlessly and also perform more than adequately for defense use. This should not be construed to mean this pistol, or any other pistol, can be put into use without first being thoroughly tested with whatever ammunition you choose. Every individual firearm is a law unto itself and most assuredly has its own personality just as the shooter using it.