Taurus Pt145

Guns Magazine, Sept, 2001 by Charles Cutshaw

Light, sleek and compact -- it's hard to believe that inside this easy-to-carry defensive pistol lies the fire power of a full-sized .45.

Taurus has come into its own in recent years with innovative, original designs that challenge or surpass the best products of both American and European firearms companies. Moreover, Taurus products have established a reputation for high quality and reliability. The latter is backed up by Taurus' transferable lifetime warranty. If a Taurus firearm ever breaks due to a defect or wear, the company will repair or replace it. Period.

Taurus has created one success after another in recent years with new revolvers and pistols such as the Raging Bull, the Raging Hornet, the Millennium line of pistols and the company's Total Titanium revolvers. More recently, the designation of Taurus' Titanium Millennium pistol as "Handgun of the Year" and the company's selection as "Manufacturer of the Year" by the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence has expanded Taurus' reputation for quality and innovation. Now Taurus has hit yet another home run with the PT 145 Millennium pistol.

Good Things Come In Small Packages

The Taurus PT 145 is very similar to the company's successful PT 111 and PT 140 Line of compact carry pistols, but with one major difference. Whereas the PT 111 is a 9mm and the PT 140 is .40 S&W caliber, the PT 145 is chambered for the potent .45 ACP cartridge. Adapting the PT 111/140 platform to .45 ACP was not a simple task. While the PT 145 may appear to be nearly identical to its earlier cousins, Taurus engineers essentially designed this pistol from the ground up.

Taurus has accomplished a real engineering feat by stuffing a 10-round, .45 caliber double stack magazine into a pistol that is essentially identical in size to its 9mm and .40 S&W predecessors!

When the little .45 arrived, we were immediately impressed by its extremely compact size and the overall excellent fit and finish of every component. The slide is a smooth satin black, with almost all of its corners rounded.

The little PT 145 is clearly designed for concealed carry, with superb ergonomics. The polymer grip assembly has sharp checkering for a secure grip, with contours on both sides accommodating the thumb and trigger finger of the shooting hand. The grip angle is the classic 11 degrees of the M1911, but contoured so that the pistol rides extremely low in the hand in order to lessen felt recoil and reduce muzzle flip.

The PT 145 magazine well is a gaping hole virtually impossible to miss, even under the stress of a speed reload, especially given that the PT 145's steel magazine tapers into a single cartridge feed. This not only helps in quick reloading, but also enhances feeding reliability.

We also especially enjoyed the positioning of the PT 145's slide stop. This essential control is in exactly the right position. It protrudes from the frame sufficiently that the thumb can easily manipulate it. The PT 145 is also equipped with a very cleverly designed loaded chamber indicator that protrudes when there is a cartridge in the chamber.

Sights are "combat type," with a large tapered blade front sight and tapered notch rear. Both sights are held in place by screws for easy replacement. Tritium sights are optional.

The phosphated steel slide rides on a unitary steel frame that is pinned into the polymer grip assembly. The grip frame not only provides full-length rails on which the slide reciprocates, but also houses the trigger mechanism, safety and sear. The slide contains the striker mechanism, firing pin safety, extractor, loaded chamber indicator and Taurus' proprietary security system that locks the gun via a small key. An optional stainless steel slide will soon be available at a small additional charge.

Safe & Sound

The PT 145 has a frame mounted safety that is engaged when in the "up" position and disengaged when "down."

The fire control mechanism of the PT 145 follows the proven Taurus Millennium design in that it is double action only and striker fired. The trigger is a true DAO design that functions via a transfer bar with integral sear that rides in a channel between the frame and the grip assembly.

As the trigger is squeezed, the sear retracts the striker and as it reaches the end of its travel, the sear is cammed down via a small ramp, thus releasing the striker to fire the pistol. This system is smooth, reliable and consistent, but it does stack somewhat as it reaches the end of its travel. We found that this had little or no effect on accuracy, however.

The striker is physically blocked by a firing pin safety that is cammed out of the way by the striker as it is retracted. As the striker moves forward, the cam retains the safety out of the striker's path long enough for the striker to hit the cartridge primer under its own momentum. A return spring then forces the striker to rebound, where it is caught by the safety and locked in place until the trigger is pulled again. When the trigger is released, it is reset, whether the slide has cycled or not. This allows the trigger to be pulled again in case of a misfire without retracting the slide and before performing a "tap, rack, ready" drill.