Taurus PT145: A Subcompact .45 ACP Carry Gun with Surprisingly Good Features - Test Report

American Handgunner, Jan-Feb, 2002 by Charles Cutshaw

Operation during our test of some 200 rounds of all types of ammunition, including FMJ and JHP styles of various makes, was uneventful. The PT 145 functioned with perfection regardless of the type of ammunition used. Ejection is strong and all spent casings fell almost straight to the right, some 8 to 10 feet distant from our shooting position.

We tested the PT145 with ammunition from Black Hills, Remington, and Wolf. We limited our shooting to 10 yards, which is the range at which a pistol such as this one would most likely be used. The PT145 isn't a match pistol, but it might come closer than some might imagine.

We conducted our course of fire from the standing isosceles position and fired as quickly as we could squeeze the trigger and reacquire the center of the silhouette target. The little Taurus seemed to prefer P ammunition with one exception, delivering its best accuracy with Black Hills 230 gr. P and Remington 185 gr. P. These gave groups of slightly over an inch, which is excellent for a compact large caliber pistol with a short 3.27" barrel.

The exception was Wolf, the Russian surplus stuff, in a 230 gr. standard FMJ loading, which gave accuracy on a par with the Black Hills and Remington P. We do not recommend carrying ball ammo for self-defense, but the Wolf ammunition is very accurate and inexpensive and is thus a prime candidate for practice and IDPA competition.

All shots fell in a group approximately .5" to the left of the point-of-aim. With all types of ammunition, the little PT 145 was easily controllable due to its excellent ergonomics. Muzzle rise was easily manageable and the felt recoil was much less than we expected from such a light pistol.

Our only real complaint is that the PT145 comes with only a single magazine. Virtually every other semiautomatic pistol is sold with two magazines, and we believe that Taurus should also supply a spare. We are convinced that the PT145 will find an enthusiastic market in law enforcement, where it will be used both as a duty gun by plain clothes officers and as an off-duty weapon by many others.

The little .45 has superb ergonomics and is chambered for the best defense cartridge available-- with a dedicated 10-round magazine capacity. The PT145 is utterly reliable, easy to shoot, accurate and gives every indication that it will give the prospective buyer a lifetime of shooting at a very reasonable price.

            Taurus PT145  Glock 30     H&K USP45 Compact

Caliber     .45 ACP       .45 ACP      .45 ACP
Capacity    10            10           8
Weight      23 ozs.       23.9 ozs.    25.6 ozs.
Length      6"            6.77"        7.09"
Barrel      3.27"         3.78"        3.8"
Height      4.87"         4.76"        5.06"
Grip Width  1.125"        1.25"        1.14"
Rifling     RH, 1:16      RH, 1:15.75  N/A