In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Taurus PT908
fastcarsgofast
Member Posts: 7,179
Can't find many reviews. Anyone with any experience? Pros, cons, etc.?
Comments
Cons are its single stack, discontinues (ie parts and mags are going to be a bit scarce compared to a production gun) and its made by Taurus (low resale value, questionable quality control). Don't expect to find any custom grips or other accessories off the shelf.
Pros, its slim (ie single stack), has decent Novak-like sights, and should be relatively inexpensive.
http://www.best-handguns.com/797/taurus-pt908-review/
Its probably a decent enough CCW, *IF* you want a single-stack all steel 9mm in a DA/SA configuration. Problem is, virtually nobody wants that nowadays!
They keep offering more, and more models, but do not do anything to correct the ones they have. Yes, they do have a "Life Time Warranty", but who wants to have their gun in the shop all the time.
Best
My professional experience tells me, if it says "Taurus" on the side, then leave it alone. Do not purchase it, and do not touch it. We just sent two brand new 357's back, because they would not advance the cylinder, or hold the hammer back in single action mode.
They keep offering more, and more models, but do not do anything to correct the ones they have. Yes, they do have a "Life Time Warranty", but who wants to have their gun in the shop all the time.
Best
I have had very similar experience with their revolvers and plastic frame guns. I just thought maybe they might have done at least one type of pistol right.
I forget the model number, but their version of the Beretta 92 is perfectly fine. The old ones used to come with beautiful rosewood grips standard too, though I think they stopped that a while ago. Their Smith J-frame knockoff revolvers are also OK, if you find a good one. Never shot one, but their K-frame copies are also probably OK. . if you find a good one. Their 1911s are perfectly serviceable, though they use a proprietary sight dovetail which potentially is a bit problematic if you don't like the sights.
The issue with Taurus isn't that they have bad gun DESIGNS. The 1911s uses stock parts. . .its effectively the same as many others. The older Beretta knockoff designs are actually build on real Beretta tooling left in Brazil, or used to be. Their older revolvers are Smith knockoffs, from the time when the same parent company owned both Smith and Taurus, and transferred tech from Smith to Taurus. The company is building "real" guns out of steel and proper alloy, not crap guns out of zinc castings.
The problem with Taurus has always been lax/negligent quality control. Bad guns that aren't assembled/fitted right or just have bad parts that should never leave the factory have apparently done so with shocking frequency.
I know a dealer in MA who told me that after returning so many bad Taurus wheelguns that wouldn't run right out of the box in the 90's he stopped selling them. Now he can't do so even if he wanted to, since they're not MA compliant.
On this particular gun, the PT908. . .eh. There is a reason these were discontinued, and knowing Taurus, that was almost certainly because of bad sales, not quality issues.
Forgetting for the moment Taurus build quality issues, again, single stack all steel SA/DA 9mms. . .that's just not a gun that most people want nowadays. At a similar overall size, and a bit LESS weight you can have a double-stack compact polymer gun like a Glock or Springfield XD, or even one with an SA/DA trigger like a Walther.
If this particular gun said "Beretta" or "Ruger" on the side, would you buy it? I wouldn't. I suppose something like this could make a good range gun for a woman or someone else with smallish hands and/or maybe recoil aversion, but not for me.