Taurus PT 24/7

The Taurus PT 24/7 is a Double Action, semi-automatic pistol that is designed and manufactured by Taurus. It is distributed by Taurus USA through a Taurus subsidiary in the United States.

By: marvin Posted: April 24, 2007

Background

The Taurus website showcases 24 models of the pistol. Several models have won the NRA Handgun of the Year award in 2005. Both regular slide and long slide models are available in either stainless steel or blue.

Recently, Taurus has announced this pistol in a "compact" size: it is precisely just a model with a shortened barrel.

Design

The Taurus PT 24/7 is a relatively innovative handgun. Whereas the majority of handguns that come in SA/DA (Single Action and Double Action) are DA for the first shot and then SA for the next shot as long as the user does not cock the hammer for the first shot. The Taurus 24/7 is different in that it is a SA/DA pistol with an internal hammer that will be always cocked and the pistol cannot be manually decocked, however the weapon will not discharge when the manual safety on the pistol is engaged. The user never has to manually cock the external hammer and each shot will remain in single action with the exception of the case of a round failing to fire. When a round fails to fire, the Taurus 24/7 converts immediately to DA.

The benefits of this conversion are as follows: The single action trigger generally delivers a low weight, consistent pull that allows smoother and faster discharging. The conversion to DA upon the situation of a misfire provides a repeat strike on the casing that failed. Studies indicate that about 80% of all reasons why a round failed to shoot are corrected when the firing pin is struck by the hammer. This process is much faster when the trigger is pulled vs. the general tap rack bang method of dispelling a round that failed to fire and chambering a new round. Rarely, the round will not fire a second time and many users suggest ejecting the bullet and chambering the next round with the tap rack bang method.

Different Models

24 models of the Taurus PT 24/7 pistol are offered on the Taurus website and this gun won the NRA Handgun of the Year Award in 2005. The regular and long slide models come available in stainless steel or blue. The Taurus PT 24/7 is standared with Heinie "Straight Eight" pistol sights that are equipped with two vertical dots as opposed to the standard 3 dot horizontal sight configuration featured on most pistols. The sights are highly beneficial as research shows that the brain can more readily align objects in a vertical fashion than in a horizontal fashion. The weapon also comes equipped with a soft rubber, ribbed overlay for the grip that the Taurus has frequently called the "ribber." This overlay stops the weapon from slipping especially in moist environments and is very comfortable in all types of sizes of hands.

Variants

Taurus as a company began production of a compact style which is the same weapon essentially with a shortened barrel. Taurus is also introducing the OSS model which is available in .45 caliber for special forces. The weapon will also come in .40 and 9mm variants.

Criticisms

Critics of the early production Taurus PT 24/7 pistol in the .45 caliber have had issues with a failure of the feed and the cartridge submarining and striking the feed ramp. In response to this criticism, Taurus fixed the issue re-designing some new magazines for the pistol.

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