Taurus 24/7 OSS 9mm

[jsquared]

I had a chance to get in some range time today so I thought I would past a review of this pistol.

Here were my initial impressions:

Well I picked this up from my FFL yesterday and have to say I am very impressed so far. All things considered, it doesn't feel like a $350 handgun, or look the part. I will still have to see how it performs but so far I am pretty stoked.

Cleaned the packing grease off it last night (there was a TON, more than I have ever seen) and noticed some things worth mentioning:

- The gun is a bit weighty with the 8.25" slide and 5.25" barrel and a full magazine, even with the polymer frame. With that being said, it handles pretty well and aiming it seems really natural for me.

- I was dubious at the "match barrel" claim but it definitely looks the part. Rifling is incredible and shiny, feed ramp is ridiculously polished, the breech face looks to have been fitted to the slide, and NO rattle at all with the slide closed.

- The action is very, very smooth. The slide to frame fit is good and it has full length rails. I can't really explain how great it feels to work the slide, like butter. The magazines throw rounds effortlessly (no hang ups at all when thumbing them out and I couldn't get one to nose dive even when trying), and with the polished feed ramp I dont foresee any feeding issues with this pistol. With a fully loaded magazine inserted I could ride the slide forward as slow as possible and still have the round jump into the chamber effortlessly. Amazing stuff.

- The trigger. Well, it will take some getting used to. In regular single action striker mode there is a lot of take-up and it is a featherweight feel up until it hits tension. The trigger break at the tension spot is short and crisp, so it will take some getting used to pre-staging it for single action shots without going too far and shooting myself in the foot. Under double action the trigger is longer and a bit tougher obviously, but nothing compared to my S&W 3913 in DA. I like the external safety and decocker, it offers three modes of carry (kind of a condition .5, 1, or 2), where you can have the pistol cocked and locked with the trigger fully extended or locked at the pre-stage point with the safety on. Pretty nifty, but something I'll have to try out to see how I feel about it.

- The sights are good. Wish I would have gone for the night sight option for $50 more, but it came with F/R adjustable Novak lows so not too shabby as is.

So today I headed to AMC with a few hundred mixed rounds of 9mm to give it a whirl. I shot about 75 rounds of Alabama Ammo Co. 115gr JHP and FMJ reloads, 50 rds of Winchester SXZ 115gr flat nose FMJ, and about 75 rds of Privi 147gr JHP.

I had a variety of stoppages throughout the day. In order of most to least common:

- Slide locking back with one round left in the magazine
- Failure to feed, round caught on feed ramp by slide
- Slide closed on an empty magazine
- Failure to eject (stovepipe)
- Failure to extract, casing left in chamber

The first issue was a recurring problem throughout the day, from my very first mag to my last it happened maybe 6 times (to the point where I was checking after each mag to make sure there wasnt a round left). In each case, pulling and releasing the slide loaded the road and I was able to fire it. The FTF issue occurred twice, once with a AA FMJ reload and once with a Winchester SXZ FMJ. All other malfunctions occurred once.

Gotta say I am pretty disappointed overall, I can understand having a few issues with a brand new pistol but ~10 stoppages in ~200 rds is crazy. I will probably shoot a few hundred more Winchester and AA rounds to see if they clear up, but I am not really hopeful. Off to Taurus it will go most likely

Enought with the sad stuff, now the fun part! It shot well, the sights required a bit of coverage over the target versus "snowconing" it which I prefer more, but it was easy enough to get used to. The trigger is definitely a bit different than any I have shot before and staging it correctly was a challenge. I found myself pulling shots to the right (I am right handed), and also tightening up a bit when anticipating the recoil. When I concentrated hard, though, it worked well.

Here is my best group at 7 yards (3 shots ):

And the same target with 10 more rounds at 10 yards (13 total):

I am consistently shooting to the right so some sight adjustment might be in order, will have to see after I work at it some more. I shot mostly on single action but peppered in some double action also and it was predictable, no surprises. I practice double action pulls with my TDA S&W so it is pretty familiar to me.

One thing I did notice is that rapid fire and shooting from my eye were very natural. It was very easy to re-aquire the target when going rapid and the longer slide helped control recoil with all the different loads, the 147gr Privi JHP most of all. Shooting the heavier 147gr round in this pistol is deceptively tame. Also, shooting without getting a sight picture proved that it aimed naturally enough.

Overall I really liked shooting it, although I wish it was more reliable of course. I am really hoping the issues work themselves out in the next couple of boxes, if not I will have to send it to Taurus for work and it takes months apparently. Wish me luck.

J

 

[atljetmech]

Man, I hate to hear that.
The 24/7 I had (wasn't an OSS model and of course it was 45ACP!) was spot on and ran like a sewing machine. I only traded it off cause I really wanted a 223 bolt action.

I hope she breaks in for ya after some more rounds down the pipe. Good luck.

 

[jloneill17]

Hope it clears up for ya JJ. good luck.

 

[jsquared]

We shall see, probably going to shoot a few more boxes tonight and see what happens. The issues were getting less prevalent as the day went by so perhaps it just needs a workout.

 

[jsquared]

Went and shot 150 more of AA reloads and Win SXZ, only issue I had was the slide lockig back with one round left. No other issues with loading or ejection so Id say it is definitely an improvement. Its so much nicer to shoot a pistol that acts right

I think I know the deal with the mags also, with one round inserted the follower is just a tad to tall and it actuates the slide stop, but only while firing. It happens when the round tilts up a bit, like when the previous round feeds and drags the last round a hair with it. I have a sneaky suspicion Taurus used the same follower for 9mm and .40 and the 9mm casing is just that much shorter. I trimmed about a half millimeter from the follower where the stop engages and will see how it goes.

 

[mtgldr]

Went and shot 150 more of AA reloads and Win SXZ, only issue I had was the slide lockig back with one round left. No other issues with loading or ejection so Id say it is definitely an improvement. Its so much nicer to shoot a pistol that acts right

I think I know the deal with the mags also, with one round inserted the follower is just a tad to tall and it actuates the slide stop, but only while firing. It happens when the round tilts up a bit, like when the previous round feeds and drags the last round a hair with it. I have a sneaky suspicion Taurus used the same follower for 9mm and .40 and the 9mm casing is just that much shorter. I trimmed about a half millimeter from the follower where the stop engages and will see how it goes.

So what's the verdict? Settle in or not?

 

[Crackerz]

I had a 24/7 Longslide (not OSS) in .45 ACP that functioned perfectly, no problems of any kind. I really liked it a lot, but wound up trading it for a .45 ACP 24/7 C DS. The guy didn't care for the recoil with the compact. It has functioned perfectly, and I really like the DS. Like having a 12 rd. revolver with a safety. Guess I've been lucky, but I haven't owned a 24/7 I was disappointed with.

 

[jsquared]

So what's the verdict? Settle in or not?

Havent been back to a range to shoot it yet, going to give it a go on Saturday and how it works out.

 

[jjmikolacjik]

Try loading your mags and leave them loaded for a bit. I had that problem with mine when I had one. The more the magazines get used the less it happens. I loved My oss model in 9mm. It shot great and performed flawlessly. I acquired it used and shot about 200 rds down the pipe and had only 2 ftf but that was an ammunition problem not the gun.

 

[jsquared]

I have been doing that for a few weeks now to try and settle the springs a bit, I appreciate the tip though! Hopefully it works to fix the problem.