I headed to the range with my shooting partner Jack Yahle and 500 rounds of varied ammo makes and styles with the intention of firing every round. I really wanted to see if this gun with all of these features, at a price that was less than half of most 1911 pistols, would perform.

The first thing Spaulding did was to run 10 magazines full of various ammo—one after another—to test for reliability. There was not a single malfunction.

The first thing I did was take it from the box (I had removed the Rogers mag funnel so I could use the Taurus magazines) and loaded 10 magazines—both seven- and eight-round models—and started shooting the gun as fast as I could. I wasn’t even trying to hit anything; I just wanted to see if I could get the gun to choke.

With the magazines on the table beside me, I slammed the first magazine home and just started to mash the trigger as fast as I could. When the slide locked to the rear, I slammed another magazine home and repeated the process. I did this until all 10 magazines were empty and I kid you not, the gun did not stop once.

Next, Jack and I moved back to 25 yards and, with the help of a Hornady Delta Rest, shot five-round groups to see what kind of accuracy the gun was capable of. Those who’ve read my articles in the past know I don’t use a mechanical rest because I believe that the human factors of shooting—lining up the sights and pressing the trigger—should not be removed from the equation.

A gun is only as accurate as the shooter holding it, but in the interest of being fair to the gun, I do use the Delta Rest to give it a solid platform. Using six-inch Birchwood Casey Shoot-N-C dots, all of the ammo styles shot within three inches from the rest. The Hornady 230-grain XTP .45 load fired a one-inch group, and I suspect this was because it was my last group and was really used to the trigger by then.

Taurus' 1911s come with the company's integral Security System. If you don’t like it or need it, you can simply disengage it.

Once that was done, I moved on to a few combat drills. Using a Galco Gunsite Range Holster and a Milt Sparks Versa-Max inside the waistband holster, Jack and I began to perform a number of draw-and-move drills on targets in which our “opponent” was partially obscured by cover. Getting on the front sight quickly was easy to do, and the trigger was smooth enough to keep the rounds where I needed them.

All in all, the Taurus PT1911 proved to be a solid performer, making it one of the best deals around for a daily carry 1911. Did I have any problems? Only one: One of the Taurus magazines would not feed Federal Hydra Shok ammo on the last round out of the magazine. It was always the same magazine, and it occurred only with Hydra Shok. There were no problems with any other makes or styles of ammo or any of the other magazines.

I can’t speak for every Taurus 1911 that may come off the assembly line, but if this gun is any indication of what Taurus is offering, the company is going to have a hard time keeping these in stock.