TAURUS 24/7 OSS .45 & other calibers/where from?

Bo
I've heard a lot of criticism of Taurus now and in the past, some valid, some definitely overblown. Since I 'got into' it with a Glockbot earlier who went all ballistic over a G2 I posted, I think it would be interesting and instructive to take a look back to see how this gun got started:

The new PT 24/7 OSS version was originally designed and built as a .45 ACP to exceed all requirements originally set forth in 2005 by the U.S. Special Operations Command for an intended procurement of a new military .45 ACP service pistol. It was subsequently adapted for .40 S&W and 9mm as well,following an announcement of an expanded all-service Joint Combat Pistol system trial. When those trials were postponed in 2006, Taurus decided to sell this next-generation service design to the civilian and law
enforcement markets.



The 24/7 OSS combines more features than is offered by any other
semiauto pistol on the market, and it has an entirely new trigger
mechanism that completely eliminates two of the longest-standing
problems with double-action and double-action-only pistol design. When
you take up the slack in the new Taurus PT 24/7 OSS pistol trigger,
you’ve got a first-shot pull that’s as short and quick as a standard
single-action Government Model 1911. And for every following shot, the
trigger returns to the same fast, short-pull position. No more long,
mushy trigger pulls on the first shot then transitioning to a short pull
on the second shot, as is the case with conventional double-action
autoloaders.

Moreover, if the gun fails to fire, the 24/7 OSS mechanism
automatically and instantly resets to a conventional double-action
long-pull position and allows you to pull the trigger again–just like a
double-action revolver–without needing to manually manipulate the slide.
Essentially, it’s a single-action pistol that becomes a double action
in an emergency.

Most failures to fire with today’s quality guns and ammo are caused
by residue buildup that can impede full chambering or slow the firing
pin. In more than 80 percent of such situations, the first firing-pin
strike resolves the situation by fully seating the round or clearing the
firing-pin channel, and the second hit fires the gun–without the need
to jack in a new cartridge. If it’s a bad cartridge and you do have to
work the 24/7 OSS slide by hand to chamber a fresh round, the action
automatically resets to the original short-pull single-action trigger
mode.

The 24/7 design originated with the Taurus line of striker-fired,
compact, polymer-frame double-action 9mm Millennium pistols, which
debuted in 1998. When I first got my hands on one, I was immediately
struck by its shootable feel, its short-stroke repeat-strike trigger
(which few other double-action-only pistols offered) and by the fact
that the gun had a cocked-and-locked-type manual safety (which no other
double-action-only pistol had).

A couple of years later, while visiting the Taurus manufacturing
plant in Brazil, I got to handle prototypes of a full-size version of
the Millennium design that would soon be introduced as the original
24/7. They impressed me equally.

On the vast majority of double-action-only pistols there are no
manual safety mechanisms. The 24/7 has one, which you can choose to use
or not use. Ditto with the Taurus Safety System on the right side of the
slide that can key-lock the slide and action and make the gun unable to
fire.

Other features common to the 24/7 pistols also found on the OSS are a
loaded-chamber indicator, internal trigger safety, Heinie combat
sights, molded-in equipment rail, reversible magazine release and
ergonomic grip design.

The ambidextrous thumb safety on the 24/7 also locks both the trigger
and the slide, and there is also an internal striker block. Plus, on
the OSS model, if you push the thumb safety upward above the “safe”
position (requiring a positive click), it decocks the striker, returning
the trigger mechanism to a long-pull conventional double-action mode.
The nice thing about these safety features is that you don’t have to
use them, in which case you won’t even know they’re there. I carry 24/7s
with the safety off and ready to go–just like a double-action revolver.
The 24/7 OSS also has a comfortable grip and feels much smaller than a
typical double-stack pistol because of its finger grooves. The palm
swell makes the gun controllable, and the deep indent at the thumb web
puts your hand high on the back strap, lessening subjective recoil and
reducing recovery time by aligning your grasp more closely with the bore
axis of the pistol.

Another elegant small feature is the memory dish in the frame (both
sides) just above the front of the trigger guard as an index point
alongside the gun either for your trigger finger or for the thumb of
your support hand with a proper two-hand hold. The extended-frame dust
cover shields the pistol’s innards from grit and dirt and also provides a
molded-in equipment rail.

When the 24/7 first reached the market about three years ago, Taurus
sent me three samples, in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP and 5,000 rounds
of ammo for each pistol to test endurance. All three guns ran
flawlessly. Taurus chief Bob Morrison suggested we might want to
continue on to see what happened, so he provided another 5,000 rounds
each. Same result.

A year later, when Taurus introduced an upgraded version of the 24/7
incorporating the new short-pull trigger design, called the 24/7 PRO, he
sent me the .40 S&W and .45 ACP versions and another 10,000 rounds
of ammo each. Same result. And when the first pre-production samples of
the 24/7 OSS version came into the U.S. in August 2006, he sent me a .40
S&W version and 10,000 rounds of ammo for it, too. Again, same
result.

You see a lot of “torture tests” in gun magazines, but I don’t think
they tell you very much. I mean, it’s not really very difficult to break
something. All you need to do is run it past its design limits. On the
other hand, an accelerated normal-use test can provide a indication of
whether a product lives up to its maker’s claims for how long it can
serve you usefully.

For handguns, an accelerated normal-use test means shooting a lot of
rounds through a gun within a shorter span of time than a “normal” user
would ordinarily do but without pushing the gun past what a normal
shooting session would entail. Today, if you buy any decent
polymer-frame pistol you should reasonably expect it to run–with
ordinary care–for at least 5,000 rounds with no more than 10 stoppages
before you need to begin even thinking about replacing small parts.

www.gunsandammo.com/reviews/the-taurus-trials-the-taurus-pt-247-oss-review/#ixzz3Kt1eKl9O