# PT709 Problems



## Martywj

We bought a used PT709 recently. It was supposed to have had a few hundred rounds throught and previous owner was selling because he had bought has a replacement for his Kahr that was being worked on. He got the Kahr back so he was selling. Of course we got the box, lock and all the paper work that come with it. We also got a Blackhawk IWB holster. We bought the gun for my wife to carry when our CC comes through. The previous owner also stated that the gun had a problem with FTE when using Winchester white box, but worked fine with anything else.
What we found was the gun had FTE with everything we tried. The first outing we tried Monarch 115 gr FMJ and Federal 115gr FMJ. It was get at least on jam on every magazine fed throught it. By FTE I mean the it would exract the spent casing from the chamber before trying to load another round. My wife worked with and mangaged to get 100 round through it. We took the gun home and broke it down to inspect. The previous owner had told he used material called Miltec-1 on the gun but everything look really dry to me as far as lube. I cleaned it really good and lubed it up with Hoppe's Gun Oil. I was also told on another board to polish the ramp and chamber a bit. So I did using bullet shape cotton polisher in my Dremel and jeweler rouge. We took the gun out again and ran about 50 round through with only 3 jams. Better but still not perfect. I polished some more and lubed the exractor a bit. Then off to rang again. This with 50 rounds though it jamed 3 times again.
I am not sure if I want to continue with the gun or not? Do any of you have any suggestions? I know I can send it back to Taurus, but I am told that will take 5 to 6 weeks with no guarntees the gun will be reutrn fixed.
We have lost confidence in the gun right now.
Marty


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## Rupert

Any change you could elaborate a little more on how it failed to extract? Is it stovepiping (the casing is getting caught in the ejection port as the slide closes) or is it just not being pulled all the way out of the chamber? Polishing the feed ramp can help with failures to feed, but not to extract. Good method that you used though, I've used the same exact part for my dremel. 

I'd suggest trying some heavier ammo, 124 grain, cleaning the extractor, and just lightly lubing everything like you did. Hoppes oil is good stuff, stay with that. 

If all else fails, go to a gunsmith or send it to Taurus, anything else and you risk voiding any kind of warranty policy that might exist. Midwayusa.com has a gunsmith locator tool that comes in pretty handy. Good luck with it.


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## Martywj

No we don't have the stovepiping problem, the empty shells don't come all the way out of the chamber before it trying to load the next round. I have done what you suggest as far as lube and cleaning. We also had some defense ammo in 147 gr JHP and it did the same thing.
I called Taurus CS yesterday inquiring about sending it back for repair, and was told turn around was 2 to 3 weeks instead of 5 to 6 weeks like we had been told. Don't know if thatis true, but decided to send it in anyway. Even if we decide to sell it, it still needs to be fixed. We took it to a shop with a range and dropped it off to to be returned fro repair.
While there we rented the Kahr CW9 and were both very impressed with it. My wife especially. We also tried out the Sig P238, the baby 1911 in .380 calibur. Also very impressive little gun. I wouldn't want 380 as my primary carry, but a nice backup.
Marty


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## sixguncowboy

Marty, it's too late now, but should you need to return it to Taurus again call them first. They will have FedEx pick it up at your door and they will return it direct to you. Most dealers will charge you for shipping it for you.

There are much better gun lubricants than Hoppes which is primarily a gun cleaner. Do not ever use Hoppes # 9 on a nickel plated gun as it will turn the nickel a pale yellow & eventually cause the nickel to flake off. I've been using Balistol almost exclusively for the past 7 or 8 years. http://www.ballistol.com/ KG Lubricants is another excellent product that I've been using for many many years that is far superior to Hoppes. https://www.kgcoatings.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=27

It sounds like you have an extractor problem. It's a fairly easy fix for a smith. I hope Taurus repairs it for you. If not, it shouldn't be much of a problem for a local smith to fix. Taurus has been notorius for returning guns unrepaired the past few years. Are you sure that you & your wife aren't limp wristing some of your rounds? That could also be a cause of your problem.

There is some specialty defensive ammo available on the market today such as Federal Hydra Shock JHP that makes the 380 a viable defensive round, specially in summer when you aren't shooting an attacker through heavy clothing.


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## Martywj

sixguncowboy said:


> Marty, it's too late now, but should you need to return it to Taurus again call them first. They will have FedEx pick it up at your door and they will return it direct to you. Most dealers will charge you for shipping it for you.
> 
> We did call, but because we bought the gun used they wouldn't do the pickup at our door.
> 
> There are much better gun lubricants than Hoppes which is primarily a gun cleaner. Do not ever use Hoppes # 9 on a nickel plated gun as it will turn the nickel a pale yellow & eventually cause the nickel to flake off. I've been using Balistol almost exclusively for the past 7 or 8 years. http://www.ballistol.com/ KG Lubricants is another excellent product that I've been using for many many years that is far superior to Hoppes. https://www.kgcoatings.com/index.php?_a=viewCat&catId=27
> 
> I appreciate the info.
> 
> It sounds like you have an extractor problem. It's a fairly easy fix for a smith. I hope Taurus repairs it for you. If not, it shouldn't be much of a problem for a local smith to fix. Taurus has been notorius for returning guns unrepaired the past few years. Are you sure that you & your wife aren't limp wristing some of your rounds? That could also be a cause of your problem.
> 
> i have heard this about Taurus repairs
> 
> .


My replies are above in red.


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## sixguncowboy

Martywj said:


> My replies are above in red.


Still, next time you have to send a gun off for repair or custom work take it UPS of FedEx & ship it yourself so they can ship it back direct to you. By Federal law the factory or smith must return it to the person that shipped it to them. The only advantage a dealer has is that he can ship handguns by US Mail, which is much cheaper than UPS or FedEx, and a non FFL licensed person cannot. However individuals can ship long guns by US Mail


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## hollie#1

Marty,,
Hope it comes back sooner than later. Give it another try when ya do. Hubby & I both have one & we both carry them! It's a sweet gun not bad on recoil,easy to handle,ours both were sited really good from the get go! We didn't have any trouble with what you were saying at all! After having such good luck with this brand we bought the 380 Taurus plan to get 1 more of that one!Its just has sweet out of the case all the way around! Plus its smaller there for easyer to conceal.Hope you end up happy with it 
Hollie#1


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## Martywj

The 709 was returned to us 12/29/09 after a little 5 week vacation in Miami. The repair ticket that came back with just said they replaced the extractor.

We took the 709 to the range on New Year's Day to give it a try. We ran 50 rds of Sellior & Bellot 115 gr FMJ without any hiccups. We tried some of the infamous Winchester White Box 115 gr FMJ and the second mag(7 rds) full we had our first FTE. We ran another mag and had a second FTE. So after only 21 rds we put the WWB away. We ran another 50 rds of Sellior & Bellot 115 gr FMJ. We also had some Remington 115 gr FMJ, we ran 100 rds through the gun and had a couple of fails to feed toward the end of the 100. We had been switching shooters between my wife and myself, and she believes she may have limp-wristed causing those two. She said she was getting tired near the end. We only 5 rounds of personal defense ammo, some Federal Premium 147 gr Hydra-Shok JHP, we had no problems with those.

So in conclusion we believe the gun to be fixed for the FTE problem, and believe that at least this gun just does not like WWB at all. Other Ammo seems to work OK.

Other input is we added the pinky extension for Kel-Tec PF9 to one of the magazines, and both of us really liked it. We felt like it made the gun easier to hold and control. I also got a good deal on Kholster for this gun and DeSantis pocket mag holder. She liked both, so it looks like we will be keeping this weapon for the time being. 

I am still not happy about Taurus CS, and if I had it to do over I wouldn't send the gun in despite the lifetime warrany. I would just take it to local gun smith for repair and pay for it myself. My PT140 continues to function properly, and if I have problems that is what I will do. I would only send either gun into Taurus again if many changes are made to their CS. Namely turn around time and keeping customers informed as to what is going on. Because of CS I am not sure if we will ever buy another Taurus product, and that is sad because all of have some really good things that folks have had to say about their revolvers plus there is the new TCP PT738 .380. 

Marty


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## drummin man 627

*709s and W.W.B.*

On another forum, it has been noted that a couple of other 709s don't like WWB. They seem to eat everything else, though.
I have a PT 92 and a PT908. I couldn't be happier with them, unless you paid for them.
E mail me if you want, and I'll send more info to you.
Larry (drummin man 627) :watching:


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## huntercurt

Had the same problem with my 709. Failure to extract using WWB. Extrator would simply not hold the spent round and leave it in the chamber. Also had a problem with the adjustable sights. With sights maxed out the gun shot 6" below point of aim at 7 yards. Sent it back to Taurus and they replaced the extractor and the sights. Seems to have corrected the problems. I have seen this all too often with Taurus. The first year they put out a new gun it seems to have teathing problems. They get it fixed in the next production run, but those who buy it in the first year of produciton end up doing all the procuct testing for the development team.


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