tazman
05-17-2014, 09:08 AM
Seven months ago I purchased a Taurus pt92 9mm pistol. I had heard a lot of horror stories about Taurus firearms except for the pt92 which has a good reputation. I am a decent but not outstanding pistol shot so I wasn't expecting a lot in the accuracy department.
I started by studying MtGun44's wonderful sticky on starting out with a 9mm. It saved me a lot of trouble right off the start. I still go back and re read it time to time.
After experimenting with different boolit weights and designs, working up loads with different powders, and casting with different alloys I came to the conclusion that the pistol just wasn't all that accurate but should be better than it was. After all, my revolvers were much more accurate.
Since I already had a bunch of magazines I decided to try another one to see if it was just this particular weapon.
I managed to get a great deal on a used one similar to the one I already owned. Guess what, it shot just like the first one. After a lot of thought and measurement, I finally started looking at barrels.
It turns out that the rifling in a Taurus barrel is narrow and not very deep compared to other brands. While this works ok with Jwords, it is not so good with cast boolits. I decided to try a different barrel.
I purchased a new Beretta barrel from an online retailer quite inexpensively. It dropped right in and functioned just fine with no fitting necessary. The first trip to the range was an eye opener. Instant accuracy.
My point of impact did not change. My groups tightened to the point they rival my revolvers. All of the loads I had been working on for the 9mm functioned and had excellent accuracy. The only issue now is with powder coated boolits. I got another Beretta barrel for the second Taurus with identical results.
I know many will say I should have purchased a Beretta at the start and they may be right, but this model Taurus has a good reputation and I have had no problems with function, only accuracy.
It was a great learning experience. I now know just what I need to do to get the best out of my pistols. I now have two of the finest shooting 9mm pistols I could ask for.
I started by studying MtGun44's wonderful sticky on starting out with a 9mm. It saved me a lot of trouble right off the start. I still go back and re read it time to time.
After experimenting with different boolit weights and designs, working up loads with different powders, and casting with different alloys I came to the conclusion that the pistol just wasn't all that accurate but should be better than it was. After all, my revolvers were much more accurate.
Since I already had a bunch of magazines I decided to try another one to see if it was just this particular weapon.
I managed to get a great deal on a used one similar to the one I already owned. Guess what, it shot just like the first one. After a lot of thought and measurement, I finally started looking at barrels.
It turns out that the rifling in a Taurus barrel is narrow and not very deep compared to other brands. While this works ok with Jwords, it is not so good with cast boolits. I decided to try a different barrel.
I purchased a new Beretta barrel from an online retailer quite inexpensively. It dropped right in and functioned just fine with no fitting necessary. The first trip to the range was an eye opener. Instant accuracy.
My point of impact did not change. My groups tightened to the point they rival my revolvers. All of the loads I had been working on for the 9mm functioned and had excellent accuracy. The only issue now is with powder coated boolits. I got another Beretta barrel for the second Taurus with identical results.
I know many will say I should have purchased a Beretta at the start and they may be right, but this model Taurus has a good reputation and I have had no problems with function, only accuracy.
It was a great learning experience. I now know just what I need to do to get the best out of my pistols. I now have two of the finest shooting 9mm pistols I could ask for.