1911s are fun guns, and that is usually how I see them. The design is over a hundred years old so I place it with the Colt SAA, and the Remington 1858. Meaning old guns that are fun to shoot, but not my choice for concealed carry. I don’t mean to ruffle feathers but the 1911 is an ancient design and not my first choice for defensive use. However, I’m beginning to see a few benefits to the overall design. The Taylor 9mm 1911 compact is a simple weapon with a simple cause. It combines the advantages of the 1911 platform in a small and concealable package.
The Taylor 1911 9mm Compact Overview
The Taylor 1911 9mm compact is not a plain jane G.I. 1911. It’s a well built, good looking gun packed with features. It has a bull barrel, a combat hammer, a skeletonized trigger and extended beaver tail. The wood grips are attractive and held in place with hex screws which I like. It’s a bushing-less design with stainless steel guide rod.
A 1911 for carry?
My normal complaints with the 1911 platform are its large size with its relatively low capacity and high weight factor. The Taylor 9mm 1911 compact aims to reduce size and weight while keeping a respectable capacity. My day to day concealed carry is a Walther PPS with a 7 round magazine. The Taylor matches that capacity, with a similar sized platform. The biggest difference being weight. However, weight is not always a disadvantage in my opinion. I don’t mind a little extra weight if it means a little less recoil. This is likely because I’m a machine gunner at heart, and more weight means less recoil and easier shooting. During my Taylor 9mm 1911 compact review, I’ve found the weight to be comforting. At 2.43 pounds it’s no lightweight.
Comfort.
There are plenty of benefits to a heavier weapon. This Taylor 9mm 1911 compact model isn’t shrunk like a SIG P938. It’s the right size to fill the hand and reduce the overall recoil. The lack of recoil, with the light trigger and easy reset, makes rapid fire comfortable and precise. The traditional 1911 grip and overall thin profile make it an easy to conceal and a comfortable firearm.
Accuracy
My normal modus operandi has been to start at ten yards and move a few yards backward for every shot landed. I use my Shoot Steel 20 inch reactive popper. I got to 45 yards before I had issues hitting the target. The weapon’s 3 5/8 inch barrel delivers some impressive results. This is due to the gun’s bull barrel, excellent trigger, and amazing iron sights. The trigger is very smooth and very short. My only complaint is the trigger reset is not very audible or tactile. It is very short though.
The gun also has very tight tolerances. Not wiggles or jiggles when you shake the gun the.
The rear sight is Novak style that’s adjustable. The front sight is an all black dovetail. It was easy to align the black front sight between the two white dots. It’s an interesting system, and it’s an intuitive arrangement. The ammo I used to get to 45 yards was Armscor 9mm FMJ.
Reliability
The Armscor ammunition functions perfectly with the gun. I have yet to have a malfunction with the firearm or the 9mm Armscor ammunition.
The stock magazines work perfectly. I also wanted to have a few extra magazines on hand. The gun comes with two magazines, but I prefer to spend more time shooting than loading when I hit the range. I got a few of the Mec-Gar 9mm 1911 magazines because they held ten rounds and Mec-Gar is an awesome company. The Mec-Gar 10 rounders functioned perfectly in the gun and gave me a few extra rounds.
The Mec-Gar mags slid in like butter and fed reliably round after round. They dropped free and took tons of abuse from reloading drills and never hiccupped. The gun itself was also dropped in the sand more than once to test reliability and it also never hiccupped.
The Cool Factor
The gun oozes cool factor. It is very well made, and feels rock solid. This gun is a total throwback to the days of Elliot Ness and the Untouchables and shooting it is a joy. Because of its weight and super low recoil I’ve been using it to teach new shooters how to use a handgun. The great trigger and well designed sights make teaching simple, and it helps new shooters perform quite well, which builds confidence. Overall the Taylor 1911 9mm is an extremely well made little 1911.
