Taurus 1911 1-191101-9MM Luger

The 9mm chambering is the most popular pistol cartridge today, and manufacturers of the 1911 platform are capitalizing on that popularity — and with good reason. The 1911 is known for its comfortable grip angle and single-action-only trigger, and 9mm ammo is inexpensive and available nearly every where ammo is sold. 

When a 1911 is chambered in 9mm, the result is a softer-recoiling pistol because the 9mm pistol is heavier than a 45. The outside diameter of the barrel is the same as the barrel used for a 45 Auto-chambered gun, but the bore is smaller for the 9mm. This makes the barrel slightly heavier. The magazine is also 45 Auto size in outside dimensions, but it is re-engineered for the shorter 9mm cartridge. Magazine capacity increases with 1911s chambered in 9mm, too, because of the difference in cartridge diameter.

In this match-up we look at three economy 9mm 1911s costing around $500 — the Taurus 1911, Rock Island Armory (RIA) Rock Series M1911 A1 FS Tact II, and the Tisas 1911 Duty B9, offered by SDS Imports. All three of these 1911s are set up in a similar fashion with fixed snag-free sights, ambidextrous thumb safeties, single-stack magazines; thin, checkered synthetic grips; and a no-nonsense matte-black finish. The similarities end there, and soon we will get into the weeds with these guns. 

Because 1911s are hand fitted, the price point dictates the quality of parts and time spent assembling the gun. Think of 1911s in tiers of quality, and as you expect, the lower the tier, the less the cost. Tier 1 1911s are made by Wilson Combat, Les Baer, Ed Brown, and other high-end custom makers. These guns are produced with premium parts, and their makers spend a lot of time ensuring the guns perform as expected, and as a result, these guns cost a premium, often more than $2500. Tier 2 1911s are the Springfield Armory, Kimber, Colt, Ruger, and others from major handgun brands that jumped on the 1911 bandwagon. Many of these guns are in the $800 to $2000 range. Tier 3 1911s are under $800 and include brands like Girsan, Taurus, Tisas, RIA, and others. Tier 3 guns are usually built with inexpensive parts and are not finished as nicely as Tier 2 and Tier 1 guns. With all that said, your expectations of how a particular 1911 will perform should be tempered. But an inexpensive 1911 doesn’t necessarily mean cheap or unreliable, or does it?

How We Tested

We tabulated accuracy at 15 yards using a rest, and performed Bill Drills at 10 yards to see how the pistols performed in rapid fire. For the speed test, our shooters used IDPA-style cardboard targets with 8-inch bullseyes. 

Ammo consisted of Armscor 124-grain and Federal American Eagle 115-grain FMJ training ammo, and Remington Ultimate Defense loads with 124-grain Golden Saber Bonded jacketed hollow points. We started by shooting a mix of 9mm orphan rounds left over from previous tests and found none of the slides locked back after the last round fired. We guessed that these 1911s needed a break-in period, and after 50 rounds, they all performed without issue. Accuracy across all ammo choices averaged between 1 inch to 1.3 inches with five shots at 15 yards, which is not bad for inexpensive 1911s. Trigger-pull weights were heavy, and that is another common trait of inexpensive 1911s. No doubt a lighter trigger pull would shrink group sizes. Check the Range Data because we did see instances of brilliance with some of these pistols. We swapped magazines between the guns and they all worked, but we would deep six all of the magazines and replace them with Chip McCormick or Wilson Combat magazines for ease in loading. Now let’s get into the weeds.

Taurus 1911 1-191101-9MM 9mm Luger

$521

Gun Tests grade: B

The most expensive of this trio, its accuracy was fairly good, even with the heavy trigger pull. Cycling was smooth. The single magazine was not acceptable, but it wouldn’t be a big loss to discard. 

The Taurus 1911 comes in a hard case with one flush-fit nine-round steel magazine made by Mec-Gar. One magazine? Fewer magazines to deep six, in our opinion. We assume this is how Taurus keeps the cost of pistol low. We also saw where Taurus cut corners in other areas, which we’ll get into. 

The frame and slide are forged, as is the stainless-steel barrel. The frame and slide wear a matte-black finish, the barrel is matte stainless, and the grip safety, ambidextrous thumb safety, and slide stop are a semi-gloss black. The finish looked good. The laser-inscribed serial numbers on the barrel and slide and frame did not. It gave the pistol a cheap look, especially due to the laser etching overlapping the roll marks. Someone was asleep at the laser engraver. Taurus also made sure their name was on both sides of the slide just in case you are forgetful. The polymer grips had double-diamond-checkering texture and a tasteful Taurus logo in the center.

Coarse slide serrations at the rear and front give the Taurus a unique look. Sights are Novak-style with three white dots — classic sights that work well. They were also easily adjusted for windage with a hex wrench, brass punch, and hammer.

There was no undercut trigger guard, which gave the Taurus a half demerit. The front grip strap was checkered in the very center, but the checkering was not completed to the edges. Taurus must have saved time and effort by not completely checkering the front grip strap. Maybe they did it for aesthetics? Either way, that was another half demerit.

The Taurus uses an 80 Series trigger system and that ads more linkage in the trigger system, which leads to a muddier trigger pull. The controls worked with authority, and the magazine catch was taller so it was faster to dump a magazine. There was a slight bevel in the magazine well that offered easier reloading. The hammer is a ring Commander-style; we preferred skeletonized hammers, though the Commander hammer worked well.

Again, we needed 50 rounds to break the Taurus in and allow the slide to lock back after last round fired. After that, the gun ran well. Again, magazine loading was a miserable experience. The fourth round bound up every reload and required more effort than the first three rounds, and the last two rounds were difficult to load.

The average accuracy across all ammos was, coincidentally, the same as the SDS B9, 1.37 inches. The Taurus did, however, shoot the smallest group at 0.48 inches with the Armscor 124-grain FMJ. That was impressive, but the elation soon ebbed. The smallest groups with the Remington and the Federal were 1.60 and 1.10 inches, respectively. Still good accuracy, even with the 6.1-pound trigger-pull weight. 

The Taurus cycled very smoothly due to the one-piece recoil rod. Slide-retraction effort was an easy 13 pounds. During speed shooting, the Taurus offered smooth cycling, and we were able to keep every round in the 8-inch center circle. 

Our Team Said: The Taurus is the most-expensive 1911 in the match up and came in a solid second to the RIA. The magazine was the weak link in an otherwise good-functioning 1911.

To collect accuracy data, we fired five-shot groups from a bench using a rest. Distance: 15 yards with open sights. Velocities were recorded using a ProChrono DLX digital chronograph set 10 feet from the muzzle.

Special thanks to Eastern Outfitters (easternoutfitter.com) of Hampstead, NC, for their assistance.

Written and photographed by Robert Sadowski, using evaluations from Gun Tests Team members. GT