It is getting harder and harder to find many
gun companies these days that do not have a 1911 style pistol in
their lineup, and for good reason; the 1911 is more popular now
than ever. Even with designs available that are lighter and
cheaper, the proven 1911 design is the pistol of choice for many
who carry and enjoy shooting pistols. Taylor’s
& Company has for many years marketed mostly reproductions
of nineteenth century firearms, but have now moved into the
early twentieth century with their line of 1911 pistols, of
which they have several variations.
The newest 1911 in Taylor’s fold is this
compact 9mm shown here. The size of the pistol is what is
commonly referred to as an “Officer’s Model” pistol. The
compact 1911 is made of steel and wood. This gives the pistol a
solid feel, and enough weight to make follow-up shots quick and
accurate. The excellent set of sights consist of a dovetailed
post front and an adjustable rear. The front sight is black, and
the rear has a two-dot pattern. The thumb safety is right-hand
only, but an ambidextrous safety can be easily fitted, if
necessary. The pistol wears an overall black-matte finish, which
contrasts nicely with the double-diamond pattern checkered
walnut grip panels.
The Taylor’s & Company Compact 1911 has
a traditional pre-Series 80 1911 action. Many refer to this as a
Series 70 action, but this type of action predated the Series
70. The term “Series 70” was used by Colt in reference to
the collet-style barrel bushing introduced with that pistol, and
had nothing to do with a firing pin safety, nor the lack
thereof. The firing pin safety was introduced by Colt in the
Series 80 pistols, but all previous generations of the 1911 had
no firing pin safety, and none is needed. The Taylor’s pistol
has no such safety. It has a thumb safety, a grip safety, and a
disconnector to prevent firing out of battery. That is enough.
The main safety is between your ears.
The Taylor’s Compact 1911 uses a cone-style
barrel, which eliminates the need for a barrel bushing, as the
barrel returns to the same position in the slide every time. The
pistol also has a full-length steel guide rod. The trigger pull
is a perfect, crisp three and three-quarters pounds on this
particular pistol. Just right.
The Taylor’s & Company 1911 pistols are
built for them by Armscor in the Philippines. Armscor has a long
history of building quality all-steel 1911 style pistols, and
the Taylor’s pistols are very well-built. Everything on this
Taylor’s pistol is made of steel, with the exception of the
checkered walnut grips. Even small parts such as the trigger,
sights, and magazine follower are steel. The feed ramp is
polished for smooth feeding of cartridges from the magazine.
While on the subject of magazines, I also
used two Mec-Gar ten-shot magazines in this Taylor’s pistol.
Mec-Gar is likely the largest manufacturer of pistol magazines
in the world, and they make many original equipment magazines
for makers of pistols in the United States and Europe. These
ten-shot magazines fed smoothly, with only one type of ammo
hanging up on two occasions. Everything else fed smoothly from
the steel Mec-Gar mags. If carrying spare mags, they might as
well hold ten cartridges each instead of eight, and Mec-Gar is a
good choice.
Specifications
are listed in the chart below. Weight is listed in ounces.
Trigger pull is listed in pounds of resistance. Linear
measurements are listed in inches.
Chambering |
9x19mm |
Weight |
37 ounces |
Height |
5.1 inches |
Length |
7.37 inches |
Slide Width |
0.9 inch |
Maximum Grip Width |
1.37 inches |
Frame Width |
0.765 inch |
Maximum Width |
1.37 inches |
Trigger Pull |
3.75 pounds |
Trigger Reach |
2.75 inches |
Barrel Length |
3.63 inches |
Construction |
Forged Carbon Steel |
Sights |
Adjustable Rear / Post
Front |
Magazine Capacity |
8 rounds |
Magazines Supplied |
2 |
Firing Pin Safety |
No |
Magazine Disconnect Safety |
Hell No |
MSRP as of April 2017 |
$644.00 US |
I
fired a variety of ammunition over the chronograph to check
velocities, with the results listed in the chart below.
Velocities are listed in feet-per-second. Bullet weights are
listed in grains. JHP is a jacketed hollowpoint bullet. DPX is a
hollow nose homogenous copper bullet. FMJ is a full metal jacket
roundnose bullet. FMJ-FN is a full metal jacket flat nose
Buffalo Bore Penetrator bullet. PB is Pow’RBall,
a specialty bullet from Cor-Bon. XP is a specialty homogenous
copper bullet from Lehigh Defense. Glaser is a pre-fragmented
bullet. Velocities were taken at an elevation of 541 feet above
sea level, with an air temperature of sixty-eight degrees
Fahrenheit and humidity of eighty-nine percent. Velocities were
recorded at twelve feet from the muzzle.
Ammunition |
Bullet Weight |
Velocity |
WCC NATO FMJ |
124 |
1001 |
Fiocchi
FMJ |
115 |
1102 |
Buffalo Bore FMJ-FN |
124 |
1263 |
Buffalo Bore JHP |
115 |
1298 |
Buffalo Bore +P+ JHP |
115 |
1336 |
Buffalo Bore +P JHP |
147 |
1100 |
Buffalo Bore +P JHP |
124 |
1255 |
Cor-Bon Glaser |
80 |
1501 |
Cor-Bon JHP |
115 |
1278 |
Cor-Bon Pow'RBall |
100 |
1313 |
Cor-Bon +P DPX |
115 |
1163 |
Cor-Bon JHP |
125 |
1243 |
Sig Sauer JHP |
124 |
1111 |
Remington JHP |
124 |
1117 |
Lehigh Defense JHP |
85 |
1202 |
CCI Blazer Brass FMJ |
115 |
1099 |
Reliability
was excellent with the little Taylor’s pistol. I had one
failure-to-feed early on, in the first magazine, but no other
problems after that. The pistol fed, fired, and ejected
flawlessly after that first magazine. Reliability with the
Mec-Gar magazines was also near-perfect, with the exception of
two failures to feed with one brand of ammo. . Both the
eight-shot Taylor mags and the ten-shot Mec-Gar mags loaded to
capacity easily. The magazines also ejected perfectly with the
pressing of the mag release, and the slide never failed to lock
back on an empty magazine. The little pistol is easy to shoot,
and easy to shoot well, due to the all-steel heft, perfect
trigger pull, and excellent sights.
The
little 1911 carries comfortably in a belt holster, and I used
the Galco Yaqui Slide holster to carry the pistol on my hip. The
Galco carries it well, and is a trim little holster that will
fit any length 1911 pistol.
The
Taylor’s & Company 9mm Compact 1911 is an accurate,
reliable, and affordable all-steel 1911 pistol that is very
comfortable to shoot, even with premium high-pressure
ammunition.
Check
out the extensive line of quality Taylor’s firearms and
accessories at www.taylorsfirearms.com.
To
order Crimson Trace Lasergrips for the Taylor’s compact 1911,
go to www.crimsontrace.com.
To
order quality 9x19mm ammunition, go to www.midsouthshooterssupply.com,
www.doubletapammo.com,
www.luckygunner.com,
and www.buffalobore.com.
You
can order the Mec-Gar magazines from www.shop.mec-gar.com.
Check
out the extensive line of Galco holsters and mag carriers at www.galcogunleather.com.
Jeff
Quinn


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