Gun Review: Taurus PT140 G2 semi-auto handgun in .40 S&W

Everyday carry (EDC) is a hot topic. It covers things like a phone, wallet, knife and of course a handgun. For quite a number of years my everyday carry weapon has been the Kahr CW40, in .40 S&W — compact, easy to conceal and limited to seven rounds. But more is always better, at least when it comes to capacity, which is why I took an interest in the Taurus PT140 G2. With the help of Eric at Arizona House of Guns, I was able to get the latest version to test.

The second generation of the PT140 is undoubtedly an improvement upon the first version. It’s more ergonomic and the fit and finish is outstanding. With a full 10 round double stack magazine and one in the chamber, the gun weighs in at just 27 ounces and a little over six inches in length with a 3.2 inch barrel. This makes it just as easy to conceal as my Kahr — I’ve carried it every day for the past few weeks and found it very comfortable to carry in a belt slide holster.

Like a lot of guns the PT140 has a polymer frame with a steel upper.  Other features include a fully adjustable rear sight, manual safety and a rail for a light or laser. The grips are nicely textured and have a spot on the grip and frame that marks a natural place to rest your thumb and trigger finger. It also has a loaded chamber indicator which I really like — located on the top of the slide it is both a visual and tactile indication that there is a round in the chamber. The PT140 comes with two magazines that have an extension rest for your finger. I find the magazine release to be very easy to reach with my thumb and that the empty magazine practically flies out when released making combat reloads very easy.

Take down of the PT140 is much like a Glock: pull down two small levers to release the slide (if you own a Glock you’ll understand what I mean). Once disassembled you’ll find that the frame weighs practically nothing and all of the weight is in the barrel and slide. Internally it’s a lot like a Glock. In my experience this means that it will probably run forever without a lot of problems.

Shooting the PT140 is pretty much what you’d expect for a small frame handgun in .40 S&W meaning recoil is pretty stout. I found it manageable, but a female friend didn’t like it. Her chief complaint was that the stippling on the grip hurt her hand. The trigger has a lot of slack. It seems to take forever before the trigger break, but when it does it’s nice and clean. I’ve noticed that the trigger seems to tighten up just before it breaks and reset is very short. Fred Mastison of Force Options recommended disassembling the PT140 and looking for any burs on the trigger group then using a jeweler’s polish to remove them.

Overall the Taurus PT140 G2 makes an excellent everyday carry gun that is easily concealable. While chambered in the potent S&W it’s not going to be for everyone. The PT140 comes in all blue like our test gun or with a stainless upper. It boasts an MSRP of $301 or $316 for the stainless version.

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