PT-709 "Readiness"

[USN2Pulpit]

Good morning all...quick question: How long to you keep your 709's (or similar weapons) at condition 1? I ask this question thinking about keeping springs at tension long term, and whether or not that is good for the life of the pistol. Personally, I unload spring tension daily, but I'm not sure if this is necessary.

[jhodge83]

my TCP and 24/7 are both loaded, chambered, and ready to go well...24/7...lol. the 24/7 is firing pin ready w/ safety on. both are kept in a gunvault when not on me at the house away from the kids, along with a spare mag filled for each. i've heard different stories on mag springs from unloading and swapping between mags to the process of doing that will wear them out faster.

[BravoSierra2012]

When lookin at the instruction manual on my wife's 709 ( for some odd reason, guess I was a sceptic) I read that it can function as a double action pistol. Meaning you can pull the trigger and it will click every time. I tried iit dry fire and it worked. Spring tension shouldn't be an issue with any quality firearm. I would worry more about the mag springs than anything. Hope this helps

[JimPage]

Mag springs won't deteriorate either. You're more likely to wear the mag springs out buy working them than you are by leaving them loaded. I've fired 45acp magazines that have been loaded since WWII. Not one failed to feed.

[wuzfuz]

Mag springs deteriorating is a myth. The reason mags fail to feed is usually bent or weak feed lips. As Jim said, mags have benn uused that have been loaded since 1943, and functioned perfectly. I have a Springfield XD40 that i carry and keep handy 24/7. I have no fear of pulling the trigger and hearing a click instead of a bang.

[Kelyden]

Just this year purchased PT740 Slim. Have S&W 9VE for a bit. Keep both at condition 1 24/7. Have purchased extra magazines for both. Mark first round going into the mag, then load to max. Do same with second magazine, and that one goes to near by stash spot. (NO WORRY. No KIDS.) Always have one magazine empty next to box of factory hollow points. When inserted magazines goes through all rounds, empty that mag and load empty one, inserting stash magazine into pistol for next go around. Rotating magazines, two to three time a month. When changing magazines, will always spend 10-20 minutes of dry firing with both pistols.
"If a perfect world, we would not need guns. This is not a perfect world."
-Sheriff Ben Johnson, Volusia County, Florida

[Fyrewerx]

I used to be concerned about mag spring tension deterioration when I first got my PT709 Slim, but I finally got over it.
BTW: hopefully, if you bought your PT709 new, you disassembled your mags and cleaned that cosmolene-like goop Taurus loves to put on everything, then very lightly wiped a micro-amount of oil on the spring.