I used to consider my self lucky when it comes to Taurus handguns. Among all of my handguns, 3 of them are made by Taurus - a 617 revolver, .380 TCP and the 709 Slim.
I got the Slim probably 3 months ago, and read several bad comments about it. Like I said, I used to consider my self lucky. My 709 had about 400 rounds trough it and no failures. Last Saturday, I went to the gun range, and got a box of factory ammo - PMC 115 grain - the same brand I always use for the range. Started shooting the 709 and before I could empty the second magazine, the slide locked back and would not move forward. I removed the magazine and inspected the gun, guide rod seems to be damaged and the gun is not operational. I know I should be writing this on the Taurus forum, but I wanted to put it here, because I think not a lot of people read the Tarurus forum. My message is – DO NOT TRUST YOUR LIFE ON TAURUS 709. Stay away from it !!!!