The nice thing about these safety features is that you don't have to use them, in which case you won't even know they're there. I carry 24/7s with the safety off and ready to go--just like a double-action revolver.

(Left) The Taurus Safety System on the right side of the slide can key-lock the slide and action and make the gun unable to fire. (Center) An extended-frame dust cover shields the pistol's working parts from debris and provides a molded-in equipment rail. (Right) The 24/7 OSS has an ambidextrous thumb safety that can also decock the strike. A cocking indicator is located at the rear of the slide.

The 24/7 OSS also has a comfortable grip and feels much smaller than a typical double-stack pistol because of its finger grooves. The palm swell makes the gun controllable, and the deep indent at the thumb web puts your hand high on the back strap, lessening subjective recoil and reducing recovery time by aligning your grasp more closely with the bore axis of the pistol.

Another elegant small feature is the memory dish in the frame (both sides) just above the front of the trigger guard as an index point alongside the gun either for your trigger finger or for the thumb of your support hand with a proper two-hand hold. The extended-frame dust cover shields the pistol's innards from grit and dirt and also provides a molded-in equipment rail.

When the 24/7 first reached the market about three years ago, Taurus sent me three samples, in 9mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP and 5,000 rounds of ammo for each pistol to test endurance. All three guns ran flawlessly. Taurus chief Bob Morrison suggested we might want to continue on to see what happened, so he provided another 5,000 rounds each. Same result.

SPECIFICATIONS Taurus 24/7 OSS
MAKER:	Taurus International
TYPE:	Semiauto double-action
CALIBER:	9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP
CAPACITY:	17+1, (9mm), 15+1 (.40), 12 + 1 (.45 ACP)
BARREL LENGTH:	5.25 inches
OVERALL LENGTH:	8.13 inches
WEIGHT:	32 ounces
SIGHTS:	Heinie three-dot, drift adjustable for windage
GRIP/FRAME:	Tan polymer/black steel
PRICE:	$623

A year later, when Taurus introduced an upgraded version of the 24/7 incorporating the new short-pull trigger design, called the 24/7 PRO, he sent me the .40 S&W and .45 ACP versions and another 10,000 rounds of ammo each. Same result. And when the first pre-production samples of the 24/7 OSS version came into the U.S. in August 2006, he sent me a .40 S&W version and 10,000 rounds of ammo for it, too. Again, same result.

You see a lot of "torture tests" in gun magazines, but I don't think they tell you very much. I mean, it's not really very difficult to break something. All you need to do is run it past its design limits. On the other hand, an accelerated normal-use test can provide a indication of whether a product lives up to its maker's claims for how long it can serve you usefully.

For handguns, an accelerated normal-use test means shooting a lot of rounds through a gun within a shorter span of time than a "normal" user would ordinarily do but without pushing the gun past what a normal shooting session would entail. Today, if you buy any decent polymer-frame pistol you should reasonably expect it to run--with ordinary care--for at least 5,000 rounds with no more than 10 stoppages before you need to begin even thinking about replacing small parts.

In the Real World
How long would that be in real-world use? Manufacturers tell me their market research indicates the average night-stand house gun won't see 5,000 rounds for nearly 20 years, but we can do it in 10 days--shooting 500 rounds a day, four sessions each day, not stressing the gun by letting it get too hot. I track how long it takes to dirty up and start misfiring, then I clean it. And if parts start breaking and falling off on the fifth day, I've learned something useful.

A stress test is different, and it's especially useful for a duty/defense gun that may be called upon to function in sub-optimum conditions: weather such as rain, mud, sand and instances where the gun might get dropped, kicked or stepped on.

When Glock was first working to crack the U.S. law enforcement market, it dropped guns on concrete floors and kicked them across the room; dunked them in buckets of mud, ran a pencil down the bore, shook them off then shot them; and ran over them with cars. Glock created a legend and sold a lot of guns.

	(This is article appears in the June 2007 issue of GUNS & AMMO magazine, which is on sale now at your local newsstand. Click HERE for a look at the other great features and stories available in the June 2007 issue