Taurus PT92

The Taurus PT92 is a double action/single action, 9mm Luger, double column magazine, semi-automatic, short recoil action pistol manufactured by Taurus in the former Beretta factory in São Paulo, Brazil.

By: marvin Posted: May 6, 2007

This pistol is a licensed reproduction of the Beretta 92, and comes in a variety of finishes with a variety of grip styles. Like the Beretta, the Taurus PT92 utilizes the open-slide design where the upper portion of the slide is cut away exposing much of the barrel iself. The original PT92 was exactly like the original Beretta 92, however recent improvements include a magazine catch mounted behind the trigger guard, an ambidextrous safety that also acts as a decocker when pressed down past the "fire" position, and larger 3-dot style sights. The Taurus PT92 is less expensive than the Beretta 92 in most cases.

The Taurus PT92 has undergone many revisions in design since it was originally produced in the mid-1980s. The original PT92 and PT99 did not feature the third safety position decocker that is now standard; this feature was added to the second-generation models in the early-1990s, which also included the three-dot sights found on the Beretta 92F. A third revision in the late-90s changed the grip and slide design (which now has fewer grooves in the rear). More recently (as of 2005), Taurus has begun manufacturing the PT92 with built-in accessory rails on the frame, a feature found on the Heckler & Koch USP and third generation Glock pistols. While 15-round magazines were standard for the PT92 for many years, Taurus now manufactures 17-round magazines for the gun in order to give it comparable firepower to the Glock 17.