Looking for an affordable, yet reliable handgun? The Taurus PT92 might be your next pick. It's reliable, accurate, has a large magazine capacity and straight up durable. But that's not all. Keep reading to find out if the PT92 is for you.

Accuracy

The PT92 comes standard with a fixed front sight and adjustable rear dovetail sights. The heavy weight of the gun with a magazine inserted helps reduce the recoil and will increase accuracy with a firm grip. At 25 yards out you can hit a 3 inch grouping consistently.

Reliability

Most think the Taurus PT92 is a copy-cat of the Beretta 92. Taurus didn’t copy Beretta, they purchased Beretta’s gun manufacturing plant in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Instead of continuing manufacturing in Brazil and importing the firearms to Italy, where the Beretta originated. Beretta decided to cut ties with the plant and leave equipment, and even staff behind to work the plant.

So what? This means you can rest assured that you will be getting the quality and reliability of an iconic handgun like the Beretta 92 without the price point (considering the slight changes Taurus made to its own models as well).

Handling 

Not meant primarily for concealed, the full-sized handgun has a large grip. It’s 1.5” wide and will allow you to keep a firm, steady grip while firing. This gun will be most comfortable carried outside the waistband (OWB) or on a drop thigh or shoulder holster rig.

You CAN carry concealed, but with the size and weight of this particular firearm it’s really not comfortable. If you’re looking to conceal, you should check out this post on .357 SIG pistols.

Safety and handling go hand in hand for me. What is handling won’t matter if you can’t do it safely. That’s why I love the safety/decocker mechanism in the PT92. The safety is a thumb activated flip safety that has an integrated decocking lever. The decocker disengages the hammer after it's been pulled back without firing the round in the chamber.

Trigger  

The trigger can operate in a single action or double action. Double action means the initial trigger pull needs to pull the hammer back and then fire. You can operate it in single action by simply pulling the hammer back before firing. Doing this will make the initial trigger pull much lighter, as well as being a shorter distance for the trigger to travel to cause the gun to fire.  

Magazine & Reloading

The PT92 comes with a double stacked 17+1 magazine capacity. Yes, it adds to the weight of this already heavy gun, but you can rest assured that you have the same amount of ammo as someone who carries a firearm with a single-stack magazine with 8 rounds and an extra mag. The magazine release is not ambidextrous, but can be switched fairly easily with a sharp pointed tool. IMPORTANT - The PT92 does not feature a magazine disconnect. This means that you can fire a round without the magazine inserted. Make sure to treat every weapon as if it were loaded!

Length & Weight

The PT92 has a: 

• 5” barrel length  
• Full length of 8.5” 
• Width of 1.5” 
• Weight of 34 oz. empty  

• Height of 5.6” tall 

Recoil Management

The PT92 comes in 9mm and will not kick like a .40 S&W or larger. The heavy frame of the gun offsets the recoil as well, making it faster for you to get back on target.

Price

It seems this gun’s popularity changes over time. Depending on the demand the price can be anywhere between $450 to $550.

My Verdict?

From deep roots and being expertly crafted right from the start, to the changes that Taurus made to get the finished product you see today, you can be certain that each step was carefully thought out with the end-user in mind. Taurus’ PT92 has everything that I look for in a firearm. It's got a considerably large magazine capacity for its size. Safety is taken care of with the flip safety and integrated decocker. The accuracy and reliability speaks for itself.

The PT 92 has my vote. Whether your carry needs to be fit for duty, or if you simply shoot for sport, you will not be disappointed with this buy.

Richard Douglas is a firearms expert and educator. His work has appeared in large publications like The Armory Life, Daily Caller, American Shooting Journal, and more. In his free time, he reviews optics on his Scopes Field blog.

Image: Wikipedia.