Taurus vs. Beretta

I have a predilection for Taurus handguns, as you may have noticed from previous posts.  I like their revolvers, and I especially like their PT92 series of pistols.

I qualified and trained with a Beretta in the Coast Guard, and never developed the dislike of the pistol that some people have.  When I was shopping for a good pistol for home defense that I could grab in the middle of the night be intimately familiar with the operating system, I gravitated towards the M9 and the PT92 pistols.  Ultimately I went with a PT92, for one big reason.

The safety.  I hate/loathe the safety on the M9.  I was taught to carry the M9 “revolver style”, with the safety off and the hammer down on a live round, and I never liked the safety.  It’s in an odd place, and it’s hard for me to swing my right thumb from its proper position up to the safety to take it off and then back down to the grip without turning the pistol in my hands.  That safety drove me nuts.

The Taurus PT92 on the other hand has a 1911 type safety.  I’m not a big fan of 1911s (Well, there go half my readers – ed), but I did like the safety.  If you’re going to have manual safety devices on a pistol, put them in a place where they’re user friendly for 99.9% of the population.  The location of the safety on the Taurus, and the fact that because of said safety it can be carried “cocked and locked” were my primary factors in choosing Taurus over an M9 Beretta.

Actually, I’m looking for another PT92 right now, the one I have has the integral accessory rail milled into the frame, which is fine for a home defense gun, but I want one with the “clean” frame for carrying.  It’s probably what I’ll end up putting the money from my GP100 sale towards.

7 Comments

  1. Most of my other guns don’t have safeties…but they also have cylinders. For some reason, I like a safety on my bottom feeders.

  2. I liked the safety on the PT101 I had. I liked that I could carry in condition one, or that I could decock it, though realistically there was never much need for decocking.

  3. I bought an H&K USP Compact as my primary house / carry gun in part because it has a 1911 style safety, that I don’t have to think about to use.

    I love your statement about loosing half your readers because you don’t like 1911’s. If I said that about Harley’s the outrage would hilarious.

  4. I don’t know how often I’ve said the same thing. I CAN’T STAND the M9 (in fact I wangled an M11 when I was on uncles dime; the CG has switched to the .40 version thereof) but I actually rather like the PT92.

    YEah, the finish isn’t as good, but the actual mechanicals of the gun are better; and that safety more than makes up for it.

  5. Yeah, my boat riding friends seem to be quite enamored with their Sig Sauers; especially with the tasty HP ammo they get when doing LE missions.

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