Taurus PT92 9mm 5in 17+1 Black — Superb Full-Size Pistol

Description

The Taurus PT92 9mm is a full-size, hammer-fired 9mm with a five-inch barrel, seventeen rounds, a black anodised aluminium frame with an accessory rail, and the open-top slide that has defined this pattern for forty years.

The pattern is familiar; the safety is not. On the Taurus PT92 9mm the manual safety sits on the frame rather than the slide, above the left grip panel where the thumb rests, and it can be applied with the hammer already cocked. That single change turns a design that was built around a slide-mounted decocker into one you can carry cocked and locked, and it is the reason a lot of people prefer this gun to the original.

How it is built

• The Taurus PT92 9mm holds seventeen rounds plus one in a double-stack magazine, with a five-inch matte black stainless barrel.
• An open-top slide — the barrel is exposed along the top, which is excellent for ejection reliability and gives the pattern its unmistakable outline.
• A black anodised aluminium frame with a Picatinny rail moulded into the dust cover.
• A frame-mounted manual safety on the Taurus PT92 9mm, usable with the hammer cocked, plus an exposed hammer for deliberate single-action shots.
• Checkered black rubber grip panels and fixed sights.

Shooting a full-size alloy 9mm

• Weight is the point. A five-inch barrel on an alloy frame soaks up 9mm recoil so thoroughly that the sights barely leave the target, which is why this pattern was a service standard for so long.
• The first shot is double action and long; every shot after it is single action and short. That transition is a skill, and it is worth deliberate practice.
• The Taurus PT92 9mm is a large pistol. This is a duty, home and range gun, not something to conceal under a t-shirt.
• There is no optic cut. The sights are fixed and plain, and that is the whole feature set.
• The open slide will not throw a case back at you, and it makes clearing an obstruction unusually easy.

Specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 1-920151-17
• UPC: 725327600527
• Calibre: 9mm Luger
• Capacity: 17+1
• Barrel: 5 in, matte black stainless steel
• Slide: serrated steel, open top
• Frame: black anodised aluminium with Picatinny rail
• Action: hammer-fired, double action / single action
• Safety: frame-mounted manual safety
• Sights: fixed
• Grip: black rubber panels

9mm Luger is standardised by SAAMI, which is why a service-pattern pistol like this one will run on anything from cheap brass-cased range ammunition to premium defensive loads without adjustment. Out of a five-inch barrel you get the velocity the ammunition makers quote, rather than the reduced figures a compact produces.

For something smaller in the same cartridge, MAG5 stocks the Taurus G3, the GX4 Carry and the GX2 Compact. If you like the hammer-fired metal-frame idea but want a milder cartridge, the Taurus 58 in .380 ACP is the same school of design.

Why the Taurus PT92 9mm earns its place

• The Taurus PT92 9mm has a frame-mounted safety that works with the hammer cocked, which the original pattern’s slide-mounted decocker cannot do.
• Seventeen rounds and a five-inch barrel, at a price well under what the pattern usually costs.
• An alloy frame and a steel slide, so it shoots soft and lasts.
• An accessory rail, which the early guns in this family did not have.
• A design with four decades of service behind it and holsters on every shelf.

This suits a home-defence pistol, a range gun and a first full-size 9mm — the weight and the long sight radius make it genuinely easy to shoot well. It also suits anyone who wants the classic open-slide pattern with a safety they can use properly. The Taurus PT92 9mm is not a carry gun, has no optic cut, and makes no attempt at either; what it is, is a lot of pistol for the money.

In stock now at MAG5 Firearms in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Handgun sales ship to a licensed dealer in your state, where you will complete a Form 4473 and the background check before taking delivery.