Taurus G3 (Good or Junk)

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I’d buy a couple at that price and be happy. Many folks have them and are happy, very few complaints I have seen on multiple forums. I had one for a short time but someone offered me almost twice what I paid so it left me. Sadly I didn’t get to shoot it(only had it 4 hours).
 
I have their older model the G2. Im very happy with it. I have the PT100 too. It's 40sw. A little story to share. I also had SW SDVE'S. 1 IN 9MM and a 40sw. They went toward a even trade for one of my 1911's.
 
From everything I’ve seen they seem to be a quality budget oriented carry gun.

a few months back I was curious about it but ended up getting the Sig P365 instead. Liked the feel and the trigger on the Sig much better.

with that being said, for the prices the Taurus is going for, it seems like a one of the better bang for the Buck carry guns out there right now.

If it's all you can afford, might be the best option for you. If you have a range near you where you can rent, I highly recommend that route.
 
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I’ve ran a PT111G2 for a few years now at the range and haven’t had any issues with either of the 2 we own. They don’t get carried much but are strategically placed within our house for quick access if need be (in locked but coded boxes due to grand kids visiting).

For a person looking for a low budget, functional firearm it’s a good buy.
 
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The only reason why I don’t buy Taurus is they appear to have a reputation as having the worst overall customer service in the industry.

Sure there have been times when they have responded well, but then they turn around to their old ways.

I’m just not going to roll the dice.
 
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243winxb said:
Spring problem i have on 1 of 2 G3C guns. Never to be trusted again.
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My G2 had the mag release problem. Dropped the loaded mag while firing twice.
Never trusted it again. Taurus CS took care of it no problem, but the trust was gone, and now, so is the gun.
Trust is the single most important thing to me in a carry gun. More important than caliber or accuracy or anything else.
 
Here is a 10 shot group at 21 feet from a rest out of my Taurus Millennium G2 PT111. This was with 124gr Lawman TMJ, which I've found to be the most accurate round from my gun:

PT111 19 SHOT 21 FEET.jpg

I purchased the Taurus Millennium G2 PT111 to go in my get-home-bag,. but I'll replace it with a SAR9 if I can snag one for under $225.00
 
For the money they are pretty impressive and well built pistols. The finish on the black models is not all that great so going stainless might be the best option. Also has a pretty decent aftermarket support with the Lakeline stuff. G2 were chambered in 40s&w so the 9mm G3 should be able to take a pretty good beating. Magazines are Mecgar... solid and reliable mag design.

Not much bad to say about them. All the G2 and G3 I have shot were accurate and reliable. Probably the best of the best in its price range. I would not have a problem carrying one. I really liked the full size G3 I shot at the range one day and plan on picking up a stainless version to play with. Have a couple others on the list in front of it though.

As for the magazine release issue.... I have not experienced it. Its a pretty minor fix though from what I see. I dont send gun back to manufacturers unless maybe a frame cracks. Most stuff is too easy to repair its not worth the hastle to me of putting firearms in the mail.

Honestly I dont think you can go wrong with them. Budget firearms sometimes need a little tweek here and there but in the last 10 years or so it seems like its getting common for higher end stuff as well so its a wash to me.
 
I bought a G3c for a spare "in vehicle" gun. It's great for that and not bad for EDC. I actually shoot it better than I do the Glock 26. But the G3c is not a range gun, I don't expect it to last thousands and thousands of rounds like my Glock or my M9A3.
 
I'm always amazed at the concept of "Great gun for the money." As if somehow all of the things that we objectively rate guns on get put on a sliding scale when the price is low.

What I've found with inexpensive pistols is the nicest thing about them is how inexpensive they are, once you get past the joy of saving money, everything about them is rather mediocre.
 
C0untZer0 said:
I'm always amazed at the concept of "Great gun for the money." As if somehow all of the things that we objectively rate guns on get put on a sliding scale when the price is low.

What I've found with inexpensive pistols is the nicest thing about them is how inexpensive they are, once you get past the joy of saving money, everything about them is rather mediocre.
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It depends on your intended use. For a gun I'm only going to take to a range occasionally and not EDC, or a gun that's meant to stay in my trunk as a backup or for snake duty when I go wading thru swamps, why would I want a Kimber or Glock for that? If that G3c gets lost in the swamp, stolen from my trunk, or only makes it to a range once a year, no big loss.
 
I have noticed that the pistol gets good reviews, but so do othe Taurus models. However Taurus is know for having QC and CS problems. While you are unlikely ro get a bad one you are more like to do so than with other well established brands. A visit to the Taurus Forum can be ver revealing abou problems incurred. My own ecpweienecwas with a G2C. Cleaned and lobed a new one and took it to the range. Before 50 rounds went through it the trigger spring broke. I wanted to order one, but they did not sell the part at that time, so I had to send it in for repair. It took 6 weeks to get it back, I sold it and have never bought another Taurus pistol. Although I know mant people have had no issues with Taurus guns.

By contrast when my then new LCP II had a mag release problem Ruger paid for shipping both ways. I had to pay shipping on the Taurus repair. The round trip repair time on the the Ruger was eight days. That LCP II cost about $300. For me the great Ruger service is worth the extra money.
 
1942bull said:
I have noticed that the pistol gets good reviews, but so do othe Taurus models. However Taurus is know for having QC and CS problems. While you are unlikely ro get a bad one you are more like to do so than with other well established brands. A visit to the Taurus Forum can be ver revealing abou problems incurred. My own ecpweienecwas with a G2C. Cleaned and lobed a new one and took it to the range. Before 50 rounds went through it the trigger spring broke. I wanted to order one, but they did not sell the part at that time, so I had to send it in for repair. It took 6 weeks to get it back, I sold it and have never bought another Taurus pistol. Although I know mant people have had no issues with Taurus guns.

By contrast when my then new LCP II had a mag release problem Ruger paid for shipping both ways. I had to pay shipping on the Taurus repair. The round trip repair time on the the Ruger was eight days. That LCP II cost about $300. For me the great Ruger service is worth the extra money.
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I like Ruger myself, but if you look on this and other forums, you'll find plenty of problems and people unhappy with Ruger as well. Same goes for many other well liked brands. I personally had a SW with a slide problem that they kept for about 4 months.
Its hard to quantify that statement "more likely " to get a bad one because we don't hear about all the good or bad occurances with any brand.
 
Hugger-4641 said:
I like Ruger myself, but if you look on this and other forums, you'll find plenty of problems and people unhappy with Ruger as well. Same goes for many other well liked brands. I personally had a SW with a slide problem that they kept for about 4 months.
Its hard to quantify that statement "more likely " to get a bad one because we don't hear about all the good or bad occurances with any brand.
Click to expand...

True, but Ruger customer and repair service is amazing. I am on two Ruger Forums so I see reports of the problems, but I also see how satisfied most folks are with haw well and fast Ruger makes amends. Of course, there are some Ruger horror stories, but the incidence of those is extremely low. As for S&W my experience with CS was good as for Remington mt experience with CS made Taurus look great.
 
C0untZer0 said:
I'm always amazed at the concept of "Great gun for the money." As if somehow all of the things that we objectively rate guns on get put on a sliding scale when the price is low.

What I've found with inexpensive pistols is the nicest thing about them is how inexpensive they are, once you get past the joy of saving money, everything about them is rather mediocre.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. The G3 is well built and a good value to the buyer.... hows that?

Seems like any Kinks were worked out in the G2 and the G3 just further improved on some minor things. Its not like its not been on the market long. No major issues I have seen reported. Nothing cracking or blowing up. Strong build for 9mm so a mjar component failure is not likely. Available in different options for the guys who want to jazz things up with an optic...... Offered in different finishes and frame colors...... Nice Mecgar magazines..... aftermarket has gained some traction for it. Plenty of holsters out there for it. Its pretty impressive overall any way you want to look at it. Its also been around long enough and vetted so I would chose it before something like the G4 which is newer.... those are looking pretty darn nice so far as well though (time will tell).

Hopefully Taurus doesnt do something stupid and discontinue it. It really needs to remain a flagship product along with their 92 style pistols.

The rest of the lineup doesnt due much for me. Spectrum can go... TX22... meh (Not really a fan of Aluminum slides). 809 might be fine.

Sccy makes pretty nice pistols now as well. Newer Diamondback DB9 gen 4 +p rated 9mm is also a sleeper IMO as are all the Bersa pistols. Lots of good stuff out there these days if people can get over brand obsession. FMK is getting closer but not quite there yet. How about some steel mag catches and barrel blocks FMK?. Get that extractor dressed down as well.

Taurus G3 is really the leader in its price range. There were places online selling them for around $200 over the holidays. Pretty crazy and getting into Hi-point territory. Taurus is really becoming a thorn in the side of some of the other large manufacturers and going to force them to keep their prices down to stay competitive in the market and Thats a great thing. Down side is we might see a whole lot of solid mid range priced handguns get discontinued if the prices are not dropped. SD9VE needs to come down a little bit to stay competitive ($250-$275 range).

If freaking out over minor issues (like a mag catch) is something people are going to loose sleep over then its probably a good move to stay away from firearms all together. It happens with every brand both now and in the past. Folks would be having heart attacks and dropping dead all over if AMT was still around.

As far as QC goes.... thats across the industry right now IMO and largely a result of modern manufacturing methods. I am more disappointed in Ruger than Anyone else. They are just not designing strong autopistols like they once were. Other than the American and 1911s the ruger lineup is pretty lousy IMO.
 
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