Taurus PT99AF...hmmmm...

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D.B. Cooper

D.B. Cooper

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So...in an completely unrelated discussion, @larryh1108 asked:

larryh1108 said:
If you sell a gun and regret it later (for whatever reason) then why can't you just buy a similar one?
Click to expand...

and that has been food for thought.

I once owned (around 1997 or 98) a Taurus PT99AF (Beretta 92 FS knock-off, stainless steel with adjustable rear sight) and sold it in 2003. I mostly like the gun. It was very accurate with WWB 115 grn FMJ, never ever jammed, and I used it as my practice gun when I was on my squadron's pistol team. (Couldn't afford a Beretta at the time.) I also preferred the frame mounted safety over Beretta's slide mounted safety.

Now, I've trash talked Taurus as much as the next guy, probably more, so this is difficult, but I'm thinking about owning another one. (I've pretty much swore off Taurus.)

Taurus has a well earned reputation for, at best, inconsistent quality. What are the odds that any PT99AF I buy on gun broker (They're out of production now; only the PT92 (fixed sights) is available new.) will be as good as the one I owned twenty years ago? I often wonder if I just lucked out with that gun, and any other gun I may have received would have been junk. Plus there is the issue of buying a used gun online is like buying a mystery grab bag; who knows what's in the sock drawer.
 
I'd say your chances of getting a decent one is pretty high. I know a couple buddies that have "nicer" guns and still swear by their older PT.

At worst I'd say you might need a few replacement parts to get it in top shape, and the action parts are still made, widely available add pretty inexpensive.

I'd roll the dice if that's what I wanted.
 
I would take a chance on another Taurus PT 92 or PT99. The ones I have used have all been solid performers with no problems to speak of. I also liked the frame mounted safety/decocker and overall fit and finish were very good.
 
I think a lot of the decision is the make and model of a specific gun. The Taurus 92 has been around for a long time with a good service record as well a design that has proven to be a solid one. IMO, that makes it an easy decision. If it is a line with known issues yet the one you sold ran like a top, that could make replacing it a risky choice.

Also, some guns just perform so well in your hands that replacing that may never happen again. These are guns that, for whatever reason, out perform their model's norm. It could be a perfect barrel or perfect harmonic balance, etc. Not easily repeatable in another gun of the same model. Of course, selling that gun in the first place would be a hard decision and trying to find an exact duplicate would be even harder. Some specific guns are just hard to replace in terms of duplicating accuracy or feel in your hand.
 
I owned a PT-99 from the early 90's and sold it a few years later to finance something else (don't even remember now) and regret letting it go. It was a solid performer. I developed a load for it with a 100 grain JHP over enough Unique to hit around a measured 1300-1400 fps and accurate as a laser out to 30 yards or so.

As to whether you'll get the same quality in another purchase, that's a big unknown. But I've had quality issues with out of the box Ruger and S&W handguns also.

If I really wanted one badly enough and the price is right, I would take the gamble.
 
The pt92 and 99 are great guns. They have been used by multiple militaries as their official sidearm. They were originally build on beretta tools and have been running a long time. Both my mom and my son have them. I will get one sooner or later when I find another at a fair price. I’ve heard way too many good stories and honestly no bad ones.
 
I own a 92, and a 99 and a PT 1911 in 9 and 45. Never had a problem.

I'm not a fanboy but I do work in the industry.

Old Taurus had a Q C problem and penchant for rushing untested new model lines to market.
In the last 5 yrears, New management and tightened QC, along with better R and D base resulted in quality product.

The only products old Taurus got right from the beginning were the 92, 99 autos and the 605, and 85 revolvers.
New Taurus gave us the reworked 111 resulting in the G2C. A great small 9mm.

A long way of saying get another 99 or 92 with confidence.
 
Taurus, for some inexplicable reason, executes other makers’ designs very, very well (their k-frame copies, 92’s, 1911’s, etc). I’ve observed most of the grousing has to do with guns of their own design.

My personal buying habits do not necessarily exclude Taurus products, as I have not had the terrible experiences others have had. Currently hankering for their 856 stainless snubbie-a j-frame sized 6-shot .38.
 
Funny you mention this. I have a PT101 AF (“stainless” .40 with adjustable sights) and yesterday I bought a PT 100 in blue with nonadjustable sights for $250 at my local Cabelas. It was in the gun library and was as new with checkered wood grips.
I’m a child of the 80s and 90s and the 101 is one of the first Guns I ever bought.

mine has been a great, reliable shooter. The older ones with fine slide serrations and polished flats and no rail are my preference. On this One the decocker returns to center by spring pressure after decocking while in my first one it stays down. Don’t know what variant they call that but I prefer the decock only feature. Of course you know you can carry these cocked and locked also and they have frame mounted safeties like the old berettas which I much prefer over the slide mounted ones.
 
As I wrote in the other thread, I got mine new in 1990 and it's still a great shooter.

My experiences with the PT92 series, the Model 85's, the Model 66's, and the G2C have all been very positive. I'm leery of their other stuff.

TaurusPT99

TaurusPT99

 
I use to own a PT99 Taurus. The one issue I had was with the rear sight which broke. I had to replace the sight. From reading in the past about those guns sight breakage had been a problem. Before buying a PT 99 now I would check on rear sight availability just because of this.
 
I think railroader hits on a good point with the sights. The only big concern I would have with an otherwise reliable design is that parts are still available from the manufacturer or after market. In a M9 copy like the PT99 I would imagine most parts are available and will be for a while, but I would be worried about anything proprietary with limited support.
 
D.B. Cooper said:
What are the odds that any PT99AF I buy on gun broker (They're out of production now; only the PT92 (fixed sights) is available new.) will be as good as the one I owned twenty years ago?
Click to expand...
Probably pretty good. My 1991 PT-92AFS-D is still going strong. Not much can go wrong with these pistols, and it's a good bet that parts aren't overly difficult to find -- there's still a lot of these guns out there and in service.

PT92.JPG
 
I once had a HK P9s that was a fantastic pistol. I foolishly sold it off for something else. Don't recall what that was now. I later replaced it with another P9s. It just wasn't the same. Nothing wrong with it. Just not what I remembered.
On the other hand, I've replaced several S&W revolvers that had been sold off for one reason or another. Every one of them lived up to what I remembered. Some even better.
Take a chance on a used one. Even if it turns out like my HK, rather than my S&Ws, you won't be hurt too bad reselling it later.
 
railroader said:
I use to own a PT99 Taurus. The one issue I had was with the rear sight which broke. I had to replace the sight. From reading in the past about those guns sight breakage had been a problem. Before buying a PT 99 now I would check on rear sight availability just because of this.
Click to expand...
That is what prevented me from buying one. I have a PT92, love it, was looking to buy another full size metal gun and saw Kentucky Gun Co listed PT99 Blemished for $285 about 2 weeks ago, almost bought it but researched a bit. Realized the rear sight breaks a lot and hard to find part, decided to skip it. It is sold out now but they have PT92 Blemished is for $315.
 
In the early 90’s I received the 92 as a Christmas gift from the three sons. Pickled or In the white, not sure what to call it, with walnut grips it’s a pretty thing. As a hand loader and bullet caster I kept trying to shoot lead 9’s and it just didn’t work, key-holing, barrel leading up, ach, Taurus even installed a new barrel on no dice, won’t shoot lead bullets. Good with jacketed no good with lead. So now when I shoot it it’s Berrys 115 grain plated bullets. I don’t know, will any 9MM handle cast bullets. ??
 
whughett said:
Good with jacketed no good with lead. So now when I shoot it it’s Berrys 115 grain plated bullets. I don’t know, will any 9MM handle cast bullets. ??
Click to expand...

Apparently many do though when I got my 92 I looked at using cast and then all the horror stories at Cast Boolits turned me away. Plated just load so much simpler.
 
kmw1954 said:
Apparently many do though when I got my 92 I looked at using cast and then all the horror stories at Cast Boolits turned me away. Plated just load so much simpler.
Click to expand...
If I did a search in these pages I’d probably find a previous thread on it. It just seems strange. I started with a loading that would just cycle the slide and went up from there. Several standard pistol powders and several bullet weights and designs , even tried wax gas checks, no good, as mentioned blamed the problem on the barrel and Taurus replaced it, no go. This was all well before I bought into the internet and today’s forums. Everything in the 70s 80s into the 90 was books, catalogs and magazine subscriptions. o_O
 
I don't shoot lead or have leading issues but the question I have is why some barrels are prone to leading while others are not.
Not the difference between polygonal and standard barrels (though I have a harder time understanding why a barrel that is not cut
and has a smoother bore is more prone to leading) but between barrels that are cut the same way (standard lands and grooves). Why
would his 92 barrel lead but not another 9mm barrel?
 
I don’t trust Taurus at all, but I’ve only heard good things about the 92 copies. That 92 copy is the only Taurus I would even consider owning.
 
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