Semi-automatic pistol
The Taurus PT92 is a double action/single action, double-stack-magazine
fed, short recoil-operated, semi-automatic 9mm pistol manufactured by Taurus in the Beretta factory in São Paulo, Brazil.
History and creation
In 1974, a large contract for the Beretta 92 was issued by the Brazilian army, for which Beretta set up a factory in São Paulo, Brazil. This factory was later sold to the Brazilian gunmaker Taurus (Forjas Taurus S/A) in 1980, after the contract had expired. Shortly thereafter, Taurus closed down the factory and transferred the original Beretta machinery to its factory in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, using it to make its own pistol, which was a copy of the original Beretta 92 design, no longer being produced in Brazil. They did this without the need for a license and they also did not have to pay royalties, as the designs and patents had since expired.[1]
Design
Like the Beretta, the Taurus PT92 utilizes the open-slide design where the upper portion of the slide is cut away exposing much of the barrel itself. The original PT92 was, in most respects, exactly like the original Beretta 92, though it was also unusual for the time in that it featured a squared trigger guard for supporting the index finger of the opposite hand while firing, a feature which was subsequently introduced to the Beretta 92 with the 92SB-F (92F) model in 1985. The Taurus PT92 is less expensive than the Beretta 92 in most cases.
The Taurus PT92 has undergone many revisions in design since it was originally produced in the early 1980s. Originally, very early models of the PT92 (made between 1982 and 1983) were near-exact copies of the original Beretta 92, featuring the non-ambidextrous safety, round trigger guard and, most notably, the magazine release in the heel of the shiny plastic grips. However, this design was soon replaced with the release button at the base of the trigger guard, the current industry's most common magazine catch location. Nonetheless, aftermarket magazines for the Taurus PT92/Beretta 92 often have cuts for both magazine releases. Early PT92s and PT99s did not feature the third safety position decocker that is now standard; this feature was added to the second-generation models in the early 1990s, which also included the three-dot sights found on the Beretta 92F. A third revision in the late 90s changed the grip and slide design (which now has wider cocking serrations than PT92s manufactured before 1997).
More recently (as of 2005), Taurus has begun manufacturing the PT92 with a thicker trigger guard hook and built-in accessory rails on the frame, a feature found on the newer Beretta M9A1, a military upgrade of the Beretta 92 from which the PT92 is derived. While 15-round magazines were standard for the PT92 for many years, Taurus now manufactures 17-round magazines for the gun in order to give it comparable firepower to the Glock 17, and aftermarket 30-round magazines are also available. Despite the many design changes, the Taurus PT92 still retains many of the design elements from the original Beretta 92, such as the shape of the trigger. Other versions of the PT92 include the PT99, which has an adjustable rear sight and a taller front sight, the compact PT92C, and the PT100 and PT101, which are .40 S&W versions of the PT92 and PT99, respectively.[1]
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