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Taurus PT92
Taurus PT92 in stainless steel with golden controls
Type	Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin	Brazil
Service history
In service	since 1983
Used by	See Users
Wars	The Troubles
Production history
Designed	1983
Manufacturer	Taurus Armas
Produced	1983–present
Specifications
Mass	960 g (34 oz)
Length	216 mm (8.5 in)
Barrel length	127 mm (5 in)
Caliber	9×19mm Parabellum .32 ACP .380 ACP .40 S&W
Action	Recoil-operated
Feed system	detachable box magazine (standard) (9mm) 10, 15, or 17 (+1) (.32 Auto) 12+1 (.380 ACP) 19+1 (.40 S&W) 10 or 11 (+1)

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, resulting in less expensive prices than the Beretta 92 in most cases.

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 model has also undergone many revisions in design since it was originally produced in the early 1980s.

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. It also featured 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. Taurus also started equipping 17-round magazines for the PT92 to match the firepower to the Glock 17.

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.

Variants

Current

Discontinued

Users

•  Argentina: PT92 and PT917 variants
  • Buenos Aires Provincial Police
•  Brazil: PT92 (designated as the M975 in the military)
  • Brazilian Army
  • Military Police
  • National Public Security Force
•  Chile
  • Carabineros de Chile
•  Dominican Republic
•  Indonesia
•  Libya
•  Malaysia
•  Peru: PT92AFD and PT92AFD-M variants
  • Peruvian Army Special Forces

Former users

•  Paraguay: Formerly used by the Paraguayan Army and national police, being replaced by Glock
•  Israel: PT92C; Israeli Civilian Police of Jerusalem District

Non-state users

• Provisional IRA

References

1. ^ "92 9MM Luger Pistol With Rubber Grips In Blue Steel". Archived from the original on 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
2. Jenzen-Jones, N.R.; McCollum, Ian (April 2017). Small Arms Survey (ed.). Web Trafficking: Analysing the Online Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Libya (PDF). Working Paper No. 26. pp. 45, 81. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
3. "Taurus 9mm PT92C Compact Nickel Israeli Police 1 Mag". Archived from the original on 2017-02-27. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
4. "Marita Ann Arms Transfer". www.rte.ie. RTÉ Archives. 1986-02-12. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.

External links

• Official United States site
• Unsung Best Buy: A Critical Look at the Taurus PT-92
• PT917C

• Semi-automatic pistols of Brazil
• 9mm Parabellum semi-automatic pistols
• .32 ACP semi-automatic pistols
• .380 ACP semi-automatic pistols
• .40 S&W semi-automatic pistols
• Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1983