Sig Man. Beretta set up the machinery for Taurus and ran the show for several years before selling the machinery to Taurus. I had an early PT-99, the non-decocker model, and It was accurate, never jammed with jacketed ammo, and the only malfunction it ever gave me was with some cast lead loads I bought. For some reason, they would not feed.
The only difference in the magazines, is the hole on the Beretta mags are smaller than the Taurus. I haven'y tried this, but I seriously believe that with a little careful work with a needle file, Beretta mags would work in the Taurus. I don't know about any other parts interchangeability though.
In fact, IMHO, the Taurus is just a Beretta with a Brazilian accent.
The grips are blocky, that's true. However, ther eis enough wood thast one could thin them down with a file without destroying the integrity of the piece.
Paul B.