Info on Taurus PT99AFS

[IamNOTaNUT]

I won a gun at a pistol match yesterday (indoor PPC), thanks to scoring on the Lewis system, and would like some information about it.

The gun is a Taurus PT99 AFS. It appears to be a close likeness of the Beretta 92. This gun has what looks to be a chrome plated alloy frame and stainless slide with polished flats. It wears black plastic grips and an adjustable rear sight. The frame mounted safety looks as though it may be carried cocked and locked, or depressed further for use as a decocker. The hammer looks a bit cheap, a definite no-no on any highly polished chrome gun.

It is a pleasant enough gun to look at, though I don't know if I can resist the urge to equip it with pink fuzzy grips if I decide to keep it.

When I first got in to shooting, around a dozen years ago, Taurus had a lousy reputation. I have never considered purchasing one. Has Taurus quality improved markedly in the past decade? What is the going rate for one of these puppies? Are spare parts and gunsmiths available to fix this up a bit, as I don't like the trigger pull all that much and the hammer looks cheap.

Any general impressions? Any shooting results?

Please enlighten me.

 

[denfoote]

What you have is a PT92AFS with adjustible sights. I have the 92. It is a decent dun. Not as accurate as my Beretta 92, but close. IMHO, the 92 series are the only decent autoloaders Taurus makes. Probably because they were designed by Beretta!!!

 

[chaim]

You won a PT 99. Get rid of that POS right away! I'd be happy to take it. But seriously, you got yourself one heck of a gun, and you can't beat that price (ok, only half serious here).

Taurus steel framed autos are great guns. I've heard great things about all of them, the PT 92 and others in that series (PT 99, or the .40 versions the PT 100/101) and the PT 911/940/945. The revolvers are great too. The polymer guns have had problems but I'm starting to hear murmurs that the problems may have been fixed (but I will wait a while to be sure). They are supposed to be very reliable, accurate and durable guns. I really like the safety system that works as a decocker AND allows condition one carry.

The going rate around here (where guns do tend to be a little overpriced) is about $500 for a new one. For comparision, a Beretta 92 starts about $600 (I've seen them for as little as $500 used).