Taurus PT92 AF ?

M

mellow_c

New member
How much would you pay for a 1990's used, but good condition Taurus PT92 AF?

These things have a cocked and locked option as opposed to a safety/decocker, am I right?

Anyone have much experience with one of these things? I shot one a while back and thought it was kinda neat.

I may have a chance to buy one at a pretty low price.
 
I bought one brand-new around 1990 and still have it. It has served me well. The trigger is so-so, but it has been accurate and reliable. I guess I got lucky with the locking wedge, because it has given me no trouble. It looks like the finish is messed up, but it isn't. I guess the lighting was funny when I took the picture.

Taurus20PT99_zpsbt71fmxs.jpg
 
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I bought a like new '97 PT92 last year for $265.
It has been a fantastic pistol, easily the equal of the Beretta 92FS I used to own.
 
They can be pretty good guns. They decock and can be carried SA on safe. The lever does both.

Mine from about 1994 was pretty good. It had rare feed issues and the front sight dot was drilled off center.

There are better guns, but i would buy another under $300.
 
A few years ago a friend got one for $450 and except for one, ‘new gun’ glitch, has been well pleased with it.

I liked the frame mounted safety much better than the Beretta slide mounted safety.

The safety (on his) could be pressed down to decock the gun or pressed up to put it on safe. He and I both like it as it’s the same movement as on a 1911 type gun to snick the safety off.

His one glitch in owning the gun was that when the gun was new he ran a couple patches down the barrel and took it to the range and ran a hundred or so rounds without problems. He took it home, field stripped it and cleaned it pretty good his (and mine) time tested Hoppes #9, tooth brush and rags and then lubed with a couple drops of whatever oil was handy. We generally use Mobile 1 or Remoil, or I think he said he had some Outer’s that time. Anyway, next time at the range (with me along to shoot the ‘new’ gun) all we got was click, click, click. The primers were not getting hit. There’s a plunger in the slide that blocks the firing pin unless the trigger is pulled. The plunger apparently was not moving. Since it was a new gun we went back the store and the gunsmith there flushed the slide with some solvent (took about 5 or 10 minutes) and the gun has been flawless ever since. His opinion is that the first field strip cleaning my friend did managed to partially dissolve some factory preservative that seeped down around the plunger and jammed it. His ‘thorough’ cleaning dissolved the gunk completely.

Bottom line is the gun has run well for a couple years without problems.

My friend does wish he could have gotten the 99 model which is the same as the 92 but with adjustable sights. Apparently the adjustable sight model is a little easier to disassemble the slide too. There’s a pin under the rear sight. The fixed sight model you have to drift the sight off the slide to get at it. The adjustable sight gun you just have to unscrew rear sight adjusting screw all the way.

If you don’t get a lemon I expect you’ll be pleased with the 92. And if you do get a lemon I’ve heard Taurus is good for standing behind their products.

P.S. I've looked around locally and have NOT found a new one for $450 like my friend did. He got the last one the store had at a bargain or he might be pulling my leg on the price.
 
I've got a PT92C that I found on Gun Broker. Paid $250.00 and I'd buy it again. Gun looks new and has only had about 100 rounds put thru it before I got it.
 
:D

Well, I bought it!

Anyone want to guess how much I paid?


Ok ok. I'll tell ya.

$200 :eek:

+$25 for the transfer. . . $225 total with two Mecgar magazines and one Brazil Taurus mag, a worn leather holster, and a set of clean rubber Hogue stocks.

A buddy of mine got it in a trade and wanted money instead. I told him. "Well, I'm not looking to buy anything right now, and really, I'm not that interested in the thing, but I'll look in to them, see what they are worth, and probably make you a ridiculously low offer!" He said that would be fine. I called my local pawn and gun shop and asked them to check their book to see what they are worth. The book said between $200-360ish depending on condition for a used one. I called him back, told him what it was worth, but that I'd only give him $200 for it because I have other priorities for my money right now. He asked for a day to think it over, so I said sure thing and also offered to pay for the background check (required now in Colorado for all private transfers!) When I said I'd pay for the background check he seemed more interested.

Today I went and looked at it. It looked to be in pretty decent shape. A few scratches here and there, some holster wear, but overall pretty decent although a bit dirty. It's probably had a few thousand rounds through it. It's hard to tell, but the wear on the barrel and frame rails appears fairly minimal for the age of the pistol.

I cleaned the slide and barrel tonight. Tomorrow I'll get to the frame. I might have to take some pics to show you all what I've got :)

I'm already thinking about buying some wood grips and polishing just the flat sides of the slide down to bare shinny metal to help clean it up and to give it a nice tri tone look.

This one has a sort of mate black finish on the majority of the slide/frame/barrel, but then a glossy blued finish on the flat sides of the slide. The blued finish is not bad, it's still all there, but there are noticeable scratches in it, nothing bad though.

It also has the 3 position safety, and of that, I'll say already, I'm a huge fan! Safe/Off/Deckock.
Thats the one thing I've always hated about the Beretta, I just wish the thing had a cocked and locked option (Well 2 things, I also dont like how you can inadvertently engage the safety on the Beretta when reloading because it's on the slide. I had that happen to me once when running an informal but competitive timed course, I realized it and corrected it quickly, that was the first time I'd done anything other then target shooting with the gun and it was a bit of a wake up call. I think you could get used to it, but I like the Taurus Safe/Off/Decock on the frame better so far. Well see what I think after I shoot it more. I'd like to see how the internals work someday.)



Now I need to go research what kind of metal these things are made of, unless someone on here knows off hand? I'm wondering how similar these are to the Beretta. I know the finishes are different, as well as the safety. But is all the rest the same? Materials and all? I've heard that these were made in a factory and on machinery that Taurus bought from Beretta.


I never thought I'd buy a Taurus after all the things I've heard and after my experiences with Rossi. But I have a good feeling about this one.
 
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I'm already thinking about buying some wood grips
Click to expand...

Let me give you a vague warning about removing the grips.

There's something goofy about the top screw on the left side. There's some kind of bushing that's supposed to stay on the frame but that some times comes off with the grip screw and that can release the end of a spring. Take the left grip off slowly and you won't have a problem. Some folk use Loctite to attach the bushing to the frame so that the problem does not occur.

Good luck.

P.S. That price was definitely right!
 
Thanks DaleA :)

I've heard horror stories about simply removing the grips on a Beretta, but I just went slow with that and had no problems.

I'll be sure to exercise extra caution and to pay close attention when I get to that top left grip screw on the Taurus. :)

And thanks for the comment on the price:D I'd feel bad about it, except for the fact that I told him it was a low low price. . . I guess it was easier for him to just sell it to me then to go through the trouble of searching for a buyer to give him an extra $100 or so.



Also I should really mention this.


After the deal was made, I promised to take him to the range to shoot it. Although he owned it, he had never shot it, and I could tell he was going to miss it.
 
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I read the article on the Taurus PT 92. It was a pretty good write up, however I need to point out some things the author was wrong about because he likely does not have first hand knowledge.

Like the original Beretta 92, the Taurus 92 uses a falling locking block reminiscent of the Walther P-38 as a part of the weapon’s action. This component is estimated by many to have a 5000 round life expectancy, although it is not at all uncommon to find a pistol with several thousand more rounds through it that is still running on the original locking block. If broken, the locking block is easily replaced,
Click to expand...

The locking block on my 1989 PT99 failed in less than 500 rounds. The locking block broke in two places and completely jammed up the slide/barrel and frame. At that time, there was no way to distinguish a broken locking block from a stuck case. What the author doesn't tell you is that what you must do to get the gun apart if/when a broken locking block jams up your gun is to cut the barrel in 2 parts so that the slide can be removed without destroying the soft aluminum frame.

Also, the locking block is not easily replaceable. It needs to be fitted, typically by a gunsmith who knows what they are doing, to get the gun to function properly.

Beretta came out with a beefier locking block in the 2000's. I don't know if Taurus did the same or not. I also don't know whether the older Taurus guns can use the beefier Beretta locking block, but I was told by one person once that it could. I'm skeptical of this claim, however.
 
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I had a stainless one years ago, I don't know why I traded it off because it was a great gun. yes, the safety is a safety, not a decocker. I use gun broker to check market prices on used guns before I go out shopping.
 
The locking block does not need to be fitted, and on a used 92 of uncertain round count, it is a good idea to replace it and the recoil spring.
In fact, that is what I did. Oh, I shot my PT92AF as soon as I got it, but I ordered the locking block kit from Beretta. This includes the block, a new redesigned block pin, and the recoil spring. It was pretty cheap.
The Beretta block is on its 3rd generation, and is said to be much more durable.
It has to be used with the new pin, which is thicker than the original.
Everything dropped right in to my pistol, and function has been perfect.

My PT92 came with wood grips that looked great, but they are smooth and a bit slippery. I replaced them with hogue rubber, and they are much better for shooting.
If you look on eBay for "beretta 92 holster", you can find good deals on used, first quality leather.

First shots, 25yds...


15yds rapidfire, 18rds...
 
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The Beretta block is on its 3rd generation, and is said to be much more durable.
Click to expand...

That's a good thing! Now we know that the Beretta 3rd gen locking blocks fit the old Taurus PT guns.
 
That's great info guys! I wasn't aware that the locking block was something that should be replaced. It looks like Beretta says they should be replaced on average around every 20,000 rounds.

I'm doubtful that my Taurus needs anything right now, even if it's not an up to date version of the locking block. I have a feeling I would be able to shoot it for thousands of rounds without any issues, but maybe I should just go ahead and get the kit and put it in anyway.

Some people say to just drop them in. Others say to fit it. I'm wondering, how one would go about properly fitting it. I guess I'll have to take a closer look and inspect the parts that are in it right now and look for points of wear.

Thanks for the posts guys:)
 
I guess I'll have to take a closer look and inspect the parts that are in it right now and look for points of wear.
Click to expand...

You can't inspect them for wear - that's not where they break. And, if the locking block does break it is common (not always) that your gun will lock up to where the only thing that can be done is cutting the barrel in half. This happened to me - I'm not just reciting internet lore.

So, my suggestion is that anyone who has an older Taurus PT92/99 gun replace their locking block with the new 3rd gen Beretta locking blocks.
 
It doesn't tie it up to point of needing to cut the barrel very often. Usually they can be finessed apart.
Beretta 92 barrels do fit and function in the PT92...and I often see them pretty cheap. If I find a stainless one cheap, I might pick it up for the two tone look. Or a blued one, since they are chrome lined.
 
Skans,

When I was talking about looking for points of wear, I meant that I would do that so that I could see where contact is being made to give myself an idea of what area people are working on when they "Fit" a locking block to a particular gun. The theory seems to be that you want equal wear on each of the "ears" of the block because if it's wearing on one primarily, then it is likely to break off that ear because it is the one taking all the force, in which case I suppose you could file that side down a bit to spread the wear evenly between the two ears.

Anyway, I went ahead an ordered 2 of the locking block kits from Beretta USA. I got a discount on two of them vs 1, and it also came with free shipping. I figured I'll use one kit in the Taurus right now, and save the other one for my Beretta down the road.

I finished cleaning up the Taurus today. I'm impressed. The thing looks pretty good. Looks like a $350-400 gun to me now as opposed to a $200 gun:D
 

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