Subtotal: $ 941.00
The GEN 3 is a double action/single action, 9mm, double-stack magazine fed, short recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Taurus in the former Beretta factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In 1974, a large contract for the Beretta 92 was issued by the Brazilian army, for which Beretta set up a factory in Sao 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 began using the original Beretta machinery to make their own pistols, which were a copy of the original Beretta 92 design, which was not being produced at that point. They did this without the need for a license and they also did not have to pay royalties, as the patents had since expired.
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 and the location of the safety. 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 Sw versions of the PT92 and PT99, respectively
