Tag Archives: g3x g3xl g3c compared

Peanut Butter Tactical

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Taurus has been diversifying its line of affordable and rugged 9mm G3 series pistols for the past few years and the new G3 Tactical comes across its name honestly.

Introduced at the NRA Annual Meetings in Houston earlier this summer, the G3 Tactical is based on the standard full-sized and optics-ready G3 TORO but includes an extended threaded barrel, 17+1 capacity magazines, a Patriot Brown Cerakote slide, and FDE frame. What that translates to is a pistol that can do a lot right out of the bag, while keeping (well) inside the $500 range.

The G3 linage is unmistakable but when you start looking harder you see all the neat little bonuses such as front and rear slide serrations, suppressor-height co-witness sights, an extended factory-threaded 1/2x28TPI DLC-coated barrel, and top optics plate. The three-slot MIL-STD-1913 accessory rail, memory pads on the frame and 17+1 mags capacity are a nice touch as well.

Of course, to me the scheme looks more like peanut butter, but, hey, it works.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The Sig P365XL via Brazil

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Taurus earlier this year released a stretched slide version of their well-liked G3C, promising full-size pistol performance in a compact package via the new G3XL.

Here’s what I found out.

The 9mm Taurus G3XL carries over the standard model G3’s full-size Tenifer-finished all-steel slide and 4-inch stainless-steel barrel assembly. A crossover concept, it also borrows from the G3C by using its compact grip frame. The resulting G3XL thus has the benefit of the longer sight radius, tending to better accuracy over shorter barrels, while adding a few fps to bullet velocity for increased terminal performance. Meanwhile, the smaller frame allows easier carry than the standard-sized G3.

Of course, the gun’s name is a riff on the Sig Sauer P365XL, and it is roughly the same size, although the Taurus is a good bit less expensive. Heck, both even have a 12+1 magazine capacity. Ironically, the G3XL can even use Sig P229/228/226 mags, which would have been a neat trick that Sig should have thought about. 

It is pretty basic, but it works and costs well under $350.

More in my column at Guns.com.

G3C, G3X, G3XL…what?

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In the past couple of years, Taurus has really upped its 9mm game with a trio of G3 pistol models offering affordable options for everyday carry.

All based on the standard G3 line – the budget gunmaker’s third family of striker-fired polymer-framed pistols following in the wake of the PT111 Millennium and G2 series – the G3C was introduced in 2020, with the “C,” for “compact,” denoting the fact that it was both shorter in length and height than the base model.

Then came the G3X, which was much the same as the G3C but with a fuller grip and larger magazine capacity, and the G3XL, which had the same grip and magazine as the G3C but with a longer slide, offering a better sight radius and more controllability.

For reference:

Left to right, the G3C, G3X, and G3XL. (Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Check out my take on the trio, what makes them different, and why it matters, over in my column on GDC.