Tag Archives: Taurus G3c

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.

Stetching the G3C

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Taurus this week delivered a new installment in its popular and budget-friendly 9mm G3 pistol series, the G3XL.
I got an early look and have been kicking it around for the past couple of weeks.
The crossover design blends the polymer grip frame of the compact G3C, with its standard 12+1 magazine capacity, with the more full-sized 4-inch barrel and slide of the Taurus G3 to create the G3XL. The result is a very concealable handgun that still allows a decent sight radius akin to the one seen on the Glock 19, while just weighing 24 ounces.

With a 3.2-inch barrel, the commonly-encountered G3C is just 6.3-inches overall, putting it right at an inch shorter than the G3XL, and couple of ounces heavier. However, in terms of height and width, the guns are a match for each other, no surprise as the G3XL uses the same grip frame as the G3C.

In the hands, the extra inch of slide/barrel really makes a difference. The G3C, left, G3XL on the right

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Taurus goes…Red Dot?

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For a few months last year, I actively carried and shot the heck out of a Taurus G3C on a T&E review. I was surprised in the fact that the non-frills Brazilian-made gun just flat out worked and digested everything I fed it. Carrying with a DeSantis holster, it felt good and I felt confident with it. So much so that, at the end of the review period, instead of sending it back to Taurus (I had saved all the packing and was fully prepared going into the review to “return to sender) I bought the damned thing.

They ship with 3 12-round mags and are an extremely compact design– that works– which is always a good thing. Price runs between $275-$350 depending on where you find them. 

Now, Taurus just announced they are delivering an optics-ready version to the market, ready right out of the box to carry just about every pistol red dot (Trijicon RMR, Noblex-Docter, Vortex Venom, Burris FastFire, Sightmark Mini, Holosun HS407C, Leupold Delta Point, C-More STS2, Bushnell RXS-250, and TRUGLO TRU-TEC Micro) there is.

The asking price is in the low $400s, which is nice.

Hanging out with the Unloved

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Normally, the pistols I test and evaluate for publications come from so-called “top shelf” or at least “mid-shelf” manufacturers such as Glock, S&W, FN, Kimber, et. al.

In a departure from that, I have been kicking around the Taurus G3C, the company’s third-gen polymer-framed striker-fired pistol for the past four months and have run more than 1K rounds through it, often carrying it as a BUG to get a feel for it.

The verdict? The damn thing works. It isn’t pretty. You aren’t going to want to show it off on your social media feed. However, Taurus has gotten their quality control in order and this gun has very little to complain about.

Plus, it is a 12+1 subcompact that is roughly the same size as a Glock 43, but only costs about $300.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Kicking around the G3c

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For the past several weeks I have been wrestling a Taurus, the company’s new G3c model subcompact 9mm to be exact. I wanted to hate it as it wasn’t a Glock 19/26 or S&W M&P M2.0 Compact– my typical every day carry– or at least you could say I didn’t have big hopes for it. Now, I will admit that, after 500 rounds and about 120 hours with it on my side, I am beginning to look at the gun with a fresh sense of curiosity.

So far, I’ve have found the Taurus G3c to be a definite upgrade from the company’s previous polymer-framed pistols, the 1st Generation PT111 Millennium and the 2nd Gen G2 line. Without spending Sig money for a P365 or even Springfield money for a Hellcat, it gets you in the neighborhood of a very compact 12+1 9mm that leaves you some extra scratch to invest in brass.

Which is always a good thing.

More in my column at Guns.com.

A good sub-$300 12+1 capacity 9mm? Just don’t ask who makes it

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Over the years, I have had lots of Taurus K-frame revolver clones pass through my hands, and they were decent guns mechanically if not in fit and finish. I even own a Taurus M1911A1 that has proven itself better than some American-made pistolas of the same breed. However, the company hasn’t been able to make a polymer-framed striker-fired gun that excited me, and they have certainly been trying. I’ve shot a few PT-111s and a G2 in the past several years and passed on them all with a shrug. Just not for me.

However, I have been testing one of the company’s new third-gen G3c models, and (puts on flame suit) I may be warming to the idea of carrying one of these.

Weight of the G3c, unloaded, is billed as 22-ounces and we found that the gun, when stuffed with 13 rounds of 147-grain Federal Hydra-Shok JHP bulks up to 27.1-ounces. Height is 5.1-inches over the sights with the standard magazine inserted.

More in my column at Guns.com 

Is Taurus finally getting its pistol act together?

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Since the 1980s, I’ve had a few Taurus handguns pass through my hands and, while I had fair success with their S&W-cloned K-framed .38s and similarly-cloned M1911A1 .45ACPs, the same could not be said for their polymer-framed semi-auto 9mm pistols (looking at you, Taurus Millennium).

However, a few years ago they upgraded their semi-autos with the G2 (Generation 2) model which exercised a lot of the demons with the Millennium line. Then last year they coughed up the G3 series, which got a lot closer to being good, especially for the price.

Now, this week, they came out with the G3c, a 12+1 capacity 9mm that takes Glock sights, is about the same size as the Springfield Armory Hellcat, and is set up to run sub-$300 at retailers. Also, as opposed to the Hellcat, it seems to be partially American-made at the Brazilain company’s new plant in Bainbridge, Georgia.

It looks like I am going to have to T&E one of these…

More in my column at Guns.com.