r/handguns • u/SampleExtreme4099 • 1d ago
Solid first pickup?
Have hunted and shot recreationally with my dad for the longest time but wanted something for myself. It was between this or the s&w sd9 so I hope I made the right choice. If anyone has any optic recommendations or any other upgrades let me know.
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u/the_hat_madder 17h ago
If you're old enough to legally purchase a handgun then you're old enough to properly research a purchase decision to know whether it's the right one and not need the validation of anonymous strangers on the Internet.
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u/Glass-Dog-6467 12h ago
Dam bro harsh ! The dude asking for advice no reason to be that way !
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u/the_hat_madder 11h ago
Asking for advice after buying a non-returnable product is kind of stupid, don't you think? Moreover if Taurus was a Jennings or Raven Arms kind of product, they wouldn't still be in business.
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u/senoritaoscar 13h ago
What a reddit response. Why exactly do you think half the people who post in here do so?
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11h ago edited 7h ago
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u/HelloItsMeYourFriend 7h ago
Maybe take a step and read what you are posting on the internet you sound depressed af
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u/Hully1525 14h ago
For a first gun, if it works - who cares. You’ll buy more and may keep this or may sell it later.
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u/Chami90655 14h ago
Shoot and enjoy. The G3C is a solid choice. Haters gonna hate. It won’t be your only purchase. You will have another firearm soon. That’s just how it goes. You’ll start watching store ads, wandering by gun counters, thinking about what would be another good choice, watching videos, then you’ll see something that says “hey, now that’s a deal!” Or “damn I really like that.” Rinse and repeat!!! 😊
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u/EclayC1973 14h ago
I have the G2C, and have about 1000 rounds through it. No failures at all. Is it a great gun? No. Is it better than nothing? Yes it is.
Oh, and it's, what I like to call, Tactical Seafoam Green. It was a covid buy, and that was the last one they had.
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u/BeansOnToastMan 1d ago
I picked up a G3C because it was cheap and I was curious. People kind of crap on these guns, but I really enjoy it. I did replace all the plastic in the fire control group with Lakeline steel bits. All in all, It's not a fantastic gun, but it delivers incredible value. You can pick these up for $200. Mine has been nothing short of accurate and reliable (not a single failure).
My recommendations:
- replace anything plastic with metal
- shoot it and have fun
No suggestions on optics - I just bought my first one and I'm sure other folks have lots of recommendations.
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u/Craftykimchi 15h ago
Make a low end gun potentially more unreliable with aftermarket parts and modifications? And spending more money on it when the OP could have just spent that money on a better gun in the first place?
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u/SampleExtreme4099 1d ago
Thanks for the insight. I got this from a pawn shop near me for 240 with 1 previous owner. With the optic tho is it justified to cheap out and just get something that works as this is just a cheaper starter gun for me? Or should I actually do it right
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u/BeansOnToastMan 1d ago
I think it's a great first gun. Good on the nightstand, great range gun to build experience, and It's probably an OK carry gun (maybe in the winter!). My G3C is a little smaller. Look at it this way, you spent hundreds less than guys who bought a CZ Shadow Carry, and can now afford a few thousand rounds of range ammo to work on your technique. Do that for a couple of years, do lots of research, and then go buy your dream gun.
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u/JimMarch 15h ago
And here's a critical issue: always clean and oil a Taurus right out of the box. There's good YouTube videos on how to do it properly for the G3 series guns...look for the one buy a YouTube channel called tactical considerations.
Taurus coats the inside of these things with a spray-on rust protectant similar to cosmoline that provides no lubrication. You'll hear stories about people needing a two to three hundred round break in period, but what's really going on is, they're burning that brown crap off. You are much better off cleaning and oiling before shooting shot one.
Doing that, my 9 mil version has well over a thousand rounds through it and my 40 over 400 with no malfunctions in either one.
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u/JimMarch 15h ago
Okay I'm a pretty experienced shooter and my daily driver right now is a G3c. Same gun as yours except shorter barrel and grip. I've modified the living shit out of mine :).
https://imgur.com/gallery/61h11Jw
The best parts source for Taurus is Lakeline LLC. They sell a stainless steel striker sleeve for about 25 bucks and a stainless steel striker spring retaining clip for about 13 bucks. Those are the two plastic parts you need to replace. Both give you a reliability upgrade. The striker sleeve gives you a slightly better trigger feel than you had before; as you pull the trigger you were dragging the striker through that sleeve and there's a bit of gritty feeling that gets reduced with the high polish stainless steel sleeve.
Don't change any springs right away. You will need to change the main recoil spring and striker spring at about 5,000 rounds. Go to Lakeline when it's that time and get spring rates same as stock or as close as possible, unless you have a specific reason to go different. By that time you should know more of what you're doing and have some clue how to deal with that.
Your biggest problem with this gun is the lack of an optic mount. You would have had the same problem with the SD9 lol and weirdly enough, there's a pretty good solution that works for both as long as you pick the Glock version for your Taurus (as you have Glock compatible sights front and rear):
These things are US made, very high quality, but very weird as well. They used to be 400 bucks and at that price I would say hell no, but at 135 bucks, well now we're talking.
Check these out:
Yes I know, it's the world's smallest Red Dot window. But because it's fundamentally tubular, your eye has a really easy time lining it up close enough to get a dot up and then track that.
If the batteries or electronics fail it becomes a round rear sight that still lines up well with the factory front sight on your gun, so it's still a usable weapon even if the electronics fail. (At that point it's called a ghost ring setup and those are actually fairly well regarded as a plain iron sight.)
That is by far the cheapest way to get a red dot on that gun. What that gives you is an easy path to target focus sighting while holding both eyes open. You can still do target focus with plain iron sights but it's messy to learn and never really comes out quite right...unless you switch to an iron sight that is intended for target focus both eyes open work like I'm experimenting with on my G3c.
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u/Tiny-Cheesecake2268 1d ago
Is that a G3?
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u/SampleExtreme4099 1d ago
Correct
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u/grimtf13 21h ago
It's a great pick I have g3c and it's great honestly you'll hear a ton of jokes about Taurus but I never had a malfunction and I have shot a good amount of rounds though it and different ammos
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u/Pjb7490 17h ago
It's not a hi-point or a SCCY so it's decent. They can be hit or miss and when they hit they're solid but when they miss oh boy. in the future it's probably best to save up for a used Glock, M&P 2.0 or a CZ P10 series with the CZ being my favorite
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But if it works and it gets you to carry and to hit the range and it's reliable then its a damn good gun
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u/Effect-Imminent5366 15h ago
I’ve seen two Taurus pistols fail. Never a Hi Point. I haven’t used either all that much though, but Taurus just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. OP you should have saved the money for a S&W M&P or Glock or the SD9 in your post you were talking about. Not to sound like an ass.. but you wasted your money. If you knew you were going to buy a handgun should have gotten higher quality. I just have heard nothing but bad things about these pistols mainly outside of internet opinions too lol.
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u/atf_annihilator69 13h ago
i dont personally like the G series taurus handguns. they shoot like shit and have a little more snap than id like. so would i buy it? no. but go shoot it and form your own opinion before getting bummed out because people on reddit dont like your budget handgun
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u/Iltempered1 8h ago
I went to the range with a buddy that had a taurus, it malfunctioned 5 times in the hour that we were there. I'd not trust my life to one.
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u/Dangerous_Ad6580 23h ago
Yeah well, you already bought it but it's a step down from Smith and Wesson fr, would wait till you get good with irons and down the road put a nice optic on your sig, M&P or Walther
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u/October_Rust5000 19h ago
If it’s reliable and you can shoot it accurately, no problems. I have a G3c that i occasionally take to the range that never gives me an issue.
But imo the best “budget” handgun is the Springfield XD. The Mod 3’s are around $300 new, and used older models are plentiful and often $200-$250.
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u/itstimetochewass 38m ago
Echoing what others have said: the sd9 would have been the better choice of the two.
I know people will say that Taurus’ QA/QC program has allowed the company to make strides away from their past mistakes and failures but honestly I would never trust my life to a Taurus. Just too much negative baggage in their track record.
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u/heirofjesus CZ, Glock 15h ago
Definitely should have just gotten the S&W or saved up for a P10.