Taurus G2C?

[Mac66]

My youngest brother (who is 56) finally got around to applying for his concealed carry license. He's now asking me about carry guns. Thinks he want a small 9mm. He is also a lefty, if that matters. No secret that I like the Ruger LC9s/EC9s and offered to lend him my original LC9 and/or a 38 snubby to try out. If he want's new, an EC9 would be a good, economical choice.

He's been looking and found a Taurus G2C on sale at Dunham's Sports for $230. He is definitely not a high end customer. I don't know much about Taurus's except for the TX22 I bought but is seems Taurus has upped their game in the last few years.

The G2c comes with 2-12 round mags but other hi-cap Taurus mags fit. It's striker fired, has a manual safety, adjustable sights. Apparently the mag release can be switched to the right side. Looking the compare guns website it is only slightly larger overall than the LC9, though it is thicker due to being a double stack.

Opinions?

[aerynsun]

Newby - I think you need to go double action first pull for safety.

[David]

The Reader's Digest version is that Taurus is fine. They attract more than their fair share of irrational haters on the boards but if you look, it's by people that have never actually owned/shot the gun in question or had a buddy who's next door neighbor's co-workers brother's best friend had an issue 20 years ago. And I'm serious about that.

Actual owners have overwhelmingly positive opinions of most current Taurus offerings and the G-series is pretty much their flagship.

I've seen round counts into the 30k area.

I've seen armorers give detailed reviews of the internals and how they've improved over the years.

The G2-series is a top selling pistol and usually on many 'Top 10' lists.

I've owned 2 or 3 G2's over the years, never had a single issue and they ate everything fed to them.

The trigger breaks very far back and is usually the biggest 'complaint'. It isn't bad or wrong, simply how that pistol fires compared to other striker-fired pistols that break a bit farther forward.

The G2c is of the current 'generation' of G2's.

I'd have no issue carrying one as long as I properly vet it, like I would any pistol I planned on using for defense.

For $230 it's probably one of the best 'bang-for-the-buck' deals on the market.

[Mac66]

I went and looked at the G2c at the store today for my brother.

It's actually a fairly nice pistol. except it has a weird second strike capability. If it doesn't go off the first time you can pull the trigger again and it's kind of a half double action, half single striker action pull.

Comes with two 12 round mags. Has adjustable sights. take down is like a glock.

It is about 1/4" longer, wider and higher than my LC9s. It's 4 ozs heavier empty. And of course it holds 5 more rounds in the mags which will make it even heavier. It's boxier than the LC9s.

It actually felt pretty good in my hand, I could get three fingers on the grip due to the finger rest on the mag plate. I have big hands so I can only get 2 1/2 on my LC9s. The grip surface is pretty rough for a good grip. The trigger is pretty decent as well short reset. And of course the second strike thing. It also has a manual thumb safety but with the relatively long take up and trigger dongle/safety you probably can get by without ever using it.

How do you determine quality on a plastic pistol? Field stripped it's pretty much like every other plastic pistol. Is there good plastic and bad plastic? There are no machining marks on the metal parts, they look like every other striker fired pistol I've ever handled. Finish on the slide is matte black. Pretty much like any other modern pistol these days.

For a relatively small double stack pistol it's a surprisingly good pistol. It's only fractionally larger than other double stack pocket 9s on the market at half the price.

No, I didn't buy it but if I was looking for my first CC gun It would definitely be on my radar.

[David]

It is about 1/4" longer, wider and higher than my LC9s. It's 4 ozs heavier empty. And of course it holds 5 more rounds in the mags which will make it even heavier. It's boxier than the LC9s.

The G2c is comparable to the Glock 26. A more direct comparison with the LC9s would be the G2s which is the slim-line single stack version of the G2.

Comes with two 12 round mags.

As a side note, Sig P226 mags fit as well. At least they did with the PT111 G2. I'd imagine they still fit the G2c.

The grip surface is pretty rough for a good grip.

Yes, the texturing is pretty aggressive. Be hard to drop it in the cold or wet

How do you determine quality on a plastic pistol? Field stripped it's pretty much like every other plastic pistol. Is there good plastic and bad plastic? There are no machining marks on the metal parts, they look like every other striker fired pistol I've ever handled. Finish on the slide is matte black. Pretty much like any other modern pistol these days.

Well, that's the thing right there. Modern striker-fired pistols are kinda-sorta all the same these days. Like I mentioned above, I've seen G2's into the 30k round count level. And it's been years since I actually checked into it so maybe there are units out there with higher. I know a guy on GT recently was talking about his Taurus 66 357 magnum revolver that he had like 78k rounds until it broke. Sent it to Taurus, couldn't be fixed so they gave him a new gun, a PT92 9mm. He said he was up around the same round count now with the 9mm.

Another way to look at it is that you could fire 100 rounds each and every month for the next 17 years before you'd hit 20k rounds. If it fell apart at that point you probably got your $200 worth out of the pistol. And I think they still have a lifetime warranty?

I bought that G3 I reviewed here a while back for $259. As of right now it's done everything my Glocks have done. For a lot less money. What else can you really ask for?

[Mac66]

Well, I'm now seriously considering picking one up for myself. Kind of a back up and alternative to my LC9s and just to see how carrying a double stack compact pistol would work. I carried a Keltec P11 for about 10 years so it wouldn't be much of a stretch. Today's the last day of the sale so maybe.

UPDATE:

Well I went to the gym this morning and stopped at Dunhams on the way home and bought the G2c. I had some cash from the sale of a scope and single shotgun burning a hole in my pocket so I actually made out pretty well. It also adheres to my one gun out for every gun in rule. It was $243 OTD so I'm actually about $60 in the green on the deal. Not counting what I originally paid for the shotgun in which case I'm up about $100.

I have to say that I am initially impressed with the quality, finish, function and size. Feels real good in my hand. Seems like it will be easy to carry. I probably have an extra belt clip laying around to fashion to it. I tend to carry IWB w/o a holster or pocket carry. Probably won't shoot it until I get up to the new house sometime next week. Seems to be a lot of bang for the buck.

Add Info....

While talking with my son about the G2c he reminded me that he has an XD 3" bbl compact. I looked it up on the Handgun Hero comparison page and they are almost identical in size. He's had his for 5+ years and continues to be his EDC. It's also the same size as a G26. I had forgotten what handy sized guns those are.

[Erich]

Sorry to be replying late: that's a great deal. My G2c has been reliable and accurate, but the trigger blade hangs up sometimes on the initial pull and that's caused me to have to do some gunsmithing on it and to relegate it to the role of the gun that lives in the car's hidden safe. I liked the design enough that I bought a G3c however, and I carry that often. Use yours in good health!

[David]

The trigger and dingus on the G3 series seems to be a bit wider than the G2 series. Doesn't make the G2 series 'bad' and it's about the same as what Glock has always been give-or-take.

Congrats on the new pistol Mac and you'll have to let us know what you think after you test it out.

For less than $250 it's simply a lot of gun. I see the Glock 26 as a direct competitor/comparison of the G2c.

• Glock has decades of reputation behind the G26, Taurus has a decade behind the G2 series.

• G26 has a 10-round mag and can accept larger, G2 has a 12-rounder.

• G26 has no MS, G2 does. May or may not be important depending on the user.

• G26 has a plethora of aftermarket support and a wide variety of stuff. G2 not nearly as much but does have options available like sights and holsters. Glock wins hands down on the availability of parts.

• G26 will probably last longer i.e. attain the highest round count and is a battlefield tested platform and is used in LE. G2 has shown itself to be a capable CCW pistol

So in a EOTWAWKI I'd opt for the Glock. But for normal CCW, is the Glock going to do anything the Taurus won't at more than double the price?

[Mac66]

The trigger and dingus on the G3 series seems to be a bit wider than the G2 series. Doesn't make the G2 series 'bad' and it's about the same as what Glock has always been give-or-take.

Congrats on the new pistol Mac and you'll have to let us know what you think after you test it out.

For less than $250 it's simply a lot of gun. I see the Glock 26 as a direct competitor/comparison of the G2c.

• Glock has decades of reputation behind the G26, Taurus has a decade behind the G2 series.

• G26 has a 10-round mag and can accept larger, G2 has a 12-rounder.

• G26 has no MS, G2 does. May or may not be important depending on the user.

• G26 has a plethora of aftermarket support and a wide variety of stuff. G2 not nearly as much but does have options available like sights and holsters. Glock wins hands down on the availability of parts.

• G26 will probably last longer i.e. attain the highest round count and is a battlefield tested platform and is used in LE. G2 has shown itself to be a capable CCW pistol

So in a EOTWAWKI I'd opt for the Glock. But for normal CCW, is the Glock going to do anything the Taurus won't at more than double the price?

My understanding is that the G3 and G2 mags are interchangable. Taurus lists a G3/G2 15 round mags on their website store as well as 17 rnd G3 mag. Both come with sleeves. I'd guess both will fit the G2. So you can get 10, 12, 15 and 17 round mags for the Gs.

G26 vs G2c....I've always been the kind of guy where good enough is good enough. I commuted 25 miles a day for 30 years. I could've done it in a BMW or Benz, an Audi or Cadilac but I did it in a Ford. Yeah those others may have been better quality, more comfortable, quieter but the Ford was okay. It was good enough. A Ruger isn't a Glock or a Sig but it's good enough. A Taurus isn't a Glock but it's (apparently) good enough for the job. Don't get me wrong, I still like good stuff but sometimes good enough is good enough.

[David]

Yes sir, the G3 mags are interchangeable. So 12, 15 and 17 round options. Nice that they come with sleeves as well. IIRC the mags are made by Mecgar so they are excellent quality. And as mentioned, Sig P226 mags fit as well.