Fifteen years ago when this old shotgun and revolver guy decided to jump into the concealed carry world, the first semi-automatic handgun I bought was a Taurus PT 24/7 Pro DS. The DS stands for double-strike, which I’ll elaborate on later in this post. Pro was in the name because the gun had been created to compete for selection by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). It turns out the request for which Taurus and other manufacturers were competing was later shelved. Working toward that potentially lucrative contract, Taurus developed a gun with lots of features that made it attractive to the civilian personal defense and concealed carry market.
I didn’t know beans about semi-automatics in those days, but my friend Jerry Colliver did and this was the gun he recommended. It was a great choice. I used that PT 24/7 to qualify for the Texas Concealed Carry License, NRA Basic Pistol Instructor and Texas License to Carry Instructor License. When I got in the gun store business, I “upgraded” to something more expensive because I could. The lure of wholesale prices and “extra” income from selling guns set me on the trail of building a collection. The Taurus was forgotten—for a while.
Cost is a factor for many just entering the concealed carry world. I found myself recommending the Taurus PT-111 often. Then it went through a marketing challenge when there were claims of accidental discharges happening when the gun was dropped. A class action lawsuit was settled without Taurus admitting liability, but one of the results was a G2 version of the gun, a model which I’ve come to trust.
In 2012 S&W released the single-stack Shield, followed over the next few years by similar offerings from Springfield, Glock, Sig Sauer and others. These guns all cost $400–$500 and up with capacities in the 6-7 round range. Meanwhile the Taurus G2 was available for $200 with a 13-round capacity. I sold a ton of them and got one myself. It’s an easy carry gun with great reliability and accuracy.
I no longer conduct the License to Carry courses nor own a gun store, but I’m still in a position to let folks know about a good value in a firearm. Recently I reviewed two new offerings from Taurus for American Handgunner and GUNS Magazines. The first was the TX22, a really neat .22 that has operational features which make it a great practice tool for shooting a 9mm. I could shoot that gun all day. I’ve taken my grandson Josh and one of his friends shooting with the TX22, including shooting it with a sound suppressor added, and we all agree it’s a hoot to shoot. You can read the review here in American Handgunner Magazine.
I’m not sure when my stories on the new Taurus G3 will be published, but I wanted to let my blog readers know about this new $300 gun. It has all the features that made the PT 24/7 popular, several of them unique to the Taurus handguns. The grip has a palm swell that more or less forces your hand high on the grip frame. Indents that Taurus calls shelves are on both sides of the frame to align your trigger finger properly. And when your trigger finger is indexed as it should be when your you’re not on target ready to shoot, Taurus Memory Pads™ are there to facilitate finger placement. The texture on the grip helps provide an excellent hold, even with sweaty palms. All of this together makes the G3 a very comfortable gun to shoot. The PT Millennium G2 and the new G3 share the double-strike capability with their older brother the PT 24/7. What this means is when you pull the trigger, if for some reason the gun doesn’t fire, you can pull it again for a second chance. Actually, you can pull it again and again. These guns are constructed so the sear essentially rotates around an axis and is back, ready to fire again as the trigger is released. This happens whether or not the slide cycles as it does when a round is fired.
I’ve put quite a few rounds downrange with the new G3 and have encouraged others to shoot it as well. I’m so confident in it I’ve been carrying the G3 for three weeks now and will probably continue. Funny, how this almost takes me back to the roots of my concealed carry days! If you’re looking for an economical carry gun these Tauruses should be considered. They are hard not to like.
Update August 7, 2021: Taurus has now released a GX4 and when I saw the announcement I thought it was just going to be an upgrade to the GS3 Compact. It’s not. With the GX4 Taurus has created a serious competitor to the Springfield Hellcat and other Micro Nine pistols. I’ll do a full review on it, but I just wanted to let you know here Taurus continues to impress.
David Freeman 
Glad to see your still writing about Guns David. I’ll have to see if Shoot Point Blank has a G3 I try.