The Taurus G3C was a sneaky one. It premiered quickly without much build-up, no big NRA or SHOT Show reveal. Taurus was just like, bam, here it is. The G3C model builds off the preceding G3, a full-sized pistol released a year prior. The C stands for Compact; notably, the G3C is a shrunken variant of the G3. The Taurus G3C seems to want to keep the theme of producing affordable handguns aimed at shooters on a budget. Is it worth the money? Read our Taurus G3C review and decide for yourself.
Taurus G3C Background
Many people like to claim Taurus makes good revolvers but bad automatics. In my experience, the opposite is true. Their automatic pistols seem to be much more reliable than their revolvers. The G3C is not a compact handgun variant of the G3 but the successor to the very popular G2C handgun. The G3C features several upgrades over the G2C.
These improvements include front and rear slide serrations, as well as the front and rear sight are steel sights. The trigger is the third generation Taurus trigger and is a flat-faced trigger with a much larger trigger safety.
To me, the most notable improvement for the Taurus G3 handgun seems to be the G3C’s ability to utilize Glock pattern sights and SIG Sauer P226 magazines.
This opens up an existing aftermarket to make upgrades easier.
The Compact design points the gun towards concealed carry. The compact pistol price points appeal to those on a budget. The G3C is far from the smallest gun on the market and does feature a double-stack 12-round magazine (more with extensions). Who doesn’t like more ammunition?
The Taurus G3C fits into an odd category of concealed carry guns size-wise. It’s smaller than your traditional compact, like a CZ P10C or Glock 19, but larger than subcompacts like the Glock 26. It’s a compromise in both directions, but not necessarily a bad one.
The Taurus G3C retains an effective trigger system that’s been around since the old 24/7. This trigger system is a single action, with restrike capability. It could be described as a DA/SA gun, but that doesn’t adequately describe it.
You cannot manually decock the weapon, and the double-action trigger only comes into play if the single action does not fire the weapon. From a practical perspective, I do like this trigger, and it does offer something different than 99% of the striker-fired guns on the market.
Taurus G3C Features
1 RESTRIKE CAPABLE TRIGGER
2 FLAT FACED TRIGGER
3 MANUAL SAFETY
4 ALL METAL SIGHTS
5 FRONT AND REAR SERRATIONS
6 STANDARD PICATINNY RAIL
TAURUS G3C REVIEW – OUR TAKE
Now, it’s time to dive into this review and let you know what I really think about how the Taurus G3C 9mm performs.
The Blessed, And Cursed Grip
As a dude with XL sized hands, I find most compact guns to be a bit small. I can’t stand a hanging pinky, so the G3C’s larger grip is quite comfortable and does provide me a full-handed grip on the gun. That’s the blessing.
Here’s the curse. With a high grip, I get a nasty slide bite. That slide bite translated into my hand, bleeding within 50 rounds. It made testing the gun rather slow and uncomfortable. The good news is once you lose enough skin, you don’t feel it anymore.
The grip texture is very aggressive and separated into panels that cover the entire grip. This includes a bold front and backstrap. When firing, that textured grip provides an easy to hold, and the gun never tries to work its way out of your hand.
The addition of front serrations is excellent. The front serrations are rather short, but the serrations are deep and easy to grip. It makes racking the gun easy enough.
Accuracy
Accuracy is always challenging in a little gun. I found myself developing a flinch, mainly due to the slide bite. I did see acceptable accuracy, though. Even out to 25 yards, I can place rounds consistently into the chest of a bad guy. At 15 yards, I’m making fast and accurate headshots.
I feel like the trigger is the definition of meh. It has a lot of pre-travel for a single action trigger. The single-action travel is just as long as the double-action trigger. It’s merely much lighter than the double-action mode. The trigger has a short reset, but if you don’t pin your trigger, that doesn’t matter. The longer trigger travel does create more of an opportunity to make a mistake before the gun fires.
I do like the sights, especially the rear sight, and appreciate that a budget gun is coming with metal sights. Even Glock doesn’t do that. The only downside is they seem rather small. Also, as I mentioned, the G3C does have aftermarket sight options available from Tru-Glo, and these are Glock pattern.
Based on my tests, accuracy is perfectly usable, especially from a practical standpoint. I can make smaller groups with the P365, but from a practical perspective, the gun will put the lead where you want it.
When shooting fast, the trigger isn’t noticeable. I do feel a shorter overall pull would still be better, but a short reset helps. The gun is easy to hang onto, and recoil is far from punishing. Muzzle rise is noticeable, but within ten yards, you can score 1.5-second failure to stop drills.
Reliability
After many times of going to the range, the G3C ate and ate and ate. After all of that, I had a single issue regarding the magazine failing to feed a round. I had to give the magazine a hearty hit to get the follower to release and the round to rise. I fired 450 rounds with a 150 being Winchester Forged, which is notoriously dry and dirty ammo.
Outside of that one issue with the magazine failing to feed, the gun ran cleanly. Speaking of clean, I did not clean the gun and allowed it to get nice and filthy throughout my testing. A mixture of sweat, gunpowder, and a little blood gave it a lovely natural oil to run with!
Far From Fancy
Overall the gun isn’t fancy. It’s not a tuned 1911 where everything just drips and reeks of quality. It’s a plain Jane semi-automatic, striker-fired pistol that goes bang when you need it to. Lots of the parts feel somewhat plasticky, especially the safety. The safety almost feels like an afterthought, like the safety on an imported Tokarev.
I do think the gun offers quite a bit of value for the price. The street price seems to be hovering around $259.99. The G3C comes with three 12-round magazines and metal sights. It’s a simple gun that keeps the Taurus tradition of affordability.
So, as you can see in this Taurus GC3 review, I think this is a excellent pistol for the price. I wouldn’t give it as great of a grade if say it was over $600. Furthermore, you get 3 magazines with that low of a price and all in all I feel like it was well made for a budget gun. Because of the above statement, I did include it in my list of best handguns under the best budget options – however, you might be surprised to see that it isn’t listed as the #1 budget gun. So, if you’re interested in seeing what beat this Taurus G3C review in budget, or if you are looking for a better option or upgrade in the 9mm department, then check out the best 9mm pistol article here: https://gununiversity.com/best-9mm-pistols/
Taurus G3C Pros And Cons
Pros
- Affordable
- 3 included magazines
- Restrike capability
- Metal sights
Cons
- Painful slide bite
- Long trigger travel
- Not as accurate as competitors
| REPORT CARD | ||
| SHOOTABILITY | The gun handles well with little recoil and perfectly suitable close-range accuracy. The aggressive grip texture makes it easy to hold onto with a single hand, and easy to get a firm grip when drawing. | A |
| RELIABILITY | One failure in 500 rounds is not an immediate cause for concern, but I’d want to see the gun run problem-free for the next 500 rounds to upgrade the score. | C |
| ERGONOMICS | I shed blood due to the slide bite, and while I have big hands, that’s still an issue. Other than that, the gun is ergonomically sound, the controls are easy to reach and access, and the grip texture is very aggressive. | C |
| ACCURACY | From a small gun perspective, the Taurus G3C is a natural shooter. The sights are a little small, but solid. If the trigger was just a bit better… | B |
| VALUE | The G3C includes three magazines, metal sights, and both Glock and SIG compatibility. The G3C is an excellent value at under 300 bucks brand new. | A+ |
TAURUS G3C STARTER PACK
So what’s next? Well, if you decide to get the Taurus G3C, you’re going to need to pick up some must-have basics. Here’s our recommendation for what you need to get started.
- Gun Cleaning Kit: Otis All Caliber Elite Range Box on Amazon or build your own personalized cleaning kit with premium components.
- Shooting Glasses: All it takes is one piece of rogue hot brass, and you’ll learn the importance of shooting glasses. But not all glasses are built the same. See our recommendations for the Best Shooting Glasses.
- Hearing Protection: Firing a gun without wearing proper ear pro can be very dangerous and detrimental to your hearing. Find out the best hearing protection for you in our full length review.
- Storage: Check our our article on the Best Biometric Gun Safes
- Targets – If you’re wanting a great resource for shooting practice or zeroing your optics on your optics rifle or pistol, download our FREE Sighting in Targets below.
With the basics outta the way, let’s jump into some cool accessories you might want to consider when purchasing your Taurus G3C
TAURUS G3C UPGRADES AND ACCESSORIES
There’s a bunch of different options available to accessorize the Taurus G3C. However, if we had to choose only a few options… Here’s our picks.
OTHER COMPACT PISTOLS OF ITS CLASS TO CHECK OUT
The Taurus is a relatively decent option for those on a budget. If you’re looking for something cheap that goes bang, you’ll be ok. But if you’re look for just a bit more and have some wiggle room in your budget, you might want to consider one of these:
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR TAURUS G3C
Still on the fence about the Taurus G3C? Take a look at this video by Sootch00. He hits the range with his G3C to show you just how well it performs and then demonstrates a how to field strip your Taurus for cleaning and maintenance.