Impulse-buying a gun isn’t usually a fantastic decision. However, every so often I see something so cheap I can’t say no. My latest was a $120 Taurus PT99. That seemed incredibly cheap for a Taurus PT99, even an older one. Fret not…there was a reason. The previous owner appeared to have Dremel’d some kind of hillbilly rail into the frame to add what appears to be a BB gun laser.
As a fan of the Beretta 92 series, you can call me PT92 curious. This is a PT99, which is part of the PT92 series. The PT99 keeps the same overall Beretta 92 and PT92 design with a couple of changes. Notably, the safety is just a safety; it doesn’t de-cock the gun like the safety on the PT92 does.
We also get an adjustable rear sight and a taller front sight. Taurus made this pistol in both a black finish and this stainless steel version you see here. I’m sure when this gun rolled off the assembly line, it looked quite nice, but time has taken its toll. The finish is a little beat up, and maybe a little TLC will get it shinier than a Cadillac’s hubcaps.
The Rest of the PT99
The PT99 is an interesting gun. The frame-mounted safety is ambidextrous and quite large. It swivels up and down easily enough. The position is 1911-like and it feels natural in the hand.
Much like most of the 92 series, the grip is fat, fatter than it seemingly needs to be. This makes it tough to reach the somewhat recessed magazine release. It sits deep in the gri,p and my whole hand has to move to reach it, which breaks my firing grip oh so slightly. I prefer just shifting my thumb and reaching the magazine release.
The front sight is fixed to the slide, and quite tall, and easy to see. The adjustable rear sight is surprisingly nice. They didn’t hold back when it came to producing a nicely made, low-profile adjustable rear sight. You can make easy adjustments for windage and elevation, which makes up for a fixed front sight.
The height of the sights is quite nice. I shot this the same day I shot the much pricier Beretta 92 GTS. I preferred the taller sights on the PT99. From a low ready or draw, they are easy to find and see. The front sight is stainless, and the rear is black, so they contrast nicely.
Blasting Away
The PT99 feels a lot like a Beretta in the recoil department. It’s best described as minimal. It weighs 34 ounces, so 9mm recoil isn’t going to be intense. What’s nice about the Beretta open top slide is how light it is compared to the rest of the gun. A heavy frame and light slide seem to combine to make one of the softer recoiling guns.
A lighter slide means less reciprocating weight, so it seems to recoil less, at least to me. I’ve found the 5906 to have more recoil than the Beretta series, and I attribute that to slide weight. Albeit I’m willing to be wrong on that front. The slide does snap right back on target, making repeated, accurate shots easier.
The fat grip also helps dissipate recoil, keeping things comfy for extended periods of fire. It’s a gun that’s enjoyable to shoot. At this point, I’m all in on red dots, so I feel a little slower with irons, but not by much. The smooth cycling gun handles nicely.
The trigger isn’t anything special. The double action is long and heavy, with a constant top-go gritty feeling to it. The single action isn’t quite crisp, but it’s fine. Shooting it side by side with the 92 GTS might also color my feelings, because holy crap, that trigger is nice.
I only found my accuracy challenged by the double-action trigger at longer ranges on smaller targets. Hitting a ten-inch gong at 25 yards with the double-action trigger meant really taking my time to make sure I didn’t change my grip as I pulled the trigger. A little more practice with the double-action trigger would likely help, but that wasn’t a problem for me with the 92 GTS.
The PT99…Worth it?
Where does the PT99 fit in the modern era? It doesn’t have a rail besides the one you scratch into it. It’s big and heavy, making it a less-than-optimal choice for concealed carry. The capacity is fine, but you’re better off seeking out the Beretta 18-round magazines so you can step into 2014.
Even outside of concealed carry, this is a big gun. It wouldn’t fit smaller hands well. It has some serious limitations. Still, it shoots straight, the sights are nice, and it was surprisingly reliable. I dived through a few hundred rounds of remanufactured 9mm in a day without an issue.
The next day, I did more of the same, before I knew I exceeded the gun’s value in ammo I had fired. I’m fairly surprised. New Taurus makes some solid guns, but old Taurus was hit or miss. This was my first experience with the PT99 and PT 92 series as a whole, and I’m impressed.
At a Hi-Point price, the PT99 was certainly worth it. The gun shoots surprisingly reliably. It might not have a great trigger, and the grip is massive, but it still runs and shoots mostly straight. The hefty gun is certainly not modern, but at the right price, it’s a tough gun to say no to.