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Taurus G2.1c (G3C) - A Good Budget Handgun
Updated
8 months ago
Good morning, everyone, hope you're all having a wonderful day today, today we're going to be taking a look at the Taurus G3C, which is the successor to the Taurus G2C, and yes, they do look extremely similar and they are in fact extremely similar, one is slightly better than the other.
Full disclosure on the Taurus G3C is that I paid my own money for this handgun, I don't have any relationship with Taurus whatsoever, I believe I paid $2.99 at my local Shields, which is a little bit overpaying compared to the competition, the competition specifically being the Taurus G2C. As I mentioned earlier the G3C is the successor to the G2C, which is the successor to the older Millennium line pistols, I haven't shot the older Tauruses or really followed them all that much.
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We will be comparing the G2C to the G3C because we kind of have to when we talk about value because they're so close in terms of performance, but one is cheaper than the other so that does have to come up in our value discussion.
Getting into the G3C, going into what exactly is it, we will compare and contrast as we go along, this is a 12 plus one striker fired polymer framed handgun, very interesting on the G3C is it does have a re-strike capability, so you have your normal trigger and then as the trigger resets you can actually pull it again, kind of like a double-action trigger, it's very heavy, it's probably about 9-10 pounds, somewhere in that range, but you do have that restrike capability if you get a bad primer, light primer strike, something like that, it can help in certain circumstances with bad ammo or if you just get extremely unlucky.
Starting out with the magazine well on the G3C, it is certainly nothing special by any means, it's not really beveled, it's not flared or enhanced in any way, there is a little bit of a chamfer on it to make sure you don't get caught up on any sharp edges. However, it is extremely basic, which is perfectly fine for an EDC style handgun. Talking about the texture on the frame, it is slightly updated on the G3C, it is actually a little bit more aggressive than its predecessor, which is nice, it's probably 10-15% more aggressive feels very sandpaper-esque, if that makes sense, feels really good on the front and the back. Unfortunately, it only covers about the bottom half of the grip, which for me means it's about halfway there in terms of what I would like, so the texture is good, I just wish there was more of it.
As far as the ergonomics of the grip goes, the angle is quite nice, it's not aggressive like a Glock, it's going to feel very natural for most other handguns on the market. You do have a tiny bit of undercut on the trigger guard, which will help some people with larger hands, my hands are pretty small and even with the little pinky extension on the 12 round magazines my hands are a bit of a tight fit, so if you have larger hands or even average size hands you're going to have a little bit of a harder time with the G2C and G3C. The magazine release on the G3C is well placed, it is fairly ergonomic, even with my smaller hands I don't really have to break my grip to hit it, it is small, out of the way, little bit of texture on it, you're definitely not going to be accidentally hitting it, haven't had any issues with that, very standard, very nice for the genre of EDC carry guns.
Moving up from there we still have our frame mounted safety on the G3C, it is not my favorite feature to have on a striker fired handgun, however, I didn't have any issues with it since it was there I chose to use it. However, you can choose to just completely ignore it and I believe there's in fact ways to delete it as well, however, when I'm using it, it does kind of work like a little bit of a gas pedal, in the up position is safe, which will lock the slide and make sure that you can't actually pull the trigger either, simply press it down and you can ride it with your thumb, and that will keep it down, and then you can pull the trigger, work the slide as you should. In front of our manual safety we have our slide stop and slide release, which is well placed, it's the proper size, it's not too big, it's not too small, you're not going to have any trouble hitting it and you're also not going to accidentally actuate it if you don't mean to. Easy enough to lock the slide open, easy enough to drop, either with no magazine or a full mag inserted, so I don't really have any issues with the slid stop/slide release, it is perfectly fine for a EDC style gun.
Moving on to our takedown lever, this is going to be very Glock like so you should probably be familiar with this, simply pull back a little bit on the slide to remove tension on the takedown lever, pull down, push the slide forward, pull the trigger, and then you can separate your frame from your slide. The Taurus G3C also does have an accessory rail for your lights or lasers, which is quite nice, it is always frustrating whenever I see a handgun in this genre without an accessory rail because it just makes it more difficult to actually use it for its intended purpose.
The last thing that we need to talk about on the frame is going to be the trigger. The trigger in the G3C works very similar to the G2C, however, it is updated and refined a little bit, so the biggest difference that you'll notice just by touching the trigger is that the trigger shoe has been redesigned so it's much more flat, and the trigger safety blade sits very flush so it's much more comfortable than on the older G2C model. On top of that, the trigger dynamics feel a little bit better, so you have about the same amount of take up, probably about a half inch, 3/4 of an inch of take up, you hit a very hard, very defined wall a bit of a rolling break, and maybe like a 5.5/6 pound total pull. Reset is also pretty good, not the shortest reset on the market, but it does push your finger forward, which is nice, right back on the wall again, 5.5/6 pounds rolling break. If you want to do the restrike capability just fully reset the trigger all the way out, then you have that long heavy pull to the wall, maybe 9, 10, 11 pounds, even very heavy on the re-strike, but it is a feature to have.
On the G2C that we have here, the trigger is very similar in terms of style, but the trigger safety blade is very thin and you have a rounded trigger so it's much more noticeable, the trigger safety blade is that is, you have the same amount of take up, a little bit lighter actually on the G2C. On the G2C I've had this for longer, I've done more dry fire on it as well, so it's possible that it's just more broken in at this point, however, the trigger is actually a little bit lighter on this specific G2C. Taurus is also not necessarily known for their excellent quality control, so it could just be the variation of one Taurus to the other, I know most people think that the G3C has a better trigger, and while the trigger weights are very close, the G3C is a little bit heavier, but the trigger dynamics are a little bit better, you have a much more defined wall, much less creep, much less rolling break. On this specific model it is a little bit heavier than my G2C, which I've had a little bit longer, it'll probably break into be right about the same weight if I had to guess. However, the trigger shoe feels better, the trigger dynamics are a little bit better, so even though the G2 trigger is a little bit lighter in this specific instance, the G3 probably is a little bit better overall and I did have a good time shooting it.
Getting into the slide on the G3C, there are a couple of notable updates, for instance you do have actual front slide serration. You only have three of them and they're very far forward, they're also pretty shallow so they're not all that usable, but they are there on. The G2C you actually have a lot more slide work done, you have these very aggressive cutouts here in the side, which actually give you a little bit more purchase for your press checks if you did want to do that versus the very small slide serrations on the G3C. Aesthetically they look the same, I think they weigh about the same as well, it's within a half ounce of each other, so there is actually less work done to the G3 slide than on the G2C, interestingly enough. On top of that, they also removed your loaded chamber indicator on the G3C, it is a little bit simpler, they actually removed some things from the G3C that were on the G2C. I don't necessarily think that you need a loaded chamber indicator, but it does definitely cut a little bit of cost out, cuts a little bit of machining, a few parts here and there, and probably makes it a little bit easier to manufacture as well.
On top of that, they've completely updated the iron sights, not an upgrade, more of a side grade because I believe on the G3C these are compatible with Glock sights, meaning that you can put basically anything on them. However, on the G2Cyou actually get a adjustable for elevation and windage on the rear, which means that you do get kind of more of a target style setup on the G2C, which is nice, however, having the flexibility of Glock style sights is probably better for some people, that is going to increase the cost, which if you increasing the cost of a G3C then you probably should be getting another handgun anyways, which we'll talk about a little bit later on.
The sights that the G3C does come with are actually quite nice, you have a very simple front white dot and then you have a serrated blacked out rear with a square notch in the back, very standard. Unfortunately, due to Taurus's quality control, the sights that they included, while the setup is fine, they were quite off, in fact they were about 8 inches high and to the left at 30 yard, so much so that I was off a 8X 12 in steel target, I was actually aiming below the target to the right to actually hit the target that was up and to the left because the sights as they came from the factory were quite off, you can swap them out but that is going to increase the cost and ruin your value proposition.
Another major Improvement on the G3C versus the G2C is the fact that the slide is tenifer coated and not this matte black, in fact the Taurus G2C, which hasn't been shot all that much at this point and mostly just been sitting in a safe, actually has a little bit of rust on the slide already somehow. They did update the coating on the G3C so it is tenifer, it is much more corrosion resistance, much stronger in general, it is a perfectly fine coating and probably does increase the cost a little bit, so that is a nice little touch if there are some kind of side grades on the rest of the slide.
Internally, not much has changed, you still have the same stainless steel 3.2” barrel, same dual stage recoil system, and everything looks as it should for a Taurus pistol. One thing that I will say about both the Taurus G2C and the G3C is that they both shoot extremely nicely, they're fairly basic in their features, but when it comes to actual shoot ability, actual recoil control, the texture on the G3C is good, I just wish there was more of it, ergonomically they're fine with the dual stage recoil spring, they seem to shoot fairly flat for a small handgun, they're not really small handguns, but they're smaller handguns and I do find that I can shoot them quite well, I'm very comfortable with them inside of 30/40 yards/ as long as the sights are on, but other than that they do shoot very well.
When it comes to reliability so far on the G3C with mostly Callaway Ballistics 115 grain Reman, so far it's been 100% reliable, I have not had a single issue with it to date through a couple hundred rounds, so as of right now I'm actually pretty happy with the performance and reliability of both of my Taurus handguns, they're very, very similar and in fact if I was blindfolded it would be difficult to tell them apart without feeling the triggers because they are extremely similar.
The biggest problem with the G3C is the fact that it's usually a little bit more expensive than the G2C, and it is better in some ways, but there are also some side grades on it, but they're both actually pretty decent budget handguns. However, if there's any sort of noticeable price disparity between these two I would always recommend picking up the G2C because it's so close in terms of performance, it has a decent trigger, it has decent sights that are adjustable, the finish isn't great, it is better on the G3C. The G3C also has a slightly better feeling trigger, the grip textures a little bit better, but the rest of it is so similar that I think I paid $2.99 for the G3C and I think I paid $1.99 for the G2C. At those prices, at $1.99, I would absolutely get the G2C over the G3C, if they're a lot closer maybe only 20/$30 different in price, that's when the G3C, because it is a little bit nicer in some ways, might be worth it to some people. My G3C also came with three magazines versus two magazines on the G2C, so if they're close in terms of price it might be worth the slight upgrade, however, if there's any sort of noticeable price disparity, 40, 50, 60 bucks or more, then the G2C is going to be the better buy, at least in my opinion.
At this point they both been perfectly reliable, they both shoot quite well for smaller handguns, I really don't have any issues with them in that regard, so when it comes to straight up value the cheaper one is going to be better 99% of the time, unless they're very, very close in terms of price.
If you do pick up a G3C for a budget handgun I do think it does perform quite well. When it comes just down to raw dollar-for-dollar that's where the G2C definitely has an edge, at least in my opinion.
