Taurus G2c upgrades

[K.Mooneyham]

So, not long back I bought a 12-shot Taurus G2c, which is a (slightly) improved version of their PT111 G2. I bought it for a few reasons. One, the price, they are inexpensive for a compact 9mm pistol (~$280) and it came with three magazines. Two, the grip fit my hand really nicely. And three, they got a lot of good reviews for their reliability, despite other Taurus models having some issues over the years. I bought it knowing it wouldn't be the equivalent of a top-shelf brand pistol, but still much better than a Hi-Point.

So far I've put maybe 300 rounds through it, and yes, it digested them all without a hitch.

Now, to the better part. I couldn't bring myself to really take apart (beyond field strip) some $500+ pistol. This pistol is cheap enough that I don't feel bad tinkering with it. So far, I've replaced the really crappy "adjustable" plastic sights with fixed three-dot metal sights from Lakeline LLC. I also replaced the polymer striker guide with a metal one from the same company. And tonight I ordered an aftermarket trigger and spring from Keep Tinkering which eliminates the embedded trigger "safety", and which will give a more tactile reset and shorter pull. It does NOT eliminate the drop safety design, plus the pistol also has a slide-block safety. The triggers from Keep Tinkering have gotten good reviews, so I'm hopeful that it will be money well-spent. All total, including the original price, I'll have about $400 into the pistol. I know Taurus gets panned a lot, and considering the couple of things I've replaced so far, I understand why. But, I'm not just doing it to make the pistol better, but to make it better MYSELF. (Yes, I know you 1911 guys do that all the time, but the costs on that stuff are the next bracket up and I'm able to do this "on the cheap".) I'll come back and add to this post once I get the new trigger installed and checked out.

[Tex1961]

Good for you.
Smart move to learn some basic gunsmithing on something that wont break the bank if you run into a problem you can't get out of... The G series have been one of Tarurus's better offerings for sure. Just don't put too much into it though.. I see people who have upgraded a $250.00 gun and then trying to sell it for $500.00 and up... No way would I spend that on a G2 no matter what you did to it....

And here is just my personal opinion, others may and will vary... I would never upgrade the internals of any carry gun, especially the trigger... Too many times people complain about function issues with non OEM trigger upgrades...

[K.Mooneyham]

Good for you.
Smart move to learn some basic gunsmithing on something that wont break the bank if you run into a problem you can't get out of... The G series have been one of Tarurus's better offerings for sure. Just don't put too much into it though.. I see people who have upgraded a $250.00 gun and then trying to sell it for $500.00 and up... No way would I spend that on a G2 no matter what you did to it....

And here is just my personal opinion, others may and will vary... I would never upgrade the internals of any carry gun, especially the trigger... Too many times people complain about function issues with non OEM trigger upgrades...

I have zero intentions of ever selling the pistol, and it being a Taurus, I know I wouldn't get much for it, anyway. Also, since I am an aircraft mechanic, I wouldn't carry it after any upgrade unless I had performed proper function checking.

[Tex1961]

Good for you.
Smart move to learn some basic gunsmithing on something that wont break the bank if you run into a problem you can't get out of... The G series have been one of Tarurus's better offerings for sure. Just don't put too much into it though.. I see people who have upgraded a $250.00 gun and then trying to sell it for $500.00 and up... No way would I spend that on a G2 no matter what you did to it....

And here is just my personal opinion, others may and will vary... I would never upgrade the internals of any carry gun, especially the trigger... Too many times people complain about function issues with non OEM trigger upgrades...

I have zero intentions of ever selling the pistol, and it being a Taurus, I know I wouldn't get much for it, anyway. Also, since I am an aircraft mechanic, I wouldn't carry it after any upgrade unless I had performed proper function checking.

Well, aircraft mechanic. . . Guess you can’t get a better recommendation than that LOL.

[K.Mooneyham]

Good for you.
Smart move to learn some basic gunsmithing on something that wont break the bank if you run into a problem you can't get out of... The G series have been one of Tarurus's better offerings for sure. Just don't put too much into it though.. I see people who have upgraded a $250.00 gun and then trying to sell it for $500.00 and up... No way would I spend that on a G2 no matter what you did to it....

And here is just my personal opinion, others may and will vary... I would never upgrade the internals of any carry gun, especially the trigger... Too many times people complain about function issues with non OEM trigger upgrades...

I have zero intentions of ever selling the pistol, and it being a Taurus, I know I wouldn't get much for it, anyway. Also, since I am an aircraft mechanic, I wouldn't carry it after any upgrade unless I had performed proper function checking.

Well, aircraft mechanic. . . Guess you can’t get a better recommendation than that LOL.

Sorry I'm not a surgeon or a gender studies professor...

[Tex1961]

Good for you.
Smart move to learn some basic gunsmithing on something that wont break the bank if you run into a problem you can't get out of... The G series have been one of Tarurus's better offerings for sure. Just don't put too much into it though.. I see people who have upgraded a $250.00 gun and then trying to sell it for $500.00 and up... No way would I spend that on a G2 no matter what you did to it....

And here is just my personal opinion, others may and will vary... I would never upgrade the internals of any carry gun, especially the trigger... Too many times people complain about function issues with non OEM trigger upgrades...

I have zero intentions of ever selling the pistol, and it being a Taurus, I know I wouldn't get much for it, anyway. Also, since I am an aircraft mechanic, I wouldn't carry it after any upgrade unless I had performed proper function checking.

Well, aircraft mechanic. . . Guess you can’t get a better recommendation than that LOL.

Sorry I'm not a surgeon or a gender studies professor...

No, it was a complement.

[K.Mooneyham]

Good for you.
Smart move to learn some basic gunsmithing on something that wont break the bank if you run into a problem you can't get out of... The G series have been one of Tarurus's better offerings for sure. Just don't put too much into it though.. I see people who have upgraded a $250.00 gun and then trying to sell it for $500.00 and up... No way would I spend that on a G2 no matter what you did to it....

And here is just my personal opinion, others may and will vary... I would never upgrade the internals of any carry gun, especially the trigger... Too many times people complain about function issues with non OEM trigger upgrades...

I have zero intentions of ever selling the pistol, and it being a Taurus, I know I wouldn't get much for it, anyway. Also, since I am an aircraft mechanic, I wouldn't carry it after any upgrade unless I had performed proper function checking.

Well, aircraft mechanic. . . Guess you can’t get a better recommendation than that LOL.

Sorry I'm not a surgeon or a gender studies professor...

No, it was a complement.

My apologies, I misunderstood.

[Tex1961]

Good for you.
Smart move to learn some basic gunsmithing on something that wont break the bank if you run into a problem you can't get out of... The G series have been one of Tarurus's better offerings for sure. Just don't put too much into it though.. I see people who have upgraded a $250.00 gun and then trying to sell it for $500.00 and up... No way would I spend that on a G2 no matter what you did to it....

And here is just my personal opinion, others may and will vary... I would never upgrade the internals of any carry gun, especially the trigger... Too many times people complain about function issues with non OEM trigger upgrades...

I have zero intentions of ever selling the pistol, and it being a Taurus, I know I wouldn't get much for it, anyway. Also, since I am an aircraft mechanic, I wouldn't carry it after any upgrade unless I had performed proper function checking.

Well, aircraft mechanic. . . Guess you can’t get a better recommendation than that LOL.

Sorry I'm not a surgeon or a gender studies professor...

No, it was a complement.

My apologies, I misunderstood.

I figured someone that well trained and certified to work on aircraft should definitely have the chops to do some home gun smithing.
Carry on sir.

[AndyC1911]

Nice to hear that a Taurus can be improved and for taking it on

[puma guy]

I have no experience with Taurus semi-autos, but back in the day (1966-1971) when I sold firearms we sold Taurus revolvers. They were not in the class of a Smith or Colt of course, but they were decent guns. Good finish, good mill work and I never had a single complaint about any we sold. At that time Taurus was owned by Bangor Punta which also owned Smith and Wesson and S&W shared technology, design and even machinery. Bangor Punta sold Taurus in 1973 and I was out of the business by then, so I don't know what effect that had on quality.

[K.Mooneyham]

Well, the trigger showed up today, so I decided tonight to put it in. It took me about two hours to do the work. Luckily the trigger maker has a video on YT to show the process. Even with that, there were a couple of tricky moments. I temporarily lost a very small ball bearing which functions as the detent for the slide safety. My years of experience looking for small pieces of hardware dropped inside of aircraft came in handy for that. The other tricky bit was installing the spring and trigger bar into the back of the trigger itself. The spring is rather stiff and difficult to manipulate in the little gap in the back of the trigger, and also has to hook over a little nub on the trigger bar to provide the necessary tension on the trigger. I won't lie, it took a few tries to make that happen.

All in all it wasn't a terrible process, but I have never had a firearm apart that far before, so it was certainly a learning experience. The mechanism looks much like other striker fired pistols but I'm sure each make/model has its quirks that must be dealt with when doing detail work.

After reassembly, I function checked the pistol using snap caps, and everything seemed to work correctly. YAY! I immediately noticed the difference in the new trigger with the snap caps. Much crisper than the original and more of a tactile reset too, so the claims seem to be accurate. I'm planning on running some rounds though it tomorrow as the final check. I'll make one more post on here afterward, and try to get at least a picture of how the pistol looks with the new trigger installed. I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has about it, as well.

[K.Mooneyham]

Alright, I shot the pistol today. The new trigger functioned flawlessly through a hundred rounds of standard pressure 115 grain. I shot one box of Sellier and Bellot and one box of Remington "Green and White". Unfortunately, that's about what I can afford to go through in a single range session these days. All fed well, all went bang, and all ejected without a problem. I did most of the shooting from approximately 10 yards shooting at 8 inch AR500 round plates hanging from chains. While I am still far from perfect with this pistol, I noticed that my hit percentage definitely went up. Doing round counts and simple math, I shot ~80 percent hits when taking my time and ~60% hits just quickly lining up the sights and squeezing them off. That's nowhere near as well as I do with my Glock 17 or Ruger Police Service Six, but I feel WAY more confident with this pistol than I ever felt with the M&P 9mm Shield that I previously owned. Yes, I know: S&W good, Taurus bad. Maybe it works that way for most, just not for me in this case. If anyone has a G2c and wants to upgrade, I will say it's useful to do so if you have mechanical skills, and it made for a neat project, which I've never done before.

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*I want to add pictures, but not sure where to upload them to first. Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks.*

[LDB415]

Very interesting. Looking forward to the pictures.

[K.Mooneyham]

Very interesting. Looking forward to the pictures.

I'd like to post a couple, but again, not sure where to upload them to first. This forum doesn't have a way to directly load them that I know of, they have to be hosted on some other site.

[BigGuy]

Very interesting. Looking forward to the pictures.

I'd like to post a couple, but again, not sure where to upload them to first. This forum doesn't have a way to directly load them that I know of, they have to be hosted on some other site.

One place is google photos ( https://photos.google.com ) If you have a google account, I think you can use the same ID and PW. No cost, I don; know what the limit is. Also not sure about privacy, but I don't use it for anything sensitive. Just a handy place to hang pics I want others t see.