Braztech, parent company of Taurus and Rossi, has spent 2023 updating and bringing back many iconic models with Rossi’s return to the revolver market and the company's reintroduction of a .30-30 lever-action rifle. Taurus is also getting into the reintroduction game as it brings back the company's 917C semi-automatic pistol.
In the early 1980s, Taurus purchased Beretta’s Brazilian factories and began to produce its version of that company’s iconic 92 handgun as the PT92. While the earliest version of that pistol was a nearly identical copy of the original Beretta 92, over the decades, the PT92 evolved to become its own product, with many variants and chamberings offered.
The 917C is a more compact version of the Taurus 92.
The 9 mm Luger-chambered 917C is a compact slide version of the full-size Taurus 92. Think of it as a ‘Commander-sized’ 92. At 4.30", its barrel is 0.75" shorter than the 92. Its overall length is correspondingly shorter and it weighs 0.5 ozs. lighter totaling 33.50 ozs.
Like the 92, the 917C uses a black-anodized aluminum-alloy frame, a matte black steel slide and a matte black stainless steel barrel. The frame has an accessory rail milled into its dust cover, along with two subtle differences from the standard 92—finger grooves machined in its front strap and an indexing groove on both sides of the triggerguard.
Controls remain classic Taurus 92, with a bilateral, frame-mounted manual safety/decocker lever. The slide release and takedown lever are positioned on the left side and the magazine release button can be switched to either side. The 917C uses an 18-round Taurus 92-compatible magazine and two are included with each pistol. The sighting system consists of a front post machined integral to the slide and a drift adjustable for windage rear sight.
The Taurus 917C has a MSRP of $600. For more information, visit taurususa.com.
