What does the premium German-Swiss brand have in common with the Brazillian budget brand Taurus? Fair question, and if you get particular about it a lot. They both make guns, and they are both foreign companies, etc. That’s true, but specifically, what they have in common today is magazines. Kind of anyway. Two of their respective flagship handguns share a source of magazines.
The rather popular Taurus G3 series of handguns, including the standard G3C compact variants, can make use of the famed Sig P226/229 magazines. I heard this rumor early on and sought out a P226 magazine to confirm the phenomenon. I tossed it in my G3C, and bam, I was pleasantly surprised that it worked and worked so well.
Yep, Taurus designed the firearm and its magazine to be compatible with Sig’ s famed P series pistols. Why?
Well, designing magazines is tough. Seriously, trying to get a magazine to work right isn’t always simple, especially if you build a new firearm. It’s much easier to use an existing magazine platform. Especially if the magazine is known to work and is widespread around the world. Choosing the Sig P226 magazines makes a ton of sense for the G3 series.
Why does this matter?
The biggest reason this matters is for magazine availability. The Sig P226 series has been around for almost four decades now, and the magazines are everywhere. They come in a wide variety of capacities, and reputable aftermarket companies produce them. Sig’s own magazines are expensive, but Mec-Gars aren’t so bad.
Mec-Gar makes a ton of great magazines that are extremely well made and reliable. These magazines cost less than Sig and even less than Taurus magazines. They are widely available and reliable. The use of an established magazine platform makes it easy to find more magazines, even when Taurus OEM magazines are sold out.
Plus, maybe you want an extendo? If so, you can find Sig P226 extendos rather easily.
Just the G3?
I’ve only confirmed this event in the form of the G3 series, but according to the internet, that’s not the only platform. Apparently, the G2C utilizes Sig P226 pattern magazines as well. That being said, I have not confirmed this. There does appear to be a variety of videos showing the function, though, and it makes sense to move from the G2C to the G3 series.
Let us know below if you know of any other oddball magazine swip-swaps that work.
