Taurus GX4 Carry .380 Review: 15+1 Capacity and Range Results

Taurus has had a bumpy ride with semiautomatic pistols. The company has dealt with quality-control and customer-service complaints, and I have had both good and not-so-good experiences with Taurus firearms over the years.

But Taurus has also produced some legitimate successes. The original GX4 helped establish the company in the crowded microcompact 9mm market, while subsequent GX4 models expanded the platform with longer slides, larger grips and optics-ready configurations.

Now Taurus has taken the larger GX4 Carry and chambered it in .380 Auto.

The new Taurus GX4 Carry T.O.R.O. .380 combines a 15+1 capacity, 3.70-inch barrel, optics-ready slide and full-size grip with less recoil than its 9mm counterpart. With an MSRP of $340.99 and street prices already below $300, it looks competitive on paper.

Live Inventory Price Checker

	Taurus GX4 Carry 9mm 10-Round Magazine	GunMag Warehouse	$ 29.99
	Taurus GX4 Carry Magazine - 9mm - 15 Round	Primary Arms	$ 33.99
	Taurus GX4 Carry 9mm 3.7" 15rd Pistol, Black - 1-GX4CR941	Palmetto State Armory	$ 380.99 $ 342.99
	Taurus GX4 Carry 9mm 10 Round Magazine	The Mag Shack	$ 33.99

Specifications

• Model: Taurus GX4 Carry T.O.R.O.
• Item number: 1-GX4CRP38031
• UPC: 725327638964
• Caliber: .380 Auto
• Action: Striker-fired, single-action-only
• Capacity: 15+1 rounds
• Magazines included: Two 15-round magazines
• Barrel length: 3.70 inches
• Overall length: 6.56 inches
• Overall height: 5.16 inches
• Overall width: 1.00 inch
• Unloaded weight: 21 ounces
• Internal frame material: Stainless steel
• Grip housing: Polymer
• Slide material: Alloy steel with gas-nitride treatment
• Barrel material: Stainless steel
• Barrel finish: Satin-black DLC
• Front sight: Fixed white-dot steel sight
• Rear sight: Fully adjustable
• Optic cut: Taurus Optics Ready Option, compatible with Holosun K-series and similar footprints
• Accessory rail: MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail
• Safeties: Striker block and trigger safety
• MSRP: $340.99

Other features include a visual loaded-chamber indicator, reversible magazine release, three interchangeable backstraps, front and rear slide serrations, a flat-faced trigger and Taurus’s Signature Indexing and Recoil Management Pads.

GX4 Carry .380 Versus GX4 Carry 9mm

The two Carry models are nearly identical in size. The .380 is slightly narrower and half an ounce lighter, but its real advantage is reduced recoil.

That gives the new pistol a clearly defined audience. It is not trying to be the smallest .380 on the market. This is a full-grip, high-capacity carry pistol for shooters who want easier recoil management without dropping to the limited capacity and abbreviated grip found on many pocket .380s.

There is no point pretending that .380 Auto and 9mm offer identical terminal performance. Given comparable ammunition, 9mm remains the more powerful cartridge. But modern .380 defensive ammunition is far removed from the marginal full-metal-jacket loads shooters once associated with the caliber.

Let’s look at a small chart…

In today’s world, concealed carriers are looking for guns that are three things:

1. Reliability – the most important consideration;
2. Effectiveness – they need to be able to get the job done, and
3. Affordability.

So, the GX4 380 came about. I believe it fulfills all three criteria. No one is debating the effectiveness of .380 against 9mm; clearly, 9mm will win that fight.

But we also have to admit that, with loads like Black Hill’s HoneyBadger defense loading of a 60-grain monolithic solid copper bullet at 1150 fps, the old .380 is not without its upsides. I’ve personally shot that load into Clear Ballistics gel blocks, and it did just fine, penetrating at least to the F.B.I.’s minimum depth of 12 inches and creating a very visible channel as it did so.

To paraphrase a saying, this ain’t your granddad’s .380.

If you think about it, the old version was good enough to assassinate the Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, starting WWI… wow!

Like it or not, the modern .380 has been (grudgingly, by some) accepted as the minimum caliber to use for concealed carry.

Taurus GX4 Carry Toro 380 Pistol

Let’s look at some photos I took of this pistol.

We see a pistol with front and rear slide serrations, a bladed, flat-faced trigger, three Pic rail slots, and a 15-round-capacity grip. You also see what they call the Signature Indexing and Recoil Management Pad (RMP). That is the textured area above the trigger, for your trigger finger or support thumb, depending on how you hold the gun. That’s a fancy name for a textured pad.

The sights are decent… the rear is adjustable.

Also note the loaded chamber indicator (LCI). This is a nice touch and beats just drilling a hole through the slide.

The grip is textured very well. It is just enough to keep the gun planted in your hand, and the front and rear straps are roughed up a bit, as well.

If the gun doesn’t fit your hand, try one of the two extra included backstraps…

The gun comes apart like most any striker-fired pistol… You simply need to turn the takedown screw a quarter-turn counterclockwise with a screwdriver. Then remove the slide.

Disassembly is straightforward, but the correct safety sequence matters.

Remove the magazine, lock the slide open and physically and visually verify that the chamber and magazine well are empty. Once the pistol is confirmed unloaded and pointed in a safe direction, rotate the takedown pin one-quarter turn counterclockwise. Following the procedure in the Taurus GX4 owner’s manual, pull the trigger and push the slide forward off the grip assembly.

The manual states that GX4 pistols do not have a magazine-disconnect safety and may fire with the magazine removed. Treat the pistol accordingly. Never insert a magazine as part of the disassembly process.

Controls and Ergonomics

This pistol is typical of less expensive guns: the controls are not replicated on the right side. I’m left-handed, and I notice things like this. The only nod to ergonomic placement of any control is that you can reverse the magazine release and move it to the right side. The slide stop – the only other control – is on the left side only.

The grip does include two extra backstraps – you push out a pin at the base of the grip to change them. They include a screwdriver as I alluded to above, but no punch to push the pin out with.

The magazines have a prominent base pad that adds about half an inch to their length but makes them easier to seat. The base pad is grooved and the frame relieved to ensure a firm grasp if you have to physically remove the magazine. That is another nice touch.

Also visible above are two textured pads above the trigger. These are landing spots for your trigger finger when not engaged, and for your support-hand thumb.

Forward and rear slide serrations round out the ergonomics tour… You can press-check to your heart’s content!

In terms of build quality, I’ll use the “upped their game” phrase again. I saw no machining marks, chatter, or rough edges. The gun is well-made and finished with the DLC treatment… that finish should last. The barrel is stainless, and there’s a stainless frame inside the polymer as the specifications state, so the pistol should last a while.

Range Report

I am blessed to have review ammo provided by Black Hills, so I grabbed some and headed to my newly moved backyard range. I shot a full box each of 90-grain JHP, 100-grain FMJ, and 60-grain HoneyBadger.

I particularly wanted to see if what other reviews I’d read were accurate in terms of this larger .380 helping to dampen recoil. Recoil is subjective, but I know how my S&W Bodyguard 2.0 feels when I shoot it, so I was interested in seeing how this gun did. I do think it does exhibit a bit less felt recoil. The muzzle didn’t rise up very much, and it didn’t come back very hard into my hand compared to other .380s I’ve shot (I own two, a Bersa Thunder Plus in addition to the S&W). So, I would have to say that, yes, recoil is a bit less.

I set some targets up at 15 yards, in keeping with this gun’s barrel length and purpose. Here are a couple of representative targets…

In terms of accuracy, the gun is accurate enough for its intended, close-up defensive purpose. As usual, the fastest load here provided the best group – the 60-grain HoneyBadger hits at just under 1200 fps, but always seems to be the best-grouping load I shoot, regardless of caliber. This is the load I carry in my S&W Bodyguard 2.0 .380.

I noticed a couple of things.

First, the trigger. It was, to be charitable, not the best. It was long, gritty, and broke at an average of 7 pounds, 12.6 ounces, as my Wheeler trigger gauge shows…

I think they should get the trigger down to at least six pounds. This is not a target pistol, but there will be folks out there who may only own this one gun and will want to take it to the range, as they should. This trigger could be discouraging when they see their target results.

Next, I had one failure to feed with the HoneyBadger load. Some guns like it, others don’t, because of the bullet’s shape and sharp edges.

Other than that, the gun handled well and generally put the bullets where the sights were looking. I didn’t have an RMSc red dot in at the time, or I would’ve tried mounting an optic.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Affordable, at or under $300 street price
• Feature-rich, with optics option, LCI, 15-round capacity, etc.
• Extra backstraps aid in hand fitment
• Stock sights are very usable

Cons

• Almost-eight-pound trigger pull weight will build your finger muscles
• Magazine disconnect safety is a pain

Summing Up

Taurus has had its problems in the past, but they seem to have righted the ship and are making better guns than before. If you are a fan of the .380, this pistol should be on your short list. For a larger-sized .380, the GX4 Carry is attractive. Even though the trigger could stand some refinement, the gun overall is a decent buy. It becomes even more so when you find it for around $250, which is doable. The pistol’s larger size buys you some recoil abatement, and a grip you can get your whole hand on. Add in some of the other features, and you’ll have a gun that might just be what you’re looking for.

About Mike Hardesty

With experience spanning over 45 years, Mike Hardesty has long enjoyed shooting and reloading. An inveterate reloader, he casts bullets and reloads for a diverse array of firearms, each handled with long-practiced precision. Living in rural Indiana, his homestead boasts a personal 100-yard range where he shares his love for guns to his four sons, their wives, and eleven grandchildren. As a recognized author, his writings have been featured in notable platforms like Sniper Country, Bear Creek Arsenal Blog, Pew Pew Tactical, TTAG, Dillon Precision’s Blue Press, and Gun Made, revealing his ongoing passion for firearms.