It's nice to see competition spring up in the "micro compact" segment dominated for so long by the Sig P365 and Springfield Hellcat. S&W, Ruger, and Taurus are also names to mix in now which presents competition and should result in price wars to win over us consumers. Taurus came in swinging hard by setting the lowest MSRP of the bunch. Of course Taurus has always been a value brand, and has previously stepped on their own toes with quality control issues that prevent them from commanding a higher price. How did they do with the GX4? See the tabletop video below.
Overall a very nice little gun, but the chamber fitment was a bit alarming. Those who have seen the Shooting Impressions video know our concern was valid. Once again we found a serious issue so many others either overlooked or failed to show their audience.
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For a gun of its size the GX4 was very controllable and rather comfortable to shoot. Whether or not a barrel this short is a good idea should be the topic of a whole other post. The point is our barrel had chamber issues. Fortunately, Taurus saw our first video and by the time the second video was out we were contact with the offer of warranty service. We sent the old barrel back and were sent a new one with a much better fitment. I'd like to think that our problem barrel was a fluke and I commend Taurus USA for being on the ball about getting it fixed.
We've since taken the GX4 out to try the new barrel and had better results, though there still is some primer flow seen on the fired cases, it's not nearly as bad. We asked Taurus about that and it was explained that the shape of flow is going to happen as the GX4 has an oblong firing pin hole as some of our viewers mentioned. This design is deliberate as a way of freeing debris and preventing the striker/firing pin from being obstructed. That makes sense for a gun of this size that is likely to be carried where lint gets into everything. We plan on filming a third video to show and explain more.
The good news is the Taurus GX4 has proven itself an excellent option for those shopping for pistols of this size. This experience also shows why we test things the way we do at GBGuns. We're here to inform you, not sell to you, and that may be why we saw and mentioned these issues while dozens of others did not.
Stay safe out there and thank you all for your support.