Taurus has always been a value-for-money firearm firm. The latest handgun in its line is the GX2, a compact daily-carry pistol packed with features, but not stuffed with price. Here are the basics you need to know:
The GX2 is a compact pistol, which means despite the best efforts of Taurus, there must be some compromises. As in, it has a shorter-than-duty-length barrel, and the flush-fit magazines are not “half a box of ammo” in capacity. It is an amalgamation of the desirable features of the Taurus GX4 and its G2C.
Starting from the top, the GX2 slide (alloy steel, finished in a matte black) has fixed sights on top. The front sight is a white dot in the post, while the rear is a notch, resting in a transverse dovetail. The sight mountings are industry-standard, so should you ever want to spring for more exotic sights you will not find options lacking. It has cocking serrations on the front and rear sides, with a stout extractor on the right side, at the rear of the ejection port. Inside the slide, the stainless-steel barrel locks in place in the ejection port and has an integral feed ramp. Unlike 1911s, the GX2 barrel does not have a link, but cams up and down by means of a cam-ramp milled into the barrel foot. The barrel is one-tenth of an inch shorter than 3.5 inches, which is long enough to give you much of the velocity a 9 mm cartridge can produce, but short enough that daily carry won’t become onerous. That’s daily carry with a proper holster, of course.
The frame is a polymer shell with the firing system and barrel-cam block assembled inside. Controls are exactly where you’d expect them to be. On the left side you’ll find a thumb safety at the rear, a slide stop in the middle and the takedown lever in front, directly above the trigger. Forward of all that, on the dustcover, is an accessory rail where you could mount a light or laser should you so choose. The GX2 is not at all an ambidextrous pistol, but Taurus has added one feature to it that you might not expect from an entry-level pistol: a reversible magazine release. Yes, you can swap it from one side to the other if you’re left-handed or simply want to set it up that way. The frame and grip area extensively incorporate non-slip panels with textures varying according to the need. The frontstrap, for example, is given a heavier, coarser texture than the side panels, since your fingers have more leverage there and you thus gain more advantage. Plus, the finer texture on the sides means the GX2 won’t be grinding your holster, clothes, belt or—most importantly—hand while you carry and/or shoot it.
There are also textured panels on the frame, above and forward of the trigger, as index locations for your trigger finger when it is outside the trigger guard. The frontstrap has a small finger groove or hook, just the one, as an added non-slip traction point. The sides of the frame have a raised ridge (not very big, but big enough) that ends at the rear of the magazine release. So, you have little worry that your GX2, riding in a holster, will have the magazine popped loose should pressure accidentally be placed upon the mag button. The backstrap has a decided hump, or curve to it, to both let your hand get higher on the frame (in fact, encouraging it) and to fill the palm of your hand when you grasp the GX2. Its backstrap is not replaceable, a compromise to keep the cost down. As I’ve mentioned many times before, we went for more than a century without replaceable backstraps on pistols, and they clearly were working just fine for most shooters all of that time. If, however the lack of a replaceable backstrap on the GX2 means that it just doesn’t fit your hand, well, Taurus makes many other quality pistols.
I have large hands, but the GX2 frame is long enough (just) to let me get all fingers on the frame, although the last one is pressing hard on the baseplate of the magazine. So, it is definitely a compact pistol.
The steel magazines that come with the pistol are made by stamping sheet steel, then folding and welding them into a tube. They hold 13 rounds, and the baseplate is removable for cleaning. The GX2 comes with a pair of its standard, flush-fit 13-round magazines. However, if you feel the need for more magazines—or more rounds—then 15-round models for the GX4 Carry will work and are readily available. The 15-rounders have a larger basepad to create the room for two more rounds. If you have large hands, the extra baseplate might be just the thing for a good grip, even if you aren’t interested in more ammunition (although who isn’t interested in more ammo?).
The trigger of the GX2 is the expected blade with a safety tab in it, inside of the trigger guard. However, the trigger sports a flat face, and it is designed to be at 90 degrees to the bore axis at the moment of release. That reduces the chances of your trigger pull being off-axis and consequently influencing point-of-impact on the shot. Now, the GX2 being an entry-level pistol, you might expect the trigger pull to be a bit on the heavy side, and you’d be right. The test sample required a couple of ounces greater than 7 pounds to release the striker. Yet, it was an interesting 7 pounds. There was no grit, creep or travel in the trigger. The process was simple: Take up the slack, and then once the trigger stopped moving, add pressure. When it got to just beyond 7 pounds, the striker went click. That was it, and it was highly reminiscent of a slew of Great War 1911s I once had a chance to test. They, too, had 7-pound triggers, with no creep or grit, travel or problems. Just apply the pressure and bang.
Also of interest, the thumb safety is quite small, and thus unlikely to be rubbed off when holstered. It is perfectly positioned to be pressed off when needed. I had no problems pushing it off when handling the GX2, but I found that I could not use my firing-hand thumb to push it back to safe, which is actually a good thing. That means it is almost certainly not going to bounce or be pushed back to safe in the midst of shooting it. Once you are done shooting, you need to use your off-hand thumb to push the lever back to safe, which is also the way I prefer my 1911s safeties to be adjusted: moderately stiff to go to fire and almost two-handed to go back to safe. This is what you want in a defensive pistol with a manual safety.
One last detail that Taurus took to make the GX2 as affordable as possible: it is not cut for mounting a red-dot optic. Dots are all the rage, but not every shooter wants one, or wants the extra workload of learning to use one. For the budget-conscious, the GX2 fits the bill, as adding a sight—particularly a quality optic—would add nearly 50 percent more to the price of the gun.
Disassembly of the GX2 is simple: Remove the magazine, unload the chamber (by racking the slide) and triple-check to ensure there is no ammo in the gun. Lock the slide rearward. Rotate the takedown lever. Ease the slide forward and when it stops, dry fire the GX2. You can now pull the slide assembly off the frame. The recoil-spring assembly is a self-contained unit, and once it is out, you can pivot the barrel out of the slide. That’s it. Frame internals do not need to be removed to clean; you can aerosol hose them, apply a few drops of lube and then reassemble.
In testing, the GX2 proved to be fully reliable. There were no failures to feed, fire or eject, The slide locked to the rear after the last round was fired, every time. Shots hit to point-of-aim, and the textured panels on the frame made it easy to keep a firm grip on the GX2 despite recoil. (Not that 9 mm has that much, but still, it stayed in place.) Once the trigger function became clear, it was not too difficult to shoot decent groups with the GX2. While some might complain that a 7-pound trigger is too heavy for a pistol, it is useful to remember that back in the “good old days” when revolvers were the typical daily carry handgun, a double-action trigger pull of less than 12 pounds was considered quite good. That the GX2 trigger pull does not have creep, grit or various “hitches” in its movement, making the pull weight less of an issue. Some might consider it a good thing, as it makes the pistol more resistant to inadvertent discharges under stress.
If flat black is your thing, then the GX2 has that covered. If you want color, but aren’t looking for the cost of a custom coating, then the GX2 can be had in one of six other frame colors (cyan, dark purple, light purple, olive green, tan and grey) and either black or stainless on the slide. Fair warning: the choice of a stainless slide on the GX2 is going to cost you a whopping $15 extra, list price. I must admit a certain attraction to the stainless slide and Grey combo. For those living in less-free states, there are 10-round-magazine models, and just recently the GX2 was approved for California’s grotesque infringement on our rights known as its approved handgun roster. California approval is a big investment. It required that Taurus send three sample pistols for destructive testing, and a check to cover the cost of that testing. Taurus did so, and now the remaining good folks there have the option of owning a GX2.
With a list price of slightly more than $300, it is likely that you will see the GX2 in your local gun shop with a price tag somewhat less than $300. Taurus once again produces a product that is a bargain without being cheap. This is a solid little pistol that works 100 percent of the time. That means your savings (compared with a more expensive pistol) can wisely go toward a good concealment holster, more practice ammo or maybe even another training class.
