Taurus GX4 vs G2C and G3C

Taurus’ 9mm concealed carry staple has been the notorious G2C. They recently released the Taurus G3C, which is just an updated version of the G2C. There are some minor differences that you can read in our Taurus G3C vs G2C comparison.

Their latest entry into the concealed carry market is the Taurus GX4. The GX4 brings some new capabilities to Taurus’ concealed carry lineup. 

While having the same caliber and a similar capacity to the G2C, many changes have been made in the design.

The differences don’t necessarily make the gun better or worse, but they are significantly different.

We’re going to cover those differences today in our Taurus GX4 vs G2C comparison.

Size

Metrics	Taurus G2C/G3C	Taurus GX4
Weight w/ no mag (Oz)	19.2	16.6
Weight w/ empty mag (Oz)	21.7	18.6
Weight w/ full mag (Oz)	26.9	23.4
Height (top of slide to bottom of magazine baseplate) (Inches)	4.89	4.2
Length (Inches)	6.23	5.8
Width of grip (Inches)	1.11	0.99
Width of slide (Inches)	1.06	.95
Width across controls (Inches)	1.22	1.06

Taurus GX4 vs G2C Concealed Carry

Both of these guns are designed to be concealed carry firearms. That said, the Taurus GX4 seems to be a little more impersonal in the roles it can fill.

Taurus G2C and G3C have 12-round magazines.

Despite their similar capacities, the sizes of the two guns are quite different.

Fully loaded, the Taurus G2C is three-and-a-half ounces heavier than the GX4.

Weight isn’t that important when carrying a gun inside the waistband using a belt, but weight becomes a significant factor if you plan to carry the gun without one.

If you’re carrying this gun at the gym or on a run, the GX4 is going to have a significant advantage right off the bat.

Height

The two most significant dimensions of concealed carry and concealment are the height of the firearm (the distance from the top of the slide to the bottom of the magazine), and the width of the grip.

The Taurus G2C is significantly larger in both categories.

When it comes to the width of the grip, it’s a tenth of an inch larger, which doesn’t sound like much but it can be quite a bit for many body types when carrying concealed.

The height of the firearm is the most significant difference.

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The Taurus G2C is over half of an inch taller than the GX4, so if you want to carry the gun in your pocket, it’s going to be much easier to carry the GX4 than the G2C.

If you’re comparing the Taurus G2C vs GX4 for inside the waistband carry, these size differences might not be as significant.

It plays a role if you are carrying inside the pocket.

If both of these guns are close to the larger end of what you can conceal, there will also be a significant advantage for the Taurus GX4.

If you can easily hide a full-size firearm, these guns will both be more concealable than full-size options.

Ergonomics Overall

Ergonomics are critical in a firearm.

Many people understand ergonomics is how the gun feels. While that is true, ergonomics also dictate how the gun allows you to apply pressure in certain places to shoot the gun effectively.

Ergonomics that feel good in the hand might not always allow you to have proper control of the firearm and vice versa.

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Sometimes firearms that feel great in hand also will enable you to have appropriate control. This will vary from person to person, so keep that in mind prior to purchase.

Frame

The frame on these two firearms is quite a bit different. The frame on the Taurus G2C fills your hand up much better than the frame on the Taurus GX4.

The Taurus GX4 just has a smaller grip; there’s no way around that.

A significant difference between these two guns is going to be modularity. The Taurus GX4 has a modular backstrap, and that means you can replace the back strap with a small or large size, both of which were shipped with the gun.

I’m okay with the small backstrap, but it’s nice to have the option to install the large strap for people that want to be able to do that.

The Taurus GX4 comes with a pinky extension, which allows you to get your whole hand on the gun, at least for most people.

I have medium- to large-size hands, and it will enable me to get my entire grip on the gun, but if you have extra-large hands, your pinky will likely hang off with the Taurus G2C.

When it comes to the Taurus GX4, my pinky only sits on the gun halfway, and I have to cram my grip on the gun to get it there. That is a downside of the GX4. 

That said, they do make a 13-round magazine that will allow you to get your entire pinky on the gun’s grip.

This 13-round magazine will conceal similarly to the G3C with the grip extension. It will also have the added benefit of an extra two rounds in the magazine, so you’d get 13 rounds of the Taurus GX4 compared to 12 in the G2C.

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Texture Taurus GX4 vs G2C

When it comes to texture, the texture is more aggressive on the Taurus G2C and G3C.

It has what feels more like 200-grit sandpaper, whereas the grip on the Taurus GX4 has what feels like 600-grit comparatively. The texture on both guns envelopes the whole grip. This is nice and they both work well to control recoil.

I will say, though, that the GX4 will have a more comfortable texture to carry inside the waistband.

Slide

Slides on both of these guns have forward-cocking serrations, assuming you have the Taurus G3C.

The Taurus G2C does not have forward-cocking serrations. The serrations on the GX4 are better than those on the G3C. 

The G3C cocking serrations are tiny and don’t give you a lot of room to grip. They work fine for press checks, but they’re just not large enough to do any kind of actual manipulation with the slide.

The slide on the Taurus G2C and G3C is significantly wider than the GX4. That’s a significant advantage when cocking a firearm.

I find it much easier to rack the slide on the G2C vs the GX4. 

Sights

The Taurus GX4 and G3C have identical sights from the factory.

These sights are a white front dot with serrated blacked-out rear. The rear has a square notch. The Taurus G2C, on the other hand, has three-dot plastic sights.

These sites are usable, but not great.

The sights on both the G3C and the GX4 are far superior to the sights on the G2C.

Aftermarket

Both the Taurus GX4 and G3C use Glock sight cuts, which means that these pistols accept almost any aftermarket sight out there.

Pretty much everybody makes aftermarket sights that will fit on a Glock, so they’re going to have more aftermarket sight options than just about any other pistol on the market. The Taurus G2C, on the other hand, doesn’t have many aftermarket options.

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The selection you do have is very slim and not that good.

Red-Dot Optics

There are no red-dot optics available for the Taurus G2C, but both the Taurus GX4 and the Taurus G3C have an optics mounting solution from the factory.

There will be more optics available that will fit the Taurus G3C than the Taurus GX4.

That’s just due to the size and width of the slide. The slide on the Taurus G3C is wider, so it allows the gun to fit more optics.

Controls Taurus GX4 vs G2C

If you’re looking for a thumb safety on the gun, then the Taurus G2C or G3C is going to be your only option.

Both of these guns have protection on the left side of the frame. This thumb safety is well positioned, easy to use for a right-handed shooter.

You can use it just like a 1911 safety.

The downside of this design is it is not handy, so if you’re left-handed or ever had to use your gun with your left hand, you’re going to have to work a little bit harder to manipulate that safety.

There is no safe option on the Taurus GX4, so that’s not even something we can discuss there.

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Trigger Taurus GX4 vs G2C

The triggers on these guns are going to be quite different. The Taurus G3C and G2C have pretty much identical triggers, so we’ll cover those as one.

The Taurus GX4 trigger is significantly different. 

Taurus G3C/G2C Trigger

The trigger on the Taurus G3C is an odd striker-fired trigger.

It is a double-action/single-action trigger mechanism. This is not normal in striker-fired guns.

What happens when you carry the gun is that it will always be pre-cocked.

If the striker fails to ignite a round, you have double-strike capability.

Initially, you’ll pull the trigger, and it’ll be single-action, and if that fails to ignite the round in the chamber, your next trigger pull will be double unless you rack the slide to re-cock the striker and eject the unfired round.

I don’t see this feature as useful as most modern training doctrine dictates that you rack the slide to eject the round that failed to fire.

However, you might find this feature to be handy. When you go to pull the trigger itself, you’re going to feel a very light take-up, and it’s going to go very far back.

The trigger reach on this gun is surprisingly short if you measure the trigger reach from the point you first start to feel a wall to the rear of the grip.

If you measure the trigger reach from the front of the trigger pull, then it will be significantly longer.

Once you get to that wall, you’re going to feel a pretty clean break.

The break does feel plasticy, but it’s not horrible either. It’s a decent trigger but nothing to write home about. When it comes to the reset, it resets right to that wall point, and again, you’ll feel that clean break.

If you’re running the trigger in double-action mode, it’s just a spongy, springy striker-fired trigger. 

Taurus GX4 Trigger

The trigger on the GX4 has a very light and short take-up.

The take-up on this trigger is extremely short, so the true reach seems to fit farther forward in the GX4 despite the gun being much smaller. Once you take up that trigger slap, you’re going to hit a formidable wall. 

That wall is very definitive, and there’s no creep before you feel a very clean break.

This break is also plasticy, but at the same time, it’s immaculate. There’s no creep or sponginess in it whatsoever.

The trigger resets right back at the wall, and again, it’s a nice clean break.

I’m impressed with the trigger on the Taurus GX4.

They did an excellent job with this gun, and it outclasses many other of its competitors that are priced at a much higher price point.

Slide Lock

The slide locks on both of these guns are mounted on the left side of the gun.

There is no ambidextrous feature.

The slide lock on the Taurus GX4 is positioned in a great spot where you can easily reach it with your thumb.

If you have very short hands, this may be an issue if you have very short thumbs as well, but if you don’t it’s going to be very easy for you to reach.

This is one of my favorite features of this gun. It’s just straightforward to use. Dropping the slide is more manageable than almost any other slide out there.

They got the geometry of this design correct.

The Taurus G2C, on the other hand, is a little bit harder to reach.

The reason for this is the slide lock is positioned right in front of the thumb safety, so depending on the shape and size of your thumb, it might cause interference.

The slide stop is also somewhat slicker and a little harder to push down to drop the slide, so it’s just not as easy of a design to use.

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I have to give the win to the Taurus GX4 vs the G2C when it comes to the slide lock.

Magazine Release

The magazine releases on these guns are very similar.

Both of these magazine releases are reversible and have very similar geometry. They both are somewhat sharp at the front of the magazine release.

I really can’t give an advantage to one gun over the other when it comes to this, although I will say the GX4 might be a little harder for some people to drop the magazine on.

The reason for this is if you have larger hands, it will block the magazine from falling through.

If you have huge hands, this could also be an issue on the Taurus G2C.

Magazine Well

Both of these guns have no bevel to speak of inside the magazine.

Well, there’s just the slightest bevel on the Taurus G2C and G3C, but it’s not anything to talk about. It’s not enough to help you when you need to reload the gun.

What will help you the most is your hands likely to cup down around the grip just a little bit, allowing you to use your hand like a funnel or a mag well to get the magazine into the gun.

Quality

There is no contest when comparing the Taurus GX4 vs the G2C when it comes to quality.

The quality of the GX4 is much higher than it appears to be on the G3C and G2C. The finish on the slide is pretty similar to the finish on the Taurus G3C, but the material in the frame seems to be just a little bit better on the Taurus GX4.

The components like the trigger and the magazine release also seemed to be of a slightly higher quality.

I’ll also say that the texturing on the Taurus GX4 gives it more of a quality feel.

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Aftermarket

There are a lot more aftermarket parts out there for the Taurus G2C and G3C at this time.

That said, I see that changing quickly as the Taurus GX4 gets more time on the market.

Aesthetics

Aesthetically, I’ve never found the Taurus G3C and G2C series of firearms attractive.

They’re kind of the ugly duckling.

The Taurus GX4, on the other hand, has a pretty cool, trendy look.

Will this gun look great five years from now?

I’m not sure, but it looks pretty good now. It has a well-shaped slide and a lot of clean lines, but your shoe looks fantastic.

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Shooting

Shooting these guns is about what you’d expect, except for the GX4.

I was pleasantly surprised with that gun. The Taurus GX4 ergonomics work well to push your hand up high into the grip. It works very similarly to the CZ P-10 C.

That’s a great feature to have in a small, easy-to-use firearm, especially if you’re a newer shooter. It’s going to force you to have the proper grip every time. 

The Taurus G3C and G2C have a lot more recoil than they should for the size of the gun.

I say a lot more recoil because, by 2021 standards, there are guns out there like the Springfield Armory Hellcat and the SIG Sauer P365 that shoot surprisingly well for their size.

The Taurus G3C and G2C have a little more recoil than you’d expect for such a chunky gun.

The Taurus GX4, on the other hand, just seems to shoot a little bit smoother for me: the recoil impulse is better, and the gun just seems to be easier to keep on target.

Price/Value

You can pick up a GX4 for $350 from a store with the MSRP being $392.

The G2C has an MSRP of $300 while the G3C is $340 comparatively. Both of those run roughly $50 under MSRP unless a Taurus is running a promotion.

I personally find the better value to be the GX4, as the quality of build and design seems much higher.

You just get more for your money with the Taurus GX4 vs the G2C or G3C.

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Pros/Cons

Taurus G2C Pros

• Price

Taurus G3C Pros

• Glock sights

Taurus GX4 Pros

• Glock sights
• Size/capacity
• Concealment
• Price
• Build quality/design

Taurus G2C Cons

• Size
• Quality
• Sights
• Trigger

Taurus G3C Cons

• Size
• Quality
• Trigger

Taurus GX4 Cons

• Price

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• Taurus G3c Review
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• Taurus G2c Holster
• Taurus G2c Review