Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm 3.37in 10-Round — Superb Compact Pistol

Description

The Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm is the coyote-framed version of Taurus’s budget striker-fired compact: a 3.37-inch barrel, a matte black stainless slide over a tan polymer frame, an accessory rail under the dust cover, and a ten-round magazine.

The GX2 is what happens when a manufacturer stops adding features and concentrates on the ones people actually use. There is no optic cut on this model, no adjustable sights, no interchangeable backstraps. What the Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm does have is a full grip, a usable trigger and a rail, at a price that leaves money in the budget for ammunition — which is the thing that actually makes people better shooters.

How it is put together

• A 3.37-inch matte stainless barrel inside a matte black serrated stainless slide. Serrations run front and rear, so press checks and malfunction clearing are both straightforward.
• A tan polymer frame with the colour moulded through, not sprayed on. A scratch shows more tan underneath rather than a different colour.
• A Picatinny rail moulded into the dust cover for a light or a laser.
• An aggressive stippled texture across the grip panels, front strap and backstrap — the Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm holds still in a wet hand better than its price suggests.
• A trigger-blade safety and a striker-block, with no manual thumb safety to forget.

About the ten-round magazine

• This is the ten-round configuration. The standard GX2 carries thirteen in the same frame, so if you live somewhere without a magazine limit the higher-capacity version is the same gun for the same money.
• Where a ten-round limit applies, the Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm gives you a full-size grip and a full-length magazine rather than a cut-down subcompact — nothing about the gun shrinks, only the count.
• The Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm magazine sits flush. There is no floorplate extension sticking out under the grip.
• Two magazines ship with the pistol.

Specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 1-GX2931T-10
• UPC: 725327636953
• Calibre: 9mm Luger
• Capacity: 10+1
• Barrel: 3.37 in, matte stainless steel
• Slide: matte black stainless steel, serrated front and rear
• Frame: tan polymer with Picatinny rail
• Action: striker-fired
• Safety: trigger blade and striker block
• Sights: fixed

9mm Luger is the most thoroughly standardised handgun cartridge in the world, with dimensions and a pressure ceiling published by SAAMI, which is exactly why it is cheap: every maker builds to the same drawing and the volume is enormous. A pistol at this price paired with cartridges at that price is the combination that gets a new shooter to a thousand rounds of practice instead of a hundred.

Other GX2s in stock: the all-black GX2 Compact, the stainless-slide GX2, the ten-round black GX2, and the optic-ready GX2 TORO in FDE if you want to mount a red dot. For something smaller to carry, look at the GX4 micro-compact.

Why the Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm earns its place

• The Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm puts a full-size grip on a compact slide, which is the combination that shoots well and still conceals.
• Colour moulded through the frame, so it ages better than a painted gun.
• A rail, which a surprising number of pistols in this price bracket still leave off.
• Stainless steel under the finish on both barrel and slide.
• Cheap enough that the ammunition budget survives buying it.

This suits a first pistol, a truck gun, a training gun for a household where more than one person needs to be able to run it, and anyone in a ten-round jurisdiction who does not want to give up grip length to get there. The Taurus GX2 Tan 9mm is not a competition gun and not a duty gun; the trigger is serviceable rather than fine, and the fixed sights are plain black. What it is, is honest.

In stock now at MAG5 Firearms in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Handgun sales ship to a licensed dealer in your state, where you will complete a Form 4473 and the background check before taking delivery.