Taurus GX4 FDE 9mm Micro-Compact Pistol 3.06 in. 11+1 – Superb Everyday Carry Package

Description

The Taurus GX4 FDE is the micro-compact that made everyone else sharpen their pencils: eleven rounds of 9mm in a pistol about an inch wide, with a 3.06-inch barrel and a grip that still gives most hands somewhere to hold. This Taurus GX4 FDE is finished in monotone Flat Dark Earth, the slide a shade browner than the frame, with black controls and a black magazine floorplate.

Interchangeable backstraps, front and rear slide serrations, and a flat-faced trigger with a short reset. It is a carry gun with no pretensions to being anything else, and it is very good at that one job.

What the Taurus GX4 FDE actually offers

• The Taurus GX4 FDE holds 11+1 of 9mm Luger in a pistol roughly an inch across the slide
• 3.06-inch barrel, the shortest in the GX4 family, which is what makes it disappear under a shirt
• Monotone Flat Dark Earth finish across slide and frame, with black controls for contrast
• Interchangeable backstraps, so the grip circumference is matched to your hand rather than the reverse
• Flat-faced trigger with a positive, clearly defined reset
• Front and rear slide serrations, cut deep enough to be worked with cold or wet hands
• A frame with a steel chassis inside it, which is where the durability comes from

Living with a micro-compact

• Eleven rounds in this size class was remarkable when the GX4 launched, and it is still competitive
• The short grip means most shooters get two and a half fingers on it. Extended magazines fix that at the cost of concealment
• A light pistol firing full-power 9mm has real recoil. The Taurus GX4 FDE is controllable, not soft
• No optic cut on this model. If a red dot is a requirement, the TORO versions are the ones to look at
• No accessory rail either. That is the trade for the profile, and every gun in this class makes it
• Practise the reload. A flush eleven-round magazine runs dry faster than people expect on a timer

Specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 1-GX4M93MF
• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Capacity: 11+1
• Barrel: 3.06 in.
• Slide: alloy steel, monotone Flat Dark Earth, serrated
• Frame: polymer in Flat Dark Earth with interchangeable backstrap
• Action: striker fired, flat-faced trigger
• Sights: fixed
• UPC: 725327937722

9mm Luger is the most produced and most tightly standardised handgun cartridge in the world, with chamber and pressure specifications published by SAAMI. That is why a sub-compact at this price can be trusted with cheap range ammunition and serious defensive loads alike, provided you verify the defensive load cycles in your own gun.

One correction worth making, because the distributor data is wrong on this SKU. Sports South lists the frame as stainless steel. It is not: the Taurus GX4 FDE has a polymer frame with a steel chassis inside, which is how a pistol this size weighs what it does. We see the same error across most of the Taurus polymer line, so it is worth knowing if you are comparing spec sheets across retailers.

Why this pistol earns its place

• Eleven rounds of 9mm in a genuinely pocketable package
• A flat trigger and a short reset, which is not standard at this price
• Backstraps included, so the Taurus GX4 FDE can be fitted rather than tolerated
• Flat Dark Earth throughout, which hides holster wear far better than black
• Light enough to be carried every day, which is the only thing that actually matters in a carry gun
• Inexpensive enough to own alongside a full-size pistol rather than instead of one

Everyday carriers, people who want something they will not leave at home in summer, and shooters looking for a backup to a duty-size pistol. The Taurus GX4 FDE is also a reasonable first carry gun, provided the buyer is willing to practise with something this small.

If you want the same gun in black, the black GX4 Micro is the standard build, and the tungsten Micro is the two-tone. In Flat Dark Earth with a full grip, the GX4 Carry FDE is the larger-handed option.

For a factory optic cut, the TORO Micro takes a red dot out of the box. And if this one feels too small to shoot well, the GX4 XL adds barrel and grip without adding width.

Every Taurus GX4 FDE ships with the factory case, the magazine, the spare backstraps, the manual and a lock. Transfers go to your FFL and our end of the paperwork is done the same day.