A short time back, we began evaluation of a rather ergonomic small 9mm auto in the role of a real pocket gun. We opted for the Taurus GX4, a remarkable effort considering the history of the past few decades at the company, due to its size and the ergonomic features of the frame.
It’s not just me; a close friend who has carried one or another J-frame in pocket carry since the 1970s was likewise interested. Part of the driving force is the scarce nature of 38 ammo, leading to availability and pricing issues. Why not a 32? Same reasons.
Since we can’t prevail on ammo manufacturers to do what can’t be done, we’re forced to look elsewhere.
Since then, my friend has acquired his own example and will be shooting it somewhat extensively until the fall. If it passes, I’ll let you know. Meanwhile, I started working on benchmarks to see what I could see about the little heater’s potential.
It was fifty degrees and overcast the morning I sought to work some of this out. I used the GX4 slick – not the TORO version – in the Elite Survival Systems IWB, which I carried in the left front pocket. The vastly ‘sticky’ exterior of the ESS IWB was key in trying to determine if such a rig is a relevant replacement for the 38 snub as a second gun.
I started with what could be a smart micro-9 load, the Hornady Critical Defense Lite 100gr. FTX round.
Please spare me the cries of “use (this) load or (that)” – my concerns are centered around reliability and point of impact more than imagined “stopping power.”
I’d had 11 rounds loaded in each of three magazines for several days. I started the day by putting five of them on an NRA B-8 repair center at thirty feet; I confirmed that the loads hit under the sights and tended right – I was shooting left-handed, as I did for every bit of this experiment. Hits were 1-X, 1-10 (at 4 o’clock), 2-9s at 5:30 and 1- 8 at 4 o’clock.
There’s very little gun to hang onto. While the ergonomics are great, it would take more gun surface area to settle those hits down.
After changing ammo to some steel-cased range ammo, I went to work on single hits from 10 feet from the holster, starting with hand-on-gun. Times were 1.21, 1.47, 1.75, 1.22, 1.65, 1.13. These are substandard times, needing to be below a second to count for full value.
Working with pocket holsters requires care; remove the holster from the pocket to replace the gun. As shown below, use care to avoid muzzling your hand when replacing the gun.
I went to pairs, “Florida-style” – Florida style, except that I was drawing from the holster for the close-range event. The course calls for pairs in a second or less from ready. I posted times of 1.84 seconds and 1.67 seconds, with nicely centered hits on a B-27 repair center analog. The quicker of the pairs were one-handed, as the holster came out with the gun …
So much for that.
At 20 feet, with a par 2 seconds, I produced a pair of hits in 2.55 sec., with 1-10 and 1-8 at 12:30. At thirty feet, I avoided the reload stage by trying pairs from the holster in around 2.5 seconds. The pair of 9s were delivered in 2.67 seconds. I was slightly slower, .02 seconds slower, to get a ten and one nine (at 6 o’clock) on the second attempt.
At 60 feet, it all went to hell with a failure to feed. Apparently, the gun doesn’t like to be shot dry – unlubricated – with steel-case ammo. I finished the stage in a miserable 8+ seconds, but both hits were there.
After a break to apply some oil to the gun, I marked the repair center and went back to fifty yards. From there I shot six rounds in 18 ½ seconds. There was a hit on the right edge of the repair center at 3 o’clock, a 9 at 6 o’clock, 2 8s at six o’clock and a pair below the repair center – just.
The repair center appeared to be the same width as the front sight at that distance.
I finished with 6 rounds from 25 yards – and shot a 61%.
That’s nowhere near passing. Was it the ammo? I feel more certain it was the operator. But we’re not through yet and, while the GX4 is far from being named the replacement for the five-shot snub, it's only incurred one stoppage since it’s been here. And that one was definitely an operator error.
With all the shooting being completed left-handed, I had another excuse available to me.
While my shooting partner has arranged a new front sight from shoptaurus.com, I’m sticking with the original arrangement for now. If I did change them, the sights would be a little higher, with more light on either side of the front sight when admiring it through the rear sight. – Any suggestions?
Helping the old eyes won’t help the grip though – and that’s where the real issue is. The problem isn’t the nicely abrasive surface of the gun’s frame, but my old hands. We’ll continue with the experiments and keep you posted.
-- Rich Grassi
