Hybrid Taurus G3X Features Compact Barrel on Full-Size Frame

The new-for-2022 9mm G3X from Taurus is a hybrid version that customers specifically asked for. As Taurus describes it, the G3X is a “blend” of the compact G3C and the full-size G3. I just say it’s a clever combination.

Up top, the G3X features a stainless-steel 3.2-inch-long barrel and a compact stainless-steel slide. The slide is finished in matte black Tennifer, and it has three grasping grooves on each side at the front and eight grasping grooves on each side at the back. The top is flat, and the top edges are rounded. The muzzle end and the sides ahead of the ejection port are contoured for easier holstering. The barrel has a loaded-chamber view port on top of the chamber that allows a chambered round to be seen, providing visible verification.

The all-black rear sight is dovetailed into the slide, so it is drift-adjustable for windage, and the dovetail is sized to fit popular aftermarket tritium rear night sights, allowing users easy replacement of the all-black rear sight if they so desire. Personally, I like the all-black rear sight. In fact, I prefer it. It has a square notch that is 0.167 inch wide, and the face has fine horizontal striations. The steel fixed front sight is 0.152 inch thick and 0.152 inch tall. It has a plain white dot. The sight radius is 5.19 inches.

While the G3X is not optic-ready, it is compatible with the G3 and G3C T.O.R.O slide kits available from Taurus. T.O.R.O. stands for Taurus Optic Ready Option, meaning T.O.R.O. slides are cut for mounting plates, and the slides come with multiple plates that accommodate most popular red-dot reflex-type sight footprints.

The G3X’s polymer frame has recesses on both sides above the trigger guard that are designed specifically for the shooter to use to rest the trigger finger when not actively shooting, keeping the trigger finger entirely outside the trigger guard and off the trigger. The company calls them “Taurus Memory Pads,” and the term has been trademarked. At the dustcover end of the frame is an integral accessory rail with a single cross-slot.

The grip area has molded-in thumbrests (Taurus calls them thumb “shelves”), and it has six panels of fine stippling-like texturing: one on the frontstrap, one on the backstrap, and two on each side. It provided a secure gripping surface during my shooting sessions. The grip’s circumference measures 5.63 inches.

Like a lot of striker-fired pistols, the G3X has a hinged trigger safety, and it prevents the trigger from being squeezed unless the shooter’s finger has fully engaged and depressed the trigger safety. Like Taurus’s earlier G3 pistol, the G3X’s trigger safety is noticeably wider than other such trigger safeties.

Unlike a lot of other striker-fired guns, the G3X’s trigger pull is pretty good—not sloppy or mushy. My sample’s trigger broke at 6 pounds, 8 ounces on average for five measurements with my RCBS trigger pull scale. Take-up was fairly long but not unexpectedly so, the break was crisp, and the reset was audible.

The G3X has an internal striker block safety. It keeps the striker from moving forward unintentionally—as in a drop or a hard impact—and accidentally striking the primer. When the trigger is squeezed rearward, the striker block is pushed away from the striker.

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The frame has “Taurus Memory Pads” above the trigger guard on both sides for safe positioning of the trigger finger. The grip area has molded-in thumb rests and effective texturing on the frontstrap, backstrap, and both sides. (Michael Anschuetz photo)

Also unlike other striker-fired pistols, the G3X has repeat-strike capability. That means if a round fails to go off the first time, after reset, the trigger can be squeezed again quickly. As anyone who has done a fair amount of shooting knows, sometimes with a repeat strike, the round goes off. It’s a great capability for a self-defense gun.

Another great capability for a self-defense pistol is the ability to fire with the magazine removed. The G3X has that ability.

My G3X came with two flush-fitting 15-round magazines. The pistol is also offered with two 10-round magazines for locations that limit magazine capacity. The magazine bodies are metal, and the polymer baseplates are removable. G3 17-round magazines will function in the G3X.

The G3X is 6.3 inches long overall, 5.2 inches high, and 1.2 inches wide. The slide proper is 0.99 inch thick. The pistol weighs 22.6 ounces with an empty magazine inserted.

The G3X field strips easily for regular cleaning and periodic maintenance. Simply remove the magazine, be certain the pistol is not loaded by racking the slide and checking the chamber, return the slide to its forward position, point the pistol in a safe direction, retract the slide slightly, pull down the takedown lever, and move the slide forward off the frame. Remove the recoil spring assembly from the slide and then remove the barrel.

In addition, the G3X’s slide is easy to rack. Some striker-fired mechanisms require very stiff springs, and this makes their slides hard to rack. Not so with the G3X. Using my jury-rigged apparatus, consisting of my trigger pull scale hooked to a cleaning rod, the G3X requires about 20 pounds of pull to rack the slide. Most striker-fired pistols I’ve encountered—and I’ve worked with quite a number of them—require upwards of 22 pounds. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but you definitely can feel it.

Fun & Games

As I write this report, spring is in the air where I live, so I pulled out all the stops and fired 20 9mm factory loads in the new G3X. I spent a very pleasant day at my shooting range putting it through its paces, and as the chart shows, it is adequately accurate from the bench at a range of 25 yards. All loads averaged under 4.00 inches, and that’s for five, five-shot groups with each load. The overall average 25-yard accuracy for all 20 factory loads was 3.34 inches.

But this gun is designed for concealed-carry personal protection, where any shooting that needs to be done is most likely going to be at much closer distances. With that in mind, I fired 15 rounds more (one full magazine) of each factory load on Birchwood Casey Dirty Bird BC-27 silhouette targets at a range of seven yards. The pistol put those rounds into nice tight groups every time. Recoil was easy to manage, and the white-dot front sight was easy to see against the dark blue targets.

In the end, the G3X is very easy to shoot well. The longer grip easily fits my medium-size hand and is totally comfortable.

With its 15-round magazine capacity, the new G3X offers a lot of firepower, and I think it should be on your short list of new-for-2022 self-defense pistols to check out.

G3X Specifications

• Manufacturer: Taurus, taurus.com
• Type: Striker-fired autoloader
• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Magazine Capacity: 15 rounds
• Barrel: 3.2 in.
• Overall Length: 6.3 in.
• Width: 1.2 in.
• Height: 5.2 in.
• Weight, Empty: 22.6 oz.
• Finish: Black Tennifer
• Sights: All-black rear, white-dot front
• Trigger: 6.5-lb. pull (as tested)
• Safety: Trigger safety/firing pin block
• MSRP: $342.98