- Joined
- Dec 14, 2022
After putting a lot of thought into it myself earlier this year my top three choices ended up being a Ruger LCRX in .357 (with the intent of carrying .38 ), a glock 19, or a Taurus GX4. After having a chance to handle all three I ended up going with the GX4, and once I'd come to that decision I ended up holding out for the GX4 TORO which has an optic cutout and included both a 13 round magazine in addition to an 11 out of the box, vs a pair of 11s for the base GX4.
I carried it without an optic for several months but eventually I tacked on a Holosun HE507k-GR X2 which I feel really improved my ability to quickly put hits on target, though it cost nearly as much as the gun did lol. I really like it, it gives you a 6 MoA circle and a 2 MoA dot, you've got the circle for close/fast shots but if you need to make a longer one you've got that tight dot. You can use them in combination with each other or select either one individually. It starts looking grimy really fast and I was cleaning it every few days at first but I gave up on that pretty quickly when I realized it didn't affect the viewability of the reticle. I look through it every night when I take it off to make sure it's all good and no matter how much of whatever kind of hair is stuck in it the reticle is still perfectly viewable. It also has its own rear sight posts and lets you see the factory front post through the lens if anything were to happen to the reticle.
For a holster I just grabbed a random one on Amazon, "CYA Supply Co Base Optics Ready Inside Waistband Holster" (Gx4/GX4 TORO for the style) with the intent of upgrading to a nicer one eventually but it's been plenty comfortable and secure so I'll stick with it til I have a reason not to. I had to tighten the factory retention screw to start but it's held in place fine.
For ammo I went with Hornady Critical Defense (9mm). It's specifically designed for short barreled concealed carry pistols so it hits its full velocity out of the GX4's 3" barrel. When the GX4 XL (4" barrel) came out TFBTV did a comparison with this specific round and the velocity was basically identical out of both. Garand Thumb also tested the round and it expanded every time on their dummy and they couldn't get it to overpenetrate so I feel good about it in that regard.
This is all from the daily carry perspective of course, if you want something for the home I'd recommend getting a used, beat up lever action of some kind, .357 would be my first choice of round but .44 or .45 would be fine too, though .45 Long Colt is pretty pricey and definitely my last choice of the three calibers. Not for any tactical/practical reason, but if you ever have to use it and a prosecutor tries to throw you in prison for life for defending yourself make him hold that up, rather than giving him that big, black scary fully semi-automatic Assault Rifle 15™ with a 30 round clipazine to go after you with. That was the same reason the ruger LCRX was on my list of choices for a carry gun, it's just kind of an ugly, practical thing that a prosecutor would have a hard time making a big deal of. The price (I paid $360 for mine), caliber (just a bit easier to find), and form factor (much thinner) of the GX4 are what ended up swinging me in its direction though.
I carried it without an optic for several months but eventually I tacked on a Holosun HE507k-GR X2 which I feel really improved my ability to quickly put hits on target, though it cost nearly as much as the gun did lol. I really like it, it gives you a 6 MoA circle and a 2 MoA dot, you've got the circle for close/fast shots but if you need to make a longer one you've got that tight dot. You can use them in combination with each other or select either one individually. It starts looking grimy really fast and I was cleaning it every few days at first but I gave up on that pretty quickly when I realized it didn't affect the viewability of the reticle. I look through it every night when I take it off to make sure it's all good and no matter how much of whatever kind of hair is stuck in it the reticle is still perfectly viewable. It also has its own rear sight posts and lets you see the factory front post through the lens if anything were to happen to the reticle.
For a holster I just grabbed a random one on Amazon, "CYA Supply Co Base Optics Ready Inside Waistband Holster" (Gx4/GX4 TORO for the style) with the intent of upgrading to a nicer one eventually but it's been plenty comfortable and secure so I'll stick with it til I have a reason not to. I had to tighten the factory retention screw to start but it's held in place fine.
For ammo I went with Hornady Critical Defense (9mm). It's specifically designed for short barreled concealed carry pistols so it hits its full velocity out of the GX4's 3" barrel. When the GX4 XL (4" barrel) came out TFBTV did a comparison with this specific round and the velocity was basically identical out of both. Garand Thumb also tested the round and it expanded every time on their dummy and they couldn't get it to overpenetrate so I feel good about it in that regard.
This is all from the daily carry perspective of course, if you want something for the home I'd recommend getting a used, beat up lever action of some kind, .357 would be my first choice of round but .44 or .45 would be fine too, though .45 Long Colt is pretty pricey and definitely my last choice of the three calibers. Not for any tactical/practical reason, but if you ever have to use it and a prosecutor tries to throw you in prison for life for defending yourself make him hold that up, rather than giving him that big, black scary fully semi-automatic Assault Rifle 15™ with a 30 round clipazine to go after you with. That was the same reason the ruger LCRX was on my list of choices for a carry gun, it's just kind of an ugly, practical thing that a prosecutor would have a hard time making a big deal of. The price (I paid $360 for mine), caliber (just a bit easier to find), and form factor (much thinner) of the GX4 are what ended up swinging me in its direction though.
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