After you shot a few hundred rounds thru it, and liked it, I’d say don’t worry about an old video and a photograph. Shoot it and enjoy. I wouldn’t be afraid to carry it either.

 

For the most part, I agree with that. But an exploding gun or a gun that fires just by shaking it would not be good to be carrying around. Sure the gun may be good but the only way I'd find out otherwise is by someone possibly dying. At least with a fail-to-feed issue (a different reliability issue), that in and of itself wouldn't kill anyone (although it would give the bad guy time to shoot me instead).

I posted here to try and reconcile all this in my mind and get to the point where it's not going to be an issue.

I couldn't even tell what model guns they were. Or how old these examples are.

 

After a few hundred rounds with no issues I wouldn't worry wart about it. But do keep up with the recall notice as they do add more to the list occasionally. And when firearms "explode" there is usually more to the story than revealed in YouTubers videos. Good shooting.👍. Enjoy your purchase.

 

I've never heard of such a thing. Its not a GX4, that's for sure. That photo is crazy. I'm not sure how that could even happen. It looks like the slide (which is damaged but not exploded open) and barrel (which is not really visible) are intact, I don't understand how the gasses would blow out the lower forward right portion of the frame. If anything, I would have assumed the gasses would have blown out the magazine if anything, or launched the slide, or peeled the barrel/slide like a banana peel.

 

Good point! As a relatively new gun owner myself, I hadn't even noticed that. That makes me feel a little better. Have any similar thoughts on the video?

 

These are very old examples. If I recall correctly the video of the shaken pistol (which was proven to have a 'modified trigger') is 10+ years and the picture of the gun with the broken frame is a model that is 15+ years old. The picture doesn't even look like a gun failure, I would expect to see a 'blown up' chamber. All I can make out is that the right side of the frame and dust cover is missing. I'm kinda surprised that I've never seen that pic before.

I'll say this, Taurus is pretty much always been viewed, by people who haven't shot them usually, as being garbage. A lot of people won't even admit they like them in certain circles. It's been justified in the past, but I think that since the G2C was the most popular gun in America several years ago, they have more than proven to be reliable and safe.

I think you found a good one. Heck, take it to the range, grab the grip and shake the hell out of it. I'm sure you will surprise everyone if you can get it to fire. That's when I would stop trusting it.

Oh, please video yourself shaking your gun and share it.😁

 

I agree here. That blown up gun is a rather old model of Taurus...looks like an old 709.

 

Thanks guys. That makes me more comfortable.

 

Upon further review of the pistol above, I see the slide is cracked near the muzzle. First thing that comes to mind is a squib. That isn't necessarily the fault of the gun, but more likely the ammo. It also looks like a PT709 which isn't quite 15 years old...I don't think.

 

A squib was my first thought upon seeing the same thing you're seeing.

 

Don't let buyers remorse worry you..The GX4 is a fine pistol. Utube is full of blown up guns of every make..Take all that noise with a grain of salt. WE have scores of GX4 owners on this forum, there have been a few issues related to feeding and light strikes and of course the recall ( which was a likely over reaction on Taurus's part ). Nice thing is generally speaking Taurus's warranty policy is pretty good.

 

The gun in your picture looks to be a PT740. Any time a gun blows up, I'd suspect ammunition. While it could happen with factory ammo, it is probably more likely to be someone not paying attention to their reloads, or reloading something hotter than the gun will handle.

The gun in the video looks to be a PT24/7 (NOT PT24/7G2) which was the subject of a massive settlement and can be returned for a (not necessarily comparable) replacement.

I've heard nothing about the GX4 exploding nor going off without pulling the trigger, but I'm just a guy on the Internet.

 

Thanks everyone! All these comments give me enough confidence to continue carrying it.

 

In reality, stuff happens, and folks are apt to fixate on such negative occurrences on the internet.

It's not just Taurus, either... I had something similar happen to me after purchasing a Smith & Wesson M&P40 Shield, in which it had been brought to my attention that there were a series of threads about them.blowing up, which — needless to say — greatly concerned me at first, but upon doing research into the subject, I had discovered that it was just variations of one freak occurrence involving sketchy ammo reposted by the same guy across multiple forums under different usernames in 2014, followed by a series of retellings by other users in following years.

This is honestly the first time I've ever heard of a GX4 blowing up, and I have a hunch that it's the same situation. Something that happened once, got spread around, and will be repeated for years to come despite never being a regular occurrence.

We're living in a litigation-happy society in which firearms get recalled over things as simple as not being drop-safe, so obviously if there were an issue so serious as any given firearm exploding from regular use with ordinary SAMMI Spec factory loaded ammunition, then it would have been recalled and widely publicized.

 

I own two GX4’s
Fine pistols .. zero issues

 

I have put a few thousand rou ds thru mine and love it. I have even shot a couple IDPA Matches with it.

 

Doni49.... As far as holsters are concerned, I carry GX4 every day and found the best holster for it.
This is just my opinion but here's the dope.
Look up CYA holsters on the internet and check them out. There a veteran run company and they
make some really nice holsters. What I like about them is there made to fit your make gun.
It also covers the mag release so the mag can't be ejected while in the holster.
I wear it all day and never know it's there. Check them out. You won't be disappointed.

 

A squib load will violently dismantle any gun. It's just easier to blame someone or something else. Every Taurus I own, and I own many, has been completely reliable. I have full confidence in any of my GX4s. By the way, Vedder is my personal choice for carry.

 

I saw a squib cause a 454 Redhawk to fly apart..
why I only use factory ammo .. but it can still happen… even with factory ammo

 

I use a Vedder kydex that was purchased for a Smith Shield. I just backed out the adjustment screw bit and it works fine for my GX4.

The Gx4 is a good pistol. Shoot it with decent ammunition and keep it clean like you would with any other firearm. It’ll be fine.

 

Well, pistols and revolvers can and do fail. This doesn't correlate to any specific brand, it can be any of them, Taurus, Glock, Colt, S&W....any.

I would put rounds through that pistol and not give it a 2nd thought.

S&W Shield

Colt 1911

S&S Model 29

 

Yikes! Some photos.
the image of the shield looks about the same as the Taurus image shown. What was the cause here? Squib?

 

Watched that video and it look as though the pistol had no recoil when it fired. Was that real?

 

I can't say one way or the other. I have no idea of the source. I went back and looked again. Because he was shaking it so much, I couldn't tell if it recoiled or not.

 

The Pistol in the Picture is definitely either a PT709 or PT740, and most likely a PT709, which I have. Having occasionally carried it and shot it for years now, I would think that I would have found out by now if it was defective or dangerous.


Taurus PT709

As for the Taurus Pistol in that Video, that is either a Long Slide 24/7 Pro or a 24/7 OSS model. There is some question as to the honesty of that Video, which has been circulating the Internet for years now. I've had the 24/7 OSS model in .45 ACP for years now and if it were going to go off by itself by being shook, I would have learned that by now. I also own, and still operate other Taurus Pistols, which were supposedly defective, but they've not ever gone off by themselves. Note that the 24/7 Pro 9mm has served as an EDC and the PT111 Pro is now my current EDC.


L-R
Taurus 24/7 OSS .45
Taurus 24/7 Pro 9mm
Taurus PT111 Pro 9mm

Also note, that a new GX4 Carry is on my "wants" list.

 

The Pistol in the Picture is definitely either a PT709 or PT740, and most likely a PT709, which I have. Having occasionally carried it and shot it for years now, I would think that I would have found out by now if it was defective or dangerous.

The SLMxxxxx serial number is a dead giveaway it is a PT740.

 

Upon further review of the pistol above, I see the slide is cracked near the muzzle. First thing that comes to mind is a squib. That isn't necessarily the fault of the gun, but more likely the ammo. It also looks like a PT709 which isn't quite 15 years old...I don't think.

I was thinking squib as well. Or a round exploding in the mag, but I've never heard of that happening. In any case, it sure looks like an ammo problem not a gun problem. And I still carry my non-drop proof 145MilPro.

Squib?

Under powered round. Usually, the primer creates enough force to push the bullet into the chamber. Acts like a failure to fire. If you are unaware that you've just had a squib, and chamber another round behind the bullet lodged in the barrel, and fire that round, you are going to have a bad day - if you're lucky, just your gun is ruined. A squib sounds like a fart and not a bang.

 

I was thinking squib as well. Or a round exploding in the mag, but I've never heard of that happening. In any case, it sure looks like an ammo problem not a gun problem. And I still carry my non-drop proof 145MilPro.

Under powered round. Usually, the primer creates enough force to push the bullet into the chamber. Acts like a failure to fire. If you are unaware that you've just had a squib, and chamber another round behind the bullet lodged in the barrel, and fire that round, you are going to have a bad day - if you're lucky, just your gun is ruined. A squib sounds like a fart and not a bang.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

Just as an FYI: I've run 3,850 rounds through my GX4, and it's still in one piece.👍

 

If this was the fault of Taurus. Do you not think there would be a ton of laws suits to drive them into bankruptcy. Maybe . I be a fool . I trust my GX 4 with my life. To take care of the bad guy if needed. Not blowing up in my hand.

 

Tsurus had a problem with G1 that if dropped, could damage the firing parts and allow it to fire without pulling the trigger. Big lawsuit. Hence G2G3G4’s. The problem with your friend still sending out old info, is that no one knows why that pistol blew up? Squib? Partisl feed and user slammed the slide ito the primer? The one shaking the gun- no one knows what was done either.
taurus replaced a lot of guns ( I had 2 replaced).
use yours. Clean it. Use it.

 

Wow. That is a PT709. I continue to use my as my EDC. That looks like from hot loads.

 

When the ammo supply was devastated, a few companies stepped in to fill the gap. A couple of those companies had bad quality control and a few guns were destroyed due to that. This happened primarily with 9 mm and .223/556 ammo as I understand.