Officially announced on the US market on September the 30th, the new Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo is an interesting concoction that the US-based subsidiary of the well-known Brazilian firm is proposing on the international commercial market as a cost-effective alternative to similarly conceived, but vastly more expensive models such as the B&T USW.

The GX4 Strike Bravo is essentially a Taurus GX4 Carry selfloading handgun – a mid-sized, service and defensive-oriented pistol first introduced in September 2023 – equipped from factory with a SMC Bravo modular chassis system and FSA folding stabilizing armbrace manufactured and supplied by Strike Industries.

Stocked pistols have been around for quite a few years, but their modern iterations as conceived by many companies starting circa 2015 are aimed at providing those who can only carry a handgun most of times – such as civilians, local law enforcement, and private security guards – with firearms that can be handled and carried like a pistol while also providing the stability to take accurate, longer-range single shots in critical situations; from this perspective, the Taurus GX4 Carry positions itself as a solid market alternative for many customers, including law enforcement and military entities in developing Countries.

Coming fitted from factory with a stabilizing armbrace and not with a stock, the Taurus GX4 Strike Bravo is exempt from the restrictions placed on short barrel rifles (any long gun with a barrel shorter than 16 inches) on the US market by the 1934 National Firearms Act.

NFA classifies long guns as "a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder"; in other Countries, such as EU-member States, where the difference between a long gun and a handgun is just the sum of overall length vs. barrel length and the presence or absence of stocks or other similar accessories do not make a difference, the GX4 Strike Bravo may very well be sold directly with a stock.

Alternatively, however, Taurus also makes the GX4 Strike Bravo available only with the Strike Industries SMC chassis and its vertical rear Picatinny rail, sans the FSA folding stabilizing armbrace, allowing users who want to install a different type of armbrace – or go through the NFA procedure to turn it into a legal SBR – to do so at their will.

The Strike Industries SMC chassis for the GX4 comes with a Picatinny rail for accessories underneath the dust cover, and shares the same overall ergonomics of the original GX4 Carry frame, albeit in a somewhat blockier design. All controls are located only on the left side, and the grip features a long beavertail to allow the slide to move without interfering with the stabilizing armbrace. Also featured are two QD sling swivel cups, one on each side

The slide is the same of the Taurus GX4 Carry pistol, without radical modifications; it comes equipped with standard white dot fixed sights and a Taurus Optics Ready Option (T.O.R.O.) micro red dot sights interface, allowing the installation of ten different, popular MRDOs through the use of adapter plates.

The end cap of the slide is replaced with a reversible charging handle for easier right-handed or left-handed operation, but standard GX4 Carry slide end caps remain compatible. The original barrel is replaced with a 9,4 cm / 3.7" extended version, with six right-handed grooves and a 1:10" twist rate, that comes with a threaded muzzle for sound suppressors, compensators, or flash hiders.