Taurus Curve .380 ACP
A Gun You Actually Wear
The Taurus Curve represents a fresh take on the issue of comfortable concealed carry. Just about every aspect of this nifty new pistol is unique. There are no controls in the classical sense on the Taurus Curve. You squeeze the magazine base to remove the magazine and jack the slide a bit to release it on a fresh magazine. The gun even eschews sights.
Guns frequently eat into my ribs at work and poke me in restaurants. Sitting on a 1911 on a long car trip can be adequate to make you poor company. The reason is guns are generally designed for shooting, not for carrying. The carrying piece has typically been an afterthought. Until now.
The Taurus Curve draws its name from the eclectic arc defined by its frame.
This feature allows the gun to better form around your hip or to fill your pocket
unobtrusively. Note the Bore-Axis Sighting System on the back of the slide.
Rethinking the Basics
The Taurus guys obviously started their conversation by defining what it means to pack heat. About 85 percent of the human population is right-handed so this is the market they play to. If you are left-handed just skip to the next article. The current Taurus Curve is not for you. Life’s not fair. I’m truly sorry.
The frame actually describes a gentle arc to conform to either a human hip or a front pocket. The Curve sports a belt clip to affix the gun inside a waistband and there’s a trigger shield included to guard the trigger if desired, no holster required. In the front pocket of a pair of jeans the Curve looks like a cell phone.
Squeeze the magazine base to remove the 6-round magazine. There is no conventional magazine release button. After the slide locks back on an empty magazine, jack it back and release it to close the action. There is no manual external slide release.
The manual of arms is crazy simple. Load it. Shoot it. The trigger is a long steady double action serving in place of a manual safety. Love it or hate it, a zillion double action .38 pocket revolvers do just fine with the same thing.
A common switch activates both the built-in white LED light and red laser.
The sight can be programmed to activate either or both with a single press.
Imagine that … we’re programming our guns these days!
What? No Sights?
The Curve even eschews sights per se. Instead of sights the Curve has a simple white cross painted on the back of the slide. Taurus calls this the Integrated Bore-Axis Sighting System. Keep both eyes open and the white cross guides the gun on target not unlike the both-eyes-open sighting solution on your typical tactical rifle. The loaded chamber indicator sticks up with a little groove on top but doesn’t quite ascend to the standard of sights.
Most defensive engagements are not fought in comfortable light after a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast. You typically need a gun in a dimly lit parking lot or a dark alley. As a result the Curve has a pair of built-in LED white lights as well as a red laser sight. The light isn’t going to induce sunburn like a lot of expensive top-end illuminators might but it’s adequate to define your target at close range. Controls for both the light and laser are incorporated into a single switch. The gun can be programmed to activate the light, the laser or both with a press of the switch. There is also a nifty divot in which to rest your finger when not actually shooting, a nice touch which would improve most tactical pistols.
Typical 7 meter groups. The top cluster was laser-guided while the
bottom group used the Integrated Bore-Axis Sighting System.
Shooting It
The Curve is chambered in .380 ACP. This stubby little round is shorter and slower than the 9mm and remains small enough to facilitate a legitimately tiny chassis. Recoil and muzzle flip are on par with any other locked-breech .380 handgun you’ve ever fired. The muzzle end of the barrel is cut at an angle to follow the contour of the gun itself. In addition to looking cool, this should theoretically add a wee bit of downward impulse with each round fired to help offset muzzle jump. A sort of mini-comp action — kind of.
The Curve feels a bit strange in the hand but it grows on you. Shoot 100 rounds at a sitting and you can peg the funmeter given the aggressive stippling on the grip. However, the Curve is a pocket gun. You likely won’t be burning through ammo a case at a time. The long trigger is not going to lend itself to driving tacks at 100 meters, but a screwdriver is a poor tool for hammering a nail. The Curve is a short-range defensive firearm, not a sniper rifle. I could keep my rounds in a pie plate at seven meters without too much effort.
The weird sighting system really does work with a little practice, but it takes some concentration. You may find it easier to simply sight over the slide. However, most potential engagement scenarios will be dark. Tap on the light and laser in dim light. The Taurus Curve is the classic ballistic point-and-click interface.
You wear the Taurus Curve more than carry it. This compact
little defensive auto is indeed unusually comfortable.
Musings
I “wore” the Taurus Curve — and you do more wear than carry this gun — for several weeks. More than any other gun in my fairly extensive stable, I can tote this weapon without even thinking about it. I clip it onto my belt in the morning along with my cell phone and car keys and I drop it into the gun box when I get home at night. I can drive my car, do my job, buy my groceries and take my gorgeous bride out for dinner without having to shift in my chair or worry I’m going to inadvertently alarm the less durable members of society with whom I share the eatery. In short, I can go armed in comfort.
No matter how extensive your pistol collection, I promise you don’t have a gun like this. In approaching the thorny problem of comfortable concealed carry from a totally fresh perspective, the Taurus engineers built a gun which carries as well as it shoots. While some will want more power and others will denigrate their approach as being too far outside the realm of normal — I was impressed.
From the perspective of a guy who carries a gun whenever he is wearing clothes, the Taurus Curve is comfortable, effective and undeniably innovative. The Curve is indeed an entirely fresh way to manage the “How do I carry a handgun?” quandary.
