the-all-new-taurus-curve

Back in June we noted Taurus’ patent filing for a body-contoured handgun. Taurus had begun flirting with a curve in their View ultra-small snubbie with its contoured grip designed to hug the body, contributing to its ultra-concealability. Now the reason for that patent filing has been revealed in the announcement of the new Taurus Curve .380 ACP pistol (MSRP $390) featuring a built-in belt clip along with frame-mounted LED headlights and laser. Taurus’s promo info after the jump . . .

The world’s first and only curved firearm engineered to fit the unique contours of your body, Taurus Curve™ is one ultra-comfortable, ultra-reliable personal defense handgun.

Your body has curves, so why aren’t pistols shaped to match? That’s precisely the question our engineering team challenged themselves to answer-and the results are unlike anything you’ve seen before. Introducing the Taurus Curve™, the world’s first and only curved firearm. Engineered to fit the unique contours of your body with no visible printing, the Curve is easily one of the most groundbreaking firearms ever conceived. An extreme departure from your typical compact .380, you’ll find the Curve takes form and function to an entirely unprecedented level. With its patented, snag-free design, the Curve boasts the industry’s first-ever light and laser built right into the frame. Exceptionally accurate and extremely lightweight at just 10.2 ounces, the Curve is one ultra-comfortable, ultra-reliable personal defense handgun.

First-ever LED light and laser built into frame
Smooth lines ensure no visible printing
Snag-free design
Bore-axis sighting system for instinctual shooting
Built-in holster-free belt clip
.380 ACP, 6+1 capacity
Lightweight 10.2 ounce subcompact pistol

 

 

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130 COMMENTS

      • Yes because if not a Glunk it’s not a Glunk and doesn’t come with Koolaid.

        If you lay it flat on the table from the table top to the highest point will OBVIOUSLY be larger than if it was not curved. Its geometry. The point of design is that the piece IS CURVED. CROSS SECTION thickness might be relevant. Or not so much.

        • Well, I used a Glock as an example because that’s what I have in the safe, but if it makes you feel less threatened, go ahead and use a S&W Shield or Beretta Nano or Walther PPS for comparison, because this thing is thicker than ANY of them. I saw no evidence that the measurement was taken including the curve of the frame, and if that’s the way the measurement for “thickness” (see link above) was taken, then the company and all its Marketing folks are amazingly stupid/ignorant and deserve the sales drubbing and widespread verbal abuse they are about to receive. Common sense says they would do everything they can to MINIMIZE the thickness measurement, so unless you have hard evidence to the contrary, I think it’s safe to assume they didn’t include the curve of the frame in the “thickness” measurement.

          My point still stands; thicker, fewer shots, and in a smaller/less-powerful caliber = fail.

  4. “Bore-axis sighting system for instinctual shooting”

    Is that a fancy way of saying “We didn’t include sights, just use the laser” or “Good luck hitting anything”.

  10. Taurus into weird, ugly guns? Women have curves, men don’t, guns should not. And for the most part, we don’t do weird or ugly

    • I’d hate to say it, but the average American man does have “curves”, however most prefer to call them beer bellies, guts, or love handles.

      I think this is a sign that as a country, it’s time to loose some weight.

    • So you’re mad they made a handgun for gals? Nothing says has to be tucked into your “yoga” pants. Pick a alternative curved region.

  11. Oh my, how will I ever conceal a micro gun that doesn’t curve?? Wo’s me.

    Hey Taurus, how about making your current guns suck less instead of playing with this BS?

  12. I’m gonna wait for the round contoured model. The one designed for Keister carry. No worries at all about printing and you can walk right thru any metal detectors.

    Just don’t break wind.

  14. I told my frienemies about this to see how it goes for them. One never knows… at least I don’t.

    • Hopefully the innards are descended from the TCP, which has a very good trigger (for a DAO, polymer micro pistol, that is).

      • I came this close to buying a TCP a few months back. What stopped me was the trigger. Not the pull, the reset. The TCP has two clicks when you let off the trigger. If you only get to the first click before firing again you will short stroke the trigger and have a dead gun. Not exactly a good situation for self defense. If they ever made it a true DAO with the second strike capability they love to talk about I would jump on one. As it is now, no way.

    • It’s a Taurus. The trigger isn’t really a concern. All you have to do is give it a quick shake, and it will fire.

  17. This looks like a fairly small model. If they’re going to build a curved gun, why not start with a larger one? If it’s actually more comfortable and conceable, then prove it by making a full-sized or mid-sized gun more comfortable and conceable.

  18. now only if they could make it no go off, on its own:

    http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/11/13/brazilian-weapon-woes-continue/
    http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/03/20/brazilian-police-pistol-accidental-discharges/
    http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/09/26/brazilian-police-recall-98000-taurus-247-ds-pistols/

    If you got Hari Kiri urges, fine, but one would have to be lobotomized to willfully want to carry and depend your life on a manufacturer with this much design issues.

      • Dear Taurus PR rep trolling:

        Anonymous says:
        November 19, 2014 at 09:49

        That’s a completely different gun and different design. But ok.

        except for the fact that it’s designed, manufactured, marketed, by the same people who also designed, manufactured, marketed by the same people. But ok.

        Only if saying “ok” in an unfit sarc. denial delusion would hold as an actual rebuttal to a company with no history of QC. But ok.

        Considering the quality of non-rebuttal, rebuttal, think the world can see the gravity of the concern, that in the real world, all you got is reputation. And, if you’ve soled shitty products before, and are still selling shitty products, it’s a good genius chance that people aren’t gonna gravitate toward that company’s products.

        Lest you actually think an Audi and Indian Tatas are to be compared in parity.

        But ok.

        xD

        • Ha ha “soled”. Besides, you can’t name a single mainstream manufacturer without a string of duds so why give Taurus grief while sparing the rest? The excellent M&P line is made by the same lunks that sold us the Sigma. Guess those must be junk right?

        • “Lest you actually think an Audi and Indian Tatas are to be compared in parity.”

          Wait… you know Tata owns Jaguar and Land Rover, right?

  19. Well… if you draw it you’d better be ready to use it. At best your BG is going to mistake it for a taser. Definitely not an intimidating look.

      • Bluffing is fine if you’re ready for your bluff to be called. The majority of self defense gun uses don’t require a shot to be fired because most bad guys have enough sense to run away when you point a .357 magnum or a 1911 at them. The bad guy’s libel to think you’re pointing your cell phone at him and now you’re going to have to shoot him because he’s going to try and grab it out of your hands and since you’re shooting him with a .380 you’re going to need all 7 rounds. Now your going to be spending the entire night down at the police station explaining why you shot an unarmed man who thought he was steeling your cell phone.

        • If he thinks it’s a phone why is he taking it from you? Also, when pointed at you it looks like a gun.

  20. Sorta’ cool. Hey I had a TCP that ran great. I do think having lights and a laser you can’t remove is meh. Look at the S&W Bodyguard. I wouldn’t buy the original design. Now I would. If you want to add one later ok…

  22. Wouldn’t it make even more sense to just make the gun narrower (the ‘curve’ is just dead space) and have extra room for a curved panel-sided holster to break up the profile?

    • My response was going to be something like “duh! The magazine is going to be curved also so as to make the most use of the space in the grip area!!!” Luckily I checked google images and saved my self the shame.

  24. Wow. I think it’s kind of goofy and maybe overfeatured, but I’m glad to see something different. Aside from the Rhino I haven’t seen much different in the handgun world lately.

    I hope they charge $15 more and make sure the bugs are out of the thing.

    • Yeah, I’m kind of on the fence on this particular design, but props to Taurus for coming up with some original stuff.

  26. I think whether or not it turns out to be that good I certainly applaud them for trying something new. I love innovation.

    • Welcome to the real world where people don’t simply produce what is asked for but what they believe in. You wouldn’t be posting here otherwise.

      • Makes me think about the opening line for every “only on TV!” Ad ever. Where they attempt to make the simplest task seem difficult.

  29. Looks like a cool idea. Waiting for a full review.

    I’d also like to see it in a larger caliber. 9mm is the smallest caliber I will carry for a self-defense firearm. YMMV.

  31. I have a Ruger LCP but have always been intrigued by the Taurus TCP.

    TCP owners…is it THAT hard to conceal that you would need to have a bendy-straw version? It’s a neat marketing ploy for low-info first time pistol purchasers, and perhaps they are trying to tap into the new young and female market for a “slimline” version, but from a practical perspective I don’t know how making my LCP curvy would in any way enhance concealability

    • I changed from an LCP to a TCP last year because I really preferred the TCP’s trigger. Happy with it so far, and concealability and dimensions are about the same, though the LCP’s got rounder/smoother corners. If this has the basic feel of the TCP with the light, laser, clip, and smoother edges, it could be very appealing… if I weren’t a lefty.

      Taurus has been making some good strides.

    • My hope is that my wife will like the look & feel of this enough…

      … that I can finally get my TCP back…

  33. The TCP is already the size of a wallet. But with the extra features and probably the same awesome TCP trigger, it sounds like winner at that price point. My TCP is perfectly reliable and surprisingly accurate. I wouldn’t be scared of this one.

  34. I have some older problem-free Taurus pistols (mostly revolvers) as well as a PT92 in stainless and .45 – they have all worked well for me. A little over a year ago I picked up a Sig P238 w/factory laser for $499 from my LGS. For $109 more I would go with the Sig in this case. Still pretty cool though – nice to see something different on the market.

    • Keep in mind, that $390 is MSRP. After the initial rush of sales to the “gotta have it now” people, I’d expect the actual retail price of this gun to end up much closer to $300. The stainless slide TCP has an MSRP of $355, but you can buy them all day for $270.

      That’s not to say the P238 isn’t worth every penny of that $499, but the price difference between these two guns will likely end up closer to $200.

  37. This is perfect, because if you pull it out to defend yourself from a mugger he’ll assume you’re giving him your phone.

  38. I can’t imagine that thing is comfortable to shoot. And they couldn’t come up with some sort of manual sights? Trench? Guttersnipe? Hell, a shotgun bead? What are you supposed to do if the battery for the laser dies/goes t*ts up? What if you have to(and most likely will due to it being a .380) do the Mozambique drill? They put sights on guns(and on the top) for a reason.

    • Point shooting. It’s what you are going to do with a pocket pistol at close range in a big hurry anyway.

  39. Straighten it back out and we will talk. The light/laser is kind of interesting but the whole curvy business makes no sense to me.

  40. From the picture, I’d have thought this was an Apple iGun someone left in their pocket for too long…

  41. I would be highly interested in a slightly larger and heavier (say 16 ounce) version without the integral LED lights and laser. An extra inch of barrel and grip would do wonders for the somewhat anemic .380 ACP cartridge.

  43. If it were as thin as the TCP while being curved I’d be interested. But it’s a third of an inch thicker than the TCP so even with the curve it’s a thicker gun with no capacity advantage.

  45. “…the Curve is easily one of the most groundbreaking firearms ever conceived.”

    Colt, Browning, Pedersen, Stoner and now the guy at the board meeting at Taurus that thought of this. Truly a breakthrough design in firearms.

    /sarc

  46. I’ll wait for a C or D model. and that’s coming from a guy that owns 5+ taurus guns with out issue. I don’t early adopt anything.

  51. Initial thoughts:

    1. That’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen
    2. Ostensibly, one carries a 380 concealed – but how the heck do you conceal *that* monstrosity?
    3. It seems about as practical as that stupid see-through revolver they introduced earlier this year

  52. Well, its clear the Internets hates this gun.

    i think its brilliant. Time will tell if its executed properly. My only concern is that they advocate holsterless carry. I’m not sure what would prevent the trigger from being pulled if the gun is poked the wrong way.

    Don

  54. So, question for those with more engineering cred than me: wouldn’t a bullet’s flight path and stability be affected by leaving the chamber through a barrel end that isn’t square?

    The cutback on that barrel looks to me like keyhole city. Unless maybe they don’t rifle that last 1/4″ at the bottom end of the barrel. Which would create other problems.

    Any opinions?

    • I was wondering the same thing. At first I thought maybe it was just the slide that was curved with a normally crowned barrel recessed inside but that doesn’t look to be the case. Maybe it’s counter bored like my old Mosin Nagant to effectively give it a uniform crown.

      • I hadn’t noticed that until you folks mentioned it, but it looks quite differently in the images at the link I posted in response to gloomhound’s post, up near the top of the comments, dated/timed November 18, 2014 at 21:14.

        Find that link in that response, go to the page, and look at any of the angled frontal view photos, and in those, the end of the barrel looks to be a normal 90-degree crown, but it is deeply recessed into the curved slide opening. I think someone in the Marketing department got ahold of those early-release images, and they made them as curved and swoopy as they could.

        • …and right after I say that I thought the images of the curved crown might just be marketing, I go to another site and see a video that shows one of these pistols actually being fired, and guess what? It has the curved crown. I wonder which will be the norm for production pistols. Link to site with video:

          http://weaponsman.com/?p=19135

    • I have the same question as that was the first thing I thought of when I saw it. My whole shooting life, I’ve been told that any nick or scratch at the muzzle would affect accuracy, and this thing’s muzzle is all kinds of discombobulated……. I suppose that at bad breath range, it wouldn’t matter much and with no sights, and that short of a barrel, long range shooting sure isn’t on the agenda I guess.

  56. If the caliber doesn’t start with a 4 and end with a 5 I’m not carrying it for a primary defense weapon. 9mm is okay for a back up, .380 is good only if your name is Bond, James Bond.

    The solution is a small frame 1911 for the summer, a Commander frame 1911 for the spring and fall, and a full size 1911 for the winter. You can adjust your clothing with the seasons to conceal them all.

    Your backup piece can be a Sig P938 which for all intents and purposes is a mini 1911 that shoots 9mm. And yes I know that a .380 and a 9mm are the same caliber but the extra powder in the 9mm makes a big difference. But it’s still just a backup.

  58. Well at least its not another boring brick like Glock clone. My G23 fits nicely at small of back with a clipdraw. But if I were to add a combo laser/light not so much, and its already just heavy enough I dont feel comfortable relying on it to stay in place in any dynamic situation. But this does look fun…just because its got to be fitted to GF…

    I’m waiting for the under bra model in 38dd to accessorize with attached GF.

    Hey, a guy can dream right?

  60. I think the funniest part is the way the website describes drawing the weapon. You tie the holster to your belt and it comes out WITH THE FIREARM and then you pull it off and fire. Brilliant.

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