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Handguns

Taurus Curve – Another Oddball Pistol

The Taurus Curve is the latest new pistol from our Brazilian friends. Taurus International is now making a pistol that is designed to be carried for self-defense, but could be one of the more difficult designs to shoot.

What makes this pistol different from other designs is that the polymer frame is curved – hence the name. In theory, this could make the gun more comfortable to carry though I have my reservations (more on that in a moment.)

Taurus Curve 380 ACP

The Curve is chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge and it holds six rounds in the magazine. The barrel is 2.5″ long and has a slant cut at the muzzle.

The gun has no traditional sights. There is a cross-hair drawn on the back of the slide that might give a shooter some crude visual reference to where the bullets might go. It seems the cross-hair even has its own trademarked name: the Bore Axis Sighting System. Pretty fancy for a pair of intersecting lines.

It appears that the only reliable way to aim the gun is through an internal laser provided by LaserLyte. The integrated laser module also includes a pair of LED white lights for illumination. I could not find any specific information on how bright those lights are supposed to be.

Taurus Curve

Taurus ships the curve with a removable metal clip so the gun can be carried without a holster. While this may be the easiest way to conceal the gun, I still recommend a holster for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is to cover the trigger. Interestingly, Taurus includes a Kydex trigger cover that can be snapped into place to prevent a negligent discharge. However, the cover must be pulled off manually after drawing the gun.

Personally, I think the gun looks like a Kimber Pepper Blaster, but it could just be me.

Taurus Curve Specifications

Caliber.380 ACP
Magazine Capacity6
Barrel Length2.5″
Overall Length5.18″
Width1.18″
Weight10.2 oz
Sightsno traditional; painted cross hair on rear of slide; integral laser
Slidecarbon steel
Framepolymer
TriggerDAO

These guns will be made in the United States at the company’s Miami facility. The MSRP is set at $392.

Potential Problems

There are a slew of potential problems with this pistol. I do not want to be a Debbie Downer on this gun, but I definitely see a number of issues that have to be considered by anyone considering this pistol for anything more than a curio.

Taurus Curve holster

First, the curved nature of the pistol limits how the gun can be comfortably carried. If carried inside-the-waistband on the right side of the body, the gun might print a little less, and it could be slightly more comfortable than a traditional pistol. However, it would seem that this:

  • gun would print more – not less- if carried on the left side of the body (exception: cross draw), and
  • it might print more, or just be less comfortable, if carried in an appendix position since this area of the body tends to be flatter, not rounded like the hip.

A second problem with the design is the curved nature of the frame will likely make the gun harder to grip for shooting.

Taurus Curve angle

The third and fourth potential problems are with the magazine design. The magazines are necessarily inserted on an angle, likely making mag changes more difficult due to a lack of instinctive motion. If the magazines are curved, then you have an additional problem with how to carry them. (Update – the magazines are not curved. It looks like the curved mags will go with the curved gun patent mentioned below.)

Additionally, the magazine appears to be removed by pinching the base of it and stripping it from the mag well. It doesn’t appear that this would be a fast way to swap mags. This same style of magazine was used on the SW380 pistol from Smith & Wesson. Don’t remember that pistol? There’s a reason for that…

Something that I thought was telling was an observation from Guns & Ammo that reviewed the pistol prior to its announcement:

With a bit of practice, getting hits on torso target at distances across an average-sized room was no problem in G&A’s initial testing.

Considering it took practice to get shots on a torso target at a distance of 8-12′, I would say that accuracy is not this gun’s strong point.

Taurus-Curve-180CRV

Outside the Box Thinking

Taurus was thinking enough outside of the box to file and receive a patent on this design. The “Body Contour Handgun” patent most closely resembles this firearm.

Taurus Curved Gun

However, the company also filed a “Curved Handgun” patent application. The curved handgun appears to be mated with the curved magazine application referenced above. Based on the Curved Handgun application, it appears Taurus is looking at a developing a gun curved to the buttocks and carried in a back pocket. Insert crude joke here.

Taurus is one of those companies that I like, though I’m not sure that I should. Based on my experiences with the warranty department when reviewing the 709 SLIM and the general unreliability of the 740 SLIM, I would be hesitant to buy any new Taurus pistol.

However, I do like that Taurus is willing to think out of the box and try new things. For example, while I personally have no interest in owning one of the company’s Judge revolvers, I am pretty much astounded at how they developed a brand new niche in the market that has been emulated by Smith & Wesson. Even Charter Arms developed a prototype gun called the Big Dawg that did essentially the same thing.

Of course, the company has had its share of failures. The recently released View has not been getting rave reviews, and the 28-gauge version of the Taurus revolver was DOA due to US laws.

Taurus Curve open slide

Bottom Line

While I applaud Taurus for creative thinking, I just don’t see that this gun will fill a niche in the serious self-defense market. Yes, the company may sell a lot of them – or not – but sales numbers are not an accurate predictor of reliability or usefulness in a deadly force encounter.

Last Update: October 17, 2022

By Richard Johnson

Richard Johnson is a gun writer, amateur historian and - most importantly - a dad. He's done a lot of silly things in his life, but quitting police work to follow his passion of writing about guns was one of the smartest things he ever did. He founded this site and continues to manage its operation.

46 replies on “Taurus Curve – Another Oddball Pistol”

Except that it doesn’t a good portion of the time. Lanyard paddle holsters have existed for a long time for belly, neck and ankle guns, and nobody I know likes or uses them anymore. The whole point of a holster is to secure the damn thing properly so you can build the proper muscle memory from a fixed draw position. There IS no “fixed” draw position with these clips.

Additionally it sits so low in the waistband that it is incapable of one-handed draw. You need one hand to push the gun up, and the other to draw it. Absolutely unacceptable for a “last ditch” belly gun IMHO and even more ridiculous for a primary carry piece.

I cant wait for the .380 mouse gun fetish to die down. Yuppies gotta yup.

What do you care if a demographic other than yours is enamored with something you consider useless? If they’re buying this, doesn’t that mean more availability for your own personal favorite?

I’m an NRA Certified Pistol Instructor. Arming my clients properly is my duty and I refuse to compromise on any aspect of it. Full stop. Does that answer your question?

We have guys like you in the local gun shop too. Many new potential gun owners walk away after talking to these “experts” who lord their superior attitude over them.

Look don’t talk crap about an ammunition caliber unless your willing to personally be shot with it to show how “mouse” it is, the .380 round is just as lethal as any other round when it blasts through your rib cage and into your heart.

If I was in combat I wouldn’t want a pistol period, I’d want a rifle or machine gun, but only if I had to carry a pistol would I want the largest caliber they had and that’s solely because people tend to wear body armor when they are at war and while no pistol round is likely to pierce kevlar or ceramic plates the impact might put more shrapnel in their face or knock them down better.

If you think the size of the bullet makes your pecker bigger your wrong, and while the entry and exit hole will probably be smaller, I don’t need a large entry hole, and really, really prefer to have NO EXIT HOLE in a self defense situation if at all possible so a smaller round that’s fragments and mushrooms a lot on impact is the best for self defense carry.

Leave the .45 ACP for the police and military, hell even they carry 9mm luger parabellium in many cases and a .38 special or .380 as backup.

I’m also firmly unwilling to be shot with a Daisy Red Ryder. Does that mean .177 BBs are lethal and effective man-stoppers? Your logic sucks and I’ve heard that flawed argument made about every mouse caliber in existence, including .25 ACP and .22 CB caps out of a 1.5″ barrel.

Really though, what’s a big fella like you doing with a pissy little lady’s pistol, anyway? Don’t your buddies razz on ya? Having small hands is nothing to be ashamed of, but there’s better options out there for you.

I have to hand it to Taurus for trying something new in a small handgun design at least they will try new ideals unlike other manufacturers who turn out the same thing year after year. Time will tell if this design takes hold with the public. One thing is certain it will take some range time to stay up on using a curved pistol. But, if you carry a gun you should practice with it often to stay sharp so the odd design shouldn’t be a factor for the owner. And being fitted to the body’s shape should make it more comfortable to carry, I would think. I like Taurus for taking chances on new designs and this could be a big hit like the Judge which also got some poor write ups from writers on the first look. We will see what the verdict will be on the Curve in due time.

Wow. Innovative ideas clearly will not be tolerated. Unlike Barak Obama, Taurus isn’t forcing you to buy their product.

If you don’t think this gun will fit your sexy she-man-hips, don’t buy it.

Thanks for showing up to make an ad hominem attack.

I am curious to know if you actually read the article. Specifically, did you read the part where I stated “I do like that Taurus is willing to think out of the box and try new things.”?

If you are looking for a site that is willing to say only good things about new products, then you might be happier elsewhere. I hear Guns & Ammo is a good place to visit. It seems they will even threaten to sue you if you are critical of their overly positive reviews: http://www.gunssavelife.com/?p=14719

I’d ask that you not employ personal attacks in the future. Feel free to take issue with anything I write, but back it up with facts and reason not cheap shots.

Richard

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