Taurus TCP Review and Range Report

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tshaw

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Taurus 738 Black Stainless

Weight 9.9 Oz
Frame Width 0.775”
Barrel Length 2.830”
Slide Width 0.778"
Overall Length 5.195”
Overall Height 3.625”
Cartridge Capacity 6+1

Out of the box the gun to me felt good in my hands, fit and finish was better then i though it would be, the mag has a little play when in gun with one in the chamber but nothing major. The gun was hard to rack and wouldnt eject out of the box, took it apart wiped everything dry then oiled it and gun was smooth and worked fine. Very easy to strip down and clean/oil. Trigger is smooth and about 5lbs. Even though the sights are tiny they are easy to see and easy to be accurate with it seems like. and the hold open after last round is a major plus and worked every time, aso very easy to see the loaded chamber indicator. Overall very great gun for the money!

2011-10-13193751.jpg

Range report:

Took this gun out today put 200rds through it 100rds of walmart tulammo FMJ, 100 rds of blazer FMJ.

Me and my gf both shot this gun, had only one fail to load and it was her first shot with the gun(also her first time shooting a pistol) so im guessing she just limp wristed it.. other then that NOT A SINGLE FAILURE! All i did was pull the gun out of the box gave it a good cleaning and oiled her up and she performed FLAWLESSLY!

We weren't shooting for accuracy but when i did try it would put all 6 in a very tight group sorry guys didn't measure it and this was just after messing around. Again i wasn't shooting for accuracy just putting rounds through the gun!
2011-10-13180927.jpg


So all in all, i love this gun no issues. It seems like Taurus got this one right.
Thanks for reading this guys and if you have any questions about the gun let me know and ill try to answer them!
 
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Thanks I love carrying this thing sometimes I forget its in my pocket! And it was my first review/report hope its good!
 
I liked mine too, it was a good gun until the slide went. Now I carry an LCP.
 

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Taurus wont repair it?? I was told any issues other the the finish and grips were covered under their lifetime warranty!
 
Taurus did right by me on the TCP. As much as I liked the little gun I was leery about it after the failure. Taurus offered me my choice of several pistols to replace it and I selected a 740 .40 S&W Slim which they sent me through a local dealer. Taurus also paid the FFL that handled the shipment. I can't fault their customer service, all that I dealt with them was well done. I really like the 740, great trigger, accurate and very compact for a .40. Easily concealed. There were things I liked about the 738 better than the LCP but that goes both ways. It took me longer to get used to shooting the LCP because of its long trigger pull but once I did the pistol shoots well out to 25yds or so for me.
I really believe that the problem I had with the TCP was a fluke and unlikely to happen again, kinda like being hit by lightning. I would have gotten another from Taurus but had to let some time pass after the incident before I'd have felt comfortable with one.
 
Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. It will give you pause to use another pistol of the same model when the first one's slide flies back in your face.
 
no gun is perfect u got a defective one i bet they would have replaced the slide and u would have been good to go!
 
tshaw - Actually Taurus would have replaced the TCP completely not just the slide. They offered to replace it with a pistol of my choice which is what I took them up on. That's how I got the 740 Slim .40 caliber. My point was that Taurus provided me with excellent customer service and more than lived up to their warranty. The reason I chose a different pistol was because I no longer felt comfortable with a TCP. If I'd taken one and waited for a couple months I probably would have been comfortable with it. Instead I got a pistol worth more than the TCP so I came out very good.
 
yes you did but u cant actually knock the product as a whole just u had a bad experience that actually turned out profitable to you!
 
If you read my posts you can see that I didn't 'knock' Taurus or its products. I complimented them on their customer service, said complimentary things about their pistols, said that the problem with my 738 was a fluke and not likely to happen again to anyone, and overall said good things about the company and its products. If anyone has difficulty with English I can't help their misunderstanding what I posted. Over the years I've owned several Taurus revolvers and pistols, they've all been good performers for me. I have had two problem guns, the TCP and a 24/7 but the company took care of the TCP matter in a very generous manner and I traded off the 24/7 for a Ruger 345 because that fit my hand better and I decided I like the hammer fired 45 with a decocker better than the 24/7's striker system. I do think Jennings, Raven, Jimenez, and a few now defunct manufacturers put out junk guns.
 
I shot full speed magazine after magazine and never encountered that problem think that falls under getting used to a gun before u carry it
 
I've been very happy with mine.

Except for the high (higher than 9mm, anyway) cost of .380, I can literally shoot it all afternoon; first time I had it out, I put over 250 rounds through it, no problems and no pain either.

I had two malfunctions early they second time I took it out, but I have reasons to believe that was operator error.

I'm still having trouble with the sights, but that's just me and I am getting better with them.

I picked the TCP over the Kel-Tec and the Ruger because it fit my hand better and came with two magazines and a concealed carry holster that looked useful. I have actually used the belt pouch and have even further camouflaged it by adding a label from a famous name luggage maker.
 
I purchased a used PT 738 TCP Friday. It has the stainless upper and the black lower. I took it home and cleaned it. Whoever owned it last apparently did not clean it much. It took a while to get all the crud out of it. I reassembled the TCP and took it to the range with steel-cased Russian TULAMMO 91 grain and PPU 94 grain. I was amazed how accurate this little handgun is. I could keep them all in a six inch circle at 25 yards (firing from a rest) and I could keep them in a two inch circle at seven yards offhand. One group was 1.3" center to center. The only malfunction I had was a failure to fire. When I released the magazine and ejected the round I discovered that the primer had been dimpled, it just didn't go off. I reloaded it and tried again. It went the second time. So far, I have had no failures to feed or eject, even with the steel-cased stuff.
 
Taurus did right by me on the TCP. As much as I liked the little gun I was leery about it after the failure. Taurus offered me my choice of several pistols to replace it and I selected a 740 .40 S&W Slim
Click to expand...

Hmm... you were leery about replacing a Taurus .380 because of a broken part, but you are happy to try much more powerful Taurus .40S&W :what:

I'm not trying to bash Taurus, I've been very satisfied with my Taurus pistols, but only my PT-92 has a high round count.

So far so good with my little TCP, but mine won't work at all with the Wolf steel case, although its been fine with everything else I've tried so far. Maybe the Tula is different, (in .223 and 7.62x39 it sure looks and shoots like Wolf in a different box) I'll give it a try as getting .380 brass mixed in with my 9mm brass is a PITA. While I do reload .380, We shoot so little of it now that I'd be happy with cheap steel cased ammo for practice and not worry about getting the 9mm & .380 intermixed when reloading.


I got a lot of the Wolf steel cased .380 several years ago when my wife was learning to shoot and get her CHL (it was like $90/1000 back then) because it ran fine in her Beretta 85. Since she has mostly progressed to shooting 9mm now, I've tried the Wolf steel case in my collection of mouse guns. Its fail in the TCP, SIG P238, and Kel-Tec P3AT, but fine in my LCP and S&W Bodyguard .380.

When I carry a little .380 its either the LCP or the Bodyguard because of the fact they work with the steel cased practice ammo, which to me means they have a lot larger operating margins.
 
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