Taurus 738 TCP Review
I finally got my hands on the Taurus TCP. Many who are looking for a pocket gun will certainly be looking at this as one of the options. The design of the gun is solid. The Titanium slide option is certainly a plus. The design, somewhat modern, but functional.
Coming in at about the same price as the Ruger LCP, it is designed to compete in the small .380 market. At first site, it seems they may have a winner. 6+1 in the standard mag, and 8+1 with the extension. It feels good in the hand. The controls are all in an easily accessible spot. So far so good.
At the range, unfortunately, it jammed with a FTE on the first shot. That didn’t bother me too bad, I thought I would oil up a bit before continuing. From there it did much better. I got some additional FTE’s, probably 5 out of 50 shots. That is not very exciting. I think it jammed more than I prefer. Some will say it was the ammo, but I used the same reloads I shoot successfully in the Ruger LCP and Kel-Tec P3AT. This review is certainly from a perspective of comparing the Taurus to those two guns.
There is something about this gun I like, and something I hate. It looks cool, but it doesn’t perform that well. It might do better with other ammo, but the other .380’s perform fine with the ammo I was using. I do like the loaded chamber indicator. And I also like the Taurus security lock system. Overall, I would rate this firearm a 7 out of ten. Because it looks so cool, and comes with a cool pouch, I wish I could rate it higher, but the FTE’s are a serious problem.
Taurus TCP vs. the Ruger LCP vs. the Kel-Tec P3AT: Now you know my feelings on the Taurus. You can read my other review about the Ruger LCP as well. Because I had to send it back, I notched the Ruger down a bit. All in all, I am still a fan of the little Kel-Tec P3AT. It’s a bit cheaper than the other two, but a bit uglier also. Sure the P3AT isn’t a highly machined and refined pistol, but it performs very well. If I were in the market, I would buy Kel-Tec P3AT first, the Ruger LCP second, and the Taurus third. Sorry Taurus, I have always been a fan, but this gun needs a bit of refining on the performance side.
Due to the high demand of these types of guns, there should be plenty of buyers. the P3AT and LCP are flying off the shelves as quickly as they arrive. Now there will be another competitor. That’s always a good thing. This one is a bit larger than both the other two. And as a conceal weapon, size does matter. The smaller the better. The Kel-Tec is still the smallest and lightest of the 3. Other than the FTE’s I experienced, this weapon handled and shot well. As long as it does not jam, it should be fine. And after it gets 300-400 rounds it may do better. But do you want to risk your life on a gun that has a higher risk of jamming?
March 23rd, 2010 at 9:44 pm
Taurus recommends cleaning the pistol before the first use and using only quality factory ammo. No Reloads. I didn’t read if the pistol was cleaned first or not. I would be curious to see your review after the pistol had 200 rounds shot. Even Kel-Tec recommends shooting 2oo rounds before one should rely on the pistol.
That would be a great test. All 3 after 200 rounds were shot in each and then a good cleaning.
PS: I own both the Kel-Tec and the Ruger and the PF-9 reviewed.
March 23rd, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Certainly any gun has a breaking in period. It will be interesting to see how well this gun performs after many rounds. As far as the quality ammo point… I understand why companies say don’t do reloads, because most people don’t know how to reload. But I assure you, after 30 years of reloading and precision reloading for rifle competitions, my reloads are far superior to ANY store bought ammo that can be bought. But for arguments sake, I will go buy some “store bought” ammo (which is generally junk anyway) and update the review of any changes that I notice. Thanks for the input. I do love my Taurus revolvers, but time will tell on this pistol.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:28 pm
I am about to send my TCP back to the factory. I have shot it about 200 times with 3 brands of ammo. I had at least 20 FTE. I cleaned it after the first 50 rounds and the FTE continued, and even got worse. I was happy to get a clip to fire without a jam. I am not talking smoke stacks, the shell casing was still in the chamber with the next round right on it’s rear. No way to clear that fast!
April 6th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
I wish I had read your article before I purchased my TCP! I’ll let everyone know how I make out with the factory in Miami.
October 31st, 2010 at 10:41 pm
I just picked one up today (Halloween). New from the gun shop. After I got it home, I was looking at it and cycling snap caps when I realized that if I (dry)fire it and hold the trigger back while cycling the action, the disconnector doesn’t engage and the hammer follows the slide back. To my way of thinking, this would either cause an out of battery ignition or even a full auto effect. I don’t want either.
I haven’t fired it yet, so I can’t say what it’ll do, but since it’s only been 6 hours since I bought it, I thought I might see what the gun store says. They shouldn’t mind me comparing it to the other TCPs they have there, I wouldn’t think.
December 5th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
After reading many reviews I took a chance and purchased the Taurus TCP. It has a dual recoil spring most guns do not have, one absorbs recoil the other (smaller) helps push the slide forward. If you leave the slide locked open for 24hrs, it seasons (breaks in) the springs so you don’t get FTE’s. Also load both clips with 6 rounds of ammo for at least 48 hrs to break in the clip springs. With that said, I ran 100 rounds of ammo through my TCP (Wincheseter FMJ and RWS FMJ) and had no problems at all. At 25 yards it can hit an 8×11 target, though you have to compensate for the sights (the sights cause it to shoot low).
December 21st, 2010 at 11:18 am
I just got one of these little babies last week. Took it to the “Winchester Range” where you have to buy there Winchester ammo and you shoot it for free. bought a box of 90 grain FMJ.
The first thing I did when I got the gun was field strip it and clean and lube it.
The gun shot perfectly. I was afraid after hearing all the mixed reviews, but I had zero problems. I shot just one box (50 rounds), but it was the first 50 to go through this brand new gun… ZERO PROBLEMS BABY!!!! I wonder if the people having problems are not cleaning and oiling their firearm before going to the range or if they are shooting some crappy reloads?
Anyway, so far so good… I love it. Shots strait and well with an except-able amount of recoil, kind of like hitting the primer of a bullet you are holding in your fingers… BANG!!! I think I will call it the Noisy Cricket