Range Report - Taurus TCP / 738

Spammy_H · February 23, 2010, 11:57 AM

Bought this little gun and finally got to take it out to the range. Insofar as the mouse guns go, this one feels pretty good in my hands. It's a tad bigger than the Kel-Tec P3-AT, but it does have a slide stop lever, and the specs say that the magazine release is reversible, but I haven't tried to flip it around yet.

All in all I put about 65 rounds through it. 60 rounds were Winchester White Box, and the last 5-6 were Federal Hydra-Shok. No misfeeds, failures to extract, misfires, etc.

The trigger pull was pretty smooth, although obviously long, but not overly heavy. My experiences with similarly sized / designed weapons are with the Kel-Tec P32, Bersa 380, Kel-Tec P11, and AMT Backup. I honestly feel this was the best trigger of the bunch.

The WWB was very pleasant to shoot - recoil was manageable, and did not hurt my hand in the least. The one magazine of Hydra-Shoks was a lot snapper, and my hand stung a little afterwards - not something you'd want to shoot everyday, but you should definitely shoot enough of your SD ammo to make sure it feeds/fires/extracts reliably.

Here are the negatives from the test:

*I shot about 3"-4" low of the bullseye at 5 yards. This may be because my EDC is a Springfield XD, which is sighted in for a 6 O'Clock hold. However, I was consciously attempting to cover the target with the sights, rather than place the target on top of the sights.

*The slide catch would keep the slide back when engaged by the magazine follower, but would not effectively hold the slide when manually engaged.

*On 3 occasions, forcefully inserting the magazine would cause the slide to come forward. I'm not 100% sure, but it seemed to happen every other time, which would make me tend to think it was related to one magazine over the other. I need to mark my magazines and retest to make sure.

Overall, I was very pleased with the gun. Knowing that this was a brand new design, and purchasing it in the first year of its production, I was ready for problems, but encountered no major malfunctions.

I'm going to continue to keep this one in the rotation at the range and will report on its progress.

palabman · February 23, 2010, 06:37 PM

Just got back from the indoor range with the TCP I got this weekend. Too much snow to get to the outdoor range so I loaded up 5 95gn RN to see how the load would work. I't just 5 shots but went smooth as silk. My group was a touch low at 5 yards but it shot a 3 inch group (probably just dumb luck). I'll load up the rest and give see how it does in quantity.

Spammy_H · February 26, 2010, 11:54 AM

Palabman - that's some pretty good shooting. After a group like that, I'd call it a day right there as well

palabman · February 27, 2010, 08:21 PM

Yeah... I'll tell you what, this little gun continues to impress. I loaded up the remaining 45 cases as follows:

15 with 2.9 gn WW 231 and 95 gn lead RN
30 with 3.2 gn WW 231 and 95 gn lead RN

Both were fired at 5 yards.

The hotter load grouped at about 4 inches but the lighter load grouped at 1.5 inches.

I had one fail-to-feed out of 50 so far.

ralphola · February 28, 2010, 09:35 AM

I shot my TCP for the first time yesterday. It was my first time with a .380 so it is possible I am the cause of the problems. On the first magazine the slide locked back with one round left. I racked the slide and it went in. Second and third mags had a stove pipe and failure of the slide to lock back after the last round on both. I noticed that there is a small gap between the base of the magazine and the stock. It was pinching my pinkie. I changed my grip a bit and the next four magazines shot well with no issues. I will clean it up real good and give it another try.

Ralph

palabman · February 28, 2010, 10:25 PM

I also have a gap between the grip and magazine but both mags fit about the same. Other than the one fail-to-feed like you described it didn't effect the shooting though. I think mine failed on the last round also.

I did give it a good cleaning before I shot it the first time and each time after.

As soon as the snow melts a little I'd like to get it out to the outdoor range.

sho'nuff · February 28, 2010, 11:01 PM

I shot low on my first range session too. Is there a trick with these low profile sights?

palabman · March 1, 2010, 12:25 AM

I was a little low and to the left myself but it was a good group. I seem to remember a chart out there (maybe on glockmeister.com?) that suggested reasons for consistently hitting off center.

palabman · March 1, 2010, 12:39 AM

Here it is...

February 23, 2010, 11:57 AM	#1
Spammy_H Senior Member Join Date: September 17, 2009 Posts: 220	Range Report - Taurus TCP / 738 Bought this little gun and finally got to take it out to the range. Insofar as the mouse guns go, this one feels pretty good in my hands. It's a tad bigger than the Kel-Tec P3-AT, but it does have a slide stop lever, and the specs say that the magazine release is reversible, but I haven't tried to flip it around yet. All in all I put about 65 rounds through it. 60 rounds were Winchester White Box, and the last 5-6 were Federal Hydra-Shok. No misfeeds, failures to extract, misfires, etc. The trigger pull was pretty smooth, although obviously long, but not overly heavy. My experiences with similarly sized / designed weapons are with the Kel-Tec P32, Bersa 380, Kel-Tec P11, and AMT Backup. I honestly feel this was the best trigger of the bunch. The WWB was very pleasant to shoot - recoil was manageable, and did not hurt my hand in the least. The one magazine of Hydra-Shoks was a lot snapper, and my hand stung a little afterwards - not something you'd want to shoot everyday, but you should definitely shoot enough of your SD ammo to make sure it feeds/fires/extracts reliably. Here are the negatives from the test: I shot about 3"-4" low of the bullseye at 5 yards. This may be because my EDC is a Springfield XD, which is sighted in for a 6 O'Clock hold. However, I was consciously attempting to cover the target with the sights, rather than place the target on top of the sights. The slide catch would keep the slide back when engaged by the magazine follower, but would not effectively hold the slide when manually engaged. *On 3 occasions, forcefully inserting the magazine would cause the slide to come forward. I'm not 100% sure, but it seemed to happen every other time, which would make me tend to think it was related to one magazine over the other. I need to mark my magazines and retest to make sure. Overall, I was very pleased with the gun. Knowing that this was a brand new design, and purchasing it in the first year of its production, I was ready for problems, but encountered no major malfunctions. I'm going to continue to keep this one in the rotation at the range and will report on its progress.

February 28, 2010, 11:01 PM	#7
sho'nuff Member Join Date: September 11, 2009 Location: Surprise, AZ Posts: 42	sights I shot low on my first range session too. Is there a trick with these low profile sights?

February 23, 2010, 06:37 PM	#2
palabman Member Join Date: January 24, 2010 Location: SW PA Posts: 80	Just got back from the indoor range with the TCP I got this weekend. Too much snow to get to the outdoor range so I loaded up 5 95gn RN to see how the load would work. I't just 5 shots but went smooth as silk. My group was a touch low at 5 yards but it shot a 3 inch group (probably just dumb luck). I'll load up the rest and give see how it does in quantity.

February 26, 2010, 11:54 AM	#3
Spammy_H Senior Member Join Date: September 17, 2009 Posts: 220	Palabman - that's some pretty good shooting. After a group like that, I'd call it a day right there as well

February 27, 2010, 08:21 PM	#4
palabman Member Join Date: January 24, 2010 Location: SW PA Posts: 80	Yeah... I'll tell you what, this little gun continues to impress. I loaded up the remaining 45 cases as follows: 15 with 2.9 gn WW 231 and 95 gn lead RN 30 with 3.2 gn WW 231 and 95 gn lead RN Both were fired at 5 yards. The hotter load grouped at about 4 inches but the lighter load grouped at 1.5 inches. I had one fail-to-feed out of 50 so far.

February 28, 2010, 09:35 AM	#5
ralphola Junior Member Join Date: November 13, 2009 Location: Northern VA Posts: 3	I shot my TCP for the first time yesterday. It was my first time with a .380 so it is possible I am the cause of the problems. On the first magazine the slide locked back with one round left. I racked the slide and it went in. Second and third mags had a stove pipe and failure of the slide to lock back after the last round on both. I noticed that there is a small gap between the base of the magazine and the stock. It was pinching my pinkie. I changed my grip a bit and the next four magazines shot well with no issues. I will clean it up real good and give it another try. Ralph

February 28, 2010, 10:25 PM	#6
palabman Member Join Date: January 24, 2010 Location: SW PA Posts: 80	I also have a gap between the grip and magazine but both mags fit about the same. Other than the one fail-to-feed like you described it didn't effect the shooting though. I think mine failed on the last round also. I did give it a good cleaning before I shot it the first time and each time after. As soon as the snow melts a little I'd like to get it out to the outdoor range.

March 1, 2010, 12:25 AM	#8
palabman Member Join Date: January 24, 2010 Location: SW PA Posts: 80	I was a little low and to the left myself but it was a good group. I seem to remember a chart out there (maybe on glockmeister.com?) that suggested reasons for consistently hitting off center.