Tauraus TCP 738 and it's 1st 156 rounds

[Arrdy]

It's no secret that .380's are becoming popular and I too was looking for a little pistol I could slip in my pocket and be on my way. Besides, the seats in my new car made carrying my G23 uncomfortable and it fills the center console. So to me, picking up a .380 made sense. While I was reading reviews, stopping in at gun shops and waiting for the gun shows to come around, little did I know my wife had already bought a Taurus TCP 738 for me. I'll admit, the TCP was high on my list, but the only good, unbiased review I could find was over a year old and most of the other posts bashed this little pocket popper saying it flew apart, broke, jammed and every thing else that could happen to a handgun. But my wife had already made the choice for me.

This is an unbiased look at the functionality of the TCP 738 B series and the 1st 156 rounds through it.

Plain and simple, these guns are “point and shoot”. They’re meant for use within 15ft and if you can't hit what you're pointing at, perhaps you shouldn't be carrying one. If you need to place a shot from farther out, a compact .380 should not be your 1st choice. With that said:

Breaking down the TCP is simple, remove the clip, clear the action locking the slide back and pull the pin. I was able to use my fingernails for this. WARNING: This pin is small and black, if you drop it, good luck finding it. Inside the gun was very clean, just needing a wipe down with a rag. The machining was good, much better then some I've seen for much more $$$. Reassembly was easy. Fit and finish, I'd give this gun a solid 8. Minuses are the take down pin and the lack of a front sight. Even a dab of contrasting paint on what's supposed to be the front sight would be nice. The large slot on the slide's rear is strange. You can watch the hammer as it cocks and drops. Although not recommended by Taurus, should the need arise, the hammer can be reset with a small screwdriver through this slot. Otherwise about ¼ inch of rearward slide movement is needed to reset the hammer.

The 1st 50 rounds through this weapon was prvi partizan (PPU), a 94 grain FMJRN made in Serbia. “Palm of hand” indicated these rounds were not consistent in performance but they did load and fire without problems until roughly round 20 when the gun jammed. It took quite a bit of effort to clear the jam. A quick look inside showed a large buildup of some green material. After blowing out this gunk, the TCP continued to fire without a problem, but I also blew out the action every 13 rounds. About round 30, the gun started to lay down the fired brass more consistently.

After a quick cleaning, the next 50 rounds were to be Remington UMC bulk pack 88 grain JHP, BUT this stuff was pure garbage! See my rant later in this post for more info.

Winchester bulk white box was next. These are 95 gain JFP and very clean burning rounds. BUT during the 50 rounds I had 2 FTF's, both when the flat nose hung up on the loading ramp. The only way to clear these jams was to lock the action back then push the round backward into the mag which wouldn't drop because of the nature of the jam.

Rounds 101 through 156 was a true mixed bag, 16 rounds each of Speer Lawman, American Eagle (both 95 gain FMJRN) and PMC Bronze (90 grain FMJRN) randomly loaded. The gun was not cleaned or oiled since round 50. Firing was rapid fire starting with the Winchester FN as the +1. The last 9 rounds were the Winchesters because I had them so why not. Results: 1 FTF with the PMC ammo. A simple “Tap and Rack” brought the gun back into service. Policing the brass was interesting. Most of the brass landed together but there were several groups of 3 that fell away from the main group, and these were usually 1 of each brand. The farthest was a single PMC brass @ about 12 feet from the firing line with a single Speer at 10 ft.

Conclusion:

Although many may feel 156 rounds is not enough to fully qualify a gun for use and 4 FTF may seem a lot, this is still only 2.5% total failure rate. 1 failure I blame the ammo. PPU is very dirty and didn't cause a failure until the crud was allowed to build up. Blowing out the action every 2 mags was enough to keep the gun functioning properly. 2 failures could be attributed to the profile of the bullet. Both failures were identical. If the bullet's profile was more rounded, I doubt those FTF's would have happened. That leaves 1 true FTF, the single PMC Bronze. That's an adjusted 0.6% failure rate. Yes, zero would be better but for a new gun being fed a wide variety of loads, I think it says more for this gun then what's being mindlessly repeated in the forums.

I feel confident carrying this little gun loaded with either the Speer Lawman or American Eagle rounds. I will be updating this post as more lead goes downrange.

The Remington Rant:

I've used Remington UMC yellow box in several calibers both for auto loading and revolver use. It's always preformed well so when I had a change to buy some .380 auto in bulk pack, I said sure. Now I wish I hadn't. This stuff is pure junk.

After opening the box I grabbed one round and couldn't believe what I saw. I pulled out several more rounds and yes, it was true. Every case had bulges, dents and scratches. Many had burrs at the mouth of the case. I bet myself this sh*t wouldn't cycle through my TCP. After loading both mags I tried cycling the slide and sure enough, 1 out of 12 went to battery with a slight hangup on the way. Going outside confirmed it. The round in the camber ejected on firing but the next round stopped short and needed a “forward assist” from the palm of my hand. Third round was the same and the fourth needed a soft faced hammer to home the slide. The rounds where the slide stopped about 1/8th inch short would allow the trigger to drop the hammer, but the hammer doesn't strike the firing pin. To clear the loaded round I had 2 choices, pull the slide off and hammer the live round out of the chamber with a wooden dowel from the muzzle end or pull the slide pin, move the slide forward enough to reset the hammer put the pin back in and pull the trigger. I went for resetting the hammer. Once the round was jammed into the chamber, there was no way I could clear the round by pulling back on the slide. 4 rounds of this was enough.

I decided to measure the OAL of the rounds and in 12, no 2 were the same. So I ran a few through my seating die setting the OAL at 0.950”. This did remove some of the burrs at the case mouth and reduced some of the bulges in the cases. Here's another fun fact, most of the cases I reseated would fall out of the shell holder unless held in place. Filling 2 clips I gave the TCP a try with these rounds. 1 of the 12 rounds needed a forward assist. This is when I learned the trick of resetting the hammer through the slot in the slide's rear. Quicker and safer then pulling the slide to reset the hammer with a live round in the chamber.

My opinion: This ammunition is at best, factory seconds. In a revolver this ammo would probably work, but in an auto loader it's nothing more then a jam waiting to happen. Before you say I must have got hold of a bad box, while shopping for the brands I used for my mixed bag testing, someone had left an opened a box of this junk on the shelf. The few I looked at had the same defects as the stuff I bought in a different chain box store 20 miles away.

You have been warned!

[BionicMan]

Nice write up!

[Quigar57]

I've got a spare mag lying around for that, PM me if your interested.

[davidb72]

I've been pretty happy with mine. I found it to be slightly better ergonomically than the LCP. I have over 400 rounds through mine, similar mix to what you did.

I find that the premium quality defensive hollow points (Speer, Hornady, etc...) all work flawlessly, but I clean it every time I shoot it.

I feel that it's better to have that in my pocket than nothing at all...

[Arrdy]

Thanks!

I'm now thinking of adding a few more manufacturers to the list and when it gets a bit warmer, doing a ramdon load 200 or so round torture test. Just hope my hand can hold out for that long, these little guns with their narrow backstrap can really let you know when to stop.

[Arrdy]

I've been pretty happy with mine. I found it to be slightly better ergonomically than the LCP. I have over 400 rounds through mine, similar mix to what you did.

I find that the premium quality defensive hollow points (Speer, Hornady, etc...) all work flawlessly, but I clean it every time I shoot it.

I feel that it's better to have that in my pocket than nothing at all...

Taurus does say clean after every use, even if it's one round. The reason I don't clean after every couple of mags is to give this little gun a chance to prove its self. Let's face it, the TCP 738 has really been trashed in some forums, and if I can help with some honest, unbiased input about it, all the better for the community. After all, these are quite reasonably priced back up guns and shouldn't be passed up just because of "Well, I heard ...".

The only real concern I have about the TCP is that slot in the back. Have you had any problems with crud getting into the hammer assembly?

[Arrdy]

I've got a spare mag lying around for that, PM me if your interested.

PM sent.

thanks.

[davidb72]

Taurus does say clean after every use, even if it's one round. The reason I don't clean after every couple of mags is to give this little gun a chance to prove its self. Let's face it, the TCP 738 has really been trashed in some forums, and if I can help with some honest, unbiased input about it, all the better for the community. After all, these are quite reasonably priced back up guns and shouldn't be passed up just because of "Well, I heard ...".

The only real concern I have about the TCP is that slot in the back. Have you had any problems with crud getting into the hammer assembly?

I have not, but then again, I've been cleaning it after every use.