Taurus TCP 738 (.380) pistol.

[Hodgie]

I have been looking for a small pocket pistol the last few months, going back and forth to the local shops comparing everything that fits this role and I narrowed it down to the only 2 I felt scored really high in this category. Here is the story of my final decision may it bring wonder and excitement to your lives.

Saturday I compared the Kahr P380 with the Taurus 738 TCP. The Kahr is a great pistol cant say enough good things about it. The P380 has useable 3 dot sights like many Kahr pistols, striker fired vs double action hammer fired that all the others that I looked at had. The trigger is nothing short of a master piece for a pocket gun. It feels better then my old CW9 did and that was a nice trigger. I scored it a 9 out of a possible 10 in the pocket pistol category.

The main draw back and the reason for the 9 is the $550-$600.00 price tag. That and that alone just puts it in the out of range category for most people epically the ones who dont require a match grade barrel out of a 2.5" .380 pistol.

The Taurus is right behind the P380 as far as i am concerned the trigger has no slop, no stacking crisp light pull. The sights are machined into the slide and suck like most others in it's class. It has a last shot slide hold open with a nice size slide release. The Aluminum stainless model comes in right around $300.00 with 2 mags, and a bull dog carry case. It feels really good in my medium sized paws and points very well.

After 15 minutes of going back and forth and weighing whether or not I want to get one kick in the yam sack from my wife for buying the Taurus VS getting 2 kicks the the Yam sack for buying the Kahr at almost double the cost I decided to go for the Taurus. My main reason being it's not my primary CC weapon and it will be used very rarely and it hurts getting kicked in the yams.

I put 100 rounds of WWB 95gr with the flat nose through it yesterday, I will say once I got my grip adjusted to this little gun there was very little felt recoil. The sights do kind of suck but at 7-10 yards I was able to keep 6 shots in a nice 10"-12" spread with rapid fire. I ran a few drills and the pistol kept up. The mags eject very positively and when inserting a loaded one they lock nice and tight very easily. The pistol really throws the brass a few went strait up and hit me directly in the forehead.

I did have several failures where the slide locked back when there was still a round in the mag. 95% of the time this happened on the last round a few times it happened on the 2nd to last round. When inspecting the issue I see that it's due to the shape of the mag catch being a bit too large and due to the overly wide flat head on the WWB ammo hitting and engaging it prematurely. It seems this is a common issue with some ammo and filing a rounded edge on the inside of the mag catch/release will resolve this for all ammo types. I received 250 rounds of round nose ball ammo today I was unable to fire any but I did load and inspect and the round nose on the silver bear 95gr does not come close to contacting the catch when a mag is inserted on the last or 2nd to last round.

That all being said If there was a CW380(dumbed down version of the P380) anywhere in SE PA I would have purchased that for $330-$350.00, I also asked to have one ordered and it was a no go in 3 different shops. I think the Taurus is a great value for what you get, it still has to prove itself with another 300-500 trouble free rounds through it before it goes in my pocket or car which I think it will after a bit of filing and polishing.

Ordered 2 holsters both should do their jobs nicely.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MQC6KC/...332200_TE_item
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITZU3IM/...332200_TE_item

Here's a few pictures I took, several next to my daily carry the S&W 9mm Shield for a size comparison.

[Asmodeus6]

Sad to see the same LRHO crap still going on with these years later. Had those exact same problems with the lever catching on rounds in the magazine. It also broke in <100rds. Developed multi-strike capabilities and intermittently hit the firing pin hard enough to set off a round. Basically between jamming, having minute of pizza box accuracy at half the distance you were shooting at, it finally became a click, click, click... clickclickclick BANG gun.

And then it would jam more.

Turned it back into the shop for an LCP.


The Kahr is worth the $ because it has a nice trigger, sights, and it works. Despite the double sack smacking - it was the right choice. Or the Sig 238. (or 938 in 9mm).

I hope yours runs well.

[FCastle88]

Sad to see the same LRHO crap still going on with these years later. Had those exact same problems with the lever catching on rounds in the magazine. It also broke in <100rds. Developed multi-strike capabilities and intermittently hit the firing pin hard enough to set off a round. Basically between jamming, having minute of pizza box accuracy at half the distance you were shooting at, it finally became a click, click, click... clickclickclick BANG gun.

And then it would jam more.

Turned it back into the shop for an LCP.


The Kahr is worth the $ because it has a nice trigger, sights, and it works. Despite the double sack smacking - it was the right choice. Or the Sig 238. (or 938 in 9mm).

I hope yours runs well.

With the new CW380 you can get the Kahr for pretty much the same price as the LCP or TCP. Hard to find them in stock, but worth searching. Very soft recoiling and very easy to shoot accurately for it's size.

[Hodgie]

My TCP is pretty damn accurate up to 12 yards and the trigger is not that far off from the Kahr. If there was a CW380 to be found in NE or SE PA I would have opted for one but it was a no go, Dealers cant even order them at this time. I fixed the mag catch issue and she is running good. Have 300 rounds total through it 200 being steel cased silver bear.

So far so good.

[FCastle88]

My TCP is pretty damn accurate up to 12 yards and the trigger is not that far off from the Kahr. If there was a CW380 to be found in NE or SE PA I would have opted for one but it was a no go, Dealers cant even order them at this time. I fixed the mag catch issue and she is running good. Have 300 rounds total through it 200 being steel cased silver bear.

So far so good.

That's why I buy all my guns online. Davidson's usually has the CW380 in stock and you can find a participating dealer near you. Though I agree the TCP comes in second for me in the pocket .380 class.

[SevenMilePete]

Sad to see the same LRHO crap still going on with these years later. Had those exact same problems with the lever catching on rounds in the magazine. It also broke in <100rds. Developed multi-strike capabilities and intermittently hit the firing pin hard enough to set off a round. Basically between jamming, having minute of pizza box accuracy at half the distance you were shooting at, it finally became a click, click, click... clickclickclick BANG gun.

And then it would jam more.

Turned it back into the shop for an LCP.


The Kahr is worth the $ because it has a nice trigger, sights, and it works. Despite the double sack smacking - it was the right choice. Or the Sig 238. (or 938 in 9mm).

I hope yours runs well.

I was wary of getting the TCP, but I figured at 199, it wasn't that bad a loss if it wasn't any good. I've put about 600 rounds through it, every kind of ammo I could find, from WWB to S&B, Remington, Federal, defense rounds, etc., not one hiccup. Shoots well, but is a little snappy because of the low weight. Great buy at twice the price. The trigger is much better than the LCP. And I can disassemble, clean, and reassemble in about 10 minutes.

[InTheGray]

I've had a Taurus TCP PT-738 for a couple of years and usually carry it in my front pocket in a Uncle Mike size 4. I also have a Bulldog fake leather "cell phone" type case similar to the one in the OP.

Mostly, it is my last resort gun, out working in the yard gun, or just chilling at home gun. Shoots ok at the distances I would expect to actually use it at and I haven't had any problems with it.

[swack]

Had one for a while, shot well (except for the brass hitting me in the forehead). But it jammed up constantly, went back to the factory twice, then the slide rails started to rip off the frame. They sent me a new in box replacement and I sold it. Bought a kahr cm9 and couldn't be happier.

[Annabel21]

I have a Taurus 22 Pistol for sale for $400. Bought in 2021 for $550.

[Walleye Hunter]

I have a Taurus 22 Pistol for sale for $400. Bought in 2021 for $550.

There is a classifieds section where you can put that. A couple of good pictures would be good too. Don't put your phone number or email in the ad or you'll get scammers trying to rip you off. Most members here are upstanding citizens that wouldn't try anything. They'll PM you on it.