Taurus TCP PT738 Range Report

[E4 No More]

So I took my new TCP to the range for the first time today, and I must say that I am impressed. The last Taurus that I owned was terrible, so when the salesman suggested the Taurus while I was looking at a Ruger and Kel-Tec, I thought he was nuts, but the trigger was much smoother than the others. Since it was $100 cheaper than the Ruger I bought it.

On the range I reminded myself that my criteria was that I was wanting a pocket pistol for when I desired convenience over firepower. The last gun that I bought was a $2500 Ed Brown, so I had to keep my expectations commensurate with costs. It was simply a belly-gun rather than a tack-driver. I am also dealing with a post-LASIK eye surgery vision anomaly in my dominant eye, so I was shooting with my left eye.

At 7 yards on the the indoor range the sights were next to useless shooting very low: however, when sighted the slide top it printed in the bull grouping reasonably tight. The trigger was smooth; the travel long, (just as it was on the Ruger and Kel-Tec), and I felt this was reasonable considering the lack of a safety. Considering that I am a large man with proportionate hands firing a very small pistol the gun held fairly steady even with considerable flip. The pistol fed all 50 rounds of ball ammo flawlessly, and ejected the spent cases with authority.

Before I left On Target I looked at their price on the pistol and they were charging $369, so I was pretty happy that Specialty Arms charged me $300 after discounting it by $29.

Field-stripping for cleaning was relatively easy with the pulling of a single pin: however, that would be no simple task if you keep your fingernails cut very short since the pin is a simple panhead.

All-in-all, I am impressed with the TCP. I think it is well worth the price for what you get, and I'd recommend it to anyone regardless of the fact that it is a Taurus.

[Guest TargetShooter84]

If you don't mind me asking, what was the retail price of the TCP?

Glad to hear you like the gun!

[E4 No More]

$329 was the sticker at Specialty Arms; $369 at On Target. Specialty Arms cut the price down to $300.

[JeffL]

Guns & Leather has them for $309 sticker. I'm glad to know mine isn't the only one shooting really low.

[peejman]

My PT145 shot about 3" low when new. POI slowly drifted up with use and after a couple hundred rounds, it was POA/POI. No further changes after 800-ish rounds. I don't know why they do that, but give it some time.