The wife's new carry gun

[maroonandwhite]

Just picked up a Taurus 738 TCP last night for the wife to carry when she gets her permit. Can anyone chime in with experiences on this gun? I haven't shot it yet and know it will take a couple hundred rounds to break it in but it jammed up on me this morning while showing her how to cycle rounds through it manually. Maybe I wasn't racking it hard enough?? I usually buy used so I am wondering if this this normal with a brand new handgun? Thanks

[Guest TresOsos]

Just picked up a Taurus 738 TCP last night for the wife to carry when she gets her permit. Can anyone chime in with experiences on this gun? I haven't shot it yet and know it will take a couple hundred rounds to break it in but it jammed up on me this morning while showing her how to cycle rounds through it manually. Maybe I wasn't racking it hard enough?? I usually buy used so I am wondering if this this normal with a brand new handgun? Thanks

I'd clean it lube it and take it and shoot it before I started worrying about problems that haven't happened yet with it.

Also did your wife pick this out or try one before you bought it or did you buy it a assume it would fit her and make that decision for her?

[maroonandwhite]

Thanks I will try that. She went with me and picked the one that fit her hand best. She ideally wanted a revolver but she decided that the small size of this would make her more likely to carry it everywhere. She has shot an LCP before so she knows how the recoil will feel on this small of a gun.

[Guest spoolie]

Un-manageable would be how I could describe shooting that weapon. Not a good choice for a lady IMO. Difficult to chamber a round and the recoil is nasty (for a lady). I put the Kel Tec back into the safe and got my wife a Sig P238.

[maroonandwhite]

Un-manageable would be how I could describe shooting that weapon. Not a good choice for a lady IMO. Difficult to chamber a round and the recoil is nasty (for a lady). I put the Kel Tec back into the safe and got my wife a Sig P238.

Again I am basing my experience on a new unfired weapon but I did notice it was a little hard to chamber a round. Hopefully after shooting a few hundred rounds and possibly getting a gunsmith to polish it up it will be alot smoother. I did do a little research and saw that people were having mixed problems with them. Alot of people also said a competent gunsmith could make it work as smooth as butter so we shall see. If not we will just have to try something else. For the price I won't be too upset. I am just happy she is finally interested in carrying. Thanks!

[maroonandwhite]

Also to clarify I won't let my wife carry an unreliable weapon. I should have plenty of time to find out if this one will be ok before she gets the permit.

[Guest TresOsos]

Thanks I will try that. She went with me and picked the one that fit her hand best. She ideally wanted a revolver but she decided that the small size of this would make her more likely to carry it everywhere. She has shot an LCP before so she knows how the recoil will feel on this small of a gun.

That's great, make sure that she shoots and it gets the majprity of trigger time on it. I might be reliable for you but not for her and what's important is it's reliable for her.

[BigK]

I thought the TCP handled and shot better than most micro-380's I'd tried. It worked great at first and I had plans to carry it instead of my Kel-Tec. After 4 or 5 mags of FMJ ammo it developed terminal FTE issues.

The extractor gouged the brass pretty bad near the rim. It was like it was recoiling too hard for the extractor to catch on the rim. Racking the slide by hand consistently extracted the spent cases, though.

That was enough for me. I wasn't going to manually eject enough rounds to break the gun in. I got rid of it. Lots of others on TaurusArmed.net didn't have this issue, maybe I was just unlucky. I hope yours works out and your wife likes it.

[maroonandwhite]

I thought the TCP handled and shot better than most micro-380's I'd tried. It worked great at first and I had plans to carry it instead of my Kel-Tec. After 4 or 5 mags of FMJ ammo it developed terminal FTE issues.

The extractor gouged the brass pretty bad near the rim. It was like it was recoiling too hard for the extractor to catch on the rim. Racking the slide by hand consistently extracted the spent cases, though.

That was enough for me. I wasn't going to manually eject enough rounds to break the gun in. I got rid of it. Lots of others on TaurusArmed.net didn't have this issue, maybe I was just unlucky. I hope yours works out and your wife likes it.

I saw a thread on taurus armed where a guy remedied that by rounding off one side of his extractor. I am having the opposite issue with that while hand racking the slide. Again it's hard to say anything with a brand new, unfired gun.

[BigK]

Even if I had been patient and sent it off for repairs, I'd never feel confident enough to bet my life on it. Maybe that makes me superstitious or pig-headed, I don't know, but sometimes you can't get past a gut feeling, ya know?

Nothing against the mfg or the model, in fact, I'd bet the problems have been worked out by now. It's probably because I got mine when they first came out. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if yours runs perfectly. Seems like way more folks had good experiences than bad. I was just unlucky this time.

Edited November 17, 2011 by BigK

[Patton]

That is pretty common with those little 380's to have a hard time ejecting a live round. I wouldn't be worried but both of you should put about 100rds each through it for reliability testing.

[knoxrocks222]

my wife shoots the hell out of hers, its pink to haha she really likes it, she likes her G23 to but most of the time her clothes dont allow her to carry it shes 6'1 130 pounds,,,,,,,,,,im 6'5 so no its not awkward, cause i knew that was coming haha

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

6'1 130?!?!?! She's a stick, man!

[Mad_Squirrell]

Extremely painful to shoot! definitely not a range gun . After firing 20-25 rds my wrist ached for three days(and I'm not a small guy ). Conceals great though. It's accurate enough. My wife hated it she said recoil was to harsh and hurt her hand as well .

[Chadastrophic]

I put 120 rounds through mine last Saturday, even w a bad case of tennis elbow, and plan on putting another 100+ rounds through it today.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

[SonnyCrockett]

did she pic it out ? if not get ready...............to return it

[maroonandwhite]

Yes she did pick it out. She is taking her HCP class today with it! Hope she does well!

[BigK]

I hope she did well in her HCP class. I assume she put quite a few rounds down range through or she wouldn't be taking it to the class. Is it safe to assume she's happy with it? Let us know how she did.

[Guest pfries]

Let us know how it went.

[Guest msparks]

That's great, make sure that she shoots and it gets the majprity of trigger time on it. I might be reliable for you but not for her and what's important is it's reliable for her.

Ya and let us know how that goes? See how SHE does after a couple hundred rounds.

Hint, hint be prepared to carry it back to the LGS for a trade in, there is nothing wrong with losing a little money to get the right thing. I've gone though at least $2,000 to find my carry gun. Though I've kept all the ones I don't carry.

I have trouble parting with guns.

[maroonandwhite]

She did very well in the class. The instructor was surprised at how well she shot with that short little barrel. She has put about 350 rounds through it since we got it a few days ago and she broke it down and cleaned it last night by herself. I told her if she wasn't absolutely happy with we could get something else but she loves it! She also shot a few of the instructors guns to compare to. I am very proud she has taken an interest in guns and carrying!

As far as ammo goes I picked up some Golden Sabres and they function just fine. I shucked a full magazine through it about ten times and it didn't choke once. Those Critical Defense rounds are a little longer just by looking at them.

[Trekbike]

FWIW I compared some 380's that I had around. On my wife's LCP it would eject the live Critical Defense rounds pretty well. It did hang on the Magtech's two times out of about 8-10 tries.

Magtech SD HP rounds ran about 0.972-0.974,

PMC FMJ 0.973-0.974,

Critical Defense 0.975-0.980 just because of the rubber insert. If you squeezed down on the insert to get to the end of the bullet it measured about the same as the Magtech's.

[Guest msparks]

She did very well in the class. The instructor was surprised at how well she shot with that short little barrel. She has put about 350 rounds through it since we got it a few days ago and she broke it down and cleaned it last night by herself. I told her if she wasn't absolutely happy with we could get something else but she loves it! She also shot a few of the instructors guns to compare to. I am very proud she has taken an interest in guns and carrying!

That's great to hear. Glad she did well.

Now you have a shooting partner.

[Guest pfries]

Great for her, well and you, I enjoy that all of my family partakes in an activity together.

[BigK]

I bet you were very proud of her. Glad she did well and is interested. Who could ask for a better shooting partner than the person you're married to?

Considering how well that gun is turning out for you, I may give it another try myself.