Taurus 738 TCP Range Report And Review: M1 Garand Also Tags Along For A Test Drive

 

Since I kick ass and I'm sorta cool and stuff, I got a bonus check from work.

Everybody knows bonus money ain’t got no home, so I gave half of it to my darling wife, and the other half I decided to buy me a new .380 pocket rocket for the upcoming apocalypse.

I went to Beech Grove Firearms, (BGFA), because they are cool, and I looked at the KelTec P3AT, the Ruger LCP, and the Taurus 738 TCP .

The KelTec felt like cheese-dickery in my hands. 

No.

The Ruger was OK, but it only came with one magazine, and its trigger felt like chunky monkey snot. 

Negatory.

The Taurus fit my massive but girlie-like delicate hands OK, has a nice trigger, two magazines, and a groovy man-purse, so...I laid some cashola down for the Taurus, and hurried back home to be horrified at some of the early heinous reviews I found on the intardnets.

I'm such a douche...
 
Luckily, I found out that Taurus has good customer service, that my new pistol has the coveted "A" at the end of its serial number...indicating it is newer, more better and cooler than the old shitty ones, and that Taurus got its shit in one sack and fixed all the bugs.

I told the gentleman at BGFA that if the pistol sucked I would be back in and throw it at him.

He was scared.

Sorta.

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I put 200 rounds through the Taurus TCP...Winchester white box (WWB) ball round stuff.

No failures to feed.

No failures to extract.

Had probably two-dozen failures-to-fire due to what looks like light primer strikes.

I hear tell that WWB ammo is known for very stiff primers...that they need a good kick in the ass from the firing pin to get going.  I don't know, but it makes sense because I also ran a dozen premium borrowed hand-loads with no problems. (Thanks, Jay)

The light primer strikes/misfires appeared to happen when I didn't allow the trigger to fully reset after firing a round. (Thanks, Jon)

When I was conscious of my trigger control and allowed it to reset fully, I had almost no problems.

Brass ejection often was straight up out of the gun, and many casings bounced off the top of my stupid head.

I'm not quite ready yet to carry this piece on a daily basis. I think I need to try some different brands of ammo first.

The sights, which are small and sorta hard to see, and are molded into the slide, really kinda suck, and my crappy eyes lost sight picture a few times.

I'm thinking about dabbing some white paint on them to see if that helps.

But...then again, with a gun like this and the situations in which it might be used, who has time to aim?

That said...accuracy was OK...not jaw-dropping...but acceptable. At about seven yards, most of my aimed fire fell within the space the size of a sheet of typing paper...

I'm not totally disgusted with the TCP's performance yet, but I'm not jumping for joy either.

Ammo seems to be the biggest issue.

More testing to follow...

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In other news...

The Taurus performed flawlessly in drop-testing.

While exiting my vehicle recently, it slipped out of my coat pocket and hit my concrete driveway.

It had one in the throat, and was holstered in a crappy and cheap and embarrassing Uncle Mikes nylon thingy.

The Taurus did not discharge, much to my delight, as my neighbors, formerly known as the Rottweiler Watchers, were outside doing yard work.

Oops. 

Guess I'm not a civilian operator after all...

_____

Do you you clean a new gun?


Yes.

Always.

My 738 was "new,” and I questioned the sales guy about it because it was so dirty. 

Apparently, in my case anyway, Taurus test fires their guns, then boxes them up and ships them without cleaning them.

On the inside… when I bought it, mine looked like it had been drug down five miles of bad road.

_____

How is the trigger action on the Taurus? 

Regarding trigger pull: Dry firing the Taurus...pull is long but smooth, and something I can live with, I think.

Besides, if I'm using it for real (saving my ass), I'll be yankin' on that sum-bitch like the pull-rope on my Lawn-Boy, so I don't figure to be noticin' trigger action too much.

_____

I heard Taurus guns suck major ass.  Why on earth did you buy a Taurus?   Are you stupid?

Fuck you!  Nobody tells me what to do.  Not even me.

I'll try anything once, but, rest assured...if the Taurus sucks, I'm telling THE WORLD!!!

But…I'm really digging its small size. 

It will go anywhere effortlessly compared to my other hand-cannons….perfect for those times when one wants a gun and one is not supposed to have a gun! 

I'm really hoping it turns out to be a good firearm.

Overall...I'm a little disappointed in the Taurus 738 TCP so far, but I think I need to try different ammo before I finally decide if it sucks or not. I think more break-in shooting is required with these little pieces. I hear polishing the feed ramp is helpful.

Also, I think it's important to realize these pocket guns aren't like our full size quality Glocks, S&Ws, Colts, and Springfields.

__________ 

M1 Garand Gets A Test Drive!

Getting jiggy w/Miss G.A. Rand

I finally did it. Put about 8 clips through my M1 Garand!

Wow...is all I can say.

Never experienced anything like it. 

It bucks like a mule on steroids, and functioned flawlessly. 

No thumb injuries.

A couple of buddies gave me one bandolier of GI ball ammo, and twenty armour piercing rounds. 

Ping! Everything was perfect.

One guy well versed in Garands, said the rifle was a real thing of beauty, and questioned whether I should be shooting it because of how nice it is. (I told him I was going to use it, not abuse it nor hang it on a wall) He said the trigger action was beautiful. He was very impressed, as were the others at the range.

Several folks present had great info and pointers for me, and they were very jealous.

Many thanks to those who contributed ammo and knowledge.

We'll do it again soon.

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Where’d you get the M1?


I've had it for about a year.

You can read all about it here. 

It was originally purchased by my uncle from a Muncie, Indiana gun store about 30 years ago...for $345 !

I have the receipt. 

He never fired it in all that time, but he was aware of how much I coveted it.

He unexpectedly gifted it to me.

I was floored, of course!

I sent him an e-mail detailing my deflowering of his rifle.

He seemed pleased!

During this recent range session, I was interested to be informed that this rifle is equipped with "match" sights.

I don’t know about all that, but the knowledgeable person who told me this stated that he believed the entire rifle was of "match" quality due to the fact that it is also equipped with a National Match operating rod.

I told him that I didn't think it was an actual "match" rifle, but a mix-master comprised of some VERY good components.

These are great times we live in, brothers and sisters.

Great times indeed.