Opinion Time: Taurus TCP vs. Ruger LCP

[edteach]

I looked at the Kaltec and the Ruger LCP and the Taurus TCP. The Ruger costs more for the stainless slide and you do not get an extra mag 28$ value and the holster is worth 15$ so Taurus gave me an extra 43$ out of the gate, plus a SS slide. I took it to the range today and ran 100 rounds of reloads. If anything will give me trouble it is a reload. I loaded them with 95 gr. FJM and JHPs. It ran every one with no FTF or FTE. I also ran 100 rounds of reloaded 9mm through my Beretta FS92 and had 3 FTEs. and 1 FTF.
I thought the gun [TCP] would bark much more than it did. It was small in the hand but that’s the nature of the beast. It was very accurate at 10 yards and the sights were about point of aim. The sights are not something this gun was designed for and for a carry gun it’s hard to beat. The Holster is designed to look like a phone or PDA case. It does not have a place for the extra mag.
As far as all the hoopla over the supposed metal support on the slide hold back, Ruger does not even have a hold back so if it fails and I see no reason that it will you are back at the point of what a Ruger offers, nothing lost.
The take down was easy and you do need a knife or a finger nail to pull the pin. Not a problem, my nail is about 1/8th inch long and worked fine. There is no second strike and this is a bit disappointing, but with good ammo it should not be a big problem.
I like the looks of the Ruger but it did not fit in my hand. Maybe small handed women and men will like it but I have medium hands and it was a bit to small and slim to hold properly. The Taurus fit my hand much better.
I have had several Taurus pistols and I wish I had sold my Beretta FS92 and kept my Taurus PT92 instead. I love the safety on the Taurus much better than the Berretta, and the extra couple of hundred bucks would have been nice also. I have nothing against the Ruger but nothing ticks me off more than buying a gun and having to hunt down an extra mag and holster. :man_in_love: after all the pluses that Taurus gave me it was a no brainer.

 

[Stiofan]

I'd have to say that I'll never own a Taurus because of all the problems I've read about over the years, and the only one I handled literally fell apart in my hands. I'm sure plenty of their guns are good, I just have no reason to buy one as there are plenty of other choices out there. For those convinced my opinion is wrong, that's fine but it works for me.

I own the Ruger. (BTW, if I wanted similar and couldn't get the Ruger I'd buy a Keltec before the Taurus.)

 

[theicemanmpls]

My favorite Taurus posting.

Originally Posted by Dudeorific
"I own 20+ Taurus handguns. About 1/2 auto and 1/2 revolver. The autos swill outshoot every Beretta I own. The revolvers will outshoot every Ruger I own and all of the S&W's except for the performance center ones. My son has a Taurus 1911 that I gave a good workout to. Shooting without sandbags, 25 yards was a ragged hole. 50 yards opened up to 1 inch groups. At 200 yards, I was holding an 8 inch pattern. I would stake my life and reputation on a Taurus any day of the week. They have never been very particular about ammo put through them either."

Some people love to make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

IMO, find out what the pro's carry for a belly gun. One of those is what I want, regarless of who makes it.

 

[edteach]

Taurus BS trashing

I like ruger but they have problems, and anyone can say they will not own a gun of this or that maker. I think it show a silly bias but people can be biased if they choose. It sounds like a your not a man if you don't smoke the same cigarettes as me type of garbage. I see it all the time, people who like to talk big, I will not carry any gun but a big ass 45 or 44 and those little guns are for women, bla bla bla. I like the TCP because of the extras they give for less price and a life time warr. and it fit my hand better. I liked the LCP but the lack of a hold open and hand fit and more for SS was a turn off. If you google problems with the LCP you will find just as many as with the TCP.

I think the real bashing is because the Tuarus is like that nonsense Palin put out, you are not a real American if your not from small town Kansas or some such BS. I think a lot of people look at taurus as a you aint from these parts is you gun. Reminds me of the mini cooper comm. where you can judge who owns the cooper by the size of their wee wee, the smaller the wee weee the bigger the SUV/truck. LOL.

 

[GOV5]

I looked at the Kaltec and the Ruger LCP and the Taurus TCP. The Ruger costs more for the stainless slide and you do not get an extra mag 28$ value and the holster is worth 15$ so Taurus gave me an extra 43$ out of the gate, plus a SS slide. I took it to the range today and ran 100 rounds of reloads. If anything will give me trouble it is a reload. I loaded them with 95 gr. FJM and JHPs. It ran every one with no FTF or FTE. I also ran 100 rounds of reloaded 9mm through my Beretta FS92 and had 3 FTEs. and 1 FTF.
I thought the gun [TCP] would bark much more than it did. It was small in the hand but that’s the nature of the beast. It was very accurate at 10 yards and the sights were about point of aim. The sights are not something this gun was designed for and for a carry gun it’s hard to beat. The Holster is designed to look like a phone or PDA case. It does not have a place for the extra mag.
As far as all the hoopla over the supposed metal support on the slide hold back, Ruger does not even have a hold back so if it fails and I see no reason that it will you are back at the point of what a Ruger offers, nothing lost.
The take down was easy and you do need a knife or a finger nail to pull the pin. Not a problem, my nail is about 1/8th inch long and worked fine. There is no second strike and this is a bit disappointing, but with good ammo it should not be a big problem.
I like the looks of the Ruger but it did not fit in my hand. Maybe small handed women and men will like it but I have medium hands and it was a bit to small and slim to hold properly. The Taurus fit my hand much better.
I have had several Taurus pistols and I wish I had sold my Beretta FS92 and kept my Taurus PT92 instead. I love the safety on the Taurus much better than the Berretta, and the extra couple of hundred bucks would have been nice also. I have nothing against the Ruger but nothing ticks me off more than buying a gun and having to hunt down an extra mag and holster. :man_in_love: after all the pluses that Taurus gave me it was a no brainer.

Good Choice!! I bought mine for all the same reasons you bought yours. It's a little gun that is easy to carry. I wind up carrying it much more than the S & W 442, a .38 Special +P, just because of the carry case the with the TCP. I HATE CONCEAL CARRY! LOL!

 

[SC Tiger]

Okay - let me preface this by saying it is just my opinion, and I don't mean to bash Taurus or have a personal issue with them. This is just how I feel...

I looked at both and the Kel-tec and went with the LCP since it is a more mature design (the Taurus had just come out I believe) than the TCP and had a better fit-and-finish than the Kel-tec (my second choice). I never buy a car or gun until it has been out at least a year. Also, and I'll catch he!! for this, I still don't think of Taurus as a top-quality gunmaker (not saying they aren't but I just can't get there). Every time I consider looking at one I go to the gun shop and there is someone trying to return one or send it back because of a problem, (weird I know - especially since in all cases I didn't ask). As a salesmen at one of the shops I used to frequent says "Taurus has a lifetime warranty, and you'll probably need it" (that statement was several years ago). Also add in that Ruger is an American company, while Taurus is Brazilian. That carries weight with me.

I've shot Rugers since I've been shooting. The first handgun I shot was a Ruger .22 Mark 1, and the next was a Ruger Blackhawk in .357. The only one I've had issues with was a Single-six convertible .22 that was a fine gun, but I hated it because it was too small to load with my fat fingers. I'll probably look at the SR9 if they ever start making it in .40 (guess it will be the SR40 then).

All that said, Ruger had some issues for a few years after "Big Bill" Ruger died. It looks like they are back on track. I can't find a machining flaw on my LCP.

 

[GOV5]

Okay - let me preface this by saying it is just my opinion, and I don't mean to bash Taurus or have a personal issue with them. This is just how I feel...

I looked at both and the Kel-tec and went with the LCP since it is a more mature design (the Taurus had just come out I believe) than the TCP and had a better fit-and-finish than the Kel-tec (my second choice). I never buy a car or gun until it has been out at least a year. Also, and I'll catch he!! for this, I still don't think of Taurus as a top-quality gunmaker (not saying they aren't but I just can't get there). Every time I consider looking at one I go to the gun shop and there is someone trying to return one or send it back because of a problem, (weird I know - especially since in all cases I didn't ask). As a salesmen at one of the shops I used to frequent says "Taurus has a lifetime warranty, and you'll probably need it" (that statement was several years ago). Also add in that Ruger is an American company, while Taurus is Brazilian. That carries weight with me.

I've shot Rugers since I've been shooting. The first handgun I shot was a Ruger .22 Mark 1, and the next was a Ruger Blackhawk in .357. The only one I've had issues with was a Single-six convertible .22 that was a fine gun, but I hated it because it was too small to load with my fat fingers. I'll probably look at the SR9 if they ever start making it in .40 (guess it will be the SR40 then).

All that said, Ruger had some issues for a few years after "Big Bill" Ruger died. It looks like they are back on track. I can't find a machining flaw on my LCP.

I understand the buying American products thing. I bought the Taurus mainly because it had that carrying case and it fit my hand better. It also looked better to me and functioned better for my hands. I have nothing against Ruger. I have a Ruger Single Six Convertible, my first handgun, I love it! It's still the best looking gun I own.....SO FAR! LOL!

Tiger, I really think this Taurus slamming thing is due to the lousy customer service problem they had/have. Maybe a bad gun has to go back to Brazil to get fixed, and that is why it takes so long to get a flaw corrected. LOL! But as far as the quality, I guess I really haven't shot it enough to comment. But I'll tell you this. I thought I was going to have a few FTF and FTE's at first, but that gun has fired every round I've put through it flawlessly, SO FAR! LOL!

 

[edteach]

I think that the most of the people who say they have had problems with Taurus give passes to problems they have had with other guns like Ruger because it is an American company. I can say one neg. things about ruger. I had a mini 14 and the thing was a dog. I will take my AR over that POS any day of the week. It was just an in accurate gun. I can shoot 290 expert with open sights with my colt but that ruger would be better as a base ball bat. They are fun little guns to plink with but for real shooting not for me. Ruger even admits that there was a problem but says they just built to many darn guns and they wore out the tooling. LOL YouTube - Ruger Mini 14 rifle I don't buy that story.:laugh:

 

[HootmonSccy]

I understand the buying American products thing.

BTW - The TCP is made in Miami..

 

[SC Tiger]

I think that the most of the people who say they have had problems with Taurus give passes to problems they have had with other guns like Ruger because it is an American company. I can say one neg. things about ruger. I had a mini 14 and the thing was a dog. I will take my AR over that POS any day of the week. It was just an in accurate gun. I can shoot 290 expert with open sights with my colt but that ruger would be better as a base ball bat. They are fun little guns to plink with but for real shooting not for me. Ruger even admits that there was a problem but says they just built to many darn guns and they wore out the tooling. LOL YouTube - Ruger Mini 14 rifle I don't buy that story.:laugh:

I don't give any companies a pass on bad quality, but I do understand that Ruger had an issue right after Big Bill died. Most of the ones I saw were cosmetic and readily apparent (barrel "clocked", etc). The bad Taurus products could be a result of the same thing (change in management, new manufacturing facility/processes, etc) but I don't know that. I've had good experience with Ruger. Unfortunately my favorite one (a GP100) was stolen along with my single-six.

My choice was based primarily on the maturity of the designs. The LCP has been out longer and, let's face it, is a copy of the Kel-tec with a few refinements and better fit and finish (at least mine). The Taurus was brand-new when I purchased my LCP. Also, as a mouse gun I kind of like the lack of a slide hold open after the last round - less to go wrong. The American company thing was also a small factor, even though the Taurus is made in Miami.

BTW - and no offense or flame intended - the Mini-14 used to be a lot cheaper than the AR. I don't think it was really meant to be a direct competitor.

I did like that Taurus offered to arm all pilots for free after 9/11. I have considered getting one as a range gun (a .22 revolver would be perfect) and, if it turned out to be a good gun, considering one for SD.

 

[edteach]

And some folks are just trolls. We hashed this out before and I said I would post no more, but I can't hold back on this one. Did you ever follow up on the pic links posted by the trainer? It was done with a Taurus. We could hash it about all day long, but the big issue is preference. There are those who point out their friends Taurus pistols won't hold up to their Rugers. What about my son's Ruger .45 acp that kept breaking parts and was sent back to the factory for repairs 3 times. Finally he sold the gun as a lemon. I personally like a Ruger, but I also like a Taurus. I have Sig's and Springfields, etc. I could diss Glock for the one I own that wouldn't shoot good out of the box. After a tuneup and a match grade barrel, it became a shooter.

So, like I said, personal preference, personal preference, personal preference. Now I'll throw it back to you trolls out there to tear myself and my postings down, but won't take time to look at the facts. Good day.

I had a Ruger P97 that every third shot the slide stop would just fling out of the gun and the slide would jam. I finally called Ruger and they replaced it but said they had never had any problem with this. If you Google it many people had trouble with it. I sold the gun at a loss and I learned that Ruger has problems like any other gun company. I bought the TCP and have had no trouble and I asked the gun club where I shoot if they have had any returns on these guns. They said they have had only one problem and that was limp wristing in one buyer, not the guns fault.

I am selling a couple of guns I own now to buy the sig p238. I really liked the way it fit in my hand and I have a mauser HSC post war I never shoot, and a Beretta 1934 I don't shoot. I would take the sig over the colt any day as they do not make the colts anymore and you are SOL if you have a problem. I have a WW2 colt and a NRM 1911 SS and love them both, but I am not brand loyal, that is a stupid way to be, Ruger does not pay my rent when I can afford to pay it so I don't owe Ruger or Colt a dime. I owe it to myself to buy the best gun I can get for my money and not to put someone else’s kids through college.

 

[seaswol]

Fwiw

I spoke with customer service at Taurus today 11/15/2010. I mentioned that I heard the 738 has had modifications done to improve reliability. They said "Yes" and that the improved version has a serial number beginning with 6, ie 6xxxxx. So I'm getting one tomorrow.
Thanks,
Chris

 

[carnesee]

Taurus 738 Modification

I spoke with customer service at Taurus today 11/15/2010. I mentioned that I heard the 738 has had modifications done to improve reliability. They said "Yes" and that the improved version has a serial number beginning with 6, ie 6xxxxx. So I'm getting one tomorrow.
Thanks,
Chris

As the owner of a trouble-free Taurus 738 TCP with serial number 5xxxxx, I was nevertheless curious about the "modification" claim made starting with 6xxxxx guns. So, I called Taurus CS today (11/19/2010) and was told the alteration was actually a design change in the magazines, and that 6xxxxx guns were being shipped with the new mags. Moreover, for several months all guns sent to Taurus for repair were returned to the owners with the new mags automatically included. The past problem with some guns, BTW, is/was that the mags sometimes dropped without being intentionally released. I never had that problem (nor any other), but should it ever occur, I was told Taurus will simply treplace the magazines.

 

[Naybor]

I do like my Rugers.

BUT, my main concern with Taurus is the factory/customer service is in Brazil ~ Ruger's customer service and accessory dept. is in Arizona. Ruger firearms can have problem. Taurus firearms can have problems. How quick can you get the problem resolved is my concern.

To be honest, when the wife got her Ruger SP101, she narrowed it down to a stainless 38 Special Taurus with a vented barrel and the stainless Ruger .357. She did like them both, but settled on the Ruger cause she could use .38 and .357 mag in it. The Taurus was a cheaper price. Not cheap, but cheaper.

Each person should buy what they LIKE and not what other people likes. I know a fella who has carried an old chrome Raven .25 and swears it's the best weapon he ever owned. He has the right to his opinion.

 

[PDinDetroit]

I looked at these options and went with the Sig Sauer P238 HDW instead.

Sig Sauer P238 HDW | Sig Sauer Guns and Accessories

Link Removed

 

[edteach]

I do like my Rugers.

BUT, my main concern with Taurus is the factory/customer service is in Brazil ~ Ruger's customer service and accessory dept. is in Arizona. Ruger firearms can have problem. Taurus firearms can have problems. How quick can you get the problem resolved is my concern.

To be honest, when the wife got her Ruger SP101, she narrowed it down to a stainless 38 Special Taurus with a vented barrel and the stainless Ruger .357. She did like them both, but settled on the Ruger cause she could use .38 and .357 mag in it. The Taurus was a cheaper price. Not cheap, but cheaper.

Each person should buy what they LIKE and not what other people likes. I know a fella who has carried an old chrome Raven .25 and swears it's the best weapon he ever owned. He has the right to his opinion.

You do not have to send your Taurus out of country for service. They have service places in the usa, it would not be possible to send a gun out of country every time it needed to be fixed. I have shot my Taurus quite a bit and have had no problems. I even called them with a complaint about the way the gun did not have a second strike and they sent me an extra mag for free. The 238 may work for some, but first off its a SA and that does not work for me, and being left handed it is out of the running as the slide stop hits the index finger and holds open. It also was picky about what ammo it took. I sold mine and made a cool 50$ on it bought the Tarurs and have not looked back. The carrying case with the taurus also means that I don't have to worry about covering the gun, if my shirt gets pulled up it looks like a PDA case. I took the gun out and left it in the car and kept the case on and toured the Federal Reserve bank in Kansas City and they did not even raise and eyebrow when they saw the case. I think if I had on a Gun Holster it would have been a few questions.

 

[Ed Hamberger]

You do not have to send your Taurus out of country for service. They have service places in the usa, it would not be possible to send a gun out of country every time it needed to be fixed. I have shot my Taurus quite a bit and have had no problems. I even called them with a complaint about the way the gun did not have a second strike and they sent me an extra mag for free. The 238 may work for some, but first off its a SA and that does not work for me, and being left handed it is out of the running as the slide stop hits the index finger and holds open. It also was picky about what ammo it took. I sold mine and made a cool 50$ on it bought the Tarurs and have not looked back. The carrying case with the taurus also means that I don't have to worry about covering the gun, if my shirt gets pulled up it looks like a PDA case. I took the gun out and left it in the car and kept the case on and toured the Federal Reserve bank in Kansas City and they did not even raise and eyebrow when they saw the case. I think if I had on a Gun Holster it would have been a few questions.

Thank you! I was getting ready to pounce on this one when I read it, but you beat me to the punch... leasantry:

 

[Naybor]

Thanks ~ I stand corrected. I didn't know Taurus had customer service in this country.

Thanks again.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Thank you! I was getting ready to pounce on this one when I read it, but you beat me to the punch... leasantry:

But, but.... the guy behind the gun counter at a local gun shop said that's where the South American drug cartels get all their guns was that Taurus sells the guns returned to them in Brazil from Americans for repair. He said he read it in a report sponsored by Bloomberg based on UN research called for by Hilary Clinton. A police officer was there too and he said, "Yep, that's right!" A CCW instructor piped in too and said he wouldn't buy a Taurus either for fear it would end up in a drug dealer's hands in Mexico.

So, it's got to be true, right?!? A gun counter guy, LEO and CCW instructor all verified it!

 

[tommypotatoes]

Well, I bought an LCP a few weeks ago, intending to take it with me on an upcoming trip. The slide lock doesn't move, or is more difficult to move than I can manage, so I can't lock back the slide, but I don't consider that the most important thing in the world..

I've put about 150 rounds through it with no FTE, but it has balked a few times, when chambering the first round. Today I put 25 rounds of Corbon JHP through it, since I have been considering that as a defensive load. I must have had at least seven FTF problems with it, using that ammo. Forget that stuff, for now.

This has been my first crack at a DAO gun, and I can safely say that it will be my only one. The half mile of trigger travel, coupled with its miniscule size, makes accuracy a real challenge. However, in a close quarter situation, with FMJ ammo, I suppose that it's better than nothing. I'll be close to Prescott, so maybe I could drop in and have them take a look at it while I'm there.

That's just my two cents, anyway. After today's trip to the range, I'm leaning more towards packing my Charter Arms Bulldog...