Opinion Time: Taurus TCP vs. Ruger LCP


At the time of the post my quotes were right on. More votes have been added and the count is now 34-5 in favor of the LCP. You have a valid point when you mention that the Ruger has been around longer (people have had more opportunity to buy it) although that doesn't necessarily mean that, given more time, people will automatically like the TCP. Doesn't mean they won't either. Time will tell.

Over on Gunrating.com where people give their opinions of their firearms, the LCP had only a slightly higher average rating than the TCP, but higher none the less (and no, I'm not registered on that site so I've never posted a rating :biggrin:)

The one thing I don't like about the Ruger is that the slide doesn't stay open after the last round in the mag. That would be nice. I don't mind the long trigger pull. I got used to it pretty quick. Not having a safety makes the long pull an added security feature.

One thing I don't give a flyin' you-know-what about when it comes to my personal protection choices are what kind of throw-in peripherals the manufacturer offers. I'll never make an important decision like this based on whether one company is going to give me an extra mag or another company is going to give me a free holster. It's all about the gun and I don't mind having to shell out a few extra $ for an accessory or two if I'm getting what I believe to be the best gun for me.

So other what other people think really means something to you as long as it agrees with your opinion. How original. You are like every church in the world. LOL


The facts are that Ruger has had recalls on the LCP. The Taurus has had many owners that are very happy with the gun. The fact is that Taurus offers more for the buck than Ruger. The fact is that Taurus TCP has more features on the gun than Ruger does. The fact is the Taurus is a better buy when you look at the facts.
For every person who has had a problem with Taurus there is one who has had a problem with Ruger.

IMO Taurus customer service is much better than Ruger and I own several of each. The fact is I like my Ruger Vaquero .45 SS. I bought it over the Colt Cowboy for $ reasons. Its like buying a Jap inline 4 over a Harley. the Harley has more resale value but if your just going to shoot it the Rugers [at least when I bought it 15 years ago] has more bang for the buck. I love Colt and its history but if its just for shooting I have to go with what brings more for my $ and in the TCP vs LCP the Ruger looses big.

I would bet you have a brand of jeans, and a brand of car and a brand of breakfast cereal and they are just the best in the whole world scooter. LOL

As far as brand loyalty goes, the Sig people are very loyal and think the 238 is just the bestest gun in the world and the Colt people think its a cheap rip off of the Mustang. I owned both and sold both. I rid myself of the mustang over 20 years ago and never went back. I love my two 1911s one NRM in SS and the other a 1943 Colt from WW2. But the Mustang was not a good design and had to many flaws for me. I went to my SS Walther PPK and never looked back.
I purchased the Sig 238 several months ago. I bought it new and it was the HD all SS model. I took it to the range and it would not run all the rounds through it and was very picky about its ammo. This was the first draw back. Second it was a SA and that I knew out of the gate but gave it a try. Third I am left handed and the gun is so small that the recoil makes the slide lever go into place and lock the slide back with rounds in the mag. People love this gun and it has more of a devoted following than many other guns along with a high $ tag.

I sold the gun made 50$ on the sale and looked at both the TCP and LCP, handled them and shot them at the range that I am a member where they have many guns to try out before buying as they rent guns. The TCP and LCP handled well but the TCP felt better in my hand and the price and features and accessories were to much to pass up. Have not looked back. I have bought and sold many guns in the past 20 years. I have owned several Taurus guns and Rugers. I have had a few Rugers that were POS, I can not think of any Taurus guns that were just garbage. A few I did not like the way they felt in my hand but between my Beretta 92 and the Taurus 92 the Taurus felt better and was cheaper and I wish I had kept it instead of holding on to a name in the Beretta. LOL

I have since learned my lesson. I wanted a carry gun for the car and did not want to use my expensive 685$ Glock 19, and bought a Sigma S&W with all the rebates and give away I am into a SS Sigma that feels like a date in my hand on prom night for a whopping 275$ and 3 mags. A great car gun and with 16 rounds its a show stopper for the money.
 

The facts are that Ruger has had recalls on the LCP. The Taurus has had many owners that are very happy with the gun. The fact is that Taurus offers more for the buck than Ruger. The fact is that Taurus TCP has more features on the gun than Ruger does.

Well, you were doing great on the facts, right up until this next sentence...

For every person who has had a problem with Taurus there is one who has had a problem with Ruger.

Unless a detailed study is conducted, there is no way to know this. So people fall back on their personal experience and on empirical evidence. I've owned four Rugers and two Taurus firearms. Both Taurus firearms had FAILURES that were caused by factory defects. Being handy, I was able to Smith them back to working order. Each failure was a quality issue. Like many of the folks here, I make my decisions to purchase Rugers and avoid Taurus handguns based on personal experience.

Since we are only guessing at actual reliability, we can also refer to other polls. For what it's worth, the Glock Talk folks (yes, "Those who are all knowing") prefer Ruger over Taurus and LCP over TCP. Glock folks are generally people whose number one priority is reliability. Many people are Glock owners because of issues they have had with crap guns, including me.

Same thing at LightFighter. Those members are extensively operators, contractors, and military professionals who actually trust their weapons with their lives on a daily basis. Most won't touch Taurus.

Once burned, twice shy.
 
Try Googling "worst POS gun owned" or something along those lines. Interesting reading. It's a good gauge on customer satisfaction. I read a thread a while back (on AR15.com I think) that had hundreds of responses. Surprisingly there were quite a few Kimber owners who were less than pleased with their pistols.
 
As far as the 'brand-fanboy' thing which almost dominates this thread... not smart. Almost every manufacturer has made guns which are of faulty design or craftsmanship, and even among very well designed guns there will be occasional lemons.

Anecdotal evidence "my cousin had a blahblah, and it ate my cat" is of limited value. Everyone seems to feel that their own personal experiences are the ultimate last word on any given topic... in reality, the sum total of thousands of peoples' experiences actually does amount to something, but no single person's experiences really amount to anything particularly meaningful.

So, that said... I've owned several Rugers and several Taurus's.

I think the ruger mk 1/2/3 is the best .22 pistol ever made. And I think the 10/22 is the best .22 auto rifle ever made. Dad seems to really like his p95 as well. I don't hate rugers, why would I? Sure, my mini-14 was kinda a POS, but it was a relatively fun POS. I will say that I don't think that rugers have the best metalurgy, it has been my experience that they are more prone to rust than most other manufacturer's guns. In that regard they're sort of the opposite of smith & wesson. Normally, that's not even worth bringing up, because barring natural disasters it's pretty simple to keep guns rust-free. However, in a CCW role, depending on carry mode, body sweat could be a significant corrosion issue. Not all guns are made of the same metal stock, or even at the same location. But just based on my experiences, I would have 'minor' concerns about owning a ruger that would be in regular prolonged contact with sweat.

Taurus... I can remember thinking of them as some 3rd world company that made cheap knock-offs of real guns. Until I owned one anyway. They are "inexpensive" and many of their models are knock offs, but they're not 'cheaply made' at all. Or more accurately, the ones I have owned were not cheaply made. The best of the ones I have owned was my 608. My Taurus 608 was so impressive, that I kept it and sold my smith & wesson m27, and I am *certain* that I own the better gun. My 608 is by far the most accurate handgun I have ever fired (and with a 4" barrel no less). It's trigger is 'out of the box' on par with a performance center smith. I can hit cans with it at 100 yds, and at closer ranges, you can see on paper every minute detail of what you did right (or wrong) in your shooting, because the gun itself has just about zero shot placement variation. Fit & finish is first rate, mirror polished stainless, and it seems to be impervious to the elements. Possibly the best $400 I've spent on a gun.

Taurus's are not all as fantastic as my 608, but it's plain to me that taurus is quite capable of making a really good gun. (and exactly the same thing could be said of ruger)

I can remember when I bought my first glock, the g17, back when they were brand new and that was the only model of glock being made. For years I put up with comments about my 'plastic toy' pistol. In the end, given glock's current reputation, I feel somewhat vindicated. I no longer own my 17, I reluctantly sold it to a family member because I wanted to get a G34. I have also owned a Desert Eagle. That was a very impressive feeling gun. Most people thought it was 'very cool', and seemed to imagine it to be a real powerhouse and an example of brilliant engineering, and video game makers seem to imagine it's a valid military weapon. But I sold mine, because firing rimmed cartridges in an automatic is a fundamentally unreliable arrangement (the rimless .50AE might function better, never owned one). The point however, is that even when "a lot" of people trash talk a product (or applaud a product), it doesn't necessarily mean anything. It *could* mean something, but it could just as easily be a bunch of grandstanding nonsense.

In summary, either company is equally capable of making a great gun, or making a lemon. So honestly I would forget about the brand labels entirely and just focus on the TCP and LCP directly (and possibly the P3AT from kel tec, or in a higher tax bracket the the kahr p380 as well).

With such a small and light gun, firing ammo which was really designed for larger guns, durability is a huge issue. Which gun is more durable? I don't know the answer, and really, it's too early to tell anything about the durability of the TCP, nor all that much about the LCP either. The P3AT seems to have a mixed bag of durability, suggesting that it's not really a gun meant to be range fired regularly. That may end up being true of the LCP and TCP as well, time will tell.

Based on comments in this thread, it seems the TCP is somewhat more hollowpoint-friendly. Honestly, that's not a huge issue unless you're dead set on using a particular type of ammo. Myself I'd lean towards the powerball ammo anyway, so it's a non-issue for me. But if you want to use DPX ammo, i'm guessing you should stay away from the LCP.

Reliability? tricky in little guns like this. They require a firm hold to function properly. Basically because of their size & weight compared to the ammo they use, they're like miniature magnums. If you let them recoil freely in your hand, they won't cycle right. Because of this, it will be hard to gather good data about each model's actual reliability (if fired correctly).

accuracy... with a sight radius that short, who cares? Get a laser if you want to hit something at any kind of distance.

From what others have said, it seems like the TCP is a bit more friendly to larger hands. Considering that all guns which are so compact, tend to have poor ergonomics, I would imagine that even with small hands, the TCP would be more comfortable? I mean, I can't imagine it being "too big" for anyone's hand. But ergonomics are a very personal thing. Definitely go hold both at the dealer, and decide for yourself.

Ruger is 100% american (except for all the imported parts & such). Taurus is american manufactured & distributed, but brazilian owned. On the other hand, Taurus designed their own gun, while ruger 'blatantly' copied kel tec's P3AT. And yes Taurus makes a lot of 'copy' guns, but they pay royalties for them. Ruger really kinda pirated kel tec's stuff in this case. For myself, that puts the TCP in a more favorable light than the LCP, but it really depends on which facets of commerce you deem more important.

If money is not a major concern, then why not buy 'both', put 500 rnds through each, keep the one you like best, and sell the other one? Both guns are in pretty high demand. So you should be able to do very well on the used market value.

at any rate, the only one i have fired is the kel tec p3at. it's not particularly fun to shoot, recoil is unpleasant, accuracy is poor. But it seems to function reliably enough, at least with the ammo I've put through it. It did need an extractor replaced, kel tec is very generous and easy with customer service. It goes boom reliably, the laser points it in the right direction, that's all i ever expected out of it. If i was in the market to buy one now, between the LCP and TCP, I'd probably lean towards the TCP. Simply because it supposedly is not quite so tiny in the hand, and supposedly has a less lengthy trigger pull (overly long trigger pull is something which pulls my shots off with the p3at). I'm kinda eyeing the Kahr P380 though, some of them have had problems, but kahr seems very eager to fix problem guns for free, and the p380's which *do* work seem to be really nice.
 
Taurus TCP 380

I own a Taurus TCP. Let me save you guys 300 dollars. Don't buy one!!! The first problem I had was the slide does not always stay open on the last shot (a problem Taurus is fully aware of but they keep on selling them anyhow). After about 100 rounds, it started jambing alot. I have put about 500 rounds thru it now. It usually jambs on every other mag, give or take. I have tried everything - cleaning, oiling. Nothing helps. It is just a piece of crap. In my opinion, it is no good for a defense pistol....which makes it worthless. I guess I will try sending it back to Taurus next....maybe they can do something, but I have my doubts. I will probably never buy another Taurus product again. I have thought about buying the Ruger LCP, but I'm kind of scared of these little guns now. I would hate to throw away another 300 bucks. Maybe I can throw my Taurus at a bad guy and give him a really bad boo-boo. Ya think? :sarcastic:
 
I own a Taurus TCP. Let me save you guys 300 dollars. Don't buy one!!! The first problem I had was the slide does not always stay open on the last shot (a problem Taurus is fully aware of but they keep on selling them anyhow). After about 100 rounds, it started jambing alot. I have put about 500 rounds thru it now. It usually jambs on every other mag, give or take. I have tried everything - cleaning, oiling. Nothing helps. It is just a piece of crap. In my opinion, it is no good for a defense pistol....which makes it worthless. I guess I will try sending it back to Taurus next....maybe they can do something, but I have my doubts. I will probably never buy another Taurus product again. I have thought about buying the Ruger LCP, but I'm kind of scared of these little guns now. I would hate to throw away another 300 bucks. Maybe I can throw my Taurus at a bad guy and give him a really bad boo-boo. Ya think? :sarcastic:

If you don't like the TCP you ain't gong to like the LCP. These little guns are not as easy to use and take care of as the big Colts, or Berettas. If you have issues with your gun it could be the gun or the user, I have googled LCP + issues and there are as many people who have posts like yours about the TCP about the LCP. It has always been a fact that if you want no issues and almost a 100% problem free weapon get a revolver.
 
Never had a Taurus,did have a LCP that was replaced by a Sig P238. If you want a accurate,trouble free,fun to shoot 380. Save your pennys and get a Sig P238,we have two a Equinox for my bride and a SAS for me as a backup for a Ed Brown Kobra Carry. And get a good holster like a Milt Sparks.
 
Never had a Taurus,did have a LCP that was replaced by a Sig P238. If you want a accurate,trouble free,fun to shoot 380. Save your pennys and get a Sig P238,we have two a Equinox for my bride and a SAS for me as a backup for a Ed Brown Kobra Carry. And get a good holster like a Milt Sparks.

The general consensus of the pocket gun reviews/tests that I've seen is that the Sig is the best. Not surprising. I looked long and hard at the Sig but since I had shot the LCP before (and liked it) and had heard a lot of positive things about the LCP from actual owners, I couldn't justify spending twice as much $$$ on the Sig.

Now if Santa were to leave the 238 under my tree on Christmas eve....well let's just say I wouldn't be disappointed :no:
 
Send It Back

I own a Taurus TCP. Let me save you guys 300 dollars. Don't buy one!!! The first problem I had was the slide does not always stay open on the last shot (a problem Taurus is fully aware of but they keep on selling them anyhow). After about 100 rounds, it started jambing alot. I have put about 500 rounds thru it now. It usually jambs on every other mag, give or take. I have tried everything - cleaning, oiling. Nothing helps. It is just a piece of crap. In my opinion, it is no good for a defense pistol....which makes it worthless. I guess I will try sending it back to Taurus next....maybe they can do something, but I have my doubts. I will probably never buy another Taurus product again. I have thought about buying the Ruger LCP, but I'm kind of scared of these little guns now. I would hate to throw away another 300 bucks. Maybe I can throw my Taurus at a bad guy and give him a really bad boo-boo. Ya think? :sarcastic:

You've given up without trying, Colin. I had a slide catch problem with my TCP and Taurus repaired it in five business days. Call the CS number. They'll send you a mailing label within minutes. Print the label, put the gun in its original little white cardboard box, add both mags, and include a description of EVERY bitch that you have, real or imagined. Then, either take your little box to a FedEx office, or, when you talk with the CS rep, ask him or her to have FedEx pick it up at youir home of work. (The pick-up will be made by 10:00 a.m. the next morning. BTW, all of this is free.) You may save yourself $300. P.S. there were some mag problems that were rectified starting with Serial #60,000. If you have an earlier number, Taurus will automatically send you two new mags when they return your gun. Good luck!
 
Hey everyone....first post here "great site". Well I figure I will give my 2 cents worth on the comparison. I own/carry an LCP and I have yet to have any kind of malfunction whatsoever. This little gun is amazingly accurate for what it is, and I trust it with my life. The fit and finish is excellent...the feed ramp is nicely polished, the long trigger pull is smooth and consistent on mine, the takedown and cleaning is a snap, and my son also loves to shoot it. The Taurus products have come a long way "kinda like Harley" and they don't deserve the bad rep that they still seem to have. On the otherhand....I feel they are still inferior "somewhat" to some of the other manufacturers in terms or fit and finish and overall quality. There are too many sharp edges on the slides "and other parts" of several Taurus models, I racked the slide on a PT slim and cut my finger really bad, I couldn't believe it. I had a Taurus 357 stainless for years, and would buy another revolver from them in a heartbeat. Except for their Beretta clones "might be better than some Beretta's", I will more than likely not own any semi auto from them to carry. They are great guns for the money, and they will only get better with time. I have never had any issues with my Glock 19 "which I also at times carry", it doesn't care what I feed it and just goes bang every time. So far that has also been my experience with my other Rugers, and their customer service is very good.

I think they come out with too many models in a short period, but they need to perfect their lines over a longer period. Rushing models just to get them into our hands, usually doesn't play out too well in the end. Although I feel many OEM's do it much better and quicker than Taurus currently does.
 
My two cents..NO..not all Taurus models are bad. They've made SOME good products
BUT the TCP ain't one of them.
I may have to send mine back as trying to sell it on consignment at the gun shops is futile.
I can hardly get six shots in a row through this thing without a failure to feed or a failure to eject. I've tried various ammo, cleaning, oiling, reassembly, etc. etc. over and over...through much painful clearing of jams etc. I've somehow managed to get about 150 rounds through it! still as bad as it was from day one. I and others who have shot mine all agree that even when it does fire, it's very inconsistent and really hard to demonstrate ANY kind of accuracy.

I will try and return it to Taurus, and if they can actually fix it, I MAY one day buy another Taurus product..but based on this gun, which I believe should never have been put on the market, I will probably NEVER buy Taurus again.

I know this sounds harsh, but check around the web. The BAD reviews outweigh the Good big time.
 
When I purchased my LCP, I held the TCP as well as the kel-tec. The Ruger simply felt better in my hand. The fit and finish on the Kel-tec made it a no-go. Yes, an additional magazine and free holster would have been nice, but ill live.
As far as people criticizing the sights(or lack of) on the LCP, who needs them? Natural point of aim is all you need with such a short range weapon. I also don't see the NEED for a last round lockback. I've been trained to keep tabs on my ammo count, but its a good idea for everyone incase they find themselves in a bad situation.
I have about 500 rounds of cheap remington and winchester ammo from Walmart down the pipe so far with no failures.
 
Tcp

Just ran another 100 rds through it with no problems. That makes 1100 with the only problem a hand loaded very short flat hollow point that loaded about 70% of the time. The same bullets I loaded into a 9mm would not even load any of the time and I had to finish them up by hand loading them into a smith to rid myself of them. The little TCP is a great gun with no problems.

I have laughed at the people who pay 1000 or more for a Rohrbaugh and then the manufacture tells them to change the spring out every 200 rds. LMAO Really? Thats the kind of gun it is for that kind of money. LOL. Then they form for the littel POS says that it is designed to be carried a lot and shot little. WOW can they kick you any harder and take any more of your money?:laugh:
As P.T said theres one born every min. :sarcastic:
 
Just an update on the Brazilian hit squad that Taurus sent after me when I complained to their customer service:

The 30 of them showed up at my house last night. Fortunately they were all armed with Taurus products. In unison they all pulled their triggers. It sounded like I had a serious cricket problem, what with all the clicks I was hearing. You guessed it - all their weapons failed. I stepped forward armed only with my trusty LCP. With fear in their eyes and terror in their voices they screamed "Ruger!!!" and fled to the nearest police station to surrender.

The End.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :laugh::wink:

Your Nuts:sarcastic:
 
I own both of these guns - the Taurus in stainless and the Ruger in black. I shoot the Ruger better than the Taurus, but the Taurus comes with that neat carrying case by Bulldog. I like the Ruger over the Taurus.:biggrin:
 
Just put another 250 rounds through the taurus and then miked it with no wear after over 1k rounds. Not a hickup in the feeding or ejecting. For me a blued gun is a waste of money. Stainless is the only way to fly.
 
The general consensus of the pocket gun reviews/tests that I've seen is that the Sig is the best. Not surprising. I looked long and hard at the Sig but since I had shot the LCP before (and liked it) and had heard a lot of positive things about the LCP from actual owners, I couldn't justify spending twice as much $$$ on the Sig.

Now if Santa were to leave the 238 under my tree on Christmas eve....well let's just say I wouldn't be disappointed :no:

Not exactly true.

Gun Tests compared nine pocket 380's a few months ago including; Sig, Kahr, Kel-tec, Taurus, Rohrbaugh and four others that escapes my "old-guy" memory. But, the results were that the Taurus out performed ALL other "pocket" 380's except the Rohrbaugh. But, at $1000+ dollars the Rohrbaugh is a very steep price for most shooters.
(I think the Sig came in third.)

As an RSO and trigger coach, I am familiar with most SD 380s that come through our CWP classes. I have had "range" time with a whole bunch of them.

Over the past few years, I have seen only one small "pocket" 380 that has given people "consistent" ftf issues. (The "Ruger" LCP)

My wife and I have seen so many problems with the LCP come through the training classes in which we participate, we can no longer recommend them as a good choice for PCW. (Especially, for new shooters!)

I really liked these little guns; at first. But, I don't trust them to perform past a shot or two. (BTW; I have NEVER seen "any" performance issues with a Taurus that was NOT directly related to "shooter" error.)

A Sig P238 is the BEST "pocket" performer I've personally experienced over the last few years. It looks GREAT! But it still cost quite a lot for a BUG.

I really like the Taurus as well. But, hands down the ABSOLUTE BEST performing 380acp I've ever experienced in my 40+ years of shooting handguns, is the BERSA. (Though, the Bersa is NOT a true "pocket" pistol.)

That's my o2c; and I know no one asked for it. IMHO; it really does boil down to personal "choice" based compromises that must be made.

For the sake of full discloser:
I admit that my PCW is a 24/7 ProC 45acp; a "Taurus" handgun.
 

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