Taurus TCP questions

My sister just turned 21, so her and I just went down to Scheels and she got her first handgun. She wanted her first to be one she can carry in a flash-bang holster(believe me, she can handle a .44), so she settled on a taurus tcp .380 acp.

When we got home, she loaded it and tried cycling a round through by hand, and it caught, wedged in the slide. It looks like the round is too long for the gun. The rounds are Hornady hollow points, and the box says .380 auto.
Are .380 auto and .380 acp the same thing?
Has anyone else had this problem?
Could it be that hallow points are longer than FMJs?

We never fired it yet, and quite frankly im a little worried about when we do.

380 auto and 380 acp same thing.

If it is not to long for the magazine it should fit.

Did she get slide racked back far enough for it to cycle properly.

Did she ride the slide forward doesn't take much to slow the slide down.

The one I shot worked well don't remember what ammo was used.

But the lady that owned it had a hard time operating the slide.

Those very small guns are nice to carry but can be hard to operate.

Take a dial calibers and measure the length if it is in specs I would say it could very well be operator error.

But some pistols well not function with all ammo.

I own 2 Taurus TCP .380's and both had to go through a "break in" period before they functioned the way that they should . Both of mine have done the same exact thing that you describe. After about about 100-200 rounds being fired through it you will noticed that everything is fine and loosened up. My first thought was the same as yours. "is the mag screwed up?", "is the ammo too long?", "is this gun junk?". But it is simply that the gun is not broken in yet. Run a few boxes through it and report back, please.

Thank you all very much for not only answering my questions, but giving me a bunch of good info regarding tcps.

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I got a TCP for the wife a few years back and it has a similar issue. The first round of the mag pretty much always catches. It seems like the feed ramp doesn't properly load the first round when you simply rack the slide unless you push the rear of the barrel down, but once firing the gun loads just fine. While I'm not a fan of the gun, I have put around 200-300 rounds through it and it still does this.

Aknazer said:

I got a TCP for the wife a few years back and it has a similar issue. The first round of the mag pretty much always catches. It seems like the feed ramp doesn't properly load the first round when you simply rack the slide unless you push the rear of the barrel down, but once firing the gun loads just fine. While I'm not a fan of the gun, I have put around 200-300 rounds through it and it still does this.

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The TCP's in 380acp are notorious for feed issues. The A&B models are most prone to misfeeds. The fix has been to return the firearms to Taurus & they machine the feed ramp to allow for better feeding. Taurusarmed.net is full of threads on this issue. Try using FMJ instead of hollow points as they will feed better & out of such a short barrel the expansion/penetration of a JHP in this caliber is reduced significantly. As a general rule any caliber that runs below 1000 fps it's usually better to go with FMJ's. Why? A JHP can't do it's job well if it only travels 3-5 inches in the body.

FreeInAZ said:

The TCP's in 380acp are notorious for feed issues. The A&B models are most prone to misfeeds. The fix has been to return the firearms to Taurus & they machine the feed ramp to allow for better feeding. Taurusarmed.net is full of threads on this issue. Try using FMJ instead of hollow points as they will feed better & out of such a short barrel the expansion/penetration of a JHP in this caliber is reduced significantly. As a general rule any caliber that runs below 1000 fps it's usually better to go with FMJ's. Why? A JHP can't do it's job well if it only travels 3-5 inches in the body.

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All of the rounds fired in the gun have been FMJ but I'll see about sending the gun off once I leave this state and have access to the gun again.

I assume it came with two mags. If so, try the other mag. My wifes was doing the same thing but with only one mag, the other worked fine. I called Taurus and they sent out another one to us. Problem solved. That's the only issue we've had other than getting used to the flea sized front sight.

Taurus makes a good quality gun. I have one Taurus revolvers and it is good reliable guns. I prefer a snub nose .357 mag. I know that a .357 may be intimidating but the nice thing about them is that you can also shoot .38 Special rounds in them.

I have found the Taurus firearms quality can be hit and miss they can make some good guns but once in a while some duds come out.

I own two Taurus revolvers one had to be sent back for issues works fine now. I picked up a brand new TI 41 mag and locked the action up by cocking it wouldn't do any thing locked up tight. Trigger wouldn't move hammer wouldn't drop.

It was sent back in that condition.

mustangkiller said:

I assume it came with two mags. If so, try the other mag. My wifes was doing the same thing but with only one mag, the other worked fine. I called Taurus and they sent out another one to us. Problem solved. That's the only issue we've had other than getting used to the flea sized front sight.

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It happens with both mags.

The odd thing is that the first time I went to the range with it this wasn't a problem. It wasn't until I took it apart and cleaned it that it started happening. I have taken it apart several times since then and still continue to have the problem.