Taurus Spectrum

[ThomasT]

I started the other thread of mine asking about the LCP and LCP II and I completely forgot about the Taurus Spectrum. Does anyone have any experience with them? I have read both good and bad about them on the net but would like to hear what actual owners of them have to say.

Two things in their favor is that the price is around a hundred bucks less than the Rugers and they come with two magazines which is a big plus to me. The down side is that if you have a problem with them you have to deal with the Taurus customer service which is not always reported to be that good.

Any input about them is appreciated.

 

[MAKster]

They are a true double action. Every trigger pull starts with the striker at rest unlike the LCP and Kel-tec which are pre-cocked. So that means a much heavier trigger pull than most people want. When they first came out there were light primer strike complaints but I don't know if that was ever fixed.

 

[Racinfan83]

Well, I have no experience with the Spectrum. But if it's anything like the TCP - beware... I bought one of those new, shot 100 rds thru it, and not one magazine full made it without a failure. Either jammed, dropped the mag, or both. My wife and I are experienced shooters, it did it with both of us so it wasn't the shooting technique. I expected maybe one or 2 failures with a brand new gun - but this was probably 30 over 100rds. 2 different types ammo. Worst experience with a gun in my close to 50 yrs of shooting. I got rid of that p.o.s. asap.
So anything Taurus is banned from my house from then on if that helps....

 

[CajunBass]

I bought a used Spectrum and it was the only true "jam-O-matic" I've ever owned. That thing would jam up once or twice a magazine. Now...they were all with the same type ammo...FMJ...but the same type/box really, so it very well could have been ammo related, but it was enough for me to send the gun on down the road. It was during the worst of the ammo shortage and 380 was hard to get and expensive when you could, so I wasn't going to waste time and money on it.

It was a good feeling little gun I gotta say. I really wanted to like it.

 

[MrShooter]

I've had one for a couple years and maybe 400 rounds. I've never had a problem, but the first round I'm always amazed at the length of the trigger pull. It does fit nicely in a pocket sticky holster.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I have one as a backup. It is fine for that purpose. I probably have a couple hundred rounds thru it. It hasn't actually jammed, but sometimes it is a little sticky chambering the first round of a mag full of target wad cutters.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I carry mine all the time. Very easy to CC. I Shoot a mag or 2 everytime i go to the range. Im getting to be a good shot with the little gun. Only issue i had with it. When i 1st got it. It worked great. Then it had a period where it would not feed the second round. After about 10 mags through it. That stopped. I run cast and jacketed through it. It's my little buddy lol. I have other .380'S too. I just like it the best for CC.

 

[mingo]

I've owned one for a couple years and have no problems with it. It is a great pocket gn for sure. Mine runs flawless with Federal 90 grain JHP. When the gun was brand new, I had one fail to feed with FMJ ammo. Never a problem with JHP. I carry with a Uncle Mike's pocket holster.

 

[lee n. field]

I started the other thread of mine asking about the LCP and LCP II and I completely forgot about the Taurus Spectrum. Does anyone have any experience with them? I have read both good and bad about them on the net but would like to hear what actual owners of them have to say.

I've honestly not heard much good about them. Any.

Two things in their favor is that the price is around a hundred bucks less than the Rugers and they come with two magazines which is a big plus to me. The down side is that if you have a problem with them you have to deal with the Taurus customer service which is not always reported to be that good.

Any input about them is appreciated.

 

[Hugger-4641]

They are what they are: a budget CCW that functions reliably, but not gonna hold up to rigorous range duty and 10 thousand rounds like a Glock.

 

[MedWheeler]

They came with a little bit of fanfare to replace the PT738 (TCP), but then seem to have kind of faded away. I guess Taurus was working more on their well-received G2C and G3C lines.

It's predecessor, the TCP, was known as a decent shooter in that crowd, but unreliable the first year or so. They had serial numbers that moved up letters in the alphabet; anything with a "C" or later in the SN is considered beyond the trouble-years and should be good. My "F" series (likely the last run before the Spectrum came out) runs like a top. I picked it up in 2016 while entertaining the Spectrum because I liked the price for which I found it used.

I've since decided I never had much use for it, since I had already owned for several years a Kel-Tec P32 and now also have a Ruger LCP-MAX.

I don't remember seeing any example of the Spectrum in a store in the last few years. It's a model I had almost forgotten about.

 

[Hugger-4641]

They're still on some LGS shelves around here. Rural King had a twin to mine recently. I almost bought it, changed my mind as I realized I already have a Diamond Back, and an LCP, in addition to the Spectrum. My round count will be low on them since spread among the three. Spent the money on a Rossi Rs22 for SIL instead.

 

[WisBorn]

Just to touch on the warranty of Taurus.

I have had to send three firearms back to the manufacturer for warranty work.
Taurus
Remington
Smith and Wesson

The Taurus had the fastest turnaround and easiest process. Remington was the slowest. Smith was ok.

 

[jstert]

a few years ago i got an odd color combination, new, taurus spectrum for just $125 delivered to my ffl. im a revolver guy (with a couple of well-liked taurus 85) but i couldn’t pass up this low price. i added a couple more oem mags for $10 each from a private seller and a hogue hand-all grip. it worked great, all i shoot is ball ammo, but fieldstripping was a bear. galloway then came out with a captured spring guide rod. i installed it and the spectrum had a few ftf the next time out. no problems after i returned the oem separate guide spring and rod (not my first difficulty with galloway parts). bottom line: feels great in the hand, not alot of recoil, only spend under $200 for one, early models had ejector issues, wear thin gloves to wrangle the oem guide spring when fieldstripping. the spectrum may become a pocket edc after i get more 380acp ammo to put another 200ish rounds through it to trust it fully.

 

[Snowdog]

I have a white and cyan Spectrum that has yet to fail me. I bought it for my wife who wasn't the biggest fan of the size (too small, believe it or not). Her carry is a M&P EZ 380 that she enjoys more due to the larger size and ease of racking the slide.

The Taurus Spectrum, from my experience, it going to be hard to beat for the price.

My Taurus Spectrum with my robin egg blue powder coat reloads

 

[cnj]

I was an early adopter. My Spectrum was nothing but trouble. Jammed often and was plagued by the light strike issue they are well known for. It was only marginally better after a trip back to the mothership. The ergos were fantastic, though. I would buy another if a redesign were done on the gun, but as far as I know, Taurus has never admitted to the design flaws nor fixed the issues that many of these have. I would take a hard "pass".

 

[bumbazine]

The one I have had light strikes to begin with. Turned out to be manufacturing debris in the striker channel.