JCN’s Taurus 380 Snubbie review

[JCN]

Fantastic thread JCN! Quick question regarding recoil, what would you compare the .380 to a 148 wadcutter or less, .32 Long or .32 mag. Appreciate your insight.

Dave

I actually don’t have much comparison in the way of those caliber and ammo choices.

The M380 is very lightweight, similar to the titanium / scandium J frames.

The recoil is very mild to the point where all the new women shooters still liked it.

Slightly more kick than a G42 or Micro 380 but less than an LCP.

Less kick than the 38 special I have shot from J frames.

I’ve been tempted to have my scandium J frame converted to 9mm but I think it might be nastier than I would like and I like the Ruger LCR9 for that anyway.

The Taurus fills a pretty good niche for me.

[TheNewbie]

@JCN

How does the trigger reach on the Taurus 380 compare to a J Frame?

Is the Taurus much, or any, smaller than a J frame?

Do you think there is much risk of the internal lock activating on it while shooting? Like the issue that *can* occur with S&W?

[JCN]

@JCN

How does the trigger reach on the Taurus 380 compare to a J Frame?

Is the Taurus much, or any, smaller than a J frame?

Do you think there is much risk of the internal lock activating on it while shooting? Like the issue that *can* occur with S&W?

I haven’t paid close attention but the trigger pull is similar to a J frame.

Dimensionally and weight wise it’s also almost identical to an MP340.

I might do the file and epoxy to add a better front sight, but it’s still decent enough to get A zones at 20+ yards.

Of note, it’s DAO and exposed bobbed hammer if that matters for pocket shooting people. I think I would rather have a fully shrouded / enclosed one.

A quick Google tells me that the lock mechanism hasn’t had documented issues of inadvertent activation.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...l-lock.752179/

[TheNewbie]

I haven’t paid close attention but the trigger pull is similar to a J frame.

Dimensionally and weight wise it’s also almost identical to an MP340.

I might do the file and epoxy to add a better front sight, but it’s still decent enough to get A zones at 20+ yards.

Of note, it’s DAO and exposed bobbed hammer if that matters for pocket shooting people. I think I would rather have a fully shrouded / enclosed one.

A quick Google tells me that the lock mechanism hasn’t had documented issues of inadvertent activation.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...l-lock.752179/

My research showed the same, but I thought you might have some personal insight. It’s definitely a neat gun for what it is.

[JCN]

My research showed the same, but I thought you might have some personal insight. It’s definitely a neat gun for what it is.

Okay I looked more.




I think it’s extremely unlikely that the lock could ever back out and jam the hammer as every strike of the hammer would act like an impact wrench and tighten the screw down in the unlock position. Also if it started to back out you’d notice the drag on the hammer while it still worked a little and that would probably serve to prevent it from backing out further. A very nice, simple solution. I would put a whiff of loctite on the screw threads if concerned.

Also for dimension, I updated my thoughts with direct comparison.



The cylinder is shorter so a same length barrel doesn’t protrude as much. The shorter cylinder might theoretically print less. The less protuberant barrel is easier to pocket.

The trigger reach is the same.



And. I think I put the hammer spring strut in backwards, lol.

[john c]

Clearanced a little and now will take all different bullet shapes.

Attachment 78866

I can polish it later if I care to.

How did you cut the metal to increase the clearance? Did you widen the throat from the chamber end? Or round the corner on the “shelf?”

Also, what is your throat diameter? How does that compare to the bore diameter? (If known). How uniform are your throats?

Outpost75 referred to this operation when prepping a gun to shoot lead bullets. Apparently sharp edges on the chamber/throat transition can shave bullets.


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[JCN]

How did you cut the metal to increase the clearance? Did you widen the throat from the chamber end? Or round the corner on the “shelf?”

Also, what is your throat diameter? How does that compare to the bore diameter? (If known). How uniform are your throats?

Outpost75 referred to this operation when prepping a gun to shoot lead bullets. Apparently sharp edges on the chamber/throat transition can shave bullets.


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The answers are decidedly shade tree mechanic and I’m not recommending that anyone do it the way I did it.

I felt it was appropriate for the quality of firearm and the purpose I would use it for.

These are all just subjective impressions:

With a taper nose bullet no issues with any chamber. Very good accuracy at 20-25 yards offhand likely limited by the sights.

With round nose bullets having wider bases, the chamber to throat transition was not uniform.

Two chambers would plunk fine but three would not.

I knew from the taper bullets that it couldn’t be far off, but I have more round 380 than the cost of the gun (purchased for $300 used but barely fired). So if it wouldn’t fire that, it wouldn’t really be useful.

So I figured it would only need a little shaving of the transition area. Like fractions of a millimeter.

I used a very narrow Dremel grinding stone at the lowest speed (from the chamber side with the cylinder off the gun) and just worked the lip of the transition on three chambers until they would plunk. I might polish the chambers later. We will see how sticky they are.

[JCN]

Ha. I think I took too much out of the throat transition.

I’m getting blow back now and that’s jamming the moon clips backwards and binding.

It was worth the learning and experimentation.

Going to send to back to the mothership (I’m paying of course) to get a new cylinder.

It’s worth it because I really like this gun and they seem to be unobtanium.

[john c]

On a serious note, consider reaming it out for 9x18 police. It’s a stretched out .380 case with 9mm makarov performance. You should still be able to use .380, the same as .38 in a .357. It will also solve your bullet fit issue.

If you can find some 9x18 police, it might be cheaper than 9x19 right now. Or you can hand load some for a little more punch. Pressures are the same as .380, but in a larger case.

The worst case is that’s it’s going back for repair, anyways.


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[JCN]

On a serious note, consider reaming it out for 9x18 police. It’s a stretched out .380 case with 9mm makarov performance. You should still be able to use .380, the same as .38 in a .357. It will also solve your bullet fit issue.

If you can find some 9x18 police, it might be cheaper than 9x19 right now. Or you can hand load some for a little more punch. Pressures are the same as .380, but in a larger case.

The worst case is that’s it’s going back for repair, anyways.


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I had that same thought!

I still have a lot of practice and SD Makarov ammo lying around from when I experimented with the G42 Makarov…

I got spooked thinking maybe the pressures were higher and looking at the thin chamber walls.

But I almost, almost sent the gun back without the cylinder so I could tinker with it.

Did I mention the chamber wall is really thin?

I just had mental images of my wife giving me a raised eyebrow after I blew apart a finger or two… “you thought shooting a larger caliber out of a Taurus 380 was a good idea why?!”

Hehe. I also literally had a reamer in my online Midway USA cart the other day.