About a month or so ago, I picked up an older Taurus PT-22 at a LGS. I don't know exactly how old it is, but it does not have the lock in the rear backstrap. I thought this gun might make a good learner for the wife, and a practice piece for me, as it's similar in feel to my Kel-Tec PF9.
I got to the range with it, along with two other .22LR pistols (Ruger Mk-II and Phoenix HP22A) and my two Kel-Tec carry guns.
Before trying out the PT-22, I decided to shoot the Ruger, which I have not spent serious time with in nearly two decades. I had a box of Winchester "bulk" ammo with me of indeterminate age, and the Ruger could not run it well. I remembered that happened the last time that Ruger (and pretty much any semi-auto gun I've had) tried that ammo, so I didn't use it with the Taurus. Instead, I broke out the CCI MiniMags.
I was very impressed with the Taurus. I shot it mostly from seven and fifteen yards, and ran about 140 rounds through it. I had no malfunctions whatsoever, and accuracy was within minute-of-closed fist at fifteen yards with offhand and one-handed fire. Recoil is non-existent; I was surprised that I felt less than even from the heavier Phoenix. The trigger has a smooth face, and I might have liked some texture to it more. I could actually feel the pressure on my finger pad getting sore after a while, but that might have been due in part to the session being interrupted by switching guns throughout, including the PF9.
Incidentally, I had overhead two of the guys at the LGS talking about having just gotten the gun back from Taurus, who "had just fixed it." They were trying to locate it in their system, and it hadn't been logged back in, but I didn't get a clear answer as to what had been "fixed." Whatever it was, was apparently done right.
I'm very happy with this gun. It's even more enjoyable to shoot than the HP22A, which I've always good-lipped about. The safety on it is my only beef, as it requires serious beef to engage/disengage. That's a common feeling among PT-22 owners but, being a DAO-fired pistol the safety is not really needed, and I will never use it. The tip-up breech is a good feature, as the slide is so thin it's hard to grasp it with enough purchase to pull it back against the gun's strong recoil spring.
I had one little scare in which I had just loaded the chamber and the trigger could not be pulled. It just came back a couple of millimeters, then locked up. Took a minute to figure out.. had not inserted the magazine. Duh, instant relief.
I shot my two Kel-Tecs also (PF9 and P32), putting fifty rounds of Remington-UMC 115-grain JHP through the former, and about 35 rounds of Fiocchi 73-grain FMJ through the little sister. No failures at all, except one with the 9, and it was by far the most remarkable jam I've ever seen. I actually saw it happen, and that's the only reason I believe it did. I was in a rapid-fire string and, as the gun's slide opened to eject a round, the case from the previous round, which had been catapulted straight up, fell into the port open end down! The slide partially fed the next round from the magazine, but stopped on the case, partly crimping its opening. I guess I'll never see that again! (I should have kept that case!)
All in all, a good indoor session, primarily dedicated to the rimfires. Not that long, maybe 300 rounds total of .22LR, plus the centerfire stuff, through pistols, and another 100 rounds of .22LR through my Tapco/Ruger 10/22, at the range's maximum of 25 yards. That's just fun stuff; with the scope on it, it's just too easy at that range. I did have a couple of failures to strip-and-feed with that rifle's Ruger BX-25 magazine, but I have determined that that was due to the magazine not being properly seated. The Tapco stock's magazine well isn't very generous with clearance.
So, that was my fun for the afternoon. Did I mention that I like the PT-22?
I got to the range with it, along with two other .22LR pistols (Ruger Mk-II and Phoenix HP22A) and my two Kel-Tec carry guns.
Before trying out the PT-22, I decided to shoot the Ruger, which I have not spent serious time with in nearly two decades. I had a box of Winchester "bulk" ammo with me of indeterminate age, and the Ruger could not run it well. I remembered that happened the last time that Ruger (and pretty much any semi-auto gun I've had) tried that ammo, so I didn't use it with the Taurus. Instead, I broke out the CCI MiniMags.
I was very impressed with the Taurus. I shot it mostly from seven and fifteen yards, and ran about 140 rounds through it. I had no malfunctions whatsoever, and accuracy was within minute-of-closed fist at fifteen yards with offhand and one-handed fire. Recoil is non-existent; I was surprised that I felt less than even from the heavier Phoenix. The trigger has a smooth face, and I might have liked some texture to it more. I could actually feel the pressure on my finger pad getting sore after a while, but that might have been due in part to the session being interrupted by switching guns throughout, including the PF9.
Incidentally, I had overhead two of the guys at the LGS talking about having just gotten the gun back from Taurus, who "had just fixed it." They were trying to locate it in their system, and it hadn't been logged back in, but I didn't get a clear answer as to what had been "fixed." Whatever it was, was apparently done right.
I'm very happy with this gun. It's even more enjoyable to shoot than the HP22A, which I've always good-lipped about. The safety on it is my only beef, as it requires serious beef to engage/disengage. That's a common feeling among PT-22 owners but, being a DAO-fired pistol the safety is not really needed, and I will never use it. The tip-up breech is a good feature, as the slide is so thin it's hard to grasp it with enough purchase to pull it back against the gun's strong recoil spring.
I had one little scare in which I had just loaded the chamber and the trigger could not be pulled. It just came back a couple of millimeters, then locked up. Took a minute to figure out.. had not inserted the magazine. Duh, instant relief.
I shot my two Kel-Tecs also (PF9 and P32), putting fifty rounds of Remington-UMC 115-grain JHP through the former, and about 35 rounds of Fiocchi 73-grain FMJ through the little sister. No failures at all, except one with the 9, and it was by far the most remarkable jam I've ever seen. I actually saw it happen, and that's the only reason I believe it did. I was in a rapid-fire string and, as the gun's slide opened to eject a round, the case from the previous round, which had been catapulted straight up, fell into the port open end down! The slide partially fed the next round from the magazine, but stopped on the case, partly crimping its opening. I guess I'll never see that again! (I should have kept that case!)
All in all, a good indoor session, primarily dedicated to the rimfires. Not that long, maybe 300 rounds total of .22LR, plus the centerfire stuff, through pistols, and another 100 rounds of .22LR through my Tapco/Ruger 10/22, at the range's maximum of 25 yards. That's just fun stuff; with the scope on it, it's just too easy at that range. I did have a couple of failures to strip-and-feed with that rifle's Ruger BX-25 magazine, but I have determined that that was due to the magazine not being properly seated. The Tapco stock's magazine well isn't very generous with clearance.
So, that was my fun for the afternoon. Did I mention that I like the PT-22?
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