Taurus has really improved their quality and lineup over the last few years, and with the TX22 T.O.R.O., they’ve firmly planted their flag in the competition rimfire space. It’s the inexpensive .22LR semi-auto pistol that I can’t put down.
There are no fewer than 17 different versions of this gun available from Taurus. You want a longer barrel? They have that. A flush-fit barrel? Of course. Suppressed or comped? They have those, too. Ambidextrous safety or no? They’ve got both. Green, black, or tan frame? Sure, why not. There are three different sight platforms to choose from. With so many options, custom comes from the factory.
The optics package I chose was the simpler of the two Taurus Optics Ready Options (T.O.R.O.) configurations. This TX22 sports the common Shield RMSC optic footprint, so finding an red dot to fit is no problem. If you should choose something that doesn’t fit RMSC, there are adapter plates available. I borrowed a Holoson SCS Carry-GR to try out on this gun for the review. It installed easily and performed flawlessly.
At this price — about $299 retail — I wasn’t expecting much from the trigger of a polymer .22LR semi-auto. I was mistaken. Using a Lyman digital trigger scale, the average of five pulls measured 4lb 1.8oz. There were two ounces of difference in the extreme spread of those five rounds. The reset is solid with a little bit of squish and travel. It’s not as good as the Volquartsen Black Mamba, but that’s the only rimfire auto-loader I’ve got that’s significantly better, and the Volquartsen is a wee bit more expensive.
A suppressed semi-auto is about the only way to make .22LR expensive, and that’s only because of the joy of shooting and the sheer amount of ammunition expended. The TX22 T.O.R.O. doesn’t help here at all. The flush fit magazine holds 16 rounds. The included extended magazine holds 22. Even so, I found they emptied in no time because the gun is just that much fun to shoot.
Recoil is, of course, extremely light. With the suppressor attached and subsonic rounds used, the reciprocating slide is the only thing that might tell you the gun has fired. Fired in this manner, the loudest sound is the round striking the target.
I only shot this gun with a naked barrel to test accuracy, a total of 60 rounds. For every bit of the rest of the review, as well as my time hunting with it — well over 500 rounds now — the gun was shot suppressed with an Underground Tactical Little Puff suppressor. I never cleaned the gun for the review until it was time for photos, and other than a liberal application of CLP upon initial firing, I never lubed it again either.
I have yet to experience any reliability issues with this gun whatsoever. It never failed to fire, load, lock back on an empty magazine, seat a mag, anything. I should also note that I got the gun after another writer had done a video review of it, and it wasn’t cleaned when I got it. The gun just runs and runs and runs.
As much fun as the TX22 was to shoot, I have other fun .22s. Heck, I love a suppressed rimfire and shoot one almost every day, but it was on the bench that I was really sold on this little inexpensive pistol.
Using the Holosun optic and CCI’s Standard Velocity ammunition, one-inch 25 yard five-round groups, or better, were the norm. The same went for CCI’s Quiet 22 ammunition, and any other halfway decent ammo I put through it. The same applied when I took the optic off and used the factory irons, as well as when I compared suppressed vs. unsupressed.
So many different rounds fired, through two different sighting systems, all with a similar group size means this shooter simply can’t hold steady enough to do any better. This gun is outshooting me, admittedly not a particularly challenging feat these days. All groups were shot at 25 yards, untimed, off bags.
As well as the TX22 shot, I bestowed upon it the ultimate honor of replacing my Ruger Mark IV 22/45 on a recent Idaho black bear hunt. I like to stay up in the mountains during these hunts and a suppressed rimfire pistol is tops for taking grouse for campfire meals, as well as hunting for rock chucks when things get slow. The little pistol performed perfectly for that task. I ate well and ended up soft mounting a fine fat chuck.
Even better, Cole-Tac, one of my absolute favorite soft-goods manufacturers, now makes their “Varmint Wrangler” holster, a rig specifically designed to carry a suppressed rimfire semi-auto. I wore that thing in comfort for a week in mountains. As with anything from Cole-Tac, it was darn near perfect.
The Taurus TX22 T.O.R.O. is an outstanding value, well above the quality of similarly priced options on the market. It’s accurate, reliable, feature packed, and just an absolute ball to shoot.
Specifications: Taurus TX 22 T.O.R.O.
Caliber: .22 LR
Capacity: 16+1, flush, 22+1 extended, both included
Front Sight: Fixed (white dot)
Rear Sight: Drift Adjustable
Action: SAO
Safety: Manual Safety, Striker Block, Trigger Safety
Overall Height: 5.44 In.
Overall Width: 1.25 In.
Twist: 1:10 RH
Barrel Length: 4.60 in. (threaded)
Overall length: 7.60 in.
Overall Weight: 17.30 oz. (unloaded)
MSRP: $389.99
Okay, I am going to buy one of these. I love the idea of a threaded barrel with a rimfire suppressor for recreational target shooting as well as small game hunting (especially squirrels, rabbits, and woodchucks).
Now I just need to find a local gun store that has them.
Oh, important question: do you just screw on a rimfire suppressor directly onto the barrel of this pistol? Or do you need the Nielsen device (or whatever it is called) that you typically need on centerfire semi-auto pistols chambered in 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, etc. with tilting barrels?
I ordered mine from KY Gun Shop when my local store was unable to find this version. I went with the included Viridian green dot. Cost a little extra due to the transfer fee, but worth it, imho. The first thing I noticed when I was “looking” is how well it fit my hand. The second thing, after receiving it, is that nailing shotgun shells @ 15-20 yards is so much fun! It is VERY accurate!
Other than the front sight being loose (and good luck figuring out how to tighten with the weird setup they use), I’ve had zero issues… well, other than one ftf out of several hundred rounds (CCI and Federal), but otherwise I really like this pistol.
Direct thread.
Got it. Thank you. That sealed the deal!
I have had mine for about 4 months. About the max fun you can have shooting a pistol. At 81, my hands are not the steadiest, so I added a laser to compensate a bit, and my wife loves that. A slide ring and a Tandemkross compensator, and it is easy to go through 100- 200 rounds. If you use any aftermarket mags, some don’t have the right bullet angle and can cause jamming. Just remove the cross pin on the follower.