Tag Archives: $500 competition 22

The Best sub-$500 .22LR Pistol on the Market?

Taurus introduced the TX22 two years ago and it kinda suprised a lot of folks.

A full-sized striker-fired gun with a polymer frame, the gun used the Taurus Pittman Trigger System (PTS). It shipped with an adjustable rear sight, had an ergonomic grip and Mil-Std 1913 accessory rail, used 16-round mags, and retailed for cheap. Like sub-$350 cheap with three mags and a threaded barrel. What’s not to like?

Now, taking feedback both from the public and the company’s own cadre of professional shooters, the TX 22 Competition brings a lot of great upgrades to the platform. What stays the same is the basic layout and construction: a polymer-framed striker-fired handgun with a high-grade aluminum slide and alloy steel barrel. The gun uses the same surface controls, and thus is the same width – 1.25 inches at the widest point.

What is new is a longer, competition-grade 5.25-inch bull barrel with an improved slide, as well as an optics mounting system that accommodates the most popular pistol MRDs. The price difference is about $135 more, or $485.

I’ve been kicking one around for a month.

More in my column ay Guns.com.

Lot of Bang for the Buck

Two years ago, Taurus delivered the TX 22 pistol to the market, and, by and large, everyone that held their nose long enough to shoot it absolutely loved it. The gun proved super reliable, well thought out, and feature-rich– especially for the money. Pistols like it and last year’s G3C have really changed people’s minds on Taurus.

Well, the company now has a more aristocratic installment of the same model, just announced today, the TX 22 Competition.

The TX 22 Comp has a distinctive skeletonized slide similar to a Beretta 92/Taurus PT92 with a cutout between the ejection port to just behind the front sight. The pistol runs a 5-inch match-grade bull barrel that is threaded for suppressors and muzzle devices such as compensators. The trigger has been updated for better performance. Best yet, the slide has an optics cut and is ready right out of the box to accommodate a range of popular red dots, all for under $500.

More in my column at Guns.com.