Tag Archives: caleb giddings

Calling Mr. Roscoe

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One interesting new (well, rebooted) gun design that I am looking forward to testing this summer is the Heritage Roscoe.

A salute to the old-school pocket revolvers from the days of Mike Hammer and Philip Marlowe, the cigar-box-worthy .38SPL +P Roscoe looks right out of the mid-20th Century, clad in a deep glossy finish, classic round butt wood grips, fixed sights, and a 5-shot cylinder. Plus, it is available in both 2- and 3-inch models.

Best yet, it has an ask of $350, which should translate to $299-ish at retail.

Heritage, the Taurus subsidiary best known for its affordable single-action rimfire pistols and carbines, has launched the Roscoe line. This comes almost a decade after Taurus sunset its popular Model 85 5-shot small-frame revolver line– upgrading it to the larger 6-shot Model 856– and recalls the company’s history during the old Bangor Punta days (1962-72ish) when it was a sister to S&W and they shared tech.

More in my column at Guns.com.

A Pound of Prevention

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On Monday, Taurus made the announcement they had a new, smaller version of the well-liked TX22 rimfire semi-auto pistol ready for the market.

The 16-ounce palm-sized TX22 Compact follows in the footsteps of the standard and competition models of the pistol with a flush-fitting 13+1 round magazine (10 rounds in restricted states) as well as an optic-ready cut that is compatible with the slimline Holosun K footprint. The sights are the same standard Glock pattern as used on the Taurus G3 and GX4 series.

At roughly the size of a Ruger LCP and with a 13+1 capacity of 22LR and zero recoil, the TX22 Compact could make a good “boat” or camp plinker and, paired with a good load such as Federal’s Punch rimfire, some will undoubtedly use it for personal protection.

I got a sneak peek of the TX22 Compact late last year while visiting Taurus’s new facility in Bainbridge, Georgia, and was impressed with it.

A well-tested prototype gun is seen here. Taurus did a ton of R&D here in the States on the gun and, in my hands, was a reliable plinker and flat shooter. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Looking forward to getting one of these in for testing, for sure.