Taurus Poly PT-22, and steel-frame PT-22
A couple years ago my Mom bought a Taurus PT-22 Poly pistol at Skunk River Arms near Sigourney, Iowa. It is a cute little pocket pistol that doesn't weigh twelve ounces. Dan, the proprietor, warned Mom at the time that she should run a brick through the little gun before she relied on it. We went back to Washington, she gathered up a pile of .22's, and we found that Dan was right. The Taurus had regular malfunctions 'till we got to 300, then it started running right.
My brother-in-law wanted a pistol that he could carry in his pocket without interfering in his busy work day, and he settled on a PT-22. The one he purchased is the steel frame version, and I told him to run rounds through it until it was broken in. I went with him to the range and stuffed magazines for him. It ran right from the very beginning. The only time it failed to work was when we had dud rounds from packs of bulk ammo.
Encouraged by his success, B-I-L purchased another PT-22, this one is the Poly version. He brought it down to the farm to break it in over the holidays. He ran into frustration; I saw deja-vu. This little gun couldn't go through an entire magazine without stove-piping or mis-feeding. We persisted. A little past 300 rounds, it began running right. The only ammo that causes trouble is Remington Golden Bullets, which don't feed well from a fully stacked magazine. It runs standard velocity, high speed rounds, and hyper velocity rounds without a hiccup now.
If you are thinking a PT-22, keep our experiences in mind. The poly version weighs 11.3 ounces; the steel version is about 1/2" longer and weighs an ounce more. The steel frame version seems to run better out of the box, but of course you should run a brick through either one before you decide to rely on it. If you get a dud round, you're going to be hurting in an emergency. The little slide is hard to rack, and this gun does not have an extractor. Duds have to be removed by tipping the barrel up, and coaxing the round out with the tip of a pocket knife or nail file.
Loading the PT-22 is easy. Insert the loaded mag, drop a .22 LR round into the chamber, and click it shut.
Clean the breech face, feed ramp, and chamber after every shooting session. A dirty chamber will cause malfs.
These are nice little guns. I used to have one and my only complaint was the trigger pull was a bit longer than I liked. I traded it to a neighbor with the promise that he sell it back once he tired of it. It went to auction instead.
ReplyDeleteSame guy sold me a Beretta 25 cal model 21A about a year later, so all's good. (Except ammo is much more expensive)
I wish him happy shooting.
The .25's are more reliable than .22's, and you never know when that will come in handy. Many people don't use the safety on Double Action Only pistols, but my Brother-In-Law uses his, and carries in a pocket holster. The safety is a good thing in my mind, especially after the tragic accident in the news yesterday of the young mother shot by her two-year-old child.
ReplyDeleteHey, I like your little tree in the profile pic! Happy New Year!
I like the external hammer on the Beretta over the Taurus which gives the edge to the Italians over the Brazilians. An accident with the 2yo is another argument for "lock them up laws".
ReplyDeleteThe tree pic is our red oak that we got from Lowes last year and planted for our 25th anniversary. It was 7ft when we planted it and it's at just under 9ft in October.
Hope you and yours have a happy new year as well.