When I saw the new Taurus TX22 T.O.R.O. drop I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I actually love my current TX22, and it’s my favorite .22 suppressor platform. On the other hand, the new T.O.R.O. has some great new features and might make me have to get another one!
I had a chance to work with the TX22 when they very first came out back in 2019. The TX22 is a product of the U.S. engineers at the Taurus plant in Bainbridge, Georgia. I had a chance to talk to them at SHOT the year they came out, and while I loved the look and feel of the pistol, I was still a little skeptical until I asked about if it was ammo picky, as many .22’s can be. They told me that one of their tests was that they sent someone to Walmart and bought everything on the shelf and made sure it ran with the cheapest, most common ammo out there, and then worked from there. I was sold. I lined one up for review right after the show and ended up buying my sample.
My TX22 proved accurate and reliable, and really does have great ergonomics. Which it should, they didn’t just draw it up in CAD, they employed kinesthetic specialists to design a grip that really fit a wide array of hands properly. I loved that it came with a threaded barrel adapter right out of the box, and the two included 16-round mags were a plus. I use mine with my Surefire Ryder suppressor pretty regularly and love that it still cycles with subsonic loads, which my other .22’s do not.
So, now that you know I’m a TX22 fanboy, let’s talk about what’s new with the T.O.R.O. The big thing is that the slide is optics ready. The base TX22 already has a MIL-STD-1913 accessory rail for lights or lasers, and a good set of iron sights, but no way to mount optics. That was an option on the competition model, and then the compact last year, and now it’s available on the full sized TX22 as well. Speaking of irons, Taurus updated those as well. The new ones have a white front dot and a a serrated rear.
The new model has what Taurus calls the Performance Trigger System (PTS), which they say will deliver a short, smooth repeatable pull. I don’t mind the old TX22 trigger at all, so I’d be curious to see how much better this one is.
The last change is slide lightening cuts to counter the added weight of the optic. That’s good to see because one of the things that most impressed on the first TX22 was its reliability, so it’s good to see they’re looking out for that with the updates.
Not really a change per se, but another nice update is that in addition to a 16-round magazine, you also get an extended 22-round magazine as well. I bought spare mags for my TX22 and got a couple of these adapters from Taurus for some when I did. They work great, and 22 rounds is a lot of shooting out of a .22 pistol!
MSRP on the Taurus TX22 T.O.R.O. is $363.99, which is already a great price compared to some competitors, and I imagine street prices will be a bit less.
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