Taurus PT-22 any good? (which small .22 is good?)

[Para Bellum]

A young colleague has her job-related ccw permit now. She only thinks of personal defense in close combat and wants the smallest sensible gun. Please do not make this a service-caliber thread. So we found the Taurus PT-22 and she likes it.

- Is the PT-22 any good? Any experience?
- Which other gun of so little size would you recommend?

Here's the PT-22:

Don't ask me, I carry Glock 26 and 19 to shoot my way trough to the next rifle or shotgun. But still, I see her point. Loaded with CCI Stingers the .22lr is a nasty cartridge. If you hit the triangle between eyes and mouth or the heart, the .22lr does the job as well as anything else. Penetration is good enough. Before you start discussing that, google for the Trooper Coates video an see the sad truth.

 

[lee n. field]

Is the PT-22 any good? Any experience?

Keep looking. It's decently enough made, in the sense that stuff's not going to break in normal use (unlike, say, a jennings/bryco/jimenez/whatever-they-call-them-this-year).

My brother has one, I had custody of it for a number of years. Not reliable enough.

The PT-22 has no ejector or extractor. It counts on combustion gasses to push the empty out. There are also feed issues.

 

[Para Bellum]

The PT-22 has no ejector or extractor. It counts on combustion gasses to push the empty out. There are also feed issues.

Ouch. Thanks for the info.

 

[lee n. field]

He's got a particular type of .22LR ammo that he says is reliable, if the gun is kept clean.

I still don't think it's reliable enough, but if I could pick one up cheap to tinker with I would.

Note that Taurus is redesigning the PT-22 into a plastic frame gun. Doesn't look externally much different, and Taurus is a company that often announces vaporware guns that never get to market.

the smallest sensible gun.

Plenty of good stuff, as long as you're cognizant of the limitations you're imposing. I'd be looking at a Ruger LCR or the Kel-Tec it was copied from. Or one of the KelTec 9mms, not a whole lot larger. Or you can do what I did, which is get a .38 snub.

Why a .22?

 

[6x6pinz]

I have one of the PT-22's and don't use it much. Too bulky, not very accurate, even at close range and not reliable enough to even make a fun range gun. I have ran a bunch of different ammo through it trying to get it to work but to no avail. I also don't care for the amount of sparks and debri it puts out of its super short barrel.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

The Taurus is a blowback action, so it doesn't need an extractor.
I would recommend the Keltec P32 for your friend. It's smaller and lighter than the Taurus, and has a much more reliable and effective cartridge.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

I would also recommend the P32. However, I have a Taurus PT-22, which was bought for my wife , who couldn't draw a slide on any gun. Figuring the tip-up barrel was simply her cup of tea, I bought it fairly cheap. Alas, she couldn't even work this one and it was carried by me for a while as a pocket gun. Some, like mine, are perfectly reliable; it eats a steady diet of the round Taurus regards as unreliable, due to it's truncated cone design, the Remington Yellow Jacket. I wanted something with crust, since the .22 is not considered an ultimate stopper. The Yellow-Js have NEVER made that gun hiccup, and I've shot probably over a thousand. It is relegated to "fun gun" status now that I have a P32 for BUG, but I must confess that I like it too much to ever sell it.

 

[a7mmnut]

IMO, the PT22 is still better than that POS Beretta Bobcat I had. Try some of the CCI Velocitor 40 gr. stuff for more potency.


-7-

 

[B.N.Real]

I had the 22 LR Beretta version of this gun.

Reference ---had.

I won't miss that one.

 

[Elvishead]

a7mmnut:

IMO, the PT22 is still better than that POS Beretta Bobcat I had. Try some of the CCI Velocitor 40 gr. stuff for more potency.

B.N.Real

I had the 22 LR Beretta version of this gun.

Reference ---had.

I won't miss that one.

I Just bought a new one (Beretta 21A Bobcat 22LR) about 6 months ago, it does like to jam from time to time, but it is a good warm up target gun for me. I don't mind because I don't put my life on the line with it.

TBS, I'm hoping to tweak it to work better someday, and maybe then I would carry it, because it seems to be a nice gun.

One thing I noticed is, if you pull hard on the trigger, and not squeeze the trigger, it has not jammed yet. So when I rapid fire (8 shots in about 2-3 seconds), it has never jammed yet, but I've only done that a few (6 or more) times, because all of a sudden every ya'hoo at the range starts to rapid fire there big guns and shooting the T-bars, ceilings and what ever.

I can't speak for the PT-22, but Beretta has a better reputation overall.

I wish I could recommend the Bobcat, but I can't as of yet, because I think they can be hit or miss, but so can Taurus's.

 

[mrt949]

Have a 21a ..clean it and use high velosity ammo it will work . CHAMBER MUST BE CLEAN.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

I have had 2 Beretta 21s that would not reliably fire D/A. Single action was fine.

 

[fast-eddie]

PT22

I have one, it's a decent little mouse gun. The only rounds it feeds consistently are mini mags or Winchester super X, which I can't find . It's equal in size to the Kel tech .32.

The woman that shot my PT-22 have really liked the tip up barrel, my 12 year old niece was shooting it no problem.I have heard that the Beretta cheetah in .380 is a tip up as well, never delt with one but I'm sure someone here has.

 

[HenryTheNoodle]

I had a similar conversation with a local dealer and he felt strongly about the Walther P22. It comes in a 3.4" that's pretty manageable.

 

[Crosshair]

They work with the right ammo but they MUST BE CLEAN. Without an extractor, if the case sticks in the chamber during the extraction process, the slide will continue without the case and you get a failure to extract jam. With an extractor the slide could use it's inertia to yank the case out.

They are fun, but I would get a mini-revolver for PD.

 

[Para Bellum]

Why a .22?

Why a .22?

She wants a .22lr. I'd advocate for teh Glock 26, but...

One thing I can say for the .22lr: I'd trust it more than the .25 ACP etc. The 5,6mm .22lr will penetrate a skull each time. Thin enough for the little energy these cartridges have out of a pistol...

I'll check the P32, thanks!