Taurus USA 22TUC

The compact Taurus USA 22TUC is 5.12″ long from muzzle to beavertail, 4.35″ tall from pinky-rest to rear sight and 1.04″ at its thickest point across the removable grip panels. It weighs 11.5 oz. with a full nine-round magazine and one round in the chamber, and is easily carried in a pants or coat pocket.

Manual of Arms

It’s a tip-up barrel, hammer-fired, double-action-only (DAO), simple blowback. Like most small blowback operated autoloaders, it has no extractor, and the recoil spring is heavy to the point that some shooters with limited hand or arm strength will have difficulty racking it, though the tip-up barrel feature mitigates this challenge in many, but not all, circumstances. The tip-up barrel allows for loading and unloading the chamber without racking the slide at all.

The downside of a pistol with a tip-up barrel and no extractor is that it takes longer to get the pistol back in action after a jam or dud round. Without an extractor, the conventional tap & rack drill won’t clear the chamber. I discovered that opening the 22TUC’s spring-loaded tip-up barrel threw the chambered cartridge right out if it was unfired or struck in only one spot by the firing pin. When the round had multiple firing pin strikes around the rim, it wouldn’t flip out, and I used my fingernail to extract it. I expect a very dirty chamber could also interfere with tip-up ejection. Duds are more common with rimfire ammo than centerfire, so you need to give some thought to your immediate action plan in the event the pistol doesn’t go BANG when the trigger is pulled.

One way to address a misfire in a crisis situation is to immediately pull the trigger again and deliver another firing pin blow to the cartridge rim. Half of the misfires I had fired with just a second pull of the trigger. I had four misfires in 120 rounds of Winchester M22, 40-grain, black copper plated, round nose bullets: two fired with a second strike, and two were total duds refusing to fire even with three strikes at various spots on the rim. In the event the cartridge doesn’t fire on the second pull of the trigger, immediately clear the chamber by pushing the barrel release forward while whipping the pistol forward and down to add some extra inertia to help the dud cartridge fly clear the chamber. Once the chamber is clear, press the barrel closed and rack the side to chamber another round and resume the battle.

Range Performance

Testing the 22TUC from a bench rest at seven yards with several brands of high-velocity ammo shows it is capable of five-shot groups averaging from 1.57″ to 2.47″. The groups were centered about 2″ above the point of aim at that range and slightly left. A standing, two-hand hold increased group size to 2.75″ to 3.5″ when I took my time. In rapid-fire testing with the Winchester M22, the groups opened up to 5″ on average when I went as fast as I could line up the sights, and twice that size point shooting.

To really test the practical capabilities of the 22TUC, I shot it at 25 yards, again using the Winchester M22 load. I shot with the pistol rested on the bench first, firing three strings of five rounds. Excluding two wild shots that were likely my fault, the average groups were 7.9″, with the aggregate 13-shot group measuring 9.9″ tall and 4.5″ wide.

Switching to a standing, two-hand hold position, I fired 10 five-shot groups, which averaged 10.65″, though in three cases, I couldn’t locate one of the five shots fired with certainty, and there were five outliers that were my fault. That 50-shot aggregate group measured 20″ tall and 12″ wide. When the five outliers were excluded, it shrank down to 17″ tall and 9″ wide. Elevation of the groups was centered vertically, but the point of impact shifted 6″ to the left. I was surprised at how much the groups opened up, especially the vertical stringing. To make sure I hadn’t forgotten how to shoot a double-action, I got out my DAO S&W 640 snubnose and shot three 5-shot strings using .38 Special. To my relief, the average five-shot groups were 6.25″, and the aggregate 15-shot group measured only 8.5″ tall and 6.25″ wide.

I did a second test with the 22TUC at 25 yards, shooting three 5-shot groups as I had with the snubnose revolver. The average group was 10.72″, and the aggregate group was 16.75″ tall and 11.75″ wide, similar to the first test.

At seven yards, the 22TUC does great, but don’t expect hostage rescue, headshot, accuracy at 25 yards. Its short sight radius, and especially the long trigger pull, are working against precise accuracy. Firing from a rest, improvised or otherwise, always helps wring the most accuracy from a gun and is particularly important when shooting the 22TUC at longer range. Keep in mind that this DAO pistol only has a 2.5″ barrel, and nearly an inch of that is chamber.

TUC Overview

The 22TUC has no manual safety and, like a revolver, relies on a long and heavy double-action trigger pull to afford a measure of protection against accidental discharge. The trigger pull is smooth and on the lighter side of the revolver range at 10 lbs. but has a long stroke of 0.865″. For comparison purposes, my S&W 640 snubnose revolver has a 12-lb. pull but only a 0.615″ stroke, and I shoot it much better than the 22TUC despite its awkwardly small, concealment grips. The 22TUC’s long pull led me to alter my supporting hand grip so my thumb wouldn’t block the tip of my trigger finger at the end of the stroke. When shooting small guns, especially if you have medium or large hands, you have to be conscious of your grip to avoid getting in your own way. I found a thumb-over-thumb hold worked best with this gun.

Carry Options

Because this 22TUC is so light, I wanted to test it out in an ankle holster. It’s similar to a Beretta Bobcat in size, so I selected the Triple K (TripleK.com) Life Saver ankle holster for that model (style # 176). This sturdy but light leather holster has a thumb-break retention strap, adjustable Velcro closure and padded shearling ankle band. The MSRP is $84. It was molded to the shape of the Beretta, but a dip in warm water and a few minutes of shaping with my fingers adjusted it to a perfect, snug fit for the 22TUC.

There is a temptation to strap ankle holsters on too tight that is both uncomfortable and can cut off your circulation. The lighter the pistol, the more comfortable it is to wear on your ankle. I found that with the retention strap as tight as comfort would allow, the holster rested on and was held up by the medial malleolus at the bottom of the tibia and the lateral malleolus at the bottom of the fibula. In layman’s terms, those are the boney knobs that stick out from the sides of your ankle. A light gun like the Taurus 22TUC doesn’t develop much inertia in motion and is hardly noticeable while running, provided you aren’t so uncoordinated that you crash the holster into your opposing medial malleolus. Ouch! Nobody would ever call me a track star.

For more information on the Taurus 22TUC, visit their website at TaurusUSA.com. The MSRP is $333.39 but the street price seems to be closer to $275, making this a very affordable pistol.

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