Taurus PLY22 Range Report.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Kiln

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2011
Messages
2,464
Well I got a Taurus PLY22 a while back and finally got around to shooting it this weekend.

At first I was very unhappy with it. I was shooting Federal Champion ammo and every single shot I fired jammed because it failed to cycle the slide far enough to actually eject the casing. It was literally having to be cleared after every single shot. I fired quite a few rounds before I got extremely annoyed and switched ammo.

I tried Federal Automatch afterwards (this stuff usually works great in all of my .22lr semi automatic pistols) and had better results but still were not very impressive. I still didn't get very many full magazines off without a hitch with this stuff but it performed waaaay better than the Champion ammo.

I was just about to call the PLY22 a lost cause and was starting to genuinely hate it when I switched to CCI Stingers. The gun then worked perfectly. I mean 150+ rounds without a single failure of any kind. Accuracy was limited by my skill with the DAO trigger but I could still easily hit coffee cans at 10 yards.

I now love this little gun. It takes consistently hot ammunition for it to function properly all the time but with the right load it performed with perfect reliability. I intend to see if I can find a cheaper ammo to use with it but I'm ok with Stingers as long as I get the same kind of performance from it with them.

Both types of ammo worked flawlessly in the Beretta Neos so the Taurus is just picky and requires hot ammo to overcome the heavy hammer spring and force the slide back quickly enough for it to properly function.
 
I'm considering a PLY22. Given that it relies on blowback and has no extractor, how hard is it to clear? If a dud do you need to pry it out with a knife or can you extract it with a fingernail?
Tnx,
Richard
 
The only two times I had to extract an unspent round was because the rounds themselves were bad with good indents from the firing pin.

They both came right out with a fingernail by putting it underneath the rim of the round above the feed ramp. I didn't have any issues with rounds not leaving the chamber, the failures to eject were all hung in the slide above the chamber because the slide didn't travel back far enough to actually eject them.

Consistently high velocity ammo yielded perfect results with no failures of any kind.

I'm guessing that if the rounds had fired and become stuck though, they might have been difficult to pry out, but I can't be sure since I didn't experience this.
 
Federal Champion is target ammo (though not very good target ammo). It is lightly loaded to minimize recoil and stay subsonic. I'm not surprised it wouldn't cycle your PLY22 - that's not the kind of gun it's designed for.
 
I just picked a PLY-22 on Friday. I had some problems with the Federal ammo (even worse with my Ruger SR-22). It ran CCI Mini-mags, Remington Golden and Winchester just fine. I've put about 200 rounds through it so far.

I really like the way it fills my hand .The trigger is fine (for DAO). I put a dab on red gun sight paint on it after my first range trip and that helped a great deal-- it's surprisingly accurate. It fits very well in my front pockets. My only complaint is that the trigger is a bit thin and uncomfortable. I haven't decided if that's a significant problem or something I can overcome.
 
Federal Champion is target ammo (though not very good target ammo). It is lightly loaded to minimize recoil and stay subsonic. I'm not surprised it wouldn't cycle your PLY22 - that's not the kind of gun it's designed for.
Thanks for the heads up, I wasn't aware of that and had never bought "Champion" marked ammo before.
 
Yep, go MiniMag or higher; these little blowback guns have very strong recoil springs.
Mine's the older, steel-framed PT-22; it also demands ammunition with a little more "oomph", but runs great when so stoked.
 
Mini Mags for mine,,,

I absolutely love my little 22-PLY,,,
I keep it very clean and well lubricated,,,
Mine has run flawlessly for over a year with Mini Mags.

Federal Bulk Pack from Wal Mart runs well in it as well,,,
But since it's a back-up self defense hide-away gun,,,
I just keep it loaded with Mini Mags all the time.

Aarond

P.S. The .25-PLY is a spiffy little gun as well.

.
 
I also like mine alot. CCI Blazers work well for bulk ammo. Mini Mags and Stingers work well. I recently removed the Magazine Disconnect. Very easy to do. I was hoping this would allow the magazine to drop free, but its dragging inside the frame. Im going to file down the spots where its rubbing. I wish I could find another magazine for mine. The Taurus websight had them listed, but I waited. Now they dont show them, so I guess it will be a while till they are back in stock. Fun little pistol. I like it better than my Beretta Bobcat.
 
Got to be honest, the PT-22 I had never gave me any troubles. Generally used high-velocity or better .22, and also the 60 grain Aguila, though I'm sure I used some subsonic from time to time.

It was really fun, much better gun than I expected, I had bought it specifically as a fun and small toy-type gun to use with cheap ammunition.
 
I also like mine alot. CCI Blazers work well for bulk ammo. Mini Mags and Stingers work well. I recently removed the Magazine Disconnect. Very easy to do. I was hoping this would allow the magazine to drop free, but its dragging inside the frame. Im going to file down the spots where its rubbing. I wish I could find another magazine for mine. The Taurus websight had them listed, but I waited. Now they dont show them, so I guess it will be a while till they are back in stock. Fun little pistol. I like it better than my Beretta Bobcat.
Is there an easy way to remove the disconnect?
 
Kiln said:
Is there an easy way to remove the disconnect?

Remove the one screw at the bottom of the grip, work the grip off the frame. You will have to spread the grip slightly as you work it down over the frame. It will pull past the lock on the back of the grip. One you get the grip off, you will see how the disconnect, and the lock work together. There is a large screw at the bottom of the frame that holds the Mag Disco in place. Remove the screw, turn the lock, and remove the mag disco lever, and spring. Simple. You will see that the Mag Disco only holds the mainspring from complete compression. The lock also does this, but a slightly different way.
 
Well... I was finally able to get the magazine to drop freely. This has bugged me ever since I got my POLY PT-22. It can be done by removing the Mag Disco, and sanding & polishing the magazine and magazine well. I used a 1/4" wooden dowel with some 220 grit sandpaper to sand the mag well. Its polymer, and sands easily. I still couldnt get the mag to drop, so I polished the mag with 600 wet/dry paper. Still no drop, but getting better. I finally was able to slip a piece of 600 up between the magazine, and the frame. I had jammed the paper into the feed lips of the mag, and could hold the bottom of the paper with my thumb. I was able to sand back and forth, using the magazine to hit the high spots. That did it. Took about 20 minutes of sanding total. So it can be done, Mag disconect removal and magazine drop freely modification.
 
Well I bought a box of 375 CCI Minimags and fired off 275 of them with only one malfunction. The single malfunction was a round hitting the top of the chamber, this was fixed easily by slighy pulling the slide back and pushing the nose of the round downward. Took a total of 2 seconds.

With good ammo these things run like a champ.

Here's a photo:

http://m848.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/Myguns223/PocketGuns001.jpg.html?o=1
 
Nice range report and update Kiln.

I have been toying at picking up one of these for low cost range practice. With the price buying .380 for my LCP...minimags are a bargain! Gander Mountain has them for $180 (after $50 rebate) plus I have a $50 gift card. For less than $150 I figure what the heck.
 
Its a shame Taurus gets such a bad rap... Although I understand why... I have 2 of their revolvers, one is excellent, the other should never had left the factory. But... This little POLY PT-22 is an excellent little pistol. Its well made, functions perfectly, and is reasonably priced. It beats the Beretta Bobcat by $100, and holds an extra round. It is DAO, where the Beretta is DA/SA. I really like my POLY PT-22, and tell the forums every time I get the chance.
 
Its a shame Taurus gets such a bad rap... Although I understand why... I have 2 of their revolvers, one is excellent, the other should never had left the factory. But... This little POLY PT-22 is an excellent little pistol. Its well made, functions perfectly, and is reasonably priced. It beats the Beretta Bobcat by $100, and holds an extra round. It is DAO, where the Beretta is DA/SA. I really like my POLY PT-22, and tell the forums every time I get the chance.
Luckily with the Taurus lifetime warranty, getting one fixed isn't a huge issue. Hope I never need to use it on my little PLY22 or my Rossi .44 Mag but hey, so far so good.
 
Its a shame Taurus gets such a bad rap... Although I understand why... I have 2 of their revolvers, one is excellent, the other should never had left the factory.

If that were the case, about owning two revolvers, and one being bad, we should all be getting rid of our S&W revolvers. I have several, and three of them are absolute POS. My NEW 617 froze up completely, requiring a gunsmith to open the cylinder to unload live rounds. S&W, after 6 weeks, sent it back. Now, after three or four cylinders full, the gun won't cycle the cylinder. My NEW 625-3 failed on the FIRST SHOT, with the cylinder spinning freely. My NEW Model 29 went out of timing in less than 50 rounds, using 240 gr. JSP Winchester White Box ammo. It felt as though about one-half of the bullet was spraying out of the side of the gun each shot.

There is well over $1500 of guns represented here. I certainly didn't buy them expecting to have to Beta test for S&W. Kimber, maybe.
 
Revolvers seem to be harder to get right than autos. I think that with the complex lockwork involved there is more that has to work perfectly in unison than with an automatic.

It isn't as simple as "revolvers never jam" despite what a lot of old timers seem to believe. There is just as much that can go wrong with a revolver and honestly I've seen my share of revolvers locked up.

This is just an observation, I own and love plenty of both types.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top