Justification

For the last (almost) thirty four years I've shot large-calibre centrefire firearms; rifles and handguns. I've not had any purpose of use for the smaller rimfire calibres such as the .17 HMR and .22 LR and so haven't been all that interested in them. Recently that attitude has begun to shift.

Unfortunately gunpowder and primers for handguns is in short (pretty much no) supply and that's problematic.

I shoot run and gun matches with semi-automatic centrefire handguns, 38 Super and 9mm mostly and in each match I might shoot some 200-300 rounds. I do this most weekends which adds up to a lot of rounds which need replacing. I make my own ammunition and gunpowder and primers are required of course, and they're almost impossible to get and when available are so costly it actually makes more financial sense to buy pre-made factory rounds.

With this in mind, a lot of shooters are moving to the .22LR calibre providing the ability to shoot a lot for very low cost. It's not as fun, but it's an alternative. They're not selling up their other calibres though, just adding on the .22LR which is what I'm looking at doing.

𝕋𝕒𝕦𝕣𝕦𝕤 𝕋𝕏𝟚𝟚 ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟

There's a few on the list to evaluate and research but I really like the one I'm holding in the picture above, the Taurus TX22 Competition.

It comes optic-ready meaning the factory fit an optics baseplate so all one needs to do is buy the optic, red-dot sight, and screw it on. The awesome thing is that the optic doesn't sit on the slide itself, which cycles backwards and forwards when the firearm is fired, it sits on the top of the barrel section, so the optic remains stationary as the gun cycles through.

There's other good features like the threaded barrel for compensator or suppressor, adjustable rear sight (useless if using optics) and the magazine release is reversible for left or right handed shooters. There's also a nice thumb-rest groove on both sides which helps the shooter get the right grip really nicely. The magazines are cheap, I'd need six, it has a nice four-pound trigger and is a full-sized handgun, not scaled down, and it's a nice looking firearm too.

It's not cheap, the firearm, additional magazines and the optics would cost just under $2,000AUD but...well, I like it and if it stacks up I'd spring for it.

You can see it here in the configuration I'd want, with the C-More RTS red-dot sight mounted which costs almost as much as the handgun itself. I'd prefer a Trijicon red-dot sight but they're more costly and more suited to a centrefire handgun - sort of overkill for .22LR use.

I had some trigger time with this firearm the other day and it was pretty nice. It sent the lead downrange quickly, meaning as fast as I could pull the trigger (which is fast) and reasonably accurately, certainly accurately enough for what I'd need, and I had no feed issues in over a hundred rounds - That aspect is critical. The grip felt nice in the hand, although it could use some more grip texture but I think this isn't too much of an issue for the .22LR as the recoil is so much less than larger calibres. Anyway, that's nothing that a soldering iron couldn't fix...I'd just stipple the grip to add more texture and grip. Other than that, it's a pretty solid shooter.

There's a lot of considerations when it comes to choosing a firearm, first of which it's purpose of use and suitability to the job, but also how it shoots, feels in the hand, how easy the take-down is as one may need to do so in the field, how readily accessories are, the cost of additional magazines, the overall operation, repeatability and reliability, cost and value, and other stuff besides. I'm lucky that I'll get to use some of the firearms I'm considering to evaluate them, but some I won't which is where the research becomes very important. I really like this Taurus, not the most costly, or the cheapest, and just nice to shoot.

Note: If you're wondering what else is on the list, (you're probably not), I have the Colt .22 LR Gold Cup, Sig Sauer P322, Walther WMP, Smith & Wesson SW-22 Victory and the Ruger Mark IV 22/45 on there. (Yep, that's a lot of evaluation to do, but I enjoy it.)

I know most of you folks aren't into firearms and simply don't care about all that blah blah blah text I just wrote...but have you ever had to evaluate and research a product to justify its purchase? Maybe A coffee machine, vehicle, mobile phone, computer, backpack, camping equipment, camera, drone, boots, basically anything we buy can be researched...Have you done so, and if you have, feel free to share in the comments below if you're keen.