Taurus Archives

Introduction

For years I’ve had a very challenging relationship with Taurus firearms, I have had in the past an experience that left me quite displeased. But after some time I have meandered back into a place where I would try again, the TX22 line of rimfire pistols got me quite hooked on 22’s. And years later I’ve got four of them. But today we are looking at a new product from Taurus, the Taurus Defender 856 TORO 38 Special Revolver. The TORO is according to Taurus the first ever optics ready revolver, and being a sucker for red dots and pistols I had to try it.

The Defender 856 TORO

The 856 model has been around for a few years now, and it seemed a good host for optics I suppose because that’s where they went with it. The Defender 856 is a double-action revolver that holds six rounds in its stainless steel cylinder. The pistol uses a three-inch barrel and a target-style trigger for optimal performance. I was expecting a 357 Magnum but the TORO comes with 38 Special chambers, which is fine because I was probably going to shoot a lot of 38 Spl anyways.

taurus 856 toro defender — the pistol worked great with the 407K red dot

What sets the TORO apart is its optics platform that mounts to the top of the sight rail and is affixed with two screws. The plate itself uses the Holosun K footprint, which is also good because I have a Holosun 407K that would fit perfectly. The TORO is finished in a matte black, which turns out is pretty sexy in my opinion.

Unboxing the Taurus Defender 856 TORO 38 Special Revolver

Upon opening the box I was surprised a bit, as I was expecting something a bit different like I’d seen on the floor at SHOT Show. This model actually looked better in my opinion and as I lifted it from the box my first thoughts were about how handsome a little gun it was.

After opening the cylinder and checking everything out, I held the gun and pulled the hammer a few times. Like most revolvers I’ve ever shot, I found something romantic about the drawing back of the hammer. The trigger felt good as well, nothing fantastic or extraordinary but certainly good. Everything fits tightly and rolled like it was on bearings.

I pulled the optics kit from the box, and found the plate and mounting screws. I took it to my bench to get it mounted using a drop of Loctite to secure the screws. I then installed my Holosun 407K and secured it with its own two screws. I again lifted the pistol into the shooting position to see how the Holosun showed; “pretty slick” I muttered to myself. So I grabbed a sack of 38 Spl hand loads I had sitting on my bench and headed out the door.

To the Range!

As I lined up at my shooting spot, I contemplated what this little revolver would be good for. It’s certainly small enough to easily conceal and use as a CCW, though I am one of those that feel much better about carrying 15+ rounds for such purposes. But it still would be a great little pistol to have in a pinch.

I loaded a handful of cartridges into the cylinder and snapped it closed. I like how tight and timed this gun feels, the cylinder doesn’t have any slop and locks securely closed. I tapped the button to power up the Holosun, and it looked close enough to not even mess with it until after shooting a few shots. So that’s what I did, I fired the first cylinder of cartridges and as I expected I loved every minute of it.

taurus 856 defender — I also installed the new **Vortex Defender red dot**, it was a perfect match.

The Holosun really needed no adjustment for now, so I let it be as I fumble another cylinders worth off cartridges out of my pocket. I also had brought a few boxes of factory ammunition, but I was lucky to have inherited my Grandfather’s supply of 38 Spl handloads. Grandpa was a huge fan of the little 38, and he cast thousands of 148 grain semi-wadcutters loaded into spent nickel cases he brought home from the police ranges back in the 80’s.

I spent the late afternoon and into the evening shooting the little TORO at just about anything I could. It seemed about as accurate as any other three-inch revolver I’ve ever shot, I can’t help but feel that the red dot allows some additional precision in aiming though that could just be my personal bias.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Comfortable grip
Light recoil
Quality fit and finish
Red dot sight easy to aim

Cons:

Larger grip would fit my hand better
Trigger slightly jumpy

I guess I am warming back up to Taurus after all these years, and I have certainly grown to like this little pistol. The grip is very comfortable, and the rubber texture does allow some additional purchase to hold it back. The 38 is not a large recoiling pistol but its not a 22 either. I would have liked a slightly larger grip to fit my hand, but of course that would have made it harder to stash. I let a few friends shoot it as well that had smaller hands than I and they didn’t seem to have any issues with it.

The quality of the TORO was great, the fit and finish looked quite handsome and well put together. The trigger was a little jumpy but I suppose it’s fine, by jumpy I mean there can be felt movements before it breaks sometimes. It seemed perfectly serviceable for a pistol of this type and price point. The added function of the red dot made shooting the TORO quite easy, instead of focusing on the sights I’d just cover the target with the dot as I squeezed the trigger. The red dot lined up pretty closely to the built in iron sights, which made it easy to co-witness and matched my natural aim-point.

Read Conclusion Here…

CONCLUSION

Taurus Defender 856 TORO .38 Special Revolver

The Taurus Defender 856 TORO has turned out to be quite a breath of fresh air for me. When I first saw a red dot mounted on a revolver, I thought maybe we’d reached the bottom of the barrel. I was happy to be proven wrong.

I think it’s a great little handgun. It’s fun to shoot and accurate enough to be useful, especially at the affordable price point. I’d like something a little bigger for my hand size, but I was still able to shoot it well. If you want to try something new, the Taurus TORO revolver is certainly worth a shot.

-CBM

Introduction

I have long wanted a 22LR pistol, if nothing else just to have some cheap shooting fun for myself and the kids. Its hard to beat the 22 for teaching kids the responsibility that firearms demand, and they are so fun to shoot that anything less than a brick of ammo just wont do.
The only thing that kept me from buying one over the years were concerns of performance. There always seemed to be issues with 22LR pistols, be it malfunctions like a jam, or being finicky when it came to ammunition. All I wanted was a gun that ran perfectly every time, and one that I didn’t have to worry about what to feed it. Today we hit the range with the Taurus TX22 pistol, to see if it can change all that.

The Taurus USA TX22 pistol caught my eye at SHOT Show 2019, I immediately fell in love with the feel of the pistol, the grip did not feel like many of the 22 auto pistols I had held before. It felt like a full size gun in my hand, the grip texture gave an almost sticky feeling in your palm. The well balanced and lightweight TX22 felt much like an M&P, or maybe a Sig Sauer P320.
Another great feature of the TX22 is it’s 16 round magazines, and it comes with two. Most 22 auto pistols are single stack 10 round magazines, it is refreshing to see that barrier being broken.
For the many patrons to the NFA, adding a suppressor to your favorite pistol is a must. Many of the 22 pistols available today come with threaded barrels for suppressors, but the TX22 even comes with the adaptor collar needed to mount the suppressor.

When I picked up my TX22 from my FFL, I already had a box of ammo and suppressor in hand. So it should come as no surprise to you that I didn’t even make it home before shooting this handsome little Taurus.

The TX22 shown with suppressor collar installed, without it, the barrel is flush to the nose of the slide.

A quick stop by my local shooting spot armed with 100 CCI Mini Mags was just enough to wet my whistle. It was the fastest five minutes of my life if I recall, those hundred rounds burned through the TX22 like grain through a goose. I was now addicted to this thing, I temporarily left my range to get two important things; More ammo, and my son. I knew he would love this thing as much as I did.

A few hours later, after Junior and I had stopped by Sportsman’s Warehouse, we were ready to go for round two. I had purchased an assortment of ammunition, a pretty good spread in my estimation. I wanted to try everything, from the cheapest bulk ammunition to the ritzy high end stuff. I even bought a couple different boxes of subsonic ammunition, to see how the TX22 would handle it.

The next few hours of shooting turned out to be some of the funnest we’ve ever shared, magazine after magazine of plinking fun. We tried every kind of ammunition I brought, the cheap bulk stuff from Remington, the Winchester 333 pack, CCi subsonic, Remington Hornets, and even some Aguila Eley Prime. I was ecstatic with the performance, after shooting six or seven hundred rounds, we hadn’t experienced a single failure (but for the 730 fps subsonics, they will not cycle the gun, even suppressed). My favorite ammo for the TX22 would have been both the CCI subsonic 1050fps, and the Winchester 333 pack. Both of them shot very accurate from the TX22, at least more so than the rest.

The pistol runs flawless whether suppressed or not. There is of course a bit more back-pressure when shooting suppressed, this causes the gun to foul a little more aggressively but that is no surprise. I loved shooting the gun without the suppressor too, it is balanced perfectly, and fit me so well that I found myself hardly using the sights.
The very mild recoil of the 22LR is soaked up nicely by the recoil spring, the gun hardly moves in the hand when fired. Follow-up shots are easily made, and can be done so very quickly.
The trigger of the TX22 features a trigger safety, but utilizes the whole shoe vs. a blade safety like many are accustomed to. The striker fired TX22 trigger is very clean, and resets are pretty short as well. I would love to shoot this gun in some kind of three gun competition or something similar, the inexistent recoil and fast shot to shot time would be a blast.

The sixteen round magazines were nice to have as well, one thing about 22’s is you spend a lot of time reloading. So having sixteen rounds to shoot prolonged the time one spent at the shooting line. The magazines have a small circular pin through the follower that you can pull down slowly as you add rounds to the feed lips until it is full.

The gun is easily disassembled following the directions in the owners manual. With as much ammo as you will go through, you will need to clean it often. Especially as dirty as most 22 ammo is. No tools are needed, except for removing or installing the suppressor collar. And I would suggest removing it after every range session, if only to clean it. I’d hate to see it get stuck on the barrel by all the 22 gunk.

The TX22 has a single magazine release, though it can be switched from side to side. It comes configured for a right handed shooter, but the simple directions in the manual allow lefties to switch it over to their liking. I initially found the magazine release to feel a bit small and perhaps difficult to purchase with my thumb. However I quickly withdrew that observation after shooting the gun, at no point during all my shooting did I find it to be a problem. Mag changes were done quickly and without any issues.

The TX22 with the Silencerco Spectre II suppressor

The easily adjustable sights were another welcome feature. There are two screws you can adjust with a micro flat blade screwdriver, one is for elevation adjustment, and the other for windage.
The TX22 also features an ambidextrous safety, with familiar positioning and function. Up for safe, and pulling down with the thumb puts the gun into the firing mode.
The front of the polymer frame features an accessory rail where you can add you favorite light, laser, or other device.

As it turns out, the Taurus TX22 is everything I hoped it would be when I first held it in a Las Vegas casino. It shoots as good as it handles, it’s function matches it’s handsome looks. It brings some great new features that were long overdue.
I love this little pistol, its been hard to put down. I even left my usual CCW at home, just so I had an excuse to have the TX22 with me so I could look at it, and show it to friends. Not that I would recommend a 22LR for a carry gun, but it sure was nice to have such a light and narrow pistol inside my belt for a change. We had fun shooting the pistol at the range, as well as a little squirrel hunting. The SilencerCo Spectre II made the gun so quiet, we could sneak into acorn distance.

You mess with the bull, you catch these horns.

The only negative things I have to bring up about the TX22 is regarding the magazine design. As I removed them from the box, the floor-plate of both magazines was easily pushed off. The first time resulted in my magazine guts getting shot out across the floor. They aren’t big pieces, so it took a bit to find them all. When I tested the second magazine for the issue, I found it to be the same, the floor-plate retainer didn’t seem to have enough of an anchor to keep them in place.
Oddly enough though, the problem never reoccured. After shooting the gun a few times, I again tried to get the floor-plates to slide off. But even with aggressive pressure they stayed in position. Perhaps the vibration of shooting helped seat them better? Either way, the problem has never been repeated.
Another concern is more of a user problem than a design one. When loading the magazines, it is easy to want to just pull the follower down well ahead of the cartridges you are feeding into the lips. This can cause cartridges to tilt inside the magazine, causing an obvious malfunction which usually requires emptying the magazine and starting anew. This problem is easily remedied by only pulling the follower down to allow the next cartridge to be fed into the magazine. One at a time until all sixteen rounds are loaded.

These are minimal complaints, and surely not something that would inhibit my purchase of another one. The Taurus USA TX22 is a fantastic pistol all around, it is simply done right. It wouldn’t surprise me if its a design they continue to build on for additional pistols, and I will be watching and waiting for it.

-CBM