I acquired a Taurus TX 22 pistol. Traded an old boat.
My son and I were target shooting today and several shots apparently went through the paper sideways. Accurate
and exactly where aimed.
Usually have to look for 22 holes on paper. Not these.
There were plenty that were normal. Cheap bulk ammo.
Ever seen that?
Try some different ammo and see it it’s a bad batch of ammo or the gun. If it’s the gun Taurus will replace or repair it for free. They do that even if you are not the original buyer.
Their phone is 229-515-8464
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Thanks. CCI worked as designed.
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Key holing the target is usually the result of the barrel spin rate being insufficient to provide adequate spin stabilization for the length (weight) of the projectile being fired, so that the projectile yaws in flight.
I am not familiar with the Taurus TX 22 but I have not heard of that phenomenon occurring with a 22LR firearm before. A higher velocity cartridge should increase the spin rpm for any given projectile length and barrel spin rate so I would stick with high velocity rather than standard velocity 22LR ammo.
String, during the mid to late 80s, I ordered large quantities of ammunition from an East Coast supplier in Bowie, MD. He gave me 10 boxes of a Canadian brand of 9mm that I tested in five Browning HP and five Berretta 92SB-F (original military version).
I couldn’t get the rounds to feed at all in any of the five Browning HPs, which were sensitive to ammo.
Using the same lot of ammo in the five Berettas, there were no feed or extraction issues; however, at least 50% of the shots fired were keyholed, and they scattered far greater that considered accurate.
Since my goal was only to test the product for future contracts, I rejected and returned unused boxes as unacceptable; it was up to the supplier to sort out the issues. Failure to feed was probably from the overall round length being to long. Keyholing was probably due to one or a combination of problems in the loading process ranging from insufficient/inconsistent powder charge, contaminated primer or powder charge, incomete primer seating, inadequate case crimp, or powder that gave either inadequate case fill or burning rate for the pressure range.
A few weeks late, the supplier gave me 10 boxes by the same manufacturer but a different lot. That ammunition worked fine, but I wasn’t willing to take a chance, based on quality control.
I never had problems with CCI. I looked up bulk price, and its $54 a brick. I might be “disremembering” but that was $5.99 back in the 70s. I was fortunate that someone else was buying the ammo, but in the mid 80s, 3D reloaded .38 Special was $60 @ 1,000 rounds, and it was accurate and reliable. Time is changin.
Although it is an unlikely possibility, if you haven’t already done so check your barrel with a bright light and make sure it has rifling. Although some Taurus firearms are fine, the company does have a history of spotty quality control. I did hear of one Taurus owner who was having accuracy issues who found that the barrel that had been installed had no rifling.
Also check the barrel crown for any defects. A deformed barrel crown can tend to cause the projectile to start to yaw as it leaves the barrel during the very short “transitional” phase between the internal and external ballistic phases.
If the barrel checks out OK and the problem seems to be limited to one type or batch of ammo I would agree with jyak that the most likely possibility is an under-powered load. If the muzzle velocity is too low the projectile will leave the barrel with insufficient rpm to have adequate spin stabilization to prevent yawing in flight.
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It’s more likely the cheep ammo had bullets swedged out of square on their bases.
A 22 LR is standardized at a 1 in 16" twist and has been for 150 years, (1-20" for 22 Short and Long) so it’s not likely the Taurus has the wrong twist. But bad bullets can do that because having the base of a bullet out of square gives the same result as having the muzzle crown out of square.
As a side note: I am a full-time gunsmith and have been dealing with the technical aspects of firearms for 1/2 a century. I have been in several professions since I was 16 years old and at times gunsmithing was my side job, but in the last 50 years I have always been a gunsmith as either a full time job or a part time one. I have seen some really bad 22 LR ammo made from time to time and Taurus has made some bummer guns at times, but in all my days as a gunsmith the one thing I can’t say I have seen is a Taurus with a bad barrel or wrong twist. Some of their guns had reliability problems and others were excellent, but all were accurate. That’s not to say you could not a get one with an improper bore. I did see a S&W M25-5 in 45 Colt back in the early 80s that came out of the box with no rifling in it.
So things do get through now and then even from companies that are usually excellent. And Taurus has had some real bummers at times. Just not any bad barrels I have seen (yet)
But I am guessing the problem is ammo.
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Now you’ve done it, saying you’re a FT gunsmith!
I will try very hard to refrain from picking your brain. There is a good smith nearby and he did a bit of work to lighten the DA pull on the 686 I bought more than 20 years ago and only recently began practicing with. The factory setting was so high that his instrument could not measure it—it was higher than 14 pounds!
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No. Very dangerous.
But I have watched my brother kill a fly with a bb gun that landed on a target under a light.
Small correction: the Taurus TX 22 barrel has a 1:16 rifling twist rate, as do the majority of 22LR firearms, at least these days.
Although of course some 22LR firearms designed to shoot low velocity ammunition will have a faster twist rate up to 1:9 or so.
Thanks for all the pointers. I’m reasonably sure it’s the ammo. My son bought the cheap stuff. I stopped using it years ago , mostly because of FTF in a small % of rounds.
The bore and crown of the pistol look good.
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Feel free to “pick away” Pikabike.
Where is “nearby” for you?
I am in the middle of Wyoming.
Szihn, I sent you a private msg, to avoid veering further from the topic.
String, I’ve been advised to stay away from cheap ammo. Good advice, because FTF is merely annoying and potentially expensive, but other failures…well, what you described happening could be awful if the rounds didn’t hit the target.
Back to the original issue with rounds keyholing the target.
There have been multiple complaints on this issue and Taurus has responded favorably so I called them.
I explained the
problem and the rep told me I’ll have a new barrel in 10 days. No questions asked except serial number.
Better customer service than my previous employer gave.
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Happy to hear they accepted you pistol, because I never had problems with CCI ammo. I suspect they must have had similar complaints from quality contol issues. The TX22 has a 1:16 twist rate. While waiting for Tarus to replace your barrel, look at the box of ammunition for the velocity. If the velocity is listed as 1070 fps, the bullet should stabilize fine in that twist.
I typically shoot Mini Mags.
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Ok, they should be either 36 or 40 gr projectile. Both are over 1200 fps, which should be stable enough with that twist. Hope they test fire the barrel before they send it and you like the replacement (that may leave powder residue). Inspect for more than usual lead fouling in the bore if you have problems in the future. A non-consentric barrel, out of spec rifling depth, roughness, a tight or loose bore can change the burn rate and velocities up or down.
Personally, if the thing is accurate I don’t care a bit what kind of dance it does. I WILL start paying attention to those inaccurate holes, though.
Destabilized bullets will not fly straight. They can’t. Unrifled musket barrel balls are accurate at close range, but they go increasingly off trajectory after 50 yards. A comparison would be shooting an arrow without feathers. Try it!
So much misinformation about accuracy, it’s hard to know reality. An example is lore about the 1911A1 .45 Colt semiauto pistol, which is extremely accurate. The military versions had relatively slack tolerances, but when built to blueprint tolerances they are extremely accurate and still reliable. Examples at 25 yrs (5 rounds and 10 rounds):
The arrow target is not mine, but it shows the competitive potential of arrows out to 60 yards.
@anon64780766 gave a good explanation. Accuracy, like speed, is a relative term. To asses accuracy. Bench rest at 15 yards, carefully shoot 3 rounds at three separate aiming points. Measure the spread of each group to assess degree of accuracy. Do that with every gun and ever brand or lot# of ammo.
A good example of the relationship between bullet weight, design, velocity and the effect it has on accuracy, lethality and range is the Armalite Rifle, the M16A1, and the M16A2. (1:14 vs 1:12 vs 1:7 vs 1:9 twists; 55 gr solid lead core vs 62 gr bullets with void/steel/lead core; 3,200 fps vs 2,800 fps).