The TaurusTX 22: Making Shooting Fun Again

We all know that when it comes to teaching kids how to shoot, we must first stress safety and then, fundamentals. Not exactly fun stuff. I’m not going to go through all the salient points regarding those two topics, because this article is about making shooting fun again with the TaurusTX 22.

My grandchildren are ages 11 and 13. They have been shooting since they were 5 (starting with .22 rifles). Just last year, they began learning how to operate handguns, under the tutelage of their capable dad, their granddad and me. They don’t just shoot while here with us; their dad routinely takes them to shooting ranges where they live, too.

During the kids’ last visit here over their spring break, we decided to change things up a bit – on and off the range, and took the TaurusTX 22 along on one of our outings.

Why the TaurusTX 22?

We chose to use the TaurusTX 22 black T.O.R.O. (Taurus Optic Ready Option) that comes with Taurus’ Performance Trigger System (PTS).

The gun also comes with a “Picatinny” (MIL-STD-1913) rail integral to the forward underside of the frame. It also includes a common Shield Reflex Mini Sight Compact (RMSC) slide cut-out footprint for optical sight mounting. We went with iron sights though, and we like starting out with irons and advancing later to optics with new shooters.

Here are some other specifications that appealed to us about this gun:

• Overall length: 7.6 inches
• Overall width: 1.25 inches
• Overall height: 5.44 inches
• Overall weight: 17.3 ounces, unloaded
• Barrel length: 4.6 inches
• Materials: Polymer frame with aluminum slide, alloy steel barrel material and hard anodized black slide finish
• Manual safety
• Threaded barrel

On the Range with the TaurusTX 22

On the range, we always start with making sure guns are unloaded, pointed downrange, eye and ear protection on, proper ammunition is in play and so on and so forth. The kids know all that … but what they didn’t know, and came to really like? Bullseye shooting. Yes, shooting with their dominant (aka, shooting) hands at targets placed about 15 yards away. That means one-handed, and the other hand slid into a pocket – with a sideways stance. (Their grandpa once competed on the United States Air Force Academy’s pistol shooting team, so he’s a great coach for them.)

We like using the one-handed approach with children – when we are sure that they have safety and fundamentals down, of course – because it makes them focus on a good grip, trigger control and proper sight acquisition. It helped that we added funky zombie targets for the shoot.

Note: Make sure to watch for fatigue, as it sets-in quickly for any new one-handed shooter. A good practice is to teach a new shooter to lower the pistol to low-ready (even resting slightly on the bench, with his finger off the trigger of course), and then raise the pistol back up and sight it in on the target after a brief rest.

When they get better at shooting with their dominant hands, we’ll see how they do with their other (some call “non-dominant” or “support”) hands. That’ll be another challenge, I’m sure.

At the Dump with the TaurusTX 22

Our grandson had been eyeing the old dump nearby on private property, that’s been in place for at least 50 years and featuring such interesting objects as an old refrigerator, printer, satellite dish and an assortment of pickle jars and coffee cans. The dump is located on a slope in the woods. Of course, we shot downhill and the terrain made a good backstop.

Here’s where safety comes into premiere consideration. There are no shooting benches. You have to think about every move, and follow strict muzzle control rules. You can no longer set a gun down after it’s been unloaded, facing downrange with an open action on a bench. The kids really enjoyed shooting at suitable targets (nothing that would create ricochets) in the dump, and they worked from about 10 to 20 yard distances.

They didn’t realize it, but they also practiced the shooting skill of moving from one target to the next. First, they placed a few old pickle jars on top of a composter, and worked from one side to the next. Then they moved from an old printer to a coffee can to a piece of siding. They thought that was fun, fun, fun.

We didn’t pit them against each other in competition, since we still wanted this experience to be fun and they are already extremely competitive with each other. You have to know the kids’ personalities to decide whether it’s helpful and a pleasant experience to encourage competition.

I’ve discovered throughout the years that shooting is a serious business, but once you get the fundamentals and safety down pat, it’s time to make it fun. You can always practice bullseye shooting on a traditional range, and you can probably plink as well. There are multiple spinning targets and interesting characters or pictures of objects to place on target stands.

The perfect combination to make shooting fun is to pair a great gun, such as this .22, along with fun targets and then, take off any pressure and just enjoy shooting.

The TaurusTX 22 retails for $363.99. Learn more about it at the website.

About the Author

Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in travel and outdoor markets. Before launching “Women’s Outdoor News,” aka The WON, in 2008, she worked as a newspaper and then magazine editor. Her bylines can be found at “Field and Stream,” “American Hunter,” “Outdoor Life,” “America’s 1st Freedom,” “Fly Fisherman,” AAA publications, “St. Louis Post-Dispatch,” “Columbia (Mo.) Tribune,” “Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader,” “SHOT Business,” “SHOT Daily,” “Shooting Illustrated,” “Show Me Missouri” and a host of other magazines and newspapers. She writes a popular travel blog, based on a former self-syndicated newspaper column, “The Accidental Ozarkian.” She recently published “Milling Around: Exploring 26 Mills in the Missouri Ozarks,” which is an Amazon best seller.