Taurus 942 22 LR 2in 8-Shot Black — Superb Trainer Revolver

Description

The Taurus 942 22 LR is an eight-shot rimfire revolver built on the same small steel frame as Taurus’s .38 and .357 snubs, with a two-inch barrel, fixed sights, an exposed hammer and a finger-grooved rubber grip. It is the same size, the same shape and the same weight as a carry revolver, and it costs pennies a round to shoot.

That is the whole idea. Most people who own a snub-nosed .38 shoot it badly, because a light revolver firing a serious cartridge is unpleasant enough that practice sessions end early. The Taurus 942 22 LR removes the recoil and leaves everything else — the same grip, the same double-action press, the same sight picture, often the same holster.

What it is and how it is built

• Eight rounds of .22 LR in a swing-out cylinder, which is three more than the centre-fire snubs it copies.
• A two-inch matte black alloy steel barrel, cylinder and frame — steel, not aluminium, which is what keeps the Taurus 942 22 LR feeling like the gun it is meant to imitate.
• Fixed sights: a milled rear notch and an integral front ramp.
• An exposed hammer, so you can shoot single action for deliberate practice and double action for everything else.
• A transfer bar between hammer and firing pin, and a black finger-grooved rubber grip.

Honest notes on a rimfire revolver

• The double-action trigger is heavier than you might expect. Rimfire priming needs a firm hammer strike, so the mainspring cannot be light. This is normal for the type, not a fault.
• Rimfire ammunition misfires occasionally, whatever the gun. In a revolver that costs you nothing — pull the trigger again and the next chamber comes up. This is a real advantage over a rimfire semi-auto.
• .22 LR is fussy from brand to brand. Buy two or three and shoot what the gun likes; high-velocity 36 to 40 grain ammunition is usually the safest bet.
• The Taurus 942 22 LR holds eight rounds and reloads slowly. Carry a speed strip if you carry it at all.
• As a defensive gun the Taurus 942 22 LR is a compromise, and it should be chosen on purpose rather than by default — for a shooter who genuinely cannot manage centre-fire recoil, it is a sound one.

Specifications

• Manufacturer part number: 2-942021
• UPC: 725327618287
• Calibre: .22 LR
• Capacity: 8 rounds
• Barrel: 2 in, alloy steel
• Frame: small, alloy steel, matte black
• Action: double action / single action, exposed hammer
• Sights: fixed
• Safety: transfer bar
• Grip: black finger-grooved rubber

.22 Long Rifle is a standardised cartridge with dimensions published by SAAMI, but standardised is not the same as consistent: rimfire priming is applied as a wet compound spun into the rim, and how evenly it settles is why one brand goes bang every time in a given gun and another does not. Revolvers tolerate that variation far better than self-loaders, because nothing has to cycle.

The point of this revolver is that it matches a centre-fire one. MAG5 stocks the five-shot Taurus 605 in .357 Magnum and the enclosed-hammer Taurus 650 on the same frame size, plus the six-shot 856 in .38 Special. Train on rimfire, carry the centre-fire, keep the same holster.

Why the Taurus 942 22 LR earns its place

• The Taurus 942 22 LR gives you practice at a fraction of the cost, with the same grip and trigger as a carry revolver.
• Eight rounds instead of five, on a frame that size.
• Steel construction, so the weight and balance are honest rather than toy-like.
• A misfire costs you one trigger press, not a malfunction drill.
• Quiet enough and mild enough that a new shooter will keep shooting it.

This is a trainer first, a plinker second and a trail or pest gun third. It is the right buy for someone who already owns a snub and wants to actually get good with it, for a household teaching a new shooter, and for anyone with a hand or shoulder that has stopped tolerating recoil. It is not the gun to buy if you want one revolver to do everything — for that, the .38 or .357 on the same frame is the better answer.

In stock now at MAG5 Firearms in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Handgun sales ship to a licensed dealer in your state, where you will complete a Form 4473 and the background check before taking delivery.