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Modern Rimfire Shootout – P322 vs P17 vs TX22

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The world of rimfire pistols has quickly changed and revamped. Revolvers and handguns like the Ruger MK series dominated the old era of rimfire handguns. Semi-auto .22LRs were always a bit finicky, and guns like the Ruger MK series and the S&W M22A worked well but didn’t look or function like modern handguns. That’s changed. Guns like the SIG P322, the KelTec P17, and the Taurus TX22 dominate the world of modern rimfire pistols. 

These three modern pistols are all in direct competition. They’d be useful for hunting, plinking, and training. Which is best?

These modern semi-auto handguns are polymer-framed and modular, use modern designs, and feature magazine capacities higher than 10. They also are affordable and somehow found a way to be reliable. 

These three modern rimfire guns are functional but can also be used as a training tool that mimics a modern centerfire handgun. When viewed side by side with a Ruger MK series, it’s clear that these guns break from the .22LR mold. 

The Best Modern Rimfire Guns 

Today, we are going to compare the three most dominant modern rimfire handguns: the SIG P322, the Taurus TX22, and the KelTec P17. These three are the most popular. While guns like the Glock 44 and FN 502 also fall into this genre, they aren’t nearly as popular or common as these three guns. With that said, let’s meet the competitors. 

SIG P322

The SIG P322 is odd. Typically, companies produce .22LR pistols that mimic their standard handguns. The P322 isn’t a copy of the SIG P320 or the SIG P365. Its format seems to be nothing more than a generic semi-auto pistol. 

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The P322 comes with two magazines, a threaded barrel, and a flat face trigger.

The SIG P322 features a 20-round magazine with an extended 25-round magazine available. The pistol has a Picatinny rail, is optics-ready, has a threaded barrel, and even allows you to switch between a flat and straight trigger. It can also accept a Shield RMSc footprint optic. 

The P322 comes with two magazines and a magazine loader. It’s easy to use, fun to shoot, and very modern. 

KelTec P17

The KelTec P17 is one of two modern rimfire pistols produced by KelTec in .22LR. It is extremely affordable and has a fairly unique footprint. The P17 is the smallest of the three guns and is also the slimmest by far. It isn’t just a modern rimfire pistol but is arguably a modern kit gun. 

The P17 is unique in its class for its size and design. It’s odd, but KelTec is always a little odd

The KelTec P17 uses 16-round magazines that are also very small and easy to use. The P17 does have a rail, but it isn’t optics-ready out of the box. Users have to purchase an optics-ready slide, and optically, it’s isolated to a somewhat novel Crimson Trace optic due to weight and reliability concerns. KelTec did include a threaded barrel. 

The P17 comes with three magazines. 

Taurus TX22

The Taurus TX22 is a bit of a surprise from Taurus, and it’s the gun I often point to when we talk about how much Taurus has changed over the years. The TX22 series does not directly represent any one Taurus pistol, but like the P322, it represents the generic modern gun. 

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The TX22 features a 16-round magazine. The Compact, Competition, and Generation 2 variants are optics-ready, but this Gen 1 model is not. The TX22 series has become quite popular for Taurus. 

The TX22 comes with two magazines and a magazine loader. 

Reliability 

A big problem with rimfire guns is reliability. The .22LR isn’t known for being powerful, so even straight blowback guns can be finicky. The reliability of earlier generations of .22LR semi-automatics required high-velocity ammo, which tended to be less than affordable. I brought three loads of .22LR to test these modern rimfire pistols. 

Each gun started with cheap Winchester white box ammo, which is standard velocity .22LR. Then we had the still affordable Federal Automatch, a little hotter, and the real hot stuff, Aguila Super Extra. If one gun couldn’t eat one type of ammo, it’d get upgraded to the next type. 

Modern rimfire handguns have never been more reliable. These three are champs and eat most ammo types

The SIG P322 and Taurus TX22 ate through the Winchester ammo without any issues. It chewed through the standard velocity stuff without a problem. 

The KelTec P17 performed well, but fell behind the other two. It had this weird quirk of a slow slide.

The P17 had occasional issues with the Winchester ammo. These issues occurred at least once in a magazine, and the most common malfunction was a failure to eject. These issues remained with the Automatch ammo. It was a less common title, but I still had a few failures to eject. When I moved to the Super Extra, the problems disappeared.

The TX22 and P322 tie for this win. 

Modern Rimfire Accuracy 

I tested accuracy up close and far away. The TX22 and SIG P322 performed about the same up close. The P17 is capable of good accuracy, but it hits way higher than you’d expect. The guns all have adjustable sights. I dialed the P17’s rear sight in to move the point of impact downward, but it did have the amount of adjustment necessary to get a proper POI/POA. 

These modern rimfires all perform well at close range and when speed matters. As you’d expect the recoil is very low

The SIG does have an optic, which might be considered an unfair upgrade. However, it is a Ruger ReadyDot, which cannot be adjusted. It could honestly be more of a detriment. As I shot with the ReadyDot, I realized I had to apply a little Kentucky windage to hit the center. This isn’t a problem at 10 and 15 yards.

The P322 might be more accurate with a better red dot. At 25 yards it’s not terrible.

However, the final test was a five-shot group at 25 yards. With the P322, the rounds all hit the target but were spread fairly far out. One didn’t hit the black of the target. 

The P17 was tough to shoot because everything hit high. Even with the sights adjusted it didn’t work all that well.

Fine-Tuning

It took me multiple attempts to find the right low hold on the P17 so that the rounds would hit the target. Once I found the hold, I landed four of the five on the target. One even hit the Bull’s Eye somehow. 

The TX22 was the most accurate of these three guns. It really impressed me.

Of these three modern rimfire pistols, the Taurs TX22 proved to be the most accurate. Even with its cheap plastic iron sights, the TX22 put out a very respectable group. All five are in the black, and I walked away very impressed with the TX22. 

Ergonomics On Modern Rimfire Guns

Ergonomically, the TX22 and the SIG P322 aren’t too different. The P17 takes a different route, but it’s not bad. The TX22 and P322 use generic pistol controls. They’d translate to modern guns from SIG, Taurus, Glock, FN, and more. The P322 pulls ahead of the TX22 in terms of ergonomics by going ambidextrous. 

The TX22 has an ambi safety, but the P322 has an ambi safety and slide lock. The P322 also has a larger magazine release than the TX22. This makes it easier to reach and quicker to reload. It’s a small difference, but it gives the P322 a slight advantage. 

Reloading the TX22 was easy, but the P322 was the fastest and easiest to reload. The KelTec was the slowest by far. All three has some ambi controls.

The P17 has ergonomics all over the place. The safety and magazine releases are ambidextrous. The safety sweeps downward and is positioned on the frame but a good bit below the slide. The magazine release is very European, with a trigger guard release. I like this type of magazine release. 

The KelTec has the thinnest grip by far.

However, the P17 magazines don’t drop free, so you have to pry them out. The P17 also features a slide lock that’s a bit of a hassle. It’s super small, and you’re guaranteed to get your thumb hit when you drop the slide—a painful little pinch. I’m also not a fan of the lack of curves in the P17 grip. It makes it feel like holding a board. 

Ultimately, the P322 has the best ergonomics of the three guns. 

Modern Rimfire Affordability 

This is the simplest section. What’s the most affordable of the three guns? I went to various retailers, both big and small, to get an idea of the street price of these pistols. I also looked at the cost of magazines to round out the conversation. 

The Taurus TX22 Gen 1 retails for right around 299. Magazines cost 24.99. 

These three are all fairly affordable, but the P17 takes the cake. Even the magazines are cheap

SIG ups the ante by selling their pistols for an average of around 399. The 20-round magazines cost 29.99, and the 25-rounders top the scales at 49.99. 

The KelTec P17 retails for a mere $219.99, making it the most affordable of the bunch by a long shot. The magazines retail for less than 20 bucks, but KelTec sells them for $14.99. 

The Modern Rimfires 

Modern rimfire handguns are changing rapidly. They are improving while being affordable, modular, and modern. As a guy who loves some rimfire shooting, the more modern pistols we get, the better. Ultimately, each of these guns has its benefits, and overall, I’m fairly impressed by them. 

Personally, the TX22 might be my favorite. A Gen 2 optics-ready model would be quite the gun. Still, the P322 and P17 both have some advantages. With that in mind, which would you pick? 

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