22 TCM

They look pretty neat and so does the cartridge. I had the hots for one for a while. I started looking at reviews and accuracy reports. They pretty much turned me away. Look at reviews before buying one, then make your decision.
 
I have seen reviews showing good to average accuracy. Nothing bad about the quality of the rifle. I think I'm going to leap and get one.
 
The rifle has been ordered. Gun shop said yesterday that it had arrived. Unfortunately I have to wait till mon to go pick her up. Have a Bushnell 6x18 scope to go on it.
 
I have a friend who has one in a pistol. He jumps for joy at the big fireball it makes. I just don't see the purpose of it, especially in a short barreled pistol. Don't really see what's special about it in a rifle either. There are a number of calibers that can do the same, and quality reloading components and information is readily available, unlike the .22 TCM
 
"This rifle is exclusively designed to harness the power of the Armscor .22 TCM 40-grain jacketed hollow point cartridge and averages 2,800 feet per second out of the barrel."

Funny stuff right there...
 
Originally Posted By: GC"This rifle is exclusively designed to harness the power of the Armscor .22 TCM 40-grain jacketed hollow point cartridge and averages 2,800 feet per second out of the barrel."

Funny stuff right there...

Yep probaly blow the ejector right out of Rem 700

I will add as far as accuracy goes a friend who is a gunsmith asked me if I had messed with the 22TCM. I told him no and he explained he had one of the above rifles in the shop to see if he could get it to shoot by bedding etc. I later asked him about it. He said that best he could get was 1 inch to 1.5 inch groups. When he called the guy and told him that the guy was ecstatic that it shot that well.
rolleyes.gif
 
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Real "Tack Driver" there. Thats the reports I got that turned me away. Wonder if a custom barrel would produce better groups. It is a neat little bullet.
 
Well, got it today, IMHO it is a good looking rifle that feels good in the hands. My scope, a Bushnell trophy 6x18, has a pretty big power knob on it, so had to use higher rings than I like. The receiver has a .22 groove cut into it. Had .22 to weaver bases installed, then low rings for the scope.
No pics right now my photobucket account is down right now.
Went to the range, first groups were disappointing. No better than 3".
I also had my Savage 93 heavy barrel with composite stock. It was shooting it's regular tiny groups, so all was good there.
Towards the end of the first box of ammo, things began to settle down some. Had a few 5 shot groups with 3 touching, then the other two shots off some. I think it shows promise, the trigger is pretty heavy (for me) but very crisp. I got how and checked all of the mounts, the gunshop had not done a good job of getting everything tightened down, so I torqued everything down. Found that the stock touched the barrel at the end, was off the stock everywhere else. I think with a lighter trigger, getting the stock off the barrel and torquing the action correctly it shows promise. I plan to reload with 35 gr V max bullets.
 
Found a 22 TCM dedicated site. Seems many early rifles got crappy barrels. Armscor is either replacing, or re-barreling these. The rifles coming out now in the 7000 ser number range are supposed to shoot good. Mine is a 4000...
Good thing is Armscor is turning these around pretty quick. Second thing, a couple guys have worked up loads for 35gr vmax at 3000fps.
 
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I emailed armscor about the accuracy of the rifle, and also the fact that bolt lift after firing was pretty hard. They sent a return label. After a few weeks, I got an email saying it was being returned to me. I asked what they had done, and was told my rifle was being replaced. Got it, found this one was properly tightened to the stock, the safety worked much more positively with distinct clicks. First rifle's safety was kinda mushy.
Got it to the range, still have a hard bolt lift, but have been told that goes away with use and reloads. I have only shot this new rifle once, went through a 50 round box of factory ammo sighting in the rifle and shooting for groups. This one won't put three shots into the same hole as my Howa .223 HB, but it was shooting pretty decent groups with the factory ammo. Have been told these really like 35gr ballistic tip reloads. While my rifle was being exchanged I got Lee dies for it and a pound of lil gun powder. Once I get some of these worked up I'll post up some more pics.
 
I would not develop much of an opinion on how these shoot factory ammo. I have messed with a lot of fireballs over the years, and have yet to see one that shot the factory ammo well. I like the TCM cartridge. For some reason I am compelled to neck it down to .17.
 
Well, several boxes of factory ammo down the tube now. Lee 22TCM dies have come in also. The factory 40 gr hollowpoints can shoot well at 50 yards. Move back to 100 yards, not so good. Factory ammois a little suspect, hard bolt lift, sticky extraction. My replacement rifle is in the late 7000 range, so should be a good one.
I got a box of 35gr Vmax bullets. Loaded some with 10gr Lil Gun and some more with 104gr Lil gun. What a difference! My rifle has a hard trigger, but I did get one 3/4" 3 shot group at 100 yards and several 1.5" groups. The factory hollowpoints were 3-5" groups. I had my chrono and was getting 2950 with the 35 grainers at 10.4. 10gr was giving 2870 range. Bolt lift and extraction was easy with reloads.
So far, so good.
 
I was going to get one for use with cast bullets. Then I started reading about accuracy issues. I read one report that said the barrel grooves were measured at .oo1" depth so very shallow.
Too bad they couldn't do better than that with their barrels.
With a good barrel it may do quite well but I didn't want to replace the barrel on a new rifle so passed. Ballisticly its a 22 Hornet but with a much tougher case which has always been an issue with the Hornet, very thin brass. The 22 TCM is on the 223 case so very tough.
 
Yes, very similar to Hornet, and Hornet bullets work well. I looked down the bore, the rifling doesn't appear, to the naked eye, any more shallow than my Howa. I can't wait to test my reloads on a windless day.
Anyone out there with a ballistic program, able to tell me what the drop on a 35gr vmax bullet at 2950 fps at 100 yards is? 200 yards?
 
Originally Posted By: deputygeneYes, very similar to Hornet, and Hornet bullets work well. I looked down the bore, the rifling doesn't appear, to the naked eye, any more shallow than my Howa. I can't wait to test my reloads on a windless day.
Anyone out there with a ballistic program, able to tell me what the drop on a 35gr vmax bullet at 2950 fps at 100 yards is? 200 yards?

Run the numbers here yourself for free:

http://www.jbmballistics.com/ballistics/calculators/calculators.shtml
 
Thanks!

Calculated Table
Range Drop Drop Windage Windage Velocity Mach Energy Time Lead Lead
(yd) (in) (MOA) (in) (MOA) (ft/s) (none) (ft•lbs) (s) (in) (MOA)
0 -1.5 *** 0.0 *** 2950.0 2.642 676.2 0.000 0.0 ***
25 -0.6 -2.4 0.0 0.0 2727.5 2.443 578.1 0.026 0.0 0.0
50 -0.1 -0.1 0.0 0.0 2515.8 2.253 491.8 0.055 0.0 0.0
75 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 2313.8 2.072 416.0 0.086 0.0 0.0
100 -0.0 -0.0 0.0 0.0 2121.0 1.900 349.6 0.120 0.0 0.0
125 -0.7 -0.5 0.0 0.0 1937.8 1.736 291.8 0.157 0.0 0.0
150 -1.9 -1.2 0.0 0.0 1764.8 1.581 242.0 0.198 0.0 0.0
175 -3.8 -2.1 0.0 0.0 1603.5 1.436 199.8 0.242 0.0 0.0
200 -6.6 -3.2 0.0 0.0 1455.8 1.304 164.7 0.291 0.0 0.0
225 -10.4 -4.4 0.0 0.0 1324.2 1.186 136.2 0.345 0.0 0.0
250 -15.5 -5.9 0.0 0.0 1211.6 1.085 114.1 0.405 0.0 0.0
275 -22.0 -7.7 0.0 0.0 1120.9 1.004 97.6 0.469 0.0 0.0
300 -30.3 -9.6 0.0 0.0 1051.3 0.942 85.9 0.538
 
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