22 tcm

[Johnch]

Any other Rifles in 22 TCM other than the 2 from Rock Island ?

Don't have the cash right now
But in 6 - 12 months Ohio Workmans Comp will be finally be done with all the paperwork and I will be put on the Total Lifetime Disability
So I should get more cash each month

As I was thinking the 22 TCM should work well with a cast bullet in a rifle for hunting small game
With the small 223 based case I would think I should be able to find a good shooting load with a 40 - 50 gr bullet at 1200 - 1400 FPS

I have seen both good and bad reviews of the rifle so I am not sure I want to go with it

Thanks
John

[richhodg66]

Very short neck. Seemed like not nearly as good a choice as a .22 Hornet. There was a thread on here a while back, a fella got one of those Armscor rifles and worked up some loads in it.

I'd get a Hornet if I wanted a cast shooter in a .22 centerfire. A .222 should be good too.

[richhodg66]

Pretty lengthy discussion here; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...e-Range-Report

[Thundarstick]

What's wrong with a 221 fireball or hornet? The whole purpose of the 22 tcm is a hyper velocity handgun round, no?

[Earlwb]

There is or was someone making a AR15 conversion for the .22 TCM. But I forget who does it. The .22TCM website has been shut down and is no longer available.
I would love to get a barrel for the Bond Arms guns in 22 TCM. That I think would be pretty awesome. But I don't think they would make a 4.25 inch barrel for it though.

The .22 TCM is more for a handgun though. it offers blistering speed for the bullets out of the pistols which I think is what they designed it for in the first place.

The bullet design being a short blunt bullet does not have good ballistics for a rifle. It can shoot less than a inch size groups at 100 yards. You would need to use better bullets to get even better accuracy. But the better more long, boat tail, pointy, hollow point bullets won't fit into the cartridge case and still fit into the magazine when using a rifle. In single shot rifles it might be better as the cartridge OAL case dimension would be less critical. Plus you need to have a rifling twist rate for the weight bullets used. The .22 TCM uses the same rifling twist rate that the .22 LR rimfires do as they use 40 grain bullets for the factory load.

Some people have had custom rifles made for the .22 TCM though. So it is doable. Converting a .223 Rem rifle would be pretty easy albeit you have to put on a new barrel and chamber it for it.

I think that one problem is with it being a proprietary cartridge, most gun and ammo manufacturers will shy away from it. Maybe if Armscor released it into the public domain it might really take off and become more popular.

[Johnch]

Pretty lengthy discussion here; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...e-Range-Report

Thanks I will look at that

John

[Johnch]

I will likely look to get a 22 Hornet rifle to use

One reason I was looking at the 22 TCM was it is the 223 based case as I have LOTS of 223 and 5.56 cases
Another in "some" cases a small dia case that is rimed can have feeding issues compared to a decent bottle necked case

But ease of accurate loads will rule

John

[richhodg66]

When I was looking into it, the .22 TCM seems like a good idea, but in a rifle, the .22 Hornet is a better proposition. I'm betting that forming brass from .223 is a lot more trouble than it sounds like too.

Keep your eyes peeled for a Savage 340 or 219 in .22 Hornet, both are good rifles for cast shooting in my experience.

[Thundarstick]

I will likely look to get a 22 Hornet rifle to use

One reason I was looking at the 22 TCM was it is the 223 based case as I have LOTS of 223 and 5.56 cases
Another in "some" cases a small dia case that is rimed can have feeding issues compared to a decent bottle necked case

But ease of accurate loads will rule

John

Have you thought about a fireball, yet? A modern hornet on a 223 based case, seems like just what you are asking for??

[GhostHawk]

I think if it was me I'd start with either a single shot or bolt .223. From there you can play with loads all the way from subsonic to 3500 fps. Choice is yours.

Back in the middle of the big .22lr shortage I worked up a couple of different loads for my Handi Rifle single shot in .223.

Mostly using the 55 gr bator bullet and modest amounts of Red Dot. One with and one without gas check. Both gave decent accuracy.
Minute of squirrel head at 100 yards. Assuming the eye as aim point 10 out of 10 squirrels would have been dead.

For me that scratched that itch and I quit tinkering with it and moved on to something else.

You also might want to consider a decent .22 caliber air rifle. I prefer vortex to spring, less hold sensitive, less fussy about leaving it cocked.
The big wave of course is PCP but then you need compressor, tanks, etc. Been trying to avoid going down that road myself. Too easy to just shoot and shoot.
I think over time it takes some of the fun out of it. But that is just this grumpy ol fart's opinion. YMMV

[richhodg66]

Not to change the subject of the thread, but you have me wanting to give cast a go in the .223, I have not tried it yet. I have two rifles chambered in it, a 1980s plain jane Savage 110 which I'm sure has the old, slow twist and a recent Mossberg . I'm pretty sure the slow twist would be more cast friendly.

I RSO's at the range I sometimes go to Sunday and on anygiven day, I could walk out of there with a huge bucket of .223 brass. Something like a cast Red Dot load is sounding pretty good.

[Earlwb]

When I got my .22 TCM rifle, I was thinking of it being a .22 LR rimfire substitute for if we have the ammo shortages again. You can easily load it to mimmick the .22 LR rimfires. At the time I got mine, the ammo shortages were just starting to end. The rifling twist rate is the same as a .22 rimfire for 40 grain bullets. But for accuracy and using better bullets then other cartridges would be better. The .223 is great but it is hard to load it down to be like a .22 LR rimfire due to the larger case capacity. The .22 Hornet would be a better choice for that situation.

[Greg S]

22 K hornet or a 221 Fireball. The 17 Hornet is starting to peak my interest but I think that will be a jacketed only proposition. Slower twist in both for boolits.

[richhodg66]

When I got my .22 TCM rifle, I was thinking of it being a .22 LR rimfire substitute for if we have the ammo shortages again. You can easily load it to mimmick the .22 LR rimfires. At the time I got mine, the ammo shortages were just starting to end. The rifling twist rate is the same as a .22 rimfire for 40 grain bullets. But for accuracy and using better bullets then other cartridges would be better. The .223 is great but it is hard to load it down to be like a .22 LR rimfire due to the larger case capacity. The .22 Hornet would be a better choice for that situation.

This is why I bought my first Hornet and got into it. It does the rimfire substitute thing really well.

[Earlwb]

This is why I bought my first Hornet and got into it. It does the rimfire substitute thing really well.

At the time I bought mine, during the ammo shortages, it was about the only thing I could get around here. All of the other 22 small case guns were unobtanium.