Rock Island TCM Range Report

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Fanky

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Chippewa Falls, WI. 1 Mile from the home of DuraCo
While on vacation up in Ironwood, Michigan, I stumbled across a gravel pit that the locals shoot at. I brought my new TCM along with me just in case such an opportunity arose.

I wasn't exactly shooting for really tight groups or anything, more of a function shake-down and seeing where it landed on paper. Mine was hitting a few inches to the left consistently, so it looks like I'll be drifting the rear sight a little bit when I get home. Once I figured out where it was hitting, I had no issues busting little pieces of clay pigeons or picking shotgun hulls off of sticks at 10-15 yards.

Overall, I'm really pleased. I put 50 rounds through it, and the TCM handles beautifully. The recoil is very tame, although the muzzle blast is quite impressive. Being a brass hoarder, I was pleasantly surprised to see most of my empties landing in a neat pile about 3 feet to my right. The only issue that I came across is on a few occasions the extractor would fail to pull the empty out of the chamber after firing. I'm hoping it's just an issue with being a new pistol, and it didn't cause any severe hang-ups. Didn't get a chance to send any 9mm down range yet, I forgot to bring the extra mainspring along. I'm hoping to run a few hundred more rounds of both through it in the next few weeks to get a better feel for its long term reliability and performance.
 

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Thanks for the report. This is an interesting gun and the TCM is a very interesting caliber. Seems like it may be a less expensive option to the 5.7.
 
I do believe this is a very viable option to the 5.7. A box of Armscor hollow points is 20 bucks plus shipping, which I think is very reasonable for a brand new cartridge. It's also a smaller overall cartridge, which really helps with the grip frame size on the TCM. It feels just like any normal double stack 1911 I've handled before. The real bonus is the option to shoot 9mm with a simple barrel and spring swap. It really was a key selling point when I decided on buying a TCM. It really offers a lot of firepower in a handgun sized package with the .22 TCM cartridge, and a very affordable plinker with the 9mm swap.
 
Seems like it may be a less expensive option to the 5.7
Click to expand...

Not really


A box of Armscor hollow points is 20 bucks plus shipping,
Click to expand...

A box of FN5.7 Vmax is about $21 + shipping.


Unless Armscor gets other makers to chamber it, I give it little chance. FN is a large enough Military-Industrial-Complex player they can keep the 5.7 alive as an ego boost or niche product where full auto is allowed.

OTOH since the Armscor round seems to fit in 9mm sized frames, it shouldn't be too hard to get other makers to pick it up if their licensing terms are reasonable.
 
wally said:
Unless Armscor gets other makers to chamber it, I give it little chance. FN is a large enough Military-Industrial-Complex player they can keep the 5.7 alive as an ego boost or niche product where full auto is allowed.

OTOH since the Armscor round seems to fit in 9mm sized frames, it shouldn't be too hard to get other makers to pick it up if their licensing terms are reasonable.
Click to expand...

If other companies pick up .22TCM and start producing handguns in that caliber, with a little luck I can easily see it outstripping 5.7mm in popularity here in the states. 5.7mm has been around for a while and is still limited to one handgun, .22TCM is brand new but I think it has some potential if the market gives us a few different platform choices and brings the cost of ammo down a little.

We'll just have to wait and see, I personally wouldn't mind picking one of these guns up.
 
Not to sound too negative, but what exactly is the point of the .22TCM round, if 9mm is already much cheaper to begin with?
 
Does anybody know for sure what the 22TCM cartridge is derived from; is it a shortened .223 case or a stretched and necked-down 9mm. case? There seems to be conflicting information out there concerning this, including whether or not in order to convert it to 9mm. you need to have a different extractor installed. Some owners say yes their gun came with another extractor, others say they did not receive one and have had no problems with using 9mm. ammo doing only the barrel and recoil spring swap.
 
Fishbed77 said:
Not to sound too negative, but what exactly is the point of the .22TCM round, if 9mm is already much cheaper to begin with?
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I think it's supposed to give some competition to the 5.7mm market. A really fast .22 caliber bullet coming out of a handgun.
 
I researched in the 22 tcm before I got a pistol chambered in 5.7.

The 22 tcm uses a short bullet compared to a various lengths for the 5.7.
Also FN has a military and police influence worldwide as opposed to RIA.

The tokarev is what the 5.7 and the tokarev should have been. I am still dreaming of the day when they will make a modern gun chambered in 7.6x25.
 
All the sources I can find say it is a necked down 9mm of some sort. But... when I look at the cartridges forget the case length, the extraction grooves lead me to believe it is based off the .223 rem.
 
I don't know if there's any real reason for it's existence other than just to be a competitor to the 5.7, but if they make reloading dies and data available soon, it's definitely a fun cartridge to shoot. I've also heard mixed opinions on having to swap out extractors when switching over to 9mm. Mine came with the additional extractor, but I think I'm going to see how it functions with the TCM extractor for research purposes.
 
I have to say, I've never even heard of a TCM cartridge. Funky looking. Pretty interesting through. Thanks for posting.
 
i read the same thing.. that it was a 9mm necked down for the .223 bullet..

apparently, it is not.. i am corrected..
 
I'm aware of that ugly MPA gun that barely qualifies as a pistol (and that's why I didn't mention it), what are these two other handguns you're referring to?
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The MPA is a large pistol but it's still a 100% a pistol, I don't see how it barely qualifies.

http://www.excelarms.com/newproducts.html

These guys make two pistols and two carbines chambered for the round. Savage also makes a bolt action in the caliber. Don't forget the 57 uppers for AR 15s.

i read the same thing.. that it was a 9mm necked down for the .223 bullet..

apparently, it is not.. i am corrected..
Click to expand...

Looks to me that they based it off the 9mm case and just made it longer. Could it be a .38 Super necked down?
 
FIVETWOSEVEN said:
The MPA is a large pistol but it's still a 100% a pistol, I don't see how it barely qualifies.

http://www.excelarms.com/newproducts.html

These guys make two pistols and two carbines chambered for the round. Savage also makes a bolt action in the caliber. Don't forget the 57 uppers for AR 15s.
Click to expand...

Two minor companies making pistols that couldn't be uglier if they tried? Something tells me I won't be seeing many of these at the range, or even in gunstores. I'll be more impressed when a serious player in the firearms industry comes out with a 5.7mm chambered handgun, and I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Just glancing through the press I've seen on .22TCM, it makes me wonder if you could have your Glock/XD/M&P/Sig/etc. shooting this caliber with as little as a conversion barrel and different recoil spring, possibly new mags. We don't know yet, but I think there is the potential for a lot more real choices.
 
Seems like it'd make a fair coyote gun. If they designed the cartridge such that more than just a barrel swap is needed, they screwed up.
Wouldn't mind one for a Hi-Power maybe, were that the case.
 
I haven't looked at the TCM with any kind of seriousness, nor have I compared it closely to the 5.7. That said, if it is truly viable to have it be a relatively simple barrel/spring/and even extractor swap into existing 9mm guns, and it seems it is, that would be a major advantage vis-a-vis the 5.7. I have a PS90 and I have shot the five seven pistol a fair amount and I must be honest that I am not totally enamored with that gun and it is really the only viable handgun option in 5.7. I have no interest in "handguns" that are based off guns designed to really have shoulder stocks to be usable. Nor do I want a foot long gun that holds 9 rounds and is made by some company most people have never heard of.

I'd also be much more inclined to buy a barrel, springs and an extractor to try the cartridge out than I would be to drop $1k on a five seven. I agree what this cartridge desperately needs is a glock conversion barrel.
 
Fanky,
Any way you could get this chronographed? I am looking at the numbers, and Armscor is claiming about 150fps faster from their pistol than the 5.7 is getting out of a PS90 with 40gr projectiles. 2100fps vs. 1950fps, I might just have to get me one of these. Looks like a handloaders dream if we could get dies and load up some v-maxes.
 
If you load Vmax, you will have to seat them deep... eating up space in the cartridge.
SUPPOSEDLY, you should swap out extractors when you swap barrels and springs... leading to more evidence that the 9 and TCM are not related.
However reports are that now swapping the extractor has not been an issue.
Unless they release dies, I dont see the round taking off.


Jim
 
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