Catching up with the technology.

I was a little freaked out when a couple folks asked me if there was a way they could receive updates to my blog.  As it appears I've grown from two followers to five I felt as if I should provide the readers with what they wanted.  There is now a banner at the bottom of the blog so that you can receive blog updates by email.   I won't sell, share, or use your email addresses for any nefarious purposes, mainly because I don't know how. :-D

Thompson Center TCR22 Testing

The 50 yard rimfire range as seen through the lens of an iPhone.

It's been quite some time since I've found a rifle that I have really enjoyed shooting.  The past couple of weeks reminded me of when I was kid and deemed responsible enough to take a .22 out back of my parents house so I could murder some soda cans and old shotgun hulls without direct supervision.  This little rifle has been fun to shoot.

Here's how the testing started.

I unboxed at the range and started running rounds through it with minimal inspection.  Ammo used was the Federal Red Box that is sold exclusively at Walmart.  At 3.6 cents per round it's about the best value going for bulk ammo.  It's also pretty decent stuff.  After running a few rounds through the rifle I had a friend shoot it as well.  I managed to shoot the below ten shot group off a rest using the iron sights.

Ten shot group from 30 yards with iron sights.

To clarify a couple things, I wear bifocals and could barely see the highlighted eyeballs at thirty yards.  I felt as if this was a good enough group with my limitations to justify putting s scope on it and seeing what sort of accuracy I could get.  Which brought us to this:

Ten shot group from 30 yards with scope.

I felt as if this was accurate enough to stretch things out to fifty yards.  For all practical purposes, that's the furthest I'd intend to use a .22 rifle in the capacity of a critter-gitter.  So I planned another range trip with a couple of additional pieces of gear.  I picked up a Magpul M-Lok rail and an inexpensive bipod.

The installation of the rail was a bit of a pain, mainly because I didn't have my normal compliment of tools available at the range.  With a fair bit of profanity interspersed with furtive looks to make sure none of the other folks at my range could see my struggles, I got the rail on and tightened.  For those folks that have a kitchen table, decent overhead light, and basic hand tools, this installation should present no problem at all.

I proceeded to zero the rifle at fifty yards once again using the Federal Red Box.  I pasted up some fresh targets for Federal AutoMatch, MiniMags, and Federal Game Shok and things immediately took a turn for the negative.  My groups started to drift to the left.  Every ammo change created a larger drift until I was six to eight inches to the left of my point of aim.  Even after rezeroing the groups would continue to drift left.  At this point I decided to pack it up and talk to a couple of very knowledgeable friends.

As we discussed the various possibilities I brought the TCR22 out and started to inspect potential failure points.  The scope used was a Simmons 22 Mag Riflescope that I had acquired in a purchase of another rifle.  We decided the best option was to use a known good scope and start over.  When I went to remove the scope I discovered what I'm pretty sure was the real culprit.

A loose scope ring is a surefire way to lose zero.

Another trip to the fun store, another set of rings, and I went ahead with a different scope, A Bushnell 3x9 Sportview with a one inch tube, because the eye relief worked out a bit better for me.  After all that, the fifty yard groups with various ammo that I've found to be readily available.  All groups are five shot groups.

2 1/4" group with Federal Red Box.

1 1/16" group with CCI MiniMag 40 grain.  The flyer is all mine.

1 11/16" group with CCI Quiet.  It also dropped 7 1/4" from the PoA.

1 1/2" group with Aqula Super Extra 40 grain.

1 1/2" group with CCI Blazer.

2 7/8" group using Remington Golden Bullet.

Federal Game Shok provided a 1" group.

At this point I finally had to stop and clean the rifle.  I had fired 599 rounds of various ammo and the groups were starting to spread and drift.  I took a quick look at the muzzle and there was quite a bit of goo on the crown.  I'll go through some of the details of what I found during cleaning in the next post.  Meanwhile, back to the groups I really wanted to see.

CCI Stingers impressed me with a 7/8" group.

CCI Velocitors with a 1 7/16" group.

Thompson Center advertises the TCR22 with a "crisp trigger" on their spec sheet.  I will concur with that with the caveat that it is heavy for precision shooting.  As time permits I intend to install a Ruger BX Trigger and see if I can tighten up some of those groups.  I'm not sure if the installation of the BX Trigger will affect the bolt hold-open feature.  That's a non issue for me personally but it's a good data point to track.

A quick note.  At this point in testing, evaluation, and just plain having fun I have put 754 rounds through the TCR22.  I've had five failures to fire with the Federal Red box and one Failure to Extract with the CCI Quiet.  That is a .7% failure rate.  While not empirical data it does call into question the sage wisdom of keyboard commandos everywhere that pontificate on the unreliable ignition of .22 rimfire ammo.

Thompson Center TCR22 Overview

In a market saturated with a particular product I question when a company brings forth their version.  The Ruger 10/22 is the second most produced .22 rifle with the Marlin Model 60 having the honor of first place.  Ruger makes quite a few variations of their signature product as well as a host of accessories.  Other companies such as Magnum Research, Volquartson, Kidd, Tandemkross, and Tactical Solutions or TacSol make rifles or aftermarket accessories for the 10/22.  So the question that I first asked myself when I came across a TCR22 in a local Enabler Store...err...gun store is.  "What makes you guys think your product is worth my money?"

Most folks think of the Contender line of single shot rifles or perhaps the newer Encore series when Thompson Center is mentioned.  When I type in Thompson Center in Google, this Wikipedia excerpt popped up.

"Thompson/Center Arms is an American firearms company based in Springfield, Massachusetts. The company is best known for its line of interchangeable-barrel, single-shot pistols and rifles."

As it turns out they have made quite a variety of rifles including the R55, which was an extremely well made semi automatic .22 for what one would consider a production rifle.  As of this writing, the R55 is not shown on the Thompson Center website.

So what does a 10/22 clone made by a company that specializes in single shot, convertible rifles have to offer?  I'm glad you asked.  

The immediately recognizable feature is the re-branded Magpul stock.  TC's version of the Hunter X-22 is a stripped down version.  There are swing swivel mounts on the foregrip and butt stock, slots for an M-Lok rail on the bottom of the foregrip, and the butt pad is removable, which could be a handy storage spot for those who lean towards the survivalist potential of the rifle.

The most advertised feature of the rifle is the last shot hold open when using the Thompson Center magazines.  It is a partially clear, ten round magazine that looks exactly like Ruger's BX1 with one notable difference, a small lever located on top.  That lever must be pushed down before the first cartridge is inserted, which is a bit of a trick.  Once the first cartridge is inserted correctly the remaining nine can be loaded in the same manner as OEM Ruger magazines such as the BX1, BX15, and BX25.

The TCR 22 comes with a machined 6061 aluminum receiver with an integral picatinny rail.  I had to look up what made 6061 special.  In short, it's easy to work and is quite durable.  It is used a lot in bike frames, firearms parts such as AR lower receivers, and aircraft parts.  It is not as strong as 7075 aluminum but is well suited for the use of a firearm receiver that is not receiving direct stress from cartridge ignition pressure.

The bolt is fully machined stainless steel with an oversized bolt handle.

The barrel is 17" long with a 1:15 twist and button rifling.  I had to look up what 'button rifling' is to satisfy my curiosity.  The grooves are 'ironed' in the bore with the use of a button that is ran through from either the muzzle or breech end, depending on the preference of the manufacturer.  More accuracy records are held with rifles that have button rifled bores than any other type.  You can read more about the various Rifling processes at the NRA Family website.

The barrel is threaded with 1/2"x28 threads and comes with a thread protector.

Sights are a non adjustable blade with a green fiber optic insert at the front and a rear peep that is windage and elevation adjustable.  The peep is mounted at the rear of the receiver providing the longest possible sight radius.

One of the most attractive features of this rifle is the weight, or rather the lack of.  According to the Thompson Center Spec Sheet the TCR22 weighs 4.4 pounds.  That is in direct competition with Ruger's new line of lightweight take down rifles that are specced at 4.5 pounds.

I'll go into specifics in the next installment but I wanted to share a couple of quick observations.

1. Accuracy is very good.  
2. I usually have to run 500-1000 rounds through a 22 to get consistent reliability.  With the exception of some bulk ammo related malfunctions, this rifle has been utterly reliable to date with about 500 rounds through it at this point.  I have not cleaned the rifle.
3. More to follow in the next post.

What the hell Photobucket?!

As most folks know, Photobucket has gone Full Retard with their 3rd party hosting.  When I go to their site it's so ate up with pop up ads that I can't even navigate to see what pictures were linked.

I'm in the process of shuffling things over to imgur.  Any new images will of course be hosted there as well.  Photobucket, you suck.  AMF.

Defensive Pistol Skills By First Person Safety

I attended the Defensive Handgun class put on by First Person Safety this weekend.  First Person Safety is owned and operated by Chief Deputy Lee Weems.  Lee has a long resume of firearms and instructor training and has a very personable teaching style.  You can check out his credentials and mission statement on his website via the above link.

Lee observing students shooting from cover at the
twenty five yard line.

The class ran for about eight hours and required roughly 350 rounds of ammo.  The drills ran from three yards to twenty five yards, required the student to draw from a holster, shoot freestyle, dominant hand, non dominant hand, from a standing or kneeling position, and from cover.  Some drills required shooting a single target while others required shooting two targets or repositioning oneself in order to not hit a non-threat target.

The class started off with the usual sign-in and appropriate waivers.  Once that business was out of the way we went through a quick introduction, safety rules, and medical plan.  On that note, if you're planning on taking a class that doesn't have some sort of medical plan, contact info for EMS, and an emergency plan, you might want to reconsider taking that that class.  While range injuries are not common, you don't want to be the one to discover that the instructor and/or host hasn't made provisions for emergency treatment and possible evacuation while you've developed an unplanned leak or some other form of trauma that has the potential to be life changing.

Initial introduction and safety briefing.

The class started off with the students moving to the three yard line with their pistols and holsters but no ammunition.  This was the initial dryfire portion of the class in which the students were taught proper presentation of the pistol from the holster, proper reholstering, proper grip, trigger press, finding the reset point and using it during the follow up shot process, transitioning from the dominant hand to the non dominant hand safely, and trigger press with the non dominant hand.

Lee demonstrating proper grip technique
with a non-functioning 'blue gun'.

As the class progressed, Lee used the Crawl-Walk-Run training method to build upon skills learned in the prior block of instruction.  Students quickly went from dry fire or dry practice to live fire.  During subsequent blocks, skills learned in the previous block were reinforced as they were built upon.  I can't stress the importance of that enough.   All too many shooting classes quickly leave some students behind in an attempt to cram too much information in too quickly for some students to retain.  Such was not the case here.  Nor was it overly repetitive and monotonous.

Students working at the fifteen yard line from
a kneeling position.

The class culminated with a test of Lee's devising, which was the harder of the three.  The other two tests or qualifications were the FBI Qualification and the Georgia POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) Qualification.  The First Person Safety Qualification incorporated lifestyle into the testing, students would start with a simulated cell phone in their dominant hand, non-dominant hand, and in both hands as if texting.  Verbal commands were also part of the test.  In other words, he incorporated lifestyle events into the test.

This class was well put together and flowed smoothly.  The heat was quite brutal on students and instructors alike with temperatures in the low nineties and the humidity near the same.  Demonstrations with explanations as to "why" flowed into dry runs and live runs.  At least one student had physical ailments and had to have assistance loading magazines on occasion.  The crowning achievement of the class was that of the youngest student, a mere lad thirteen years of age who was taking his first formal class passed the FBI Qualification.  That was with eight hours of instruction.  FBI trainees have roughly eight WEEKS of instruction and still have a fairly high failure rate.

As I've mentioned before in regards to Lee's shotgun classes, this is a good class to take, regardless of your skill level.

A few technical notes for those so interested.

There were ten students.
One Instructor.
Two Assistant Instructors.
Eight striker fired pistols.
Two Traditional Double Action Pistols.
Eight 9mm's.
One .45 ACP.
One .40 S&W.
One student ran a WML on his pistol.

S&W 43C

  I've been looking for a small, lightweight revolver to fill a niche, specifically something smaller and lighter that is reliable and reasonably accurate.  I'll get to the reasonably accurate part in a bit, as I have certain criteria for that that requires a bit of explaining.

  I came across a Smith and Wesson Model 43C recently at a good price and picked it up to test.  The 43C is an all aluminum frame and cylinder J frame revolver chambered in .22 Long Rifle with a capacity of eight rounds.  It has a stainless steel barrel and an XS Sights white dot.  The revolver weighs a whopping 11.5 ounces.

My example was purchased used and has had a reduced weight Wolff mainspring installed.  The trigger pull weight is rather light and I had reservations about positive ignition, as the initial testing showed, those fears may be ungrounded.  Of the 142 rounds fired during the testing with various ammunition, there were only two Failure To Fire's which appeared to be ammo related.  To that point, let's take a look at the data.

The test parameters were conducted using a Dot Torture target.  I chose this for the convenient numbers for tracking purposes and a reasonably sized aiming point, 2 1/16" to the outside of the circle by my measurement.  The gun was cleaned by running a brass brush once through each cylinder and the barrel and wiping the cylinder face down with a clean, dry cloth.  All shots were performed from 3 1/2 yard, freestyle, in a rapid fire, (as in front sight, trigger press, recover front sight, trigger press, etc.) fashion.  I ran 16 rounds of all the various ammunition with the exception of one.

I ran 30 rounds of Sellier & Bellot, 38 grain, High Velocity, lead hollowpoints for my initial familiarization with the pistol.  I started the test with the same ammo.

Sellier & Bellot .22 Long Rifle HV HP:
16 rounds.
Sticky extraction requiring a sharp rap from my support hand to remove the empty cases.
No Failures To Fire.













Aquila Super Extra 40 grain HV
16 rounds.
Slightly sticky extraction.
No Failures To Fire.















Blazer 40 grain
16 rounds.
No Failures To Fire.
Slightly sticky extraction.

CCI MiniMag 36 grain HP
16 rounds.
Easy extraction on first cylinder, hard
with one finger on second cylinder.
No Failures To Fire.

Aguila Super Extra 40 grain, LRN, SV
16 rounds
#4 and #8 FTF, ammo related.
Slightly sticky extraction.

For fun!
Aguila Super Colibri, 20 grain
8 rounds.
EASY extraction!
















One shot presentations from low ready from four and eight yards.  Each shot was fired at a dot numbered dot.

Aguila Super Extra 40 grain HV24 rounds.

No Failures To Fire.
Slightly sticky extraction.

















In conclusion, I'm not satisfied with the accuracy exhibited thus far.  There's no reason to not be able to keep the shots within a 2" or smaller group from 3 1/2 yards.  I blame that on me more so than the 43C.  I've only recently started shooting revolvers with a coiled mainspring in a serious manner.  The ability to maintain a good sight picture throughout the entire trigger press is affected by the difference and the difficulty is magnified by the small grips and sight radius.  I don't view this as a hardware problem but as a software problem that I'll continue to address.

Run What You Brung

A potentially violent incident took place in my driveway a few nights ago.  A young man who had decided to dislike my son showed up with the intention of starting a fight.  My son urgently texted me requesting that I come outside.  As I went out the door, not knowing what the issue was, only that it was urgent I had two small flashlights, one a penlight style with a 90 lumen output and the other a compact 'tactical' style with a 180 lumen output.  A J frame sized .38 in my front pocket with a five round speed strip, a pocket knife of the one handed open variety, and my cell phone.

As I stepped outside i could see multiple figures at the end of my driveway, which is about fifty feet from my front door.  I had the penlight in my hand which provided enough illumination to verify one of the figures was my son along with two other young men.  I could tell things weren't quite right as I approached so I began my interview process to determine what exactly was going on and why my son urgently requested my presence.  After a brief bit of verbal byplay, questions, over played politeness on the part of the instigator, I finally came to a rough conclusion of what his intentions were and then proceeded to explain to him why his actions were poorly thought out, some of the consequences of his actions should he proceed, and eventually saw him and the third young man on their way home.

During the interview process I noticed the instigator was jittery.  He moved around a lot, his hands were busy, lots of grooming motions and so forth.  I had kept the 90 lumen penlight in my hand and it was still on, aimed at roughly waist level to keep all the players illuminated.  Every time the instigator would twitch I'd flash him in the eyes, it would distract him long enough to maintain control of the conversation and redirect whatever his intent might have been.

I found this particular interaction interesting when I was doing my mental After Action Report the following day.  I decided to do some research and have yet to find any conclusive findings about using a bright light as a Situation Management Tool, to borrow a term from Claude Werner, The Tactical Professor.  I do feel as if the idea has merit and will continue to look into the concept.

The other item of note that came up in my Post Incident Review was the equipment I had to work with.  I walked into a situation that might of had the potential to turn violent.  I had a pocket pistol, a very slow method of reload, two small lights, a pocket knife and a cell phone.  I waked out of my house with all sorts of defensive gear because why?  The situation was urgent and I didn't feel as if I had the time to gear up.  This forcefully reminded me that we will have to deal with situations with what we have at hand, not in the EDC bag, the truck, the safe, even in the next room.

I'm not going to try and convince folks to carry more gear.  If you want to do so, more power to you.  If you carry less, again more power to you.  What I am going to suggest is 1. Get involved in some sort of conflict management training.  2. Practice with your actual Every Day Carry gear.  Learn to incorporate that with the training you've received in conflict management.

Before I got around to editing and posting this, another incident came up in which a bright flashlight resolved a situation.

I live in the cul-de-sac of a single road subdivision.  Late on New Year's Eve my wife and I stepped out in the garage to chat and have a smoke.  We noticed a vehicle idling in the cul-de-sac as we talked.   When we lit up the truck pulled out and proceeded towards the entrance/exit of our neighborhood.  I thought that was suspicious and resolved to stay up a bit later to keep an eye on things.

A few minutes later the truck returned.  This time I had a bit more flashlight with me, one with a 320 lumen output.  In this case the light lit up the entire vehicle and the interior as they drove by.  The driver accelerated through the turn-around of the cul-de-sac and left to not return, leaving no doubt in my mind that the driver and passenger were up to No Good.

At this point I'm convinced that a good flashlight with decent output is a viable tool to resolve potential conflicts.  Like most tools, it has a specialized niche in which it's effective and should be used prudently.