LOADS FOR A .22 TCM

The .22 TCM first appeared commercially in 2012, chambered in a Rock Island Armory 1911-style handgun.

- Patrick Meitin

Patrick found the .22 TCM ideal for Idaho clear-cut ground squirrels, easily reaching out to 150 yards accurately with tailored handloads.

A pair of Rock Island TCM rifles followed the 20-inch-barreled M22 TCM Tactical based on an adjustable synthetic stock and the 22.75-inch tubed M22 TCM BA bedded in wood. I'd attempted, unsuccessfully, to secure a loaner rifle for some time before coming across a used M22 TCM BA in the used-gun rack of Orofino, Idaho's, Olive's Auto Parts. I purchased the rifle, anxious to see what this cartridge was all about.

Rock Island Armory's 22M TCM BA rifle does not have a recoil lug in the traditional sense, but a milled aluminum trigger guard/magazine well block that fits into a tight stock mortise.

The action of the Armscor 22M TCM BA rifle is anchored into the hardwood stock by two robust bolts that include hex heads to prevent stripping.

The .22 TCM is a squat, bottlenecked cartridge based on a shortened/necked-down .223 Remington case and created to run from a 9mm Luger magazine. It is an Armscor International propriety cartridge originated by gunsmith Frederick Craig (a former Armscor consultant) and backed by Armscor President Martin Tuason. Tuason Craig MicroMag (TCM) became it's tag, and it was advertised to send 40-grain bullets at 2,000 feet per second (fps) from a 1911 pistol with a 5-inch barrel. Armscor factory ammunition (two options labeled "pistol ammo") include 39-grain and 40-grain jacketed hollowpoints with a stated velocity of 1,875 fps, so I'm not sure where the 2,000 fps number originated.

Midsouth Shooters Supply's 34-grain Varmint Nightmare X-Treme hollowpoint did best with 9.5 grains of Accurate 4100 launched at 2,436 fps and produced this .89-inch group.