Playing with .22 tcm

[Wolfdog91]

So still not 100% done with this , still waiting on the new scope but this lil guys has been interesting

Anyhow built mine with a 8" KAK barrel and buffer spring kit , genetic 9mm bcg and PSA pistol lower. It's a direct blow back deal so honestly building it was stupid easy. Really wish they would make at least a 10.5-13" like their doing with their 7.62x25 tokerv barrels but eegghhh.


So the magazine is a lil tricky. I'm going with KAK's recommendation of using an 9mm Endo mag. Which is a cool lil deal where you basically just swap the guts out of a regular pmag with the Endo mag guts and boom you can shoot 9mm out of a regular lower If you where using a full size 30rd mag it's honestly like a 2min job , not even joking...but I hate 30rd mags on most of my stuff so going with a 10rd mag had to modify it a lil. Which now that I know how to do this....I'd say 5min ?

 

[232]

Nice!
How does it run (feed/eject)? I have a tcm 1911 and it is a fun round to shoot, but dang it is LOUD.

 

[Wolfdog91]

Sorry needed to go do something so stopped typing lol ! Back to it !

So legit all thou doing is cutting the place but down to fit the mag ( minute with a hack saw) cut the spring down and slip the 9mm rear follower out. Easy easy.

Now deal is , this I Perfect for factory ammo but if you like me and wanna do some cool stuff... Needed a lil more modification to make it so you can load out longer COAL / longer bullets . Still honestly not super hard..just cut the front follower out and use a Dremel to re do the ramp a bit...another 2-3 min no that I know what to do

 

[Wolfdog91]

Now it feeds the longer dummies perfect but the shorter ones , you need to push the forward or you have feeding issues....which honestly all you need to do tap the mag against you hand after you load the mag and it moved them all forward.

So you can also make your own brass for this lil guy out of 5.56, pretty similar to .300blk..a lil tedious but I was fun. And I have BUCKETS of 5.56/.223. so just used a little jig I bought and a mini cut off saw to cut my cases down

Quick annel with the help of a shallow 10mm and a bolt

Chamfer and debur before goin in my die

 

[Wolfdog91]

Then lube and let if flush off a bit
one step reforming

Good vs what happens if you don't anneal

And trim, actually hand to pull this outta storage because of how small the cases are along with re doing one of the pilots since I can't find a .22 cal one

 

[Wolfdog91]

And another trim and de burr...a long with cutting out all the primer pockets then wet tumble and drying

Now as far as shooting.... Had a bug or two to work out. Main was this barrel really needed a chamber polish , which honestly isn't difficult. 30cal brush with a patch some JB bore paste on the end of a short cleaning rod and a drill, no more stuck cases and like 10min.. fell like it should be done from the factory like that but haaayyy you sell me a $110 barrel I'm just expecting to do a lil work to it. Other then that and working out some stuff with the mag

And apparently the whole shouldering the brace thing got kicked out ...I think...I can post this lol

 

[Wolfdog91]

Factory Ammo and this lil 8" barrel is right here with the fastest .22 mag in a full size rifle so I'm BEYOND excited to try hand loading.

I swear if they would make at least a 16". Barrel redo that chamber and mags for longer COAl ...maybe lengthen the case along with pistol length gas in marble a AR bolt ?...shoot, call it the .22 hornet short Magnum and RUN with it cool heck neck this down to .17 cal and get some good 25-30 gr hp's made ? Bye bye .17 hornet

Well anyhow I got some 40gr vamxs to load up, figured now that I added a lighter trigger and the new scope is coming in soon I'll be able to actually shoot some serious groups vs just function testing like i did today lol

Now something odd I'm seeing while going though the brass is a bit of inconsistent fire forming not sure what's going on here

And shoulder measurements from left to right

Also made some dummies . This is a 1:7 twist so I actually have a possibility for alot to play with.
To 40gr factory 35gr vmax 50gr vamx 45gr hornet SP 55gr sp 63gr Cast HP

 

[Wolfdog91]

Gave her a once over today. It's had like 25 Rd of factory though it .Three patches of JB bore paste short stroke , dry patch it till it's fairly clean then two of solvent , dry patch it out then some rubbing alcohol. Honestly it's about what I expected for something using pistol powder

There's actually not a lot of data on this lil guy but common consensus is to use .22 hornet data. And since this is a bottle neck I thought .22 k hornet would be a little more appropriate.

Was either h110 or lil gun and from my experience with the hornet lil gun is a lot cleaner. And more consistent so gonna try a base chare of 7.8gr

And these lil guy are just adorable loaded with these 45gr Vmaxes

 

[Wolfdog91]

So fist shots ( ONLY HAD 35YD TO WORK WITH) with my hand loads and ..egh, definitely not enough gas

 

[Wolfdog91]

So long story short I just couldnt get this thing to function with my hand loads like I could with the factory stuff so I just kept goin up to 11gr of lil gun

 

[Wolfdog91]

So now all I can think is the buffer spring and weight are just plain too much for this combo. So went inside replaced the .308 KAK spring ( what the reccomended )with the mil spec one but kept in their heavy 9mm weight ,


Loaded up five more but at 10gr just in case something squirrely might happen and shot it again . This time I got pretty decent function 3 outta five ..buuuut getting a different fire form. The right one is what I've been getting with the heavy buffer and the left is what this round got... So not sure if this is how it should be or ?

 

[Wolfdog91]

Nice!
How does it run (feed/eject)? I have a tcm 1911 and it is a fun round to shoot, but dang it is LOUD.

Actually got it running really nice with factory ammo after polishing the chamber a little but hand loads....well they have been a little bit of a pain lol

 

[357Mag]

Actually got it running really nice with factory ammo after polishing the chamber a little but hand loads....well they have been a little bit of a pain lol

Wolfdog-

Howdy !

Great work, all around!

Where did you source the " jig " you used with the cut-off saw?


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Wolfdog91]

Wolfdog-

Howdy !

Great work, all around!

Where did you source the " jig " you used with the cut-off saw?


With regards,
357Mag

Hay boss man ! There a few places selling these will 3d printed jigs ,I got mine from these folks

22 TCM Cut off Trimming Jig Auto-Ejecting Brass Case Trimmer

Features: Compatible with Item #62136 Drill Master MiniCut-Off Saw from Harbor Freight. Created to convert .223 Rem (5.56) to 22 TCM cases. Case cut length adjustable between 0.90" - 1.05" (1.025" preferred length) Safety piece at end to help prevent cut piece from becoming a projectile...

elite3ddesign.com

 

[Evan]

I appreciate you taking the time to post all the photos! It was a great read and I look forward to updates.

I've been tempted to try one of these out in a bolt gun - may still go for it! My gateway drug was a 20 Vartarg and I keep thinking something even smaller could be good fun.

 

[243winxb]

Needed a lil more modification to make it so you can load out longer COAL / longer bullets

this barrel really needed a chamber polish ,

Long col reduces pressure.

The polish will let the case eject sooner. Nothing for the brass to grab onto at firing.

Over all, blow back with no delay, bad idea. Imo.

Use Hodgdon load data and powders.

Replace factory parts.

And no, i dont own one. The cartridge was designed with a 1911 delayed blow back pistol or a bolt action.

 

[Wolfdog91]

Long col reduces pressure.

The polish will let the case eject sooner. Nothing for the brass to grab onto at firing.

Over all, blow back with no delay, bad idea. Imo.

Use Hodgdon load data and powders.

Replace factory parts.

And no, i dont own one. The cartridge was designed with a 1911 delayed blow back pistol or a bolt action.

Well the problem was legit non of the factory ammo would even cycle before I polished the chamber , it just kept getting stuck. Not like now where it just won't cycle I legit had to mortar the charging handle to get the round out and even had a few rims break.

That being said lil gun and h110 are hogdon powders so... And what do you mean by factory exactly?

 

[dk17hmr]

Being blowback I bet your bolt is moving or isn't completely closed that's why your case looks like that. If you go down in buffer weight and spring it could be worse possibly out of battery....just a thought

 

[243winxb]

And what do you mean by factory exactly?

From website - FOR THIS BARREL WE RECOMMEND OUR 10.5 OZ BLUE TIP EXTENDED BUFFER WITH A 308 CARBINE SPRING IN A MIL SPEC CARBINE TUBE. FAILURE TO USE A HEAVY ENOUGH BUFFER CAN LEAD TO PREMATURE BOLT OPENING OVER EXPAND SHOULDERS AND NECKS AND CAN CREATE A DANGEROUS SITUATION..

 

[357Mag]

Wolfdog -

Howdy !

Thanx the fast response !


With regards,
357Mag