Comments

1. On November 5, 2025 at 12:00 am, jrg said:

   I am a 22 Magnum fan as well. The perfect round for ‘big small game’ like jackrabbit, turkey and javelina. It isn’t a precision round, but for hunting a good choice. And for the person unable to shoot larger rounds, self defense potential.

   Thanks for the video.

2. On November 5, 2025 at 2:46 am, Georgiaboy61 said:

   In taking the time to learn about the .22-caliber hot-rod out there in the land of cartridges, especially ones that work in handguns, I compared/contrasted 22 TCM, 5.7x28FN and .22 Win Magnum rimfire.

   22 TCM is a proprietary cartridge owned by Armscor of the Philippines, which makes both handguns and several long guns in the cartridge. Although it has not yet been submitted for SAAMI certification in the ‘States, a number of companies have published reloading data, come out with die sets, and starting producing materials for those who wish to Sptfor it.

   One neat aspect of the 22 TCM design is that it was developed for use in M1911 pistols, and Armscor/Rock Island makes a convertible which swaps back-and-forth between 9x19mm/9mm Luger and 22 TCM, just by swapping out the upper (slide) on the handgun.

   Using 35-40-grain bullets, 22 TCM is capable of pushing loads to or even past the 2,000 fps barrier. The only drawback of the cartridge from a design standpoint is that due to OAL concerns, few bullets are properly dimensioned to work in the cartridge, which utilizes short, blunt, round-nose slugs. Spitzers do not work, for the most part. But make no mistake, 22 TCM is a fire-breathing little beast! Which is literally a blast to shoot.

   The 5.7×28 FN cartridge was developed by the Belgian firm as a potential replacement for 9x19mm Luger in certain handgun and submachine gun applications. Most-famously, it is fired from the futuristic P90 SMG/personal defense weapon. Ideal for projectiles in the 35-45-gr. range, the 5.7 as it is termed, performs well – delivering 380 ACP levels of energy and working well in certain military-tactical applications such as penetrating soft body armor. Those sorts of loads are not legal in many places for civilians to own, but the cartridge does have other virtues.

   It is expensive, but coming down in price. Power is 5-10% behind equivalent loads in 22 TCM.
   If you wish to roll your own, be warned that this funky little cartridge is a pain in the you-now-what to reload properly (for reasons that we won’t cover here), and components are not all that easy to get. No one – as of today – is making virgin brass for sale to consumers. Oh, which brings up something else: FN uses a proprietary coating on the cases to help lubricity during the firing cycle, and with “hot extraction.”

   The 22 Mag is really saving the best for last in a lot of ways. Being a rim-fire, the vast majority of reloaders can’t/won’t even try to make their own. But on the bright side, the ammo is plentiful, cheap and there are many choices. Speer and Hornady even make self-defense loads!
   While the 22 Mag does not offer performance equivalent to 22 TCM or 5.7×28 in terms of MV and kinetic energy, it does quite well in comparison to garden-variety .22 Long Rifle or other forms of std. pressure .22 rimfire.

   All three of the aforementioned cartridges are loads of fun for a day at the range; all are also a good means of introducing new shooters to the sport. Being the cheapest, easiest to get, and a star performer generally, 22 Mag probably wins top prize as best value, and is also more fun than you might think.

3. On November 5, 2025 at 11:57 am, RHT447 said:

   22 TCM. First I’ve heard of it. Interesting. Not that I’m in the market but still, interesting. Also interesting that Winchester (and others) now offer 22 LR 40 gr. ammo listed at 1440 fps.

   I can’t say I’ve shot that much 22 WMR, mostly due to cost and that I am “well stocked” in 22 LR. I do have a three screw Ruger Single Six convertible that belonged to a late shootin’ buddy. It is an absolute delight with 22 WMR. In the video, the color case-hardened Single Six is obviously a three screw, the other looks to be a later two screw.

   I’ve always thought that 22 WMR is an excellent survival round. And excellent balance of power, cost, a round count per weight and space.

   Just from reading, it has been my impression that 22 WMR has always been problematic getting it to run reliably in semi-auto long arms. While I have been tempted now and again, the high speed 22 I keep coming back to is 223/5.56. I already have AR(s) and a Winchester M70, and am belt buckle deep in ammo and components.

4. On November 5, 2025 at 1:33 pm, jrg said:

   The Brno 611 semi-auto runs fine, but some say the higher velocity European ammunition functions better. The current (late ?) CZ 512 may be a solution. Brno is now very expensive and components from a company which closed its doors in 2006 (I think) are very hard to find now.

5. On November 5, 2025 at 2:39 pm, Georgiaboy61 said:

   @RHT477

   The 22 TCM – “TCM” stands for “Tuason Craig Micromagnum” – was developed by shortening and necking-down a 5.56x45mm NATO case to accept .224-caliber bullets. It was the result of a collaboration between custom gunsmith Fred Craig and Armscor president Martin Tuason.

   As previously noted, the cartridge is proprietary to Armscor, who are the sole makers of factory ammunition for it.

   The cartridge overall length matches that of 38 Super – which is commonly used by competition shooters of the M1911, and has also seen tactical/LE use over its long service life, most notably by Elliott Ness and his team of FBI agents, who used M1911 handguns and Thompson SMGs chambered in 38 Super.

   Later, after the 22 TCM was established, the so-called 22 TCM-9R was released; it is the cartridge shortened to the same OAL as 9mm Parabellum/9x19mm. This allowed Armscor to use the cartridge in their 9mm M1911 line without too much modification to them, apart from a barrel switch. The 22 TCM-9R is similar to a necked-down 9x19mm, so it works in Armcor’s 9mm magazines for the M1911.

   It’s a bit of an odd-ball design and I don’t rightly know if it will ever find official application in LE or other tactical circles, but it scores off the charts when it comes to the fun factor. It is a blast to shoot, not just metaphorically but literally – the muzzle blast/flash from the cartridge has to be seen to be believed.

   Tuason and Craig have stated that they wanted to develop a cartridge of this kind which was simply fun to use, and also practical for small game/varmint hunting, and potentially for self-defense. And that’s pretty much what they have done.

   22 TCM has a firm 150-200 fps advantage in MV over the 5.7×28 FN, and even more in comparison to 22 Mag rimfire. However, the future potential of 22 TCM is uncertain. Armscor has sort of painted itself into a corner with such a short OAL – which severely limits what loads can be used in the cartridge. That is, if it is going to fit into a Glock or M1911-sized handgun.

   I’d welcome a “magnum” size semi-auto pistol or even a revolver, designed to permit longer OAL – because the cartridge has plenty of untapped potential once it escapes the length limitation imposed by the original concept. Being a bottle-neck, 22 TCM chambers, extracts and ejects reliably from a self-loading pistol. A revolver might be problematical since the cartridge doesn’t have a rim, but the designers at Armscor can figure it out, I am certain. Moon or half-moon clips ought to work…

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment