Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 22 TCM

Anyone have one and load for it?

Friend bought one, and was asking me about loading it for him...

he's a disabled Marine Vet, and due to nerve damage he wouldn't be able to have that fine dexterity to be able to load a cartridge that small...

Was wondering what powder and bullet weights anyone might be using if they are shooting one...

was told 22 Hornet load data for 45 grains and down would be pretty equal....close to same capacities...

any help would be greatly appreciated...

already ordered some Lee Dies from Midway for it...

Lane Pearce wrote up the round in the March 2015 Shooting Times. I looked up 22tcm online and found the article about the third page back. Lane mentioned the powders he liked but they did not post his data. Others responded with their data.

yep.



It's a fun round, I have dies for it, but have not yet handloaded for it. Lee and Redding make dies, though the Reddings are expensive. Be very careful about loading because it is a very small case, and pressures can spike in a hurry.

A common problem is failure to extract the fired case. I polished the chamber thoroughly, then Ultra Bore coated it, and it worked perfectly thereafter. Actually may be a useful trick for other pistols.

The gun came with an extra 9mm barrel, and I didn't own a 9mm 1911 at the time, so it was good value even if the 22 TCM didn't prove useful.

Mine is the full size single stack version. RIA also sells a double stack version, also with an extra 9mm barrel. Brass, and bullets are readily available.

The other point, while I think of it, is like any other bottleneck pistol case, it can be hard to prevent bullet setback in feeding. It's not easy to get a tight enough crimp & bullet fit. Setback can't be permitted, as it can cause malfunctions, and also pressure spikes. Crimping alone is an issue, because the case may collapse from too hard of a crimp.

One trick I used was to tumble the cases after sizing, to get rid of any lube on the inside of the case neck. Also, adjust the diameter of the expander plug, to make it as small as possible, and give a tighter bullet fit.

Pat, thanks for the info...

I've got a set of Lee Dies on the way...

was wondering about seeing if Lee had a Collet crimp die for the case.... or about getting another Die and remove the spindle to do a slide crimp on the finished case...

I'll make sure I do your recommendation of tumbling the brass AFTER sizing to remove lube from the neck...

normally on loading anything else.. I don't lube the necks inside... I just run a bore brush down the neck on a pistol rod.. that seems to be good enough...

Stumbled across one article that stated one could use starting data from a 22 Hornet or a 5.7 x 28...

Was thinking the 46 grain Speer FN/HP might be an effective little bullet if it feeds well...

will check into polishing the feed ramp and chamber entrance as you suggest...

best regards
john chr.
seafire

I've had one for a little over a year. Have done some loading for it. When I ordered factory 40 gr hp bullets from Armscor($8.00/100), they sent me a piece of paper saying that the only load they recommended is a starting load of 9 gr of H110. Over here(http://www.22tcm.net/viewforum.php?f=1) there is plenty of discusion on hand loading; you kinda have to sort what is for rifle and what is for pistol.
I have loaded to 10 gr of H110 with the factory 40 gr hp bullet getting 1900fps out of my 5" 1911. Factory stuff that I have chronoed consistently runs 2050fps mv. They tell you to use only small pistol primers, but I use Federal 205s. And I have loaded the Speer 46 fp bullets over 9 gr of H110 and they do feed fine in my gun.
If you don't have a Lee universal case expanding die or something similar to bell the mouth on the case , you might want to get one. I thought I wouldn't need it, but finally broke down and bought one.... it makes loading the TCM much easier.

This one should interest you, Seafire, it features one of your favorite powders:

http://www.22tcm.net/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2459

Safire,very interested in using bluedot powder in 6 b.r. and 223 ackley,any help would be great.

After playing with the 5.7X28 and watching others try to do the same, I'd strongly advise anybody thinking of reloading for the round to wait until somebody publishes pressure tested data for it.
The data for the 5.7 published by Ramshot and Accurate Arms both state the round is very sensitive to even slight variations. They, for instance, publish data for both long and short 40-45 gr. bullets. They make it very clear that their data must be used exactly as shown. No substitutions of any sort. E