I have a T-C Contender Carbine 23" .22 LR barrel that was sold to me as having a "Match Chamber." It is one of those made fairly recently in Springfield Mass.
Took it to the range yesterday for a first sight-in and found that it was very hard to chamber CCI Hi-speed LRs and also the CCI "Green" (non-lead) LRs. I'd expected a tight chamber in a "match-chambered" barrel, but this required really serious force to get the 40 gr. bullets AND the 28 gr. to chamber at all, and many times the rifle wouldn't cock without re-opening the action and then slamming it shut HARD. Is this normal behavior for a T-C "Match" .22 barrel?
I didn't have any actual match-grade LRs to try, so don't know if these chambers are only for premium grade ammo. Anybody know?
Also noticed that both the "Green" and Hi-speed LRs were bulged at a spot near the rim. Not a huge bulge but definitely noticeable. I've had other .22 LR barrels on this pre-S&W New Hampshire-made G2 action and never had ANY of this occur with them (all custom MGM barrels), or any funny business with various T-C or MGM-made CF barrels, from .22 Hornet to 7-30 to .410 shotgun.
Bore was very clean to begin with, and I scrubbed out the chamber HARD with a brass brush when I noticed the tight chambering on the first round. No change.
Did I get a bum barrel? Will I need to use match-grade ammo to get decent functioning? If the barrel is defective is there any recourse from T-C or whatever they call themselves now, given that I bought the barrel used?
Any info or experiences gratefully accepted!
Last edited by Mesa; 12/15/17.
