Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Handled a TC 83 today.....

And color me unimpressed! A real let down actually. I've long been interested in these and finally got my hands on one. Like all things TC of that vintage quality seemed great but the safety is incredibly goofy. I never knew they have some button in front of the trigger guard which has to be pushed before the crossbolt safety can be moved to fire. Is this typical or was their something wrong with this sample?

That's the way the safety operated. And nobody liked it.

Goofy to the max, but a deal killer on a rifle like that. Might be a different story on a dangerous game rifle. Like all TCs of that era before the fire, sometimes they come with very nice walnut, sometimes not. The only one I saw years ago was plain. Interesting, but like the Mossberg SS, something I can live without pretty easily. Never heard any actual owner bragging on the accuracy here.

If I were to stumble on one cheap somewhere I might be tempted just for fun, but ain't looking.

I have owned 2 at different times, a 243 and 270. The 243 was the Aristocrat with beautiful wood and double set trigger and the 83 was a 270. The 243 was the more accurate of the 2. An interesting rifle to play with for a time but the safety was too much of a pain on a hunting rifle.

It's a shame as they have nice lines. Coulda been a great rifle. Pappy is right about the nice wood they used to use sometimes. Years ago an uncle gave me a 1983 vintage Hawken. It's got a nice stick of wood for sure.

My Dad has one in 32-40 and it is cute.

Pops has the Hunter, in .22 hornet and 223.
Decent wood.

As you can tell from my "handle" I am a TCR fan. I've been acquiring and collecting them for many decades now. I have been a fan of single shots for many years and collected Rugers No. 1-3's and TCR's.

The 83's most often had the better wood than a 87 but not always. In my younger days humping up and down mountains in Colorado I appreciated their lighter weight and and (some) shorter length in dark timber. Since pushing 80 years, those days are done but I still enjoy going to the range and poking holes in paper with them.

As some folks have indicated, not all barrels were sub MOA and I've had a few that wouldn't go better than 2" groups. Oddly, a 20 inch a 308 I have on a 83 frame will shoot consistently a 1" group if I hold it correctly while a 280 barrel has given me fits. Factory Norma 150 gr's will shoot 1-1.5" but few of my reloads will match that.

The light weight of the TCR made them somewhat painful with 45-70 and magnum calibers and for that reason my collection has settled on no more recoil than a '06. I have SSK, and other 3rd party barrels as well as those from the TC custom shop.

Many folks don't care for the double (set) trigger of the 83. I used it for the 22-250 and other 22's for prairie dog and similar shooting and found them very light and crisp when set up, but did not use them for larger animals and in the mountains. When shooting prairie dogs on the eastern plains I would trade off 22 hornet, 223, 22-250 and 243 barrels on a 83 frame changing the barrel it got too hot (gloves being necessary to hold and remove the barrel).

As I say, if you are a single shot fan, it is/was one of the options, especially if you wanted something hammerless. The European break action single shots come very dear in price... though as TCR's become scarcer, they are no longer low in price.

Like cars, trucks and scotch, one man's preference is another man's pass.

I jumped on the TCR bandwagon early, but happily got off. I had a TCR 83 Aristocrat. Before taking it to my 'smith it rated at about 16-20 lbs on the set trigger to set it. When I got it back, it was still about 6-10 #s. When the factory burned, they lost ALL parts. I decided I didn't want a rifle with no parts availability. Originally I had a 7mm-08 bbl. Then sold that and purchased a .243 Win bbl. ,and a .32-40 bbl. Never fired the last two... -G.H.

I'm with you, TCRken.

While I've had a few No.1s over the years (now, only a 1A in .275 Rigby and another in .30-30, the stainless steel version), I've been most attracted to the gracefully elegant practicality of the Kipplaufs. The modern day German models just never looked quite right to me, so I wouldn't pay their price. And, I never seemed to encounter an available TCR83. So, I made do with a fast handling Savage 219 .30-30, which I transformed into a very nice scoped stalking rifle, shooting 125 gr. Sierra spitzers impressively well at about 2,600 fps.

But then, after years of searching, I found a like-new TCR83 .30-'06/,223 for $900 and grabbed it. I focused my attention on its .30-'06 barrel, with the idea maybe to have the .223 barrel rebored to something interesting, say 6.5x52R (.25-35 Win.). But, when the .30-'06 barrel initially didn't produce the accuracy it should have, I gave the .223 a try. It, too, was unimpressive at first. Then, I hit upon THE LOAD, and WOW! 63 gr. Sierra semi points, at about 2,850 fps, started striking within 1 to 1-1/4 inches of each other at 200 yards. So now, I must find another barrel if I want that 6.5x52R. Work with the .30-'06 barrel continues and is starting to look promising.

As to the TCR83 safety, which seems to upset some folks, I believe it comes down to how and when it should be employed, allowing for the unusual nature of the rifle's trigger. On my TCR83, the unset trigger requires about 5/16 inch of take up prior to reaching the resistance of the entire 6-3/4 pound trigger pull. This trigger's pull is, in an important way, comparable to that of a double action revolver trigger. Until S&W's recent (and universally despised) key lock feature, double action revolvers were without a safety, It was seen as unnecessary due to the amount of effort needed to trigger the double action mechanism. To fire my TCR83 when its trigger is unset requires the application of a significant amount of effort, an amount of effort extraordinarily unlikely to be applied unintentionally. If, while the safety remains disengaged, I should set the trigger but then decide not to shoot, I can easily engaged the safety to permit safely pulling the trigger to release the set without firing the rifle, and start over.

The TCR83 is a gracefully elegant and practical rifle, sadly under-appreciated by too many,

I had wanted an '83 since they were introduced back then. Finally bought one on GB sometime back in .223. My hopes was to either find a Hornet barrel I could afford or pipe dream of a 218 Bee aftermarket. Had a major stroke 5yr+ back that did in my left side pretty good. Another after a surgery Nov of 17 on right wasn't quite as bad except for permanent numinous in part of right hand. Anyhow just thought it would be perhaps a great setup for a few pdogs etc.

Rifle in nice shape except shotgun pad installed to make it 14.25" LOP but at least I don't think stock was cut. Thought the trigger setup would be the cats butt having never actually fondled one in these parts I discovered how smart I was in thinking the front trigger was the 'set' and rear the firing one when set. Have small hands (yea,I know) so with my situation with my disabilities in arms/hands and spine from other health issues it just isn't going to work for me the way I hoped. So now I need to see if I can get my money back out of it? Mounted a scope but haven't even sighted it in. Another impulse wishfull thinking brain fart.lol

Grasshopper's .32-40 barrel at work...




My first TCR with a ,32-40 barrel was stolen in 2000. Luckily, my SSK barrel in .375-06 JDJ was spared theft. A few years later I found another frame and Grasshopper was kind enough to sell me his .32-40 barrel. I originally had plans of several other custom barrels, but after the fire at T/C, J.D. Jones was unable to get the monoblocks to make the barrels. I ended up buying a second frame a couple years ago for the two barrels I do have because even though swapping barrels is a snap, I've seen some POI difference depending on how much the forend is tightened.

I appreciate the handling qualities of the '83! Mine shoots just fine. The safety is easy to understand and operate by anyone I'd care to be around with a loaded firearm.One extra button shouldn't be too hard to master.

yes the double safety is an oddball. I recall reading some people would crazy glue the "button" in on he safety, don't know if I'd do that. I've only used mine once in the field, and the safety provided no issues, but it wasn't a snap shot or anything.


Mine's got extree-purty wood.

Yeah, lock tite to the extra safety would be a good idea. Might make it usable. What are these things worth?

I noticed some comments about the 32-40 barrels and agree a 32-40 TCR makes a dandy deer cartridge. The 32-40 has shown to be a good deer cartridge since the late 1800's when Winchester and Marlin chambered it in their lever rifles. One of my 32-40 barrels will shoot sub MOA with my sized 8mm spire points. Years ago, I found that I could size 8mm (.323) bullets into .321 and it opened up a lot of options in bullet weight and form. At that time, all that was available were flat nose bullets intended for the lever rifles. I bought a Lee .321 size die and alox lube and when I want to try a different weight and form I squeeze a few dozen. My favorite has been a Speer 150 gr spitzer run through the sizer die. Now of course you can get Hornady FTX's to have a spitzer form. But, with the differences in 8mm's available from the vendors it gives you something to try in your quest for a .5 MOA.

One further note on the TCR 32-40, I have experimented 32-40 loads beyond those identified for the old black powder guns. Velocity comparable to 32 Special is within the capability of a TCR frame and barrel.

My 2 cents on the safety is that it becomes muscle memory when you use it. I don't find it more difficult than moving the flag safety on my Winchester 70's or the trigger safety on my Garand or M1A. For years I hunted grouse and pheasants with a LC Smith double that has the tang safety. When I bought a H&R auto that had the safety on the trigger guard I found myself pushing a tang safety that wasn't there when a bird jumped up and squeezing a trigger that was locked and watching a bird fly away to safety. After going to the range and shooting a few boxes of shells I trained myself to use the trigger guard safety instead.

But as I say, one man's preference is another's pass.