Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots TC aristocrat

Regarding concern over the cockamamie TCR 83 safety, while what it suggests might at first appear to be grossly irresponsible, consider that the un-set trigger pull weight on my two TCR 83 rifles is greater than the trigger pull weight on my unaltered Kahr P9 and P40 pistols which have no external safeties. Other TCR 83s are likely to be similar, though there may certainly be exceptions. With that in mind, the shooter can decide when and under what circumstances during the course of a hunt a TCR 83 safety could be disengaged while still exercising reasonable caution.

Agree. These are handy and handsome little rifles. And I haven't been in much of a hurry to shoot Anything since way-back.
Some times I can't find my keys, or glasses, and forget the number of great grandkids I have accumulated, but the TCR safety never seemed unbearable.

Yes the unset trigger weight is tremendous (like many double triggers) and the safety is silly. But that's no reason not to own one.

No argument with any of these positions.

since I got your barrels, I now have 7, I guess thats enough, wish I had one in the savage 22hp

Wanted one of these back in the day, but only ever saw one for sale, a .308, in those pre-internet days. They were very nice, and some had lovely wood, but they’re gone gone gone, as is TC. Meanwhile, Henry’s are available, also can have very nice wood, and $500 will bring one home. There was a brief issue with the triggers (and hammer-cocking effort), but that was resolved. I’d like to see a higher comb for scope use, but that would make the use of irons problematic and I suspect many are sticking with irons. Not sure what I’ll do with my next one, but I did pick up a nice K4 to try out on it.

Henry is not even in the same universe but better then H&R's and other stuff that has shown up in the past. I wish someone would run with the Aristocrat design again .

I'd rank them a bit closer than that, but whatever. Main point is that Henry's are here, along with factory service and support, while the TCs are "Classics", difficult and expensive to acquire, and frankly IMO, not all that compelling, just like the Encores and Contenders by the same defunct outfit. I might grab one if I ran across it at a reasonable price, but I'd never go looking, and definitely wouldn't pay a price for one that approaches that of a decent falling block. Chances of a resurrection are probably somewhat less than that of the Savage 99.

Fit,Finish(bluing) feel and handling it is no contest. There probably is no chance they will ever be resurrected and yet Merkel and Blaser single shots are selling for crazy prices. The aristocrat with a few mods(safety, single trigger) would be quite the rifle.

The one I handled was nice, but I handed it back to the counter jockey with nary a whimper. Apparently the marketplace agreed because they flopped. IIRC they had already dropped them when I saw that one. While the Henrys aren’t Super Grades, the checkering is straight, the wood well-fitted and finished, and the blueing perfectly fine. Current triggers are crisp and light. They’ve added some models in response to the market, straight-wall rounds for the Midwest, as well as rifled slug and turkey versions. The action is simple and strong enough for the .308 and .243 p, fully ambidextrous, and I see no weaknesses that would affect longevity. I have a .410 in hand, a .357 on the way, and if I ever head to say, Iowa, I’ll probably get a .350, .450, or .45/70. I should’ve kept the .308, but that can be said for a long list of stuff.

The Aristocrat was a nice rifle, but hampered by corporate goofiness like a lot of TCs, and along with the company, is deader than Roy.

Glad you’re happy with yours.

I had a TCR83 in 22 Hornet for a few years. It was a great looking rifle that handled well, but the safety bothered me and the set trigger was not all that good. Accuracy was OK, but not great. Around 1.5 MOA. I sold it after getting a Ruger No 1B in 22 Hornet. It regularly shoots .75 MOA or better and 130 fps faster than the TC. The TCR had a generous chamber. Necked sized reloads I made for it wouldn't come close to chambering in the No 1. A small thing, but I find break actions a bit of a pain when shooting off the bench. Much less rearranging to do with a falling block or bolt.

I would agree that where they shine is in the field, not on the bench. Will always prefer a falling block, but let’s face it, the price for those usually limits our “participation” somewhat, mine anyway.

My buddy bought a TCR in 223 40 years ago. It was a fine looking gun but we could never get it to shoot, we tried for several years and 1.5 groups were about the best we could ever get and those were not consistent. We probably tried 50 plus loads, he finally stuck it back in his safe and that's where it stayed till his death.

This load worked pretty well in my TCR83 .223 at 200 yards:

would like to find a shot gun caliber, not the 12ga, after search, guess they only did the 12ga?? would pay up for the 32-40 barrel!!!!!!!

Nice shootin’, nice rig.

I believe they also did a 10 gauge, from their custom shop.

Whooweee! That would leave a mark!

I may be wrong but I seem to remember a lot of 10 gauge barrels for sale...only fired one time.

You can remove the safety lock and keep regular safety! Works fine