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