Effectiveness of .22 TCM for defensive use?

A 40 grain .22 cal bullet moving at 2000 fps is about what a .22 mag does from the muzzle. The effectiveness of the .22 Mag as a self defense round would likely be a subject to cause a great deal of internet outrage, personal attacks, and Shakespearean revenge plots.

My assessment is: Better than a .22 LR, probably not as good as a 9mm.

The TCM is comparable to the 5.7 FN except that pro, it comes in a common pistol action and con, they don't make the AP ammo for it that FN hangs their hat on... which the government doesn't trust you with anyhow.

The TCM bullets I have seen are normally soft point and blunt tip. I figure they would work well. However, working well is subjective. The RIA 1911 pistols that shoot it usually come with a 9mm barrel. I think good 9mm defensive ammo would be better.

The stubby round nose bullets mushroom out to like .3x" and tunnel straight through, IIRC. Like 5.7, I suspect they have more effect if bone is struck & shattered, but in the end it's generic 9mm-ish power we're talking about (i.e. sufficient for plausible defense, with advantages/disadvantages to other rounds). TCMs main selling point is the gun is cheaper than the five-seven (differences in ammo cost/availability are marginal) and can be made to shoot 9mm. I guess they do have that neat little bolt rifle now, as well.

In a heavy steel frame with 'heavy' case head I don't quite get it, but like the lighter 5.7 package this will be excellent & fun for plinking long range targets, but still make a mess of close in threats if needed.

Long ago, when Jeff Cooper was doing a "Dear Abby" column in G&A, he replied to someone who was going to a foreign land where outsiders could license only .22 caliber firearms. Noting that they did not specify .22 LR, he recommended the .22 Jet.

Jason_W said:

A 40 grain .22 cal bullet moving at 2000 fps is about what a .22 mag does from the muzzle. The effectiveness of the .22 Mag as a self defense round would likely be a subject to cause a great deal of internet outrage, personal attacks, and Shakespearean revenge plots.

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I see that the .22 TCM hits 2000 fps in a 5" pistol barrel and 2800 fps in a carbine length barrel. I think its pretty awesome that a 5" pistol in .22 TCM can be on par with a rifle in .22 WMR in muzzle speeds.

A friend of mine has one of the RIA TCM/9mm 1911's. I haven't shot it with the TCM barrel but have with the 9mm. It's a fine gun that seems well made.

If it were me I'd use the 9mm for SD. Aside from caliber, the main drawbacks with the .22TCM for SD are flash and noise, which become even more an issue at night in your home.

If it wasn't for the fact that I want my first 1911 to be a .45 (I still don't have a 1911) I'd buy one in a heartbeat. It offers fun plinking with the unique .22 and a more reasonable option for defense with the 9mm.

While anything with .22mag rifle ballistics is nothing to ignore, I'd still want a 9mm for defense if I had the choice.

Sigh..

Oh no, here we go again. Disinformation wars time.

First off, yes, rounds like the .22 TCM and 5.7x28 do have ballistics close to .22wmr. EXCEPT, the .22 TCM and 5.7x28 are doing that out of a pistol while the .22wmr is doing that out of a rifle. The .22wmr out of a pistol is far behind either of those rounds.

The .22 TCM is not the cheap option compared to the 5.7x28 in any regards except for the initial gun purchase. Ammunition for both is running $17-$24 for a box of fifty depending on who you buy it from. That puts it solidly in the same range as .45acp.

Now, what the .22 TCM does have going for it: It's a 1911. 'nough said, right? Also, weight is good. It's one of the fastest shooting guns I have due to the BB gun like recoil that is a combination of the round it's chambered for and the block of steel it's coming out of. Getting it back on target almost isn't a thing due to it not really coming off target. My Five-Seven is still a bit faster, but that's because it wears a red dot.

Noise and muzzle flash are kind of ridiculous, but if you've ever fired an M-4 in a cinder block building, it's nothing new. Of course, ridiculous muzzle flash makes it a big attraction at the range.

I haven't shot a pig yet with my 22 TCM, but the 5.7 does a fine dandy job on them. Perhaps a shoot off is in order this summer to see which one does best... The red dot might again give the Five-Seven the edge though.

I'm on board with reading the results of the shoot out, ClickClickD.

chicharrones said:

I see that the .22 TCM hits 2000 fps in a 5" pistol barrel and 2800 fps in a carbine length barrel. I think its pretty awesome that a 5" pistol in .22 TCM can be on par with a rifle in .22 WMR in muzzle speeds.

Click to expand...

I had meant to specify "from a rifle".

A little bit of glancing at ballistics indicates that moast 40-50 grain .22 WMR loads run at 1800-1900 f/s from the muzzle of a rifle and deliver 250-300 lbs of muzzle energy. 9mm rounds from a handgun commonly deliver 350-400 lbs of ME, though I'm sure there are some +p and +P+ loads that ramp those numbers up a bit.

If the TCM is a touch faster than the WMR, you have a bullet that is delivering roughly as much ME as some standard pressure 9mm loads, albeit with a much lighter, smaller diameter bullet.

I wouldn't mind seeing a side by terminal performance test of the two rounds at some point.

Jason_W said:

If the TCM is a touch faster than the WMR, you have a bullet that is delivering roughly as much ME as some standard pressure 9mm loads, albeit with a much lighter, smaller diameter bullet.

I wouldn't mind seeing a side by terminal performance test of the two rounds at some point.

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It looks like the .22 TCM is a metal puncher compared to 9mm. Pic below from Gunblast. http://www.gunblast.com/RockIsland-22TCM.htm

chicharrones said:

It looks like the .22 TCM is a metal puncher compared to 9mm. Pic below from Gunblast. http://www.gunblast.com/RockIsland-22TCM.htm

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I've always wondered why it is that a light, super fast bullet is better at punching through metal than a big heavy slow bullet, but a big heavy slow bullet is often better a punching through meat than a light fast bullet.

Physics.

Jason_W said:

I've always wondered why it is that a light, super fast bullet is better at punching through metal than a big heavy slow bullet, but a big heavy slow bullet is often better a punching through meat than a light fast bullet.

Physics.

Click to expand...

Penetrating a hard, thin plate is largely a function of hydro-dynamic flow and erosion, kinetic energy and cross-sectional area while penetrating soft mediums is better predicted by momentum.

Older armor engineering penetration equations, like DeMarre, Krupp, Thompson 'F' express the penetration capabilities of projectiles through hard plate and when things get into the really esoteric, penetration equations like Alekseevskii-Tate come into play where LRPs (log rod penetrators meant to defeat tank armor) erode, sometimes completely, during the process of penetration. Very complicated processes.