(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.)
Dry Fire Practice
The integrated under Picatinny rail made it easy to attach my Mantis X10 shooting performance device to the Combo. In dry fire practice, I found that the sights lined up very naturally as I raised the handgun to a firing position. The trigger is not quite as crisp as the trigger on my Walther P99, but I do like the straight pull of the 1911 a lot. The grip is also not as ergonomic as the grip on the P99, but the angle of the grip is slightly better for me. I can easily see why so many love their 1911s.
With continued dry fire practice with the Combo, my average X10 scores trended upward as the trigger broke in, and as I became more accustomed to handgun. The fit of the X10 on the rail was somewhat snug over the Cerakote, so it was challenging to slide it on and off at first. This became easier with continued use.
The Second Range Session
On my next range trip, I took the Combo with the .22 TCM 9R barrel installed.
The provided Armscor ammo was 39 grain jacketed hollow point. The basic difference between .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R is that the bullet is seated more deeply into the casing of the .22 TCM 9R. This makes the rounds shorter, allowing them to fit into a 9 mm magazine. The more deeply seated .22 TCM 9R bullet is more abruptly tapered, so that it remains in contact with the neck of the casing in spite of its deeper seating.
Like the .22 TCM cartridges provided by Rock Island Armory, these .22 TCM 9R cartridges had very pretty nickel plated casings. The shiny plating made it easy to find the empty casings at the end of the range session.
Both magazines loaded up well with all 17 rounds. I did notice that the mags seemed to hang a little loose in the mag well, so that they rattled if the handgun was shaken.
I used both ear plugs and ear muffs for this range session, since the .22 TCM 9R, like the .22 TCM, has a reputation for being noisy. That reputation was born out in the shooting.
The sights were evidently adjusted for the 9 mm barrel, and it took several groups to get them dialed in for the TCM 9R barrel. The firearm failed to return fully to battery on the eighth shot of my second group. I had no subsequent problems with reliability, suggesting that the firearm simply needed to be broken in.Continue reading“Rock Island Armory .22 TCM and .22 TCM 9R – Part 2, by The Novice”
