I bought the TSG-22 threaded barrel conversion. Took it to the range for first time today. I didn't test accuracy too much, just speed shooting at 10 yards, but it held a good group at that range. I tried 4 ammo types Winchester 36gr copper plated HP Federal Champion lead 40gr grey box Blazer 40gr HV lead Remington Thunderbolt 40gr High Speed lead Winchesters would not extract at all, everyone stayed in the chamber and did not cycle the slide back enough to pick up the next round. Federal would stove pipe about every other round. Blazer worked flawlessly. Remington Thunderbolt worked about 75% of the time, with occasionaly stovepipes. UPDATE I took it to the range again today. About 700 rounds of Blazier CCI grey/black box down the pipe today. I had about 6 or 8 failures to feed with the unfired bullet coming straight up and holding the slide slightly open. I figured out that if you don't load the rounds into the mags just right they will jam up as described. So after figuring out I have to be careful loading the mags I had no more problems. Accuracy is very impressive, 25 yard head shots almost as fast as I could pull the trigger were no problem. 7 yard group of 30 rounds was about the size of a 50 cent piece plus a couple flyers that were my fault. Over all impressions so far....................Once you get the right ammo (Blazer CCI 40gr lead round nose works great) and take an extra few seconds to load the mags with the primer end pushed back to the mag of the mag; then its a great little shooter. Wonderful for working on fundamentals like sight alignment, trigger squeeze, and trigger reset, and a TON of fun to shoot cheap.
The Advantage Arms kit recommends CCI Mini-Mags as the top ammo. I bought a bunch cheap, and plan to test it as soon as my NY permit arrives... Should be within the next month, in theory... I will post when tested. I had been using the Remington Golden Bullets in FL. 36g HP. Averaged about 1 stovepipe for every 30 rounds. That was acceptable for me...
CCI minimag and CCI blazer have the same advertised fps in the 40gr, Blazer is alot cheaper, and Blazer worked great for my TacSol
I don't have a .22lr conversion for my Glock, but my wife shoots the CCI mini-mags in her Walther P22 and my son shoots them in his Ruger 10/22 and they've never had any problems. A couple FTFR, but no FTFR or FTE.
The conversion kits are more temperamental than factory .22s... The AA recommends high velocity, but not too high. It might have something to do with barrel integrity, or ejector design, but that's just a guess.
It's the slide recoil. It needs to have enough 'umph' to push the slide back and cycle the next round. I'm not sure why they say no hyper velocity, I'd guess its going to be faster wear and tear
I have best results with the cci minis, followed by marginal results from the federal bulk, (testing both ends of the spectrum). I, being the little kid or took apart every toy, and majored in engineering, consulted an engineering friend and did some mod's. I realized this would void any and all customer support and warranty. I was not concerned about that. I just wanted to make the tsg match the feel and performance of a g22 or g17. After some CAD/CAM work and some trials with some machine tools, we increased the reliability of the bulk ammo. I never attempted to improve accuracy or anything other than proper feeding, firing and ejecting. The cci still works virtually flawless and the cheaper federal bulk cycles much better but not near what I would use for training my shooters which is why I purchased and modified the tsg to begin with.
what exactly did you do to help reliability with bulk ammo, is it something that could be done by a non-engineer
Yes absolutely. Really did not change much, and some info can be found on the web. However, keep in mind we started by trial and error. It was not an exact science. A dremel, mic caliper set, and some free time to machine, clean, shoot, and repeat. I will post pics when I get home from work today. But basically if you compare a GLOCK slide and it's dimensions compared to the tsg, there is some minor differences. One that is fairly visible is the "ramp" that resets the connector during a cycle. The tsg had a significant sharper "approach" an it caused more resistance during the slide's movement. Also if you closely measure/observe the tolerances of the extractor where it mates with the chamber face (the slot on the right side of barrel). Your tsg may or may not have enough clearance to allow the extractor to grab the empty case after a firing cycle. We had to be careful as to not change the thickness around the chamber. This took a lot of time as we would literally emory cloth some metal between each test fire. Also, and I say this with the upmost amount of caution, I have some friends who are gunsmiths for a couple of well know companies, (Nighthawk and Wilson Combat are just miles from my house haha but I don't own a weapon from either). Anyway, with some caution we proceeded with some mod's to the firing pin channel, the cups, and the pin, which reduced the light strikes. I don't advise this however unless you are willing to take the risk of causing serious changes in the weapon's performance, (as in compete failure if you do something wrong). Also a light hone around the ramp and chamber to bevel the extreme outer circumference. Again I can not stress enough to use extreme caution with this. A Q-tip and emory cloth would be sufficient, and the help of a smith is a big asset. These are the very basic procedures and ideas we addressed. I would be happy to speak further at some point with you directly once we have fully tested everything. These forums are great for sharing knowledge and learning from others. I just didn't want to put some idea on here and have somebody start drilling and milling parts. That being said, I do not condone or recommend anyone modifying anything involving a firearm. I purchased the tsg for a specific purpose with the plan to modify it to improve that purpose, knowing full well the risks to the equipment and the personnel using it for training. The conversion is only being used by officers in my department.
Sorry for the typo's. I'm on my iPhone at the pd, an typing all this in between two interview/interrogations.
Thanks alot for the information, and rest assured you don't have to worry about me diving into the cup, pin, or channel.
UPDATE I took it to the range again today. About 700 rounds of Blazier CCI grey/black box down the pipe today. I had about 6 or 8 failures to feed with the unfired bullet coming straight up and holding the slide slightly open. I figured out that if you don't load the rounds into the mags just right they will jam up as described. So after figuring out I have to be careful loading the mags I had no more problems. Accuracy is very impressive, 25 yard head shots almost as fast as I could pull the trigger were no problem. 7 yard group of 30 rounds was about the size of a 50 cent piece plus a couple flyers that were my fault. Over all impressions so far....................Once you get the right ammo (Blazer CCI 40gr lead round nose works great) and take an extra few seconds to load the mags with the primer end pushed back to the mag of the mag; then its a great little shooter. Wonderful for working on fundamentals like sight alignment, trigger squeeze, and trigger reset, and a TON of fun to shoot cheap.
I love my TS conversion, but wish it had more heft to it. Put almost 1000 rounds through it ( CCI Blazer 40 Gr.) so far with no issues. Polished the ramp to a mirror shine with a Dremel and attempted some Winchester Super X HP's and it was constant jams and misfeeds.
