7mm TCU The Good - The Bad - Thoughts & Opinions?

[Sidewinder]

Just did a little research on the 7mm TCU, and got interested in it for hunting with my Thompson Center Contender. I like the idea that it's using the .223 Rem case and a 7mm bullet. It looks like this round could have a pretty wide application range for hunting, even though I've read that it bloomed from the needs of the silhouette shooters. I've got a few Contender barrels, and I might have to replace one of them with a 7mm TCU. From what I'm reading, this round can be loaded for everything from varmints to 350 pound hogs! Have any of you been using one of these barrels (7mm TCU) on a TC for hunting? If so, would you share some of your experiences? How about some of you that are reloading this round...what has been your minimum and maximum bullet weights? Does this round shoot best out of a Super 14" TC barrel, or a longer TC rifle barrel? I think I've read enough about one to know I want one. Now the decision...replace one of my Contender barrels (.22 Hornet, .223 Rem, 7 x 30 Waters, .30-30 Win.) or just add a 7mm TCU to my collection? Yes...I know...that kid in a candy store thing!

[Dolomite_supafly]

What will it do that 7-30 Waters won't?

[Sidewinder]

What will it do that 7-30 Waters won't?

I'm just a neophyte at both calibers, but it looks like it can be loaded up or down to cover a pretty wide range of game. I've not shot, nor hunted, either round. That's what I'm here for... to become educated on both, hopefully. I'm especially interested in actual field reports on various game. I read an article about a lady taking a 350 pound hog with the round in a TC rifle!

[frankmako]

i got my 10 inch bull 7 tcu barrel in 1982.  i use it for silhouette matches in el paso tx.   you can make some great match loads and hunting loads with the 7 tcu.   even better with the super 14 barrel.  the 10 inch and/or the super 14 will make great hunting guns.  

[seez52]

I"ve not used either of mine for hunting, but they can be loaded all over. I used mine for silhouettes way back and was partial to 120 gr. and 145 gr. bullets. Both were super accurate and had lots of punch. Seems like you didn't get many reloads out of a case, maybe 3 before a neck split.

 

I've always thought it would make a great hunting gun for most anything.

Edited March 18, 2014 by seez52

[Sidewinder]

I"ve not used either of mine for hunting, but they can be loaded all over. I used mine for silhouettes way back and was partial to 120 gr. and 145 gr. bullets. Both were super accurate and had lots of punch. Seems like you didn't get many reloads out of a case, maybe 3 before a neck split.

 

I've always thought it would make a great hunting gun for most anything.

seez52, I read that if the .223 case had previously been fired through an AR, that it was a good idea to anneal. Or, do you think the more frequent cracking had to do with the steeper shoulders on the 7 TCU? Were you loading max loads? What length barrel is your 7 TCU? If I decide to swap one of my barrels off for a 7-TCU, I think I'll definitely stick to the Super 14. I was thinking of staying on the light side of loading...maybe more to your 120 gr. load. I like the woods and hunting, so that's what I'd be loading for.

[Sidewinder]

i got my 10 inch bull 7 tcu barrel in 1982.  i use it for silhouette matches in el paso tx.   you can make some great match loads and hunting loads with the 7 tcu.   even better with the super 14 barrel.  the 10 inch and/or the super 14 will make great hunting guns.  

Frank, did you do much hunting with the 7-TCU? If so, what kind of hunting, and what kind of success did you have with it? Seez52 commented that the brass necks split after about three loadings. Did you experience this too? Did you anneal your case necks? I'm just intrigued with the round, and think I'll shop around for  a Super 14 in the 7-TCU.

[frankmako]

killed a mid size deer with it once back in the late 80's. i used my ram silhouette load and it drop the deer.  i  used it as the backup gun for long range pistol silhouette shooting after i got the xp-100.  never had any real problem with the neck splitting.  got many reloads from each case.  some cases got, well more than i can remember on them.  i use military 5.56 brass.  it was free brass in those days.  did not anneal the case.  no need for it.  i also load 7mm-308 and 30-223 for my two xp-100.  never had much problems with the neck on those cases too.  sometime you will split a case, but most of the time you don't.   a super 14 barrel will make a great hunting gun, much better than my 10 inch.  

[Sidewinder]

killed a mid size deer with it once back in the late 80's. i used my ram silhouette load and it drop the deer.  i  used it as the backup gun for long range pistol silhouette shooting after i got the xp-100.  never had any real problem with the neck splitting.  got many reloads from each case.  some cases got, well more than i can remember on them.  i use military 5.56 brass.  it was free brass in those days.  did not anneal the case.  no need for it.  i also load 7mm-308 and 30-223 for my two xp-100.  never had much problems with the neck on those cases too.  sometime you will split a case, but most of the time you don't.   a super 14 barrel will make a great hunting gun, much better than my 10 inch.  

I have a few 7mm (.284) bullets. One box is the Sierra Pro-Hunter 130 gr. Spitzer soft point, designed for the "Single Shot Pistol". The other box is Nosler 140 gr. Spitzer Balistic Tip. I figured the "Balistic Tip" Nosler might make a pretty good coyote round for the 7mm-TCU. What distances were you shooting the silhouettes with the 7mm-TCU? It should be good on game out to 150 - 200 yards, shouldn't it?

[Westwindmike]

Here is my take on the 7-TCU vs 7-30 Waters.

 

In a single shot Contender, the Waters has a rimmed cartridge which seems to work better in this type of action . The max loads on the TCU(from the Hodgdon website) are about where the starting loads are in the Waters. The Waters gets another 200 fps out of the same bullet and powder. The Waters can be loaded down to subsonic velocities and use cast boolits. The TCU probably can too. I shoot a 135 gr cast boolit at 1300 fps without a gas check for my 50-100 yard plinking load. I use Trail Boss for that and it mostly fills the case. No chance of a double charge. Waters brass is super easy to make too. Just run your 30-30 case through the Waters die, load, and shoot. The fireform loads are just as accurate as the others.

 

So, if you want a TCU, I think you should get one. But, the Waters covers the same spectrum of bullets and velocity.

 

Kinda like the reason I never got a Hornet barrel. My 223 loads cover that from low to high(and higher) too.

 

Best of luck with your TCU project!

[Dolomite_supafly]

I bet the 300 Whisper/Blackout would mimic the 7 TCU. From reading it sounds like the effective ranges of the 7TCU and the 300 are about the same as well.

And with the 300 you can buy ammo if you are not reloading. I do like having the better bullet of the TCU.

What would be the cats meow would be a 6.5 TCU or a 256 Winchester Magnum. Both of those use even better bullets. I am currently looking for a 256 because they use 357 Magnum brass.

[Sidewinder]

Westwind Mike & Dolomite,

 

Westwindmike, I really like everything I have read about the 7x30 Waters, ( I have not shot mine yet) and will probably keep that barrel. I have dies for reloading, so I'll be able to take advantage of the wide range of loads there. I might just replace my 10" octagonal .223 barrel with a Super 14 in .223, as I have the dies for the .223 loads as well. I might just get rid of my Super 14 .30-30 barrel, as the 7x30 Waters can probably cover most of the hunting options there. I have since done a lot of research on the 7 T/C U, and apparently it was designed primarily for silhouette shooting competition. I'm not really into that at all, just trying to cover all of the bases for possible game hunting. So, between the .22 Hornet, the .223 Rem., and the 7x30 Waters, I can probably cover just about any possible hunting scenario I can need for Tennessee or the South East.

 

Dolomite, I'm not familiar with the 300 Whisper at all. I'll have to do some research on it. I have researched the 7 T/C U pretty much, and I believe there is a 6.5 T/CU and also a 6 T/CU. You might want to check that out, but I believe I read about the 6.5 and the 6.0 T/C U. Are you planning on shooting the 256 in a Contender/Encore barrel, or some other weapon? I like the .357 round, and have a Blackhawk and a Savage 24 that shoots it. I kinda like rounds that I can buy in the store or reload on the bench.

[frankmako]

Ten chickens targets at 50 meters (54.7 yards). 

Ten pigs targets at 100 meters (109.4 yards). 

Ten turkeys targets at 150 meters (164 yards).  

Ten rams targets at 200 meters (218.7 yards)

 

this is the ranges that are shot in long range pistol.  the 10 inch 7 tcu did the job.  but i moved up to a xp-100 in 7-308.  my wife used a xp-100 in 30-223.  we also use a ruger super blackhawk 10 inch 44 mag and a s&w model 29 six inch 44 mag on the same range for the long range pistol conventional matches.  

[seez52]

I'm pretty sure the tcu barrels I have are some of the first TC produced. Silhouette shooting was going hot and heavy at the time and seems like I was on a waiting list for the barrels when they introduced them. I remember the first barrels I got had to go back to TC (don't recall if it was both the 10 and 14 or not) because they were very pitted right from the factory. They sent a replacement which ran great. I also recall, and I haven't shot either the 10 or 14 in probably 20 years, that there was a small issue with the chamber in one of them. I always inserted the the cartridges the same way in the bbl each time, and I'm thinking I did it for a reason.

 

Seems like I was using IMR4198, but don't really remember. I could probably dig out my data from back then. I know I've got several loaded rounds from the time and spent brass as well. I remember fire forming cases with bullseye, grits and a cap of wax using military brass.

 

The caliber always seemed to have good punch. I recall shooting some mild steel plates and the 120s went through like a drill. I'm sure the my loads were fairly hot with flattened primers.

[Sidewinder]

Frankmaco & Seez52,

 

Frankmaco, I basically was considering the 7TCU as a hunting round. I've never shot silhouettes, and don't know that I ever will...sounds like fun though. I was thinking it might be a pretty versatile round that could cover everything from varmints to whitetail deer. Westwindmike, and others have pointed out that my 7x30 Waters could probably do everything that the 7 TCU could do, and more.

 

Seez52, were the barrels just factory flukes? That's interesting that you would insert the cartridges in the chamber the same way each time...and I'll bet the reason is interesting too. Were most silhouette shooters loading the 7 TCUs pretty hot in those days? Think many of the barrels were shot out from hot loads? Are your 7 TCU barrels Super 14s? You're right up the road from me...did you do any hunting with the 7 TCU barrel around here? 

[seez52]

I never did any hunting with them, always thought it would make a good one though. I never had anything on them other than the iron sights, a low power scope would be nice for hunting. I've got both a 10 and 14 as there were different classes for each. Best I ever shot was one match with 38 out of 40, choked on the last two rams-- still irritates me that I did that. We also shot the chicken targets which were set up at 50 meters usually, as shoot off targets at 200. That was a bit of a challenge-- nothing but iron sights.

 

Went down and found my old ammo box and here are a couple of photos. I'm thinking I only neck sized when reloading so putting the cartridge in the same way each time would have been important since there's not a lot of mechanical advantage when closing the action up. The primers don't look all that flattened. I maybe thinking about the .223 contender as I use benchrest primers in it and I know those were loaded fairly hot.

[frankmako]

never had any problems in reloading the 7 tcu.  i used standard small rifle primers and did full length sizing of the brass.  don't remember off hand how hot my loads were.  i got the data in the man cave.  i run all my loads across my chronograph.  back in my match shooting days i was redoing and checking my loads all the time.  don't think that i ran them hot.  i want them to knock down the target and not beat me up during the match.  i have a aimpoint on the 7 tcu.  i killed a mid size deer in west tx with it.  i used it to kill lots of jack rabbits back in the day in west tx.  over kill, yes, but fun to do and it sharpen your shooting skills.  for hunting i would go with the super 14 barrel.  the 10 in barrel will do the job, but the super 14 will give you a little more.  

[Sidewinder]

Seez52, I appreciate you posting the pics of your loaded ammo. Sounds like you had a lot of fun shooting competition targets. Did you do that around Lebanon, or somewhere else?  Sounds like you were pretty good to hit 38 out of 40 too. Did you have open sights on the 14" barrel? I have a 10" .223 with open sights, and it's pretty handy...not too barrel heavy. Were you shooting a Contender or Encore frame? I'm basically trying to figure out what three or four barrels will cover the full range of hunting...not bear, moose, or elk, mostly through white tail deer.

 

Frankmaco, do you remember what your loads were running through the chronograph? Sounds like the 7 TCU was a pretty useful round for lots of hunting stuff in west Texas. Was the deer in close, or was it a decent distance shot? I keep researching it, and it seems like a lot of the same bullets can be used for the TCU and the 7x30 Waters. Were you getting quite a few reloads before the cases started to crack?

[frankmako]

i will check my load data when i get back in town next week.  the deer was somewhere between the pig and turkey distance.  i think i used my ram load on it.  it was back in the mid 80's and is hard to remember. 

[seez52]

We were shooting silhouette matches at Gallatin and Owl Hollow every month and usually had a decent turnout. I enjoyed it. Also shot a Dan Wesson .44 w/ an 8" bbl for a little while but had issues with it. Then the TCU came out. Open sights on both the 14 and 10. At the time the rules only allowed open sights, later the rules changed I think but by that time I had moved on to IPSC. Mine is a Contender frame and I've collected up a couple of other barrels for it. The .223 is a 14" and I have a 6x Burris on it. It's a tack driver. I've taken pigeons at 150 yds. with it. And I've got a .22mag 10" octagon with a low power Bushnell. It's good for head shots on squirrels.

 

It's fun to go on a varmint hunt and show up with a pistol. You get some strange looks. Was invited by a client to his farm in rural Va. some years ago to come and stay a night and we'd hunt some groundhogs on his place. So I show up with the the 14" .223 contender. He doesn't say anything when I pull it out of my briefcase and put it together, but I can tell by the expression on his face that he's skeptical and probably laughing inside. He lets me take the first shot on a hog at about 125yds. I nailed him, he drops in his tracks. Put a hole in him the size of half dollar (Sierra blitz bullets). My host then comes clean with his thoughts on using a pistol for varmint hunting and what he thought when I pulled it out. It was funny. We had a good time. Was the only hog we saw the rest of the day.

[Sidewinder]

We were shooting silhouette matches at Gallatin and Owl Hollow every month and usually had a decent turnout. I enjoyed it. Also shot a Dan Wesson .44 w/ an 8" bbl for a little while but had issues with it. Then the TCU came out. Open sights on both the 14 and 10. At the time the rules only allowed open sights, later the rules changed I think but by that time I had moved on to IPSC. Mine is a Contender frame and I've collected up a couple of other barrels for it. The .223 is a 14" and I have a 6x Burris on it. It's a tack driver. I've taken pigeons at 150 yds. with it. And I've got a .22mag 10" octagon with a low power Bushnell. It's good for head shots on squirrels.

 

It's fun to go on a varmint hunt and show up with a pistol. You get some strange looks. Was invited by a client to his farm in rural Va. some years ago to come and stay a night and we'd hunt some groundhogs on his place. So I show up with the the 14" .223 contender. He doesn't say anything when I pull it out of my briefcase and put it together, but I can tell by the expression on his face that he's skeptical and probably laughing inside. He lets me take the first shot on a hog at about 125yds. I nailed him, he drops in his tracks. Put a hole in him the size of half dollar (Sierra blitz bullets). My host then comes clean with his thoughts on using a pistol for varmint hunting and what he thought when I pulled it out. It was funny. We had a good time. Was the only hog we saw the rest of the day.

I have been down to Owl Hollow a couple of times, and really enjoyed it. It was just a meet up of TGO (Tennessee Gun Owners) folks ( I was a guest) to just do some unorganized shooting, have a sack lunch, and just visit with each other. Fun time, and great people for sure. Mine is a Contender frame also...even though I'm keeping an eye out for a Encore pistol frame. I have four barrels, one of which is a 10" .223 octagon barrel with open sights. I'm hoping to replace it with a 14" barrel and a scope. I have a .22 Hornet barrel, also 10" with a scope that will handle Mr Squirrel.

 

I imagine the 14" .223, with a decent scope should be just about the ultimate in varmint hardware. I'll keep looking. Sounds like you may have done a pretty convincing job of selling the Contender to your friend as a serious game getter. It would be interesting to see if he takes an interest in the Contender platform for use on his place.

[Sidewinder]

i will check my load data when i get back in town next week.  the deer was somewhere between the pig and turkey distance.  i think i used my ram load on it.  it was back in the mid 80's and is hard to remember. 

Don't go to any trouble...I was just curious. Lots of open space out in west Texas to enjoy all kinds of hunting. I just like the .223 base cartridge as a reloading platform. No problem with carrying a hand full in the woods for hunting.

[Sidewinder]

I never did any hunting with them, always thought it would make a good one though. I never had anything on them other than the iron sights, a low power scope would be nice for hunting. I've got both a 10 and 14 as there were different classes for each. Best I ever shot was one match with 38 out of 40, choked on the last two rams-- still irritates me that I did that. We also shot the chicken targets which were set up at 50 meters usually, as shoot off targets at 200. That was a bit of a challenge-- nothing but iron sights.

 

Went down and found my old ammo box and here are a couple of photos. I'm thinking I only neck sized when reloading so putting the cartridge in the same way each time would have been important since there's not a lot of mechanical advantage when closing the action up. The primers don't look all that flattened. I maybe thinking about the .223 contender as I use benchrest primers in it and I know those were loaded fairly hot.

Seez52, why are all of the necks black? Is this from "neck sizing" a few times, or the dies from regular re-loading? Did the silhouette shooting phase out...kinda like the CB radio, or is it still active in this area? I like the idea of the .223 brass being plentiful. Did any ammo manufacturer ever make the 7 TCU round? Being that we're practically next door neighbors, I'd sure like to shoot one of your 7 TCU rounds, if we're ever in the same shooting woods or range.

[seez52]

I never was a big fan of cleaning brass, so it's just dirty from powder residue. You can sort of see how much of the neck was sized. I guess it sort of petered out around here. I think they still do it in other places. I don't recall any factory ammo in TCU. I'd like to try one out on a yote sometime, open sights might be a challenge.

Edited March 21, 2014 by seez52

[Sidewinder]

I never was a big fan of cleaning brass, so it's just dirty from powder residue. You can sort of see how much of the neck was sized. I guess it sort of petered out around here. I think they still do it in other places. I don't recall any factory ammo in TCU. I'd like to try one out on a yote sometime, open sights might be a challenge.

I've heard some say they only "neck size" some of these wildcat rounds. I've never tried neck sizing, but may, when I reload some of my .22 Hornet, due to the thin brass. Were you neck sizing, or full length sizing these TCU rounds? Anyway, thanks for all the information on the 7mm TCU. I hope I didn't pester you too much.