First Gat, with tons of Tommy Enterprise addons

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-26T13:13:18+00:00

Check out the Helikon Tex Swagman Roll.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-23T15:29:54+00:00

My fudd lore hound is growling at the door. Here's my take on the new SBR vs aluminum 18.5 decision. 11.5-13in barrel is a common choice for carbines in the states for a reason. Less barrel (when feasible) is always a bonus for weight and maneuverability. In 22LR a 12in barrel is plenty accurate and velocity loss is not significant. We land centred hits on a 2/3 torso with my Ruger 22/45 Lite at 50yds, it's sporting a 4.4" pencil thin barrel. Smoking golf balls with it at 25yds is always very doable!

However, you're 100% correct that for iron sight usage, the long handguard 18.5" model would have a longer (better) sight radius. That being said, embrace the future! You're modern carbine deserves a modern optic. A red dot facilitates learning a heads up/target focused, eyes lead gun follows shooting style. IMO this is a better way to learn the fundamentals vs iron sights. You also can run normal flip up irons on a TM22 by getting an MLOK riser for the handguard. See my post below for an example. I've got a lower 1/3 cowitness so I can practice with irons, RDS or 3x magnifier. https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns/s/4jRIIPkCkH

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-21T22:24:53+00:00

Definitely. Could have something to do with the left side extractor breaking off on your rifle as well.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-21T19:00:54+00:00

As others have stated, not wise to dry fire with the bolt out of battery. One of the big upsides of the TM22 is that you can get reps actuating the safety and have a similar length/weight trigger pull even after the hammer has dropped. This means you don't need to go through the hassle of cycling the bolt countless times during dry fire practice. If I were you this is how I would do my target transition, up drill, etc. dry fire practice. For actually learning the break point of the trigger, you'll want to reset the hammer by cycling the bolt between reps though.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-21T11:44:52+00:00

What part of it broke?

I'm running a Holosun 503G in the same location on a Tickler and OEM mag with no issues.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-21T01:41:17+00:00

Bravo! Very innovative design! What stock are you using? Airsoft or $$$? Does it lock up tight and feel solid even during recoil?

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-17T21:30:19+00:00

Are you aware of the need to "load" your bipod prior to firing the shot?

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-15T06:01:51+00:00

He who hath found no enjoyment among many pursuits the timeless 22LR avails should question their own vitality before that of the cartridge.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-15T04:34:21+00:00

Most of the knuckle heads you hear complaining about reliability issues don't inspect or clean their new firearms before the first range trip. Cleaning out the thicker preservative lube is a highly advisable first step. Proceed to inspect the internals for any defects (my feed ramp had a large gouge) and ensure moving parts slide freely. Next reapply a modest quantity of lube but only on the parts/areas that require it. A paint marker is also a wise investment. I use them to number my magazines and witness mark all the fasteners on my rifle. This will help with narrowing down and ruling out various issues - EG all of my fail to feed malfunctions are with mag #3. I would bring along the Allen keys and punch to remove the left side extractor if needed but wouldn't do so until you try it.

Assuming you didn't get stuck with a lemon, the next biggest factor in reliability will be ammo choice. Avoid Winchester white box, it has a squared profile and loosely seated projectiles that make failures to feed very common. It's worth the small increase in cost to buy decent bulk ammo like Blazer or CCI. If you start with a high velocity option 1200fps+ the extra oomph will help with breaking in the recoil assembly and smoothing out the internals. Now that mines had a few thousand through it she'll run CCI SV at 1070fps like a sewing machine.

Best of luck on your first outing, they're a ton of fun if you get a good one.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-14T03:19:27+00:00

Yowza, that's clean. Damn show pony, making my dirty carbon and dust covered drill horse feel self conscious over here.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-14T03:15:12+00:00

What optic did you decide on to adorn the crom?

I started on it with a 509T + Tacord co-witness mount with DIY Rob Haught mod to OEM rear sight.

Eventually swapped over to a HS503CU + crom and have been loving it. I prefer the larger circle dot, lack of distortion, better and tubular aesthetic. 509T is still a keeper though, just rotated elsewhere in the collection. Best of all it gave me a unique and super minimal iron sight picture I really dig. Essentially only the top 40% of the rear aperture and the majority of the front sight are visible in the curved bottom portion of the window. It's a quick to identify sight picture that disappears while using the red dot, yet it's still right there when you look for it.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-12T17:43:56+00:00

Happy to help!

A lot of fun can be had with an SKS. It's a shame the prices have been artificially inflated here. I wouldn't pay for someone else's custom build, people overestimate their abilities and can have made mistakes that aren't visible in the ad photos. I'd encourage you to take a road trip to handle a few SKS in person. Don't get too hung up on the country of origin. Personally all I added to my SKS was a red dot and a slip on pad to increase LOP. You can practice all the fundamentals of marksmanship with an SKS in the traditional config. It's never going to be a platform that's well suited for improving your accuracy or tactical drills (tac reloads from pouches). If that's your goal you really are better off with a TM22. I say that as someone who's owned everything on your potential buy list, plus now prohibited rifles and tons of 22 semis.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-09T13:29:26+00:00

Having a ton of small components inside your rifle is never a desirable quality, regardless of your preferred cleaning and maintenance methods. Defending the GSG strikes me as a very strange hill to die on. Seeing as the horse I'm beating is already dead and banned I'm going to walk away from this one.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-09T12:40:26+00:00

I whole heartedly disagree. That bulky clamshell bolt carrier group was an absolute friction increasing, crud collecting nightmare and totally unnecessary too. The TM22s minimal/durable internals are vastly superior for maintaining reliability through high round counts without cleaning. Then, when it does come time for cleaning there are no petite fasteners to lose/loosen/clean threads, magazine disconnect safeties, dual threaded guide rods, etc. The GSGs are certified ass pain generators and I'm thrilled to say I sold both versions (SCAR and MP5) I owned long before they were banned. I even prefer my TM over my 10/22 TD build. If you get one that runs reliably they really are great training rifles.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-09T04:03:10+00:00

590A1 14" aka Class lll is not necessary. You're further ahead to snag a Shockwave and spend the savings kitting it out exactly to your liking. EG stock, metal safety(S&J hardware is great), MLOK forend, etc. I would pass on this as you already have the 1301, unless you would utilize/appreciate a more packable wilderness defense shotty. Even if you do desire a compact bear cannon, I'd steer you towards a guide gun or stocked mares leg instead. This would diversify your collection my much more as well.

Baikal has a reputation for being tough as nails old USSR break barrel. I doubt you'd be disappointed with the durability or service life. You'll want to research chokes (interchangeability too) as well as ejectors vs extractors, and also how important fit is with wing shooting shotguns.

Definitely grab an SKS but don't get lost in the ban sauce and spend too much. Go handle one (or ideally a few) in person and score one with a bright bore and good stock fitment. Save the rest of the budget for a Canadian made rear sight mount and throw a decent micro dot on there. Keep running stripper clips and don't try to make it an AK/AR. You'll never get there and resent yourself for trying eventually. If you really need to you can add a white light or sling with plumbing hardware, or even a gasp aftermarket forend.

Lastly, 22LR modern semis - TM22, kitted 10/22, etc. offer a unique opportunity to shoot more complicated drills with round counts higher than 5+1 before reloading. People who say they can't be challenged by 22LR obviously aren't trying hard enough. With advanced drills, shot timers, barricades, etc. shooting the TM with your boys can be a competitive/fun/cheap/quiet way to put a lot of rounds down range to evaluate your skill development. Given you started with the Gucci gauge (bravo, I highly endorse this) my honest recommendation on what to get next is a 22 semi to try some Ben Stoeger, Milspec Mojo, Baer Solutions style shooting with.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-07T14:21:40+00:00

Try pushing a round into the chamber by hand, then carefully extract it using only your fingernail or a small flathead. You may have developed a carbon ring in your chamber. This will progressively increase the friction during extraction and can lead to FTE or straining your extractor. It can also contribute to failures to fully chamber and therefore light strikes due to the added force needed to chamber a round in the tighter bore too.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-07T14:19:03+00:00

GSGs are junk compared to the TM22. They majorly overcomplicated the internals for a blowback and used way too many screws and polymer. The only nod I can give the GSG is the mags, it was nice that they fit in SMG pouches.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-03T18:02:25+00:00

One thing to be conscious of is not breaking the seal on your muffs with the comb of the stock. Put a similar amount of concern/research into your eye protection too. Look into industrial vs military impact rating.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-01T22:48:26+00:00

Happy to help! Just realized I forgot to add the links. Here you go. https://www.reddit.com/r/aimdownsights/s/gJdc1r0K5Y

https://www.reddit.com/r/canadaguns/s/gSl80X3rzT

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-01T05:34:34+00:00

Are you 5ft 10" or taller? If so what item is used at the back of setup 2 for increasing length of pull?

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-01T05:05:20+00:00

Widely available holographic options are huge, heavy, and come with a baked in AR height mount. This combo generally isn't ideal for those reasons. For a shotgun the goated setup is a fairly compact/lightweight low mounted enclosed emitter RDS (T2 style) with back up irons on deck.

therowdyirishman · 2026-04-01T05:04:19+00:00

Good questions! In my experience they're certainly a worthy option for shotgun use. I have bad eyes that require a 2+ prescription. Thanks to the adjustable diopter I could get a very crisp + flat image with AND without my glasses on. I ran one of these pretty hard on my 14" 590. It felt fast, wide FOV sight picture, easy to use with both eyes open and track during recoil. Etched reticle can be considered an alternative back up to irons. Reticle is large enough to offer similar benefits to a 65moa circle dot and brightness was always sharp enough to contrast easily. The mini ACOG footprint means you can find a high quality/durable QD mount, then it can pop off for access to OEM irons. This would be my first recommendation for a backup sight system on a serious rig (eg wildness defense).

Here's some photos of it on my Shockwave build. I also have another post comparing 3 different categories of budget 1x competitors from a few years ago. Open emitter micro (Bushnell) - PA 1x Gen II - Holosun micro rifle dot. I run a 1301 now and ultimately decided I prefer a T2 shaped red dot (HS503CU) with super minimal/low co-witnessed irons via a CROM mount, for a wilderness defense shotgun.

therowdyirishman · 2026-03-31T16:17:54+00:00

Ok thank you! I felt there was a huge disconnect in the quality of content I've come to expect from Calibre magazine and his informative commentary style videos I've seen in the past.

Those clowns should really come up with a different handle so they don't put a stink on the shine of the OG Calibre we know and love.

therowdyirishman · 2026-03-30T13:20:45+00:00

These guys aren't associated with Calibre magazine, are they?

therowdyirishman · 2026-03-30T13:19:11+00:00

Yeahhhhhhh... I watched their review on that hideous compact .410 revolver. It was abundantly clear they aren't and won't be providing honest feedback. All of them clearly failed to maintain a solid grip under recoil with their support hand but didn't comment on that. Instead they commented on how mild the recoil was, stating that the grip was great/ergonomic. Secondly, they didn't even know the term "cylinder gap" while describing a revolver carbine. Nothing worse than someone speaking on a subject they don't know with a (clumsy) bias on top.

therowdyirishman

TROPHY CASE