TECNEMA TCM-1 Defence
TECNEMA TCM-1 Defence The 9x22mm (also called 9 MAJOR) was shown at the IWA 1992 of Nuremberg by an hungarian factory called Matravideki Femmuvek Sirok (still now on business, named MFS2000); this ammunition was born as a wildcat, but soon it became a series-produced item. It was based on a study by the austrian researcher Horst H. Grillmayer, shortly thereafter turned into a potential industrial product, the first samples of the 9x22mm-Major cartridge were shown at the IWA 1992 marked MFS 9mm-MJR, but shortly after also FIOCCHI of Italy started an its own production line of this caliber. The task of the 9x22mm-Major cartridge was to be able to be chambered and fired by .40-SW weapons simply by changing the barrel: with such weapons, it would have been possible to obtain a very strong Power Factor for the dynamic shooting competition, much more superior to the one (175) obtained when employing lighter bullets than the ones used for the .40-SW, so we can assume that the recoil would also have been minor. So, this had to be a "Major Caliber", with a lighter bullet but without abnormal working pressure (those "abnormal working pressures" are always found when using "pumped-up" .9x19mm-Parabellum and .9x21mm-IMI ammunitions). The manufacturer claimed this cartridge able to interesting performances: with 140 grains bullets, it was assumable an Initial Velocity of 440 Meters/Second, with a cinetic energy of 75,5 Kgm and a 185,9 Power Factor coeeficient; furthermore, the 9x22mm-Major would have had its Working Pressure coefficient switching from a minimum of 2800 Bar to a maximum of 3220 Bar, even if the initial testing of the ammunition was performed using bullets with a Working Pressure arriving at 1640 Bars. Those were wonderful results, if you mind that the .9x19mm-Parabellum's Working Pressure arrives to 2600 Bar, the 9x21mm-IMI's one is of 3100 Bar and the .40-SW's one is of 2500 Bar. The new-born 9x22mm-Major cartridge had not to be a "quiet" one, but its "valors" were the standard ones needed by the firearms manufacturers for a cartridge to be used on modern weapons only. The case of the .9x22mm-Major is RIMLESS BOTTLENECK: it was obtained from the one of the .40-SW; it keeps on the measures of the bottom of that cartridge case; it is particularly interesting to note that the lower part of the "body" of the case is cylindrical-shaped. One of the most important evaluation parameters of a caliber is the internal capacity of the bullet case, which i measured in grains of liquid. The .9x22mm-Major case can hold 19,1 grains of liquid, while the .9x19mm-Parabellum holds 10,8 grains of liquid and the .38-SuperAuto holds 13,7 grains of liquid; so, the case of the .9x22mm-Major has the highest internal capacity of all the currently existing .9mm ammunitions used in semi-auto pistols, even if it doesn't reaches still the internal capacity of 20,7 grains of liquid which the old, and now disappeared, .9mm Winchester Magnum had. Even if the .9x22mm-Major cartridge is NOT a real "Magnum Caliber", it had however an enormous potential; unfortunately, things don't always go as one hopes. The hungarian MFS manufacturer never started a mass production of the .9x22mm-Major cartridge, and FIOCCHI was the only one other manufacturer, from which factory came out ammunitions with 142 grains bullets, FMJ Flat Nose type. And, there were not many weapons able to accept this caliber: only the italian firm of TECNEMA, manufacturer of an high-technology line of 1911-style clones, came out with a clone of the COLT COMBAT COMMANDER named TECNEMA TCM-1 DEFENCE and chambered for the .9x22mm-Major. However, TECNEMA went out of business and it made the .9x22mm-Major cartridge fade from memory. A curiosity: the .357-SIG cartridge is very similar to the .9x22mm-Major cartridge (we may say it is a real IMITATION of the .9x22mm-Major), but this caliber had a limited and undeserved luck as it was "pushed" firearms manufacturers as SIG and GLOCK. The last existing stocks on earth of the .9x22mm-Major cartridge, and the few exemplars of TECNEMA TCM-1 DEFENCE pistols chambered for it, are available in Italy; for informations, contact: ARMERIA "BERSAGLIO MOBILE" VIA ZACCHETTI 14 42100 REGGIO EMILIA EMILIA ROMAGNA, ITALY Tel. 0039-0522-518344 Fax. 0039-0522-581354 URL: http://www.bersagliomobile.com
From: PIERANGELO TENDAS -Image and text courtesy of ARMI MAGAZINE-
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