First Impressions: Tactical Solutions Trail-Lite Barrel for Browning Buckmark [VIDEO]

First Impressions: Tactical Solutions Trail-Lite Barrel for Browning Buckmark [VIDEO]

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While I will officially reserve judgement until after I complete a round of Ransom Rest testing, my first impressions on the Tactical Solutions barrel upgrade for the Buckmark are pretty positive.  The most noticeable difference is the weight of the new barrel.  The old barrel feels like it is nearly as heavy as the complete gun with TS barrel installed!  After I installed the barrel along with a compensator from TS as well, I hoped it shot as good as it looked (I’ll have to take a nicer photo – this one doesn’t do it justice). Last night was the first chance I got to shoot the new barrel and it seemed to perform slightly better than the stock barrel.  Like I said, I’m waiting until I can compare new barrel vs. old barrel in the ransom rest to really tell a difference.  I did try a variety of ammunition using a HyScore Parallax Pistol Sighting Rest so it’s better than off-hand but not quite as good as the Ransom Rest.

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To be expected, the Eley Match EPS ($15/box of 50) was the top performer, followed closely by the much less expensive ($5/box of 50) Remington Target.  Federal HV Match was a close third, Federal Champion and 550 round Value Pack were about the same while Federal Spitfire really didn’t get along with my gun.  Just for kicks we tried out the Federal Spitfire in a Smith and Wesson MP-22 (AR-style 22) and observed the same behavior.  The rest of the Spitfire ammunition was sent down range in an attempt to (safely) trim some low hanging tree branches hanging into our target area.

The big difference I noticed was how easy the gun was to hold on target from 50 yards with the new barrel.  The dot seemed to be a lot more stable and I was able to place all 10 shots inside of the 8 ring which is something I haven’t done before from 50.

I’ll do an official review once I receive the Buckmark inserts for the Ransom Rest and do some A-B testing with new barrel vs. old with a variety of ammunition again.

Parting thoughts:

• Does it look cool?  Yes
• Does it shoot better than the old barrel?  Maybe a little bit
• Will it improve my scores?  Yes, lighter weight seemed easier to hold steady on target
• Was it worth the money?  Maybe, time will tell.

UPDATE: 8/6/2012

I haven’t had the chance to shoot the Buckmark from the Ransom Rest but I did have some better results with the new barrel last night.  I was sighting in the gun with Federal Champion 22LR ammunition (about $20/500) and came up with a group size of about an inch  at 25 yards.  Not bad for cheap ammo.  Wonder if the barrel is breaking in?