The Grand Power Stribog is a Slovak subgun that has made waves in the PCC market since its introduction. Global Ordnance has brought out the Stribog in 9×19, 10mm Auto, and .45 ACP. This review concerns the Grand Power Stribog TR-22 chambered in .22 Long Rifle.
Reason For The Stribog TR-22
The Stribog TR-22 got its designation as a dedicated training analog in place of its centerfire counterparts. Low recoiling and cheap .22 LR ammunition are beneficial for training. Having an identical operating system to the real deal can have some value. However, spending money on another firearm does not make much sense in this format. Rounds like 9mm and .45 ACP aren’t onerously expensive and generate light recoil out of a pistol caliber carbine. But a Tactical .22 like the TR-22 can be a dedicated plinker and game getter, just as any .22 rimfire can and should.
Features & Details
It would be easy to cheapen out on materials when building a gun around the low pressure .22.But Grand Power builds theirs just like the centerfire option. The TR-22 is a blowback operated pistol and a fixed 10-inch barrel. The action and barrel are housed in a monolithic anodized aluminum receiver/ handguard made by Midwest Industries. The handguard has M-LOK slots on the left and right. It also has a generous section of Picatinny rail for mounting a light. The top of the receiver has a full Picatinny sighting plane. This leaves generous placement for an optic. But the Stribog comes with flip-up tritium iron sights that are useable right out of the box.
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The rear of the receiver has another Picatinny section for mounting the brace of your choice.That section also features a single QD cup for additional sling options. The lower receiver is steel-reenforced polymer. The controls include a flat faced trigger as well as a fully ambidextrous thumb safety, bolt release, and magazine release. The pistol has a non-reciprocating charging handle that is reversible to the right or left side.
The only appreciable differences between the TR-22 and a centerfire Bog are that the barrel is threaded for 1/2×28 inch accessories and a smaller bolt and spring assembly. This, along with the skeletonized polymer magazines, brings the TR-22 in as a lighter gun at only 4.3 pounds. The Stribog TR-22 ships in a hard case and comes with three 25-round magazines.
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Decking Out the Stribog TR-22
Give me an old .22 rifle with no mods and I am a happy camper. But in the case of the Stribog TR-22 pistol, all those rails invite you to make additions.
The .22 LR is about as close to Hollywood quiet as you can get when suppressed. To that end, I paired the TR-22 with a SilencerCo Sparrow 22 can. I used an old Sig MSR 2 MOA red dot as an optic. To top it all off, I mounted a Strike Industries FSA folding brace directly onto the Picatinny mount at the back of the receiver. Other mounts, like those from HB Industries, substitute the removeable mount altogether.
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Accuracy Test
The TR-22 in this setup should be expected to do what any .22 rifle is expected to do. That is, at least, within the limitations of its given optic setup. While a 1-4x rifle scope would be my preference, I used a 1x magnification red dot to fit the tactical aesthetic. Realistically, the .22 LR’s point blank range falls off outside 100 yards, which should be enough for a dot.
I started out my testing of the Mini Bog off the bench by zeroing then going for groups at 25. yards. From there, I picked the best load and stretched the distance to 50 then 100 yards.
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Although all rounds produced acceptable accuracy, the Federal Target standard velocity load was the clear winner. At fifty yards, this load produced steady 3-4 inch groupings. At that distance and beyond, the 2 MOA dot becomes more of an issue for precision. Still, this little setup was able to string a 5-inch pattern at 100 yards. A bit of magnification and a finer reticle could stand to improve that score, as the TR-22 is a shooter.
Plinkin’ & Trainin’
With the right glass, the Stribog TR-22 will make a dandy compact critter getter. But like any other .22, it is a hoot to shoot on its own. I spent the balance of my three-hundred round count perforating left-over soda bottles of varying sizes. I also shot steel out to one hundred yards.Although plinking seems like child’s play, it is instructive as the targets do not react in a predictable fashion. That requiring a quick organic follow up from shot to shot. It also makes shooting fun. We are allowed fun, right? To that end, the TR-22 is fun to shoot and easy to operate.
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Loading up is easy, even with compromised hands. The twenty-five round magazines load like giant rimfire pistol magazines. There is an ambidextrous snub on the follower that allows you to compress the spring by hand and drop rounds in the magazine. The downside of the design is that it can be tempting to grip toward the magazine and impede the follower and, potentially, stop the magazine from feeding as you shoot.
Ergonomics
The braced version of the TR-22 is a bit cramped to shoulder for taller shooters. But its size is ideal for average statured shooters and the young. All shooters will be able to agree with the controls. With the magazine inserted, a tug of the charging handle at the front of the action is all it takes to chamber a round. The magazine release and safety are mechanically clean and work perfectly on either side. The bolt release does the same, but it is camouflaged by the same anodizing as the receiver. I did not realize I had a bolt release until midway through the testing! The trigger has a clean 4 lb. break with only about 3mm of pre-travel. It was easy to stack shots on top of each other on steel in rapid succession. While the Sig dot worked against precise distance work, it was fast and precise enough to pop the caps off the bottles out to thirty-five yards or so.
In the end, I ran out of ammunition with one malfunction to show for it. I burned through a box of CCI Uppercut ammunition and the last round in the magazine bent upward and squeezed by the bolt. I can’t say what caused the issue, as it was never repeated.
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Stribog TR-22: The Final Notes
Even in the arena of firearms chambered in .22 LR, we live in a world of universals. Some guns are so proven repeatedly that we inevitably trust some variant to be our go-to option. For a .22 rifle, something like the Ruger 10/22 comes to mind. Parts and magazines are easy to find, sure enough and you can make it your own. But out the gate, stock options rarely satisfy. The Stribog TR-22 won’t win awards for universality. But in its braced format, it hangs with the best of them while keeping a small size and an ambi-friendly profile. The Tactical .22 can be a hard sell, especially since they are usually encountered as a full-sized rifle. But in the case of the TR-22, it is a right-sized plinker that can be called upon to do rifle tasks.
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