Anywhere I can try out a Troy pump action .223 rifle?

[Starslinger]

Doe anyone know of a gun range in northern California, southern Oregon or western Nevada where I could rent a Troy PAR in .223?

[smittty]

I handled one a couple months ago. They are heavy!

Neat design but I don't see them selling very well.

[Starslinger]

I handled one a couple months ago. They are heavy!

Neat design but I don't see them selling very well.

I've never seen one in person. Where did you find one to look at?

And I thought they were supposed to be on the lighter side for an AR-style rifle. Was it a .223 you held or a .308?

[gargodude]

I have a .223 one with the folding stock and although it's 12 oz. heavier than the Troy website shows, I wouldn't consider it heavy at all.

I don't think you will find one for rent anywhere as they are not that popular.

[xxINKxx]

They are pretty cool state ban restricted rifles. Lots of good reviews on them.

I wouldn't mind having one just for the sake of it being different, it actually works well and is accurate from all the shooting vids I've watched on it.

50 state legal, europe legal too.

[MGf]

Starslinger, I have yet to see a range that sells them much less has one available for a rental. My best guess is if you found one in-person it would much more likely be at a CA store/range than outside since everyone else doesn't have to deal with our bs laws minus places like NY, NJ, CT, etc. Initially I had looked into getting one, but have since looked more towards the Mossberg MVP Patrol in 5.56.

It's bolt-action just like the Troy, minus the AR ergonomics. Although it does feature the use of the same magazines. Different form factor for a different purpose, but still useful in my opinion. The main detractor of the Mossberg is the sight picture, which has the sight radius pretty much half of the Troy and you're limited to what's on it.

[Starslinger]

I have a .223 one with the folding stock and although it's 12 oz. heavier than the Troy website shows, I wouldn't consider it heavy at all.

I don't think you will find one for rent anywhere as they are not that popular.

Thank you for the information, Gargodude. The .223 with the folding stock is the one I'm interested in. Gargodude, can you tell me what you like and dislike about the rifle? I'm interested in getting one as a home defense and short-range target shooting rifle. I would put a red dot sight on it and practice from 10 to 100 yards. It would be my one and only rifle. I'd love to hear about your PAR if you have time to post or message me.

Thanks.

[Starslinger]

Starslinger, I have yet to see a range that sells them much less has one available for a rental. My best guess is if you found one in-person it would much more likely be at a CA store/range than outside since everyone else doesn't have to deal with our bs laws minus places like NY, NJ, CT, etc. Initially I had looked into getting one, but have since looked more towards the Mossberg MVP Patrol in 5.56.

It's bolt-action just like the Troy, minus the AR ergonomics. Although it does feature the use of the same magazines. Different form factor for a different purpose, but still useful in my opinion. The main detractor of the Mossberg is the sight picture, which has the sight radius pretty much half of the Troy and you're limited to what's on it.

Thanks, MGf.

[damon1272]

Call Troy. I am sure they can point you to a shop that has them.

[gargodude]

Starslinger- I've had mine for about 2-1/2 years so mine is one of the earlier models with the fluted chamber. They did this to aid in extraction, but according to Troy, the new ones no longer have the fluted chamber. Great news for you, because that's one feature I dislike the most since the spent cases have ridges running lengthwise and make resizing them for reloading twice as hard to do because it work hardens the case more than normal. If you don't reload, it really doesn't matter. I might buy one of the new barrels someday and replace mine. Until then, I'll just shoot ammo that I don't want to reload.

The other feature I hated was the trigger. The factory trigger was absolutely horrible. Very gritty with an 8-1/2 lb. pull. Replacing the trigger with an aftermarket unit was a challenge since the front profile of the hammer must be close to a mil-spec hammer profile in order to properly operate the slide release mechanism. There's a little lever that has to be pushed forward by the bottom part of the hammer after firing which releases the slide for you to be able to chamber the next round. If that part of the hammer isn't there, it won't work. I found this out the hard way when I tried to put aftermarket triggers in it. Troy also uses an extra heavy hammer spring to make sure the little lever gets pushed forward every time. If the trigger you try doesn't have enough hammer force, it won't work. This eliminates the "enhanced mil-spec" 4-5 lb. triggers that many outfits offer for cheap. I ended up with a Hiperfire Hipertouch 24E (about $200 now), which seems to work pretty well. This trigger actually decreases the pull weight when you increase the hammer force. Just what the doctor ordered! Night and day difference. 2-1/2 lb pull now. Smooth as glass.

The rifle itself is extremely accurate. Even more so than my Bravo Company 16" upper on my regular AR. It shoots really tight groups with 62-69gr. bullets. I have a Leupold VX-R 2-7X33 scope witht Firedot Duplex reticle mounted with an Aero Precision Ultralight scope mount. The scope and mount only add 16 oz. to the rifle. A red dot would be nice also, but I wanted to reach out a bit more with mine.

The folding stock is nice, but there's one problem. It has to be fully collapsed before you can fold it and have it engage the catch on the side of the rifle. Not a big deal.

They also have a revised slide grip that is much better than the way my rifle came. It was so popular that I bought the kit and upgraded my rifle. Much better now.

Another option they have now is the 16" Straight Pull Rifle. It still has a folding stock, but not a collapsible one. Looks much lighter than mine. They say it's 5.9 lbs. Maybe this time they mean it.

https://worldoftroy.com/product/troy-16-straight-pull-rifle/

Let me know if you need anything else.

[Starslinger]

Thanks for the info, gargodude! Much appreciated! I do have a couple more questions if you're willing to answer more questions.

Is there enough room on the rail forward of the pump mechanism to mount a tactical light? Or can the front folding battle sight be moved back a few inches on the top rail to make room for a tactical light?

Is the flat, unpadded butt of the stock uncomfortable or slippery when shooting from a standing position?

Any difficulty maintaining the rifle especially the pump mechanism? Would you feel confident using the rifle in a home defense situation?

I have heard that the muzzle break is now removable. Would that make the rifle an inch shorter? How is the recoil overall compared to a gas-operated AR?

Thanks again, gargodude.

P.S. From the videos that I have watched, I don't think that a side action rifle would be nearly as fast as a pump action, and since this would be a home defense weapon, I don't have much interested in the side action.

[gargodude]

There is barely enough room in front of the slide for a short (2") rail. Troy makes these for their "Alpha" rails. I put mine directly underneath, at 6 'o'clock for a bipod. There is just enough room. For a light, I would put one at 3 o'clock or at 4:30. Again, there should be just enough room at 3 o'clock and plenty at 4:30.

I did find the flat butt to be a bit slippery on my shoulder (they should have curved it), so I put some 3M grip tape (textured rubber tape used for stairs) on that surface and it helps quite a bit.

As for maintenance, it easier to clean than a semi-automatic AR, since you don't have a gas tube pumping filth into the interior. Another reason I'm thinking of buying one of the new barrels, is that with my fluted chamber, some gas blows by the chambered round into the upper receiver which means it gets dirty. If you bought one new there should be none of this and the rifle would be very easy to clean.

I would absolutely feel confident about using the rifle for home defense (unless I lived in an apartment) as it is very reliable. With my rifle, Troy recommends not using steel cased ammo or American Eagle, which has really soft brass which tends to get stuck in the chamber sometimes. This happened to me once, but this was before I knew about the warning. I'm not sure if this is still a concern now that they don't use the fluted chamber. I would call Troy and ask them. I spoke with Kevin several times and he's really helpful.

Only the really early rifles had a welded flash hider. Mine didn't. Yes, it would make the rifle shorter. You could get a thread protector for about $6.

I agree with you that the side action rifle would be slower.

[Starslinger]

Excellent information, gargodude! Thanks so much!

[gargodude]

Good luck finding what you want!

[gargodude]

Correction to my earlier post: I would put the rail for the light at 9 o'clock or 7:30.