T/C ICON weathershield review????

[chet]

Hello fellow addicts!!!!!
Saturday night I won a rifle at a banquet. 8)

It's a Thompson center Icon, w/weathersheild. Camo stock, 24" stainless, 300 win mag.

It's gorgeous!!!! but I already have an awesome M70 in 300 winny!!!! Trying to decide what to do with this new one?????

wondering if any of you have any good/bad experiences with these guns....

 

[BK]

Heck, I'd just shoot it and see what it'll do. You may have the mythical 1/4 minute rifle out of the box! More realistically, I would probably keep it as a backup/loaner. I know almost nothing about the Icon, but I would imagine finding a 'smith to work on it might be a bit of a challenge. Personally, if I was feeling really crazy, I would be thinking about a new barrel in .264, .358, or .375.

 

[SJB358]

I don't have the ICON, but the cheaper Venture in 22-250. Seems like a well built rifle and it is guaranteed MOA! That is a pretty awesome guarantee to me. I like the Icons I have handled and I believe they are very well thought out rifles. Very robust lock up, great barrels and 60* bolt lift. Plus, they have intergral scope mounts. Very nice touch.

My 22-250 is a shooter, but that doesn't say too much as most 22-250's are. TC is a great firearms company and built right in NH. Can't argue too much about that, as there money goes right back into the local economy. Heck, I hope you keep it. Been waiting for a good range report on them. Scotty

 

[chet]

update:

The camo was not applied properly to this stock. Anywhere the stock flexes the camo cracks, chips and falls off.... Mostly around the buttpad.
I'm a little bit familiar with the inking process that these go through and it's my opinion that the activator wasn't given enough time or wasn't sprayed on properly........
I called T/C, they'd gladly replace the stock with either another camo one, or a black one. But they need the original stock back first. Understandable, BUT, this original stock has a MDF medallion embedded into the buttstock that cannot be re-produced..... I could live with that, But I'd really prefer to keep the medallion...... hmmmmmmmmmmm....... keep in mind this is number 1 of 100, maybe that's neat, or maybe it's not, but I really like the medallion.... :roll:

So i decided to try my hand at refinishing the stock, best case scenarioa - nice black stock. worse case scenario - new paint job.

The camo came off easily in most places, and quite difficult in some others. I figured I'd save the checkered parts for last, but I think I'll stay with the camo checkerd parts - the camo seems attached very well in these areas. A little Armour-All shined up the rubber Houge, I think it looks great!!!!! Here is a pic of one of my employees holding the rifle. Notice the medallion, look close and you can maybe make out the MDF insignia on the front reciever ring, and on the barrel it says " 1 of 100".... A pretty neat rifle, I hope it shoots good!!!! oh, and sorry for the crappy cell phone pic

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

My dad bought of one these a year ago in 300 win mag, it has the full camo stock/stainless. He also added a V-Port brake.

Load development was straight forward, 180g nbts and rl22 at 75 and 75.5g. Haven't seen a 300 WM that woudln't shoot this combo over 1 MOA. This rifle was no different, with 75.5 its 1/2 moa consistently.

I personally dont like the fit and feel of them, or the bolt. Just different I guess, but they shoot. I do like the integral weaver style base on the receiver though, that is a nice touch, the trigger breaks nice at about 2.5#, and with the brake, spotting your own shots are almost doable.

 

[JD338]

chet,

That looks great! I second the load suggestion from Remmy. I have used this load in 3 differt rifles and they all shot well inder MOA.
Congratulations on winning the rifle!

JD338