When I was looking for a similar "do all cheap beater or truck gun" to fill this same role as a reliable rough use & loaner stand by shooter, having had couple of T3's & 2 695's, a SAKO 85 260 & 2 dozen or more SAKO's in years past, a CZ 550 9.3, , a half dzn S&W (Howa) 1500's, more tang safety Ruger 77's than I can remember, and 8-10 post '64 M70's - from picking out my choice of wood from the factory shipping case of 5 rifles, a 1979 USRAC XTR Fwt Rbts, out of the 1st production run of USRAC shipments to Texas, that my distributor employer rc'vd as promised...
I saw all the gun shills printed hype, and put a couple RAR's, Marlins and whatever else I could find in that RAR +$250/ $350 initial price range on every stocking retailers counter side by side & walked away from them as they all needed tuning of some sort IMHO...and bought a couple TC Ventures. DA me sold one at a profit unfired that I should have kept - a NIB WS AP camo 308 I was into at under $300, and am putting a NIB plain vanilla black & blue 270 together right now - with Warne Steel & a Vtx CFII 4x12x50 - I'm into for about $300 for the bare nekk'd gun.
Only thing I ever saw in the last 10 years I wanted to buy in that price point was a S&W Husqvarna 30'06 that needed some tlc on the stock, and hesitated a day too long when the dealer would not come off his $300 price. Snooze Ya Looze bites me too.
Why? Why did I take a flyer on an unknown product that had gone thru a Major Recall & had had the Mfg'er bought out...market research & one on one conversations with early adopters... AND ...I could not find a better deal at the time & would have bought one of the Howa 1500/Weatherby S1 closeouts if it were as cheap as the Venture was, with the at the time $75 Rebate on Venture's that was available thru last year.
Look at the TC Website for the laundry list of FAB's (Features/Advantages/Benefits) that as a former gun industry rep of 13 years, made the most sense for me...Lifetime Warranty, MOA guarantee, 5 R rifleing system, pillar bedding, receiver ejection port top access thru the open bolt adjustable trigger yadda yadda were the key factors, as well as the several early adopters statements about accuracy....and my perceptions of the cheap feeling and cheesy sounds during bolt cycling + the flimsy fit and feel of the RAR's stock with it's egg shaped fore end vs the Ventures better fit & finish, grooved soft touch grip panels and triangular shaped fore end with it's flatter more stable shooting rest. Now that I have finally completed the move to a new location some 200 miles from where'd we'd been for the last 10 years, a year after the original plan called for, I'm looking forward to putting my Venture 270 thru the wringer, and have bought roughly a K of 6/7 styles of bullets to do it with....and moved to within 15-20 minutes of a 365 day accessible 200 yard club range to do it AT.
Haven't seen the new TC "mo cheaper" offering yet, but I am expecting it to be a "Lite" version of the Venture's features, which can be seen on the TC website.
Ron
Last edited by verhoositz; 05/21/16.
