Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles TC Venture Compact .243

I just picked on these up at Dicks recently for a song. It was on clearance for $299, plus 20% off and a $75 mail in rebate. After the dust settles I will have $180 into this gun. I already have a 700 in 243 that I bought for my oldest son, so now it looks like I'll have another 243 for my youngest.

Anyone have any one of these and care to share your experiences? I'm setup to reload for 243 but haven't gotten to it yet.

I suspect you will be quite happy with it, especially at that price! I have a T/C Icon in the same caliber and it is one of my most accurate rifles.

One of the most accurate rifles I've shot lately. Here's a group at 100 yds in .308, using 7.62mm LC match. Cheap, durable and accurate. TC guarantees 1" groups at 100 yds with factory. Put a good quality scope on it and you'll have an awesome rifle.
Bob

Nice shooting there Bob! Has anyone experienced a stiff bolt lift? Just dry firing it I've had some instances where it seemed tight....maybe a tight chamber?

I'll probably top it with a 2-7 or 3-9 variable but funds are a little tight so I may go with a Nikon Prostaff or Redfield unless someone knows of some great deals out there.

Strip the bolt, make sure it's cleaned and lubed properly. Check for burrs and roughness, clean it up if necessary.

Overall, my impression of the Venture (just handling it in the LGS, no shooting) is that it's what the Ruger American should have been, at least for fit and finish. Hope you like it.

I bought my 10 year old son a Venture Compact, in .243, and put a Redfield Revolution on it. He's 12 now, and 3" taller, still loves it. Yes, the bolt is tight. His has loosened up a bit in two years, but not much. It's no big deal and he's accustomed to it. I tell myself it's better than a loose one for a youngster, down lower in the woods, potentially snagging on things with more frequency. For an entry level rifle, I'll take it over most every other one I've handled or fired.

I was loading 85 gn Sierra HPBT's over 27 gns of IMR4198 (powder choice ably recommended by Seafire here on the 'fire), and he took his first buck last season with that load, but two weeks ago he came to me and asked if we could work up a new load and leave the reduced recoil stuff behind. I wasn't going to say, "no", so we tried a few new loads and settled on 41.5 gns of H4831SC. It puts the Sierras and the 85 gn Hornady IB within .5" of each other for POI. He put 10 rounds with the Sierra into a 1.1" group at 100 yards and 8 of the 10 were under an inch. I think I'll take it with me on my next solo range visit and see if I can do any better.

No regrets and I'd buy the Venture again, if I had it to do over. The detachable mag is easy in and out. We've never had any feed or function issues. It carries even smaller than it actually is and has been very consistent with POI for every load we've put through it.

Best -
Andy

I have the compact Venture in 243 also. Very pleased with trigger and overall handling of rifle. For varmints I am reloading 60 gr HP by Sierra and grouping is .6 at 100 yards.
For deer I have loaded Hornady 95 SST. Average group at 100 yds is 1.10 to 1.25. Powder is imr4350 and H4831sc.
I still have some of Hornady 100 gr soft point FLAT BASE bullets left for reloading. With these bullets over 41 gr of imr4350 my groups run from .7 to 1.1. My nerves are not as steady as in past years, so a steady trigger finger should reduce group size better than I am able to shoot.
The detachable magazine functions correctly although the third round is tight inserting into mag.
The safety is stiffer to move than most other manufacturers rifles- not a negative in my opinion.
Finish is excellent on the T/C Venture.








































flat base bullets