Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Thompson Center Venture rifle

Anyone have any experience with these? Grice's has them for $399.99 plus you get a $75 mail in rebate. Just wondering if they are a decent rifle. Are they comparable in quality to say a Ruger American or more along the lines of a Remington 770? I know the 770's are pretty much crap. They are offered in everything from 204 to 338 magnum. Thanks for the input, Don

My friend has a few. He really likes them. They seem to be very accurate.

I broke down and bought one last week. I was looking for something with a weather resistant finish and began reading up on the accuracy folks were getting out of the Venture. A friend bought one in 270 with the weather shield finish and it too, turned in good groups with factory ammo.

Mine is a 7mm/08. I've got limited time with it, but I zeroed it and shot a 3 round group at 100 yards that a nickel would cover.

It may not get any hunting time this fall, but I wouldn't hesitate to drag it out if the weather turns on me.

Oh, as far as quality, it feels a more substantial rifle than my Ruger American. The stock is stiffer and does not have a hollow sound.

I have a Venture Compact in .308 which is extremely accurate. The stock and trigger both are a step up from the RAR, and the barrel is at least as good. Dunno if the 5R rifling pattern makes any difference, but I've shot other Ventures which have all been accurate out-of-the-box as well.

As somebody recently noted, "Accuracy is cheap these days."

I found a blued synthetic NIB in 280 for 475, I should have bought it. But nought the used Vanguard delukxe (walnut, rosewood end/gripcap) in 300 Mag for the same price.

Put the walnut stock on my stainless vanguard in 270, and the B&c synthetic on the 300. A sub 8 pound 300 mag is all The fun I like

Bought one in 30-06 for 279 on close out---before the 75.00 rebate.

First day out .65" with 165 Nosler partitions at 2850 fps....Done

I've got a hankering to get another 338 magnum. I had a tang safety Ruger 77 with a Douglas air gauged barrel on it that I never should have let go but I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. I just wonder how "lively" the recoil might be on one of these. I did a little looking last night after I made this thread and about every review I read touts the accuracy of them.Wonder if I can convince Mrs. Santa Claus to bring me one....

I fiddled with a Venture in .300 Winchester a bit and the stock handled the recoil very well. probably the best of any factory stock I have used. Accuracy was very good too.

My buddy Joe has one in .243.

He would agree with everything said above !

A buddy of mine has 2 of these in the Predator model (.223 and .308) and are both are extremely accurate easily shooting 3 shot sub MOA groups...for the money i cant think of a better bargain in a rifle........Good luck.....Hb

I have a compact in 243. Thus far I've only fired 100 gr Remington CL factory ammo in it and it was around 1.25" with that. I'm hoping to fine tune that with handloads. My compact is a little heavy for a compact rifle. The trigger is pretty crisp with a hint of creep, but it won't go as light as I prefer without monkeying with the springs. The bolt is a little short and thr knob could be bigger. After rebate I have $180 into this gun so for the money I can't nit pick it too much. The stock is stiffer than the RAR and I prefer the magazine over the Ruger as well. To me it's what the RAR should have been. Twist rates aren't as quick as the Rugers but they should be adequate for most hunting applications.

Bolt handle being too short is the only issue I've ever had with them.

I've got one in 708. Thing is crazy accurate for a sub $500 rifle.
Haven't gone past 200 yds but its been a blast so far.