Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles NewT/C Icon..SOLD OUT

If you don't like the design, here's the guys to complain to, George Gardner (G.A. Precision) is taking credit for the input he gave to T/C for the Icon design:

Ive Been given Permission to talk, The Icon above was an entire years work starting at last Years Shot show, Greg Ritz President of Thompson Center wanted to do a new rifle that had everything a Tactical Rifle should have. His Idea was that if it was good enough for us guys then it would be a cinch in the hunting world. They took advise from alot of people. I spent hours on the phone with engineers and Greg, and his 2 top guys came to the shop and we round tabled the prototype into what it is now. GA precision is doing the Tactical Version and it will be at our booth at shot.

It has an Extended Bolt handle, Will have 20 MOA built in. Its been Inletted into a Manners MSC GAT . Thompson has started to produce 5R barrels as well and the ones we have recieved were scary accurate. Thompson is very Serious to see this through as the Top Dog in Tactical Rifles and G.A. Precision will help it get there. We will be producing our own rifles on their action as well as helping them produce a factory Tactical for next Year.
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Mark Laney was the engineer at TC that drew up the design. Our input as well as several others was the detail, operation and features. I have seen about every action out there and this one is different than them all. You might scan the image you are talking about. The only action that resembles it is the CZ700 which is out of production. (And it isnt even close inturnaly)

Bolt Diameter is .850"

The short 30 cal is the new 30TC cartridge. Its impressive but is mainly due to the special compressed nitro powders Hornady is using to load it. It will be hard to reload and get the same performance. For guys buying the factory hunting ammo and not reloading it will be very nice and perform very well.
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It cams on unlocking Via a Radius in the reciever against the Top portion of the bolthandle. It opens on fired cases effortlesly.

Only some features are like the AI Rifles, the bolt is totally different. The bolt comes apart without tools, different extractor. The AI is not a fat bolt design.

Lefties: Unsure of that. I would say as long as its a huge success that will latter be addresed, I really dont know but I assume so.

GAP will be obtain actions durring this calendar year, It is my understanding that actions will be available as long as there is a demand.
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George what is the purpose of the openings on the sides of the bolt shroud?

JB hit it, To reroute gas on a poped primer, It also looks cool.
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Price: Its still in Pre-Production mode. June July will be D-Day and their target on a Complete Hunting rifle is $750 -$800 Actions should be a fair bit less than that. Just a guess.

WSM Boltface, Not currently but their is enough room, so Im sure that will be an option when production starts.

Guys, I dont have all the answers, I can make an Educated guess on some things, We will have to wait and see what happens after initial production is compleated and new ideas pop up for new products/features.

GAP will be building SA std boltface righthanded rifles to start, we will add to that when TC adopts more features latter.
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Regards.

Well, I guess that's all pretty cool <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />. I'll have to ask my friend the actual tactical shooter what all this might mean. (FWIW, he prefers Remington 700's, which several others who shoot miscreants at a distance for a living also seem to.)

I'll also guess tactical shooters never need to shoot tactically in the rain or snow. Apparently, at least if this "thing" was designed for that purpose and warped into an alleged hunting rifle.

Lots of people I know do hunt in extreme conditions, and features that (theoretically) "look cool", but add vulnerability to the functional system, ain't likely to be popular.

But I suspect the serious back country hunter market may be smaller than the wanna-be tactical shooter market <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />. So maybe they're smarter than I am after all...

The more I look at it the uglier it gets.

This is the 1st variant of the GAP sniper rifle utilizing the Icon action:

This is #1 of a series of Tactical Rifles GAP will offer on the TC Icon tactical action we assisted in developing.

Action: Icon Tactical, 20 MOA Cant machined in picitiny (production will have full picitiny instead of sectional)

Bolt: 3 lug design, (one lug down for optimal feeding) Fat bolt for smoth as silk operation. 60 Deg bolt lift (effortless opening and closing)

Barrel: Mike Rock Palma Countour, This one is chambered in 260 Rem and is a 5R in 1-8 Twist.

Stock: Manners MCS-GAT in Larson GAP Camo.

Feeding: Detachable Mag Triggerguard has 5 and 10 round Mags. (this Guard uses HS mags. Production model will be AI AW 10 rd mags (not AICS).

Misc: Side bolt release, Skeletenized bolt shroud, Cocked indicater, Very crisp adjustable trigger with side saftey.

Also Featured is the New USO 1.8x10 Super Slimline, With the new Ergo adj Objective. GAP Ret, Lit. in OD green.

Hello everyone, this is my first post here on the forum, but I have been lurking around for several months. Just thought I would give my two cents on the Icon. First, I think it is a striking rifle, absolutely beautiful. Nice classic lines, and beautiful wood. I for one, like the butterknife bolt handle, I think it seperates the Icon from the other bolt actions out there. From everything I have read, Thompson center really did their homework with this rifle. As far as the accuracy results in Guns and Ammo, even the author admitted that the barrel was a pre-production barrel, and did not feature the new 5R rifling process, or the new crown on the muzzle. I frequent another forum where one of the members is an outdoor writer and actually helped design the Icon. Apparently Thompson Center has produced some of the barrels recently using the new rifling process, and according to what I have heard they are "scary accurate", whatever that means, but Ill assume it means very good. At any rate, Im sure the accuracy of the production rifles will be better than the one tested in Guns and Ammo, as the Icon will come with factory guaranteed MOA accuracy at 100 yards. As far as the weight issue, I think its a non-issue. I live in North Carolina, and the vast majority of hunters that I know, remove their rifle from its case at the truck, place it in a scabbard on an ATV, drive up to the deer stand, take the gun out, and climb right in. With that type of hunting, weight is not an issue. As a matter of fact, I have hunted in several southern states, and it appears that a lot of people never walk very far with their rifles. Now, having said that, this first version of the Icon is just the "launch" version. I am almost certain that other version will follow, as Thompson Center has said all along that the Icon is really a platform to build from. I believe that we will see a stainless/synthetic version sooner rather than later, that will probably incorporate some of the Encore Pro Hunter's recoil reducing features. Thats just a guess though. I also believe that if the Icon is reasonably successful, we will probably see a mountain rifle version at some point. Its not like the Icon that was shown at SHOT will be the only version of the gun ever produced, as Thompson Center is a company that certainly likes to accessorize their guns, and offer as many options as possible. To sum up, Im just glad to see something completely new and exciting hit the market. I get tired of seeing the same old models from the big manufacturers year after year, wearing some new stock or metal finish, or offered in a different caliber. I wish more companies would follow Thompson Center's lead and push the envelope a little bit more with their product lines. I commend Greg Ritz and Thompson Center for their efforts, and wish them the best of luck with the Icon. I have already given my dealer a deposit for one. I really dont think there is any need to worry about the "sold out" thing, as they were strictly refering to being sold out to distributors, not to consumers.

5R rifling is hardly new........if it is along the same lines as Boots did (IIRC) way back in the day. Mike Rock also offers that type of rifling.

Im not sure if its the same or not. The article in Guns and Ammo stated that the 5R rifiling process was patented by a Russian company, and involves the grooves being cut at a different angle in the bore. Apparently Thompson Center somehow secured the rights to use the process in their barrels. Thats about all I know. It very well could be the same process that you are refering to.

that bolt is huge.
slots in the shroud are silly.
too heavy for a modern hunting rifle.
but overall, decent lines.

and some of these posts smell like stealth hype/advertising ...

LOL - that is what I was thinking Delta Hunter. As a couple of others have said, the rifle is too heavy for what it is.

WOW!!! TC invented the 300 Savage... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> Just what we needed. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> Now, will somebody invent the Mdl 99? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />