It will be available in synthetic and walnut, in a traditional straight-comb style with no cheekpiece. The pistol grip and the fore-end will be checkered.
The author first saw the Icon as a prototype at the T/C factory weeks before deer season. With an innovative action, it's an interesting blend of traditional and modern, made possible by T/C's expertise in holding precise machining tolerances.
In addition to production rifles, T/C intends to offer actions and barreled actions. My guess is accuracy freaks will very quickly flock to this receiver, not only for hunting rifles but also for varmint and hunter-class-benchrest shooting.
I saw the first Icon in Rochester last October. Six weeks later a number of hunters had a chance to use them at T/C's Game Trails hunting operation in western Kentucky. All were in .308. Accuracy varied somewhat with the load, which is expected; no rifle shoots everything equally well. On average, the Icon was better than normal for a production rifle, especially a prototype. At best, each rifle produced a few sub-half-inch groups with some loads. Several nice bucks were taken with the Icon, but not by me (reason to come in a bit.) But I did use an Icon to take several does, both to further Game Trails' management program and to see how the Icon performed in the field. Boy did it. I used it at distances from twenty to 250 yards, from a treestand, from sitting, from prone. I even shot a deer right handed with it. The Icon handles as well as it shoots,
The action has plenty of steel, which is going to help with accuracy, but it's fairly heavy. The walnut-stocked Icon in its final configuration will almost certainly weigh more than seven pounds without a scope. This can be reduced with a synthetic stock and a trimmer barrel, but it's probably not an action that, at least in .308 length, lends itself to an ultra lightweight rifle. This isn't a bad thing--weight adds stability.
Initial offerings will include the family of .308-based cartridges.
Above average factory accuracy was standard from the Icon prototypes used during the Kentucky hunt.
Enter The .30 Thompson/Center
The .30 TC was the reason I didn't start that Kentucky deer hunt with a bolt-action Icon; at that time the only rifles so chambered were a couple of lonely Pro-Hunters, and there wasn't much ammunition, either. The cartridge is a joint development between Hornady and T/C, and it's the first factory cartridge with the T/C designation--I suspect it won't be the last.
Over the years, as new propellants have become available, the velocity of our standard hunting cartridges has been considerably upgraded. At the same time, we've been able to achieve greater velocity from smaller cartridge cases. For instance, in 1906, a 150-grain bullet left the muzzle of a .30-06 at 2,700 fps. In 1952, the much shorter .308 propelled a 150-grain bullet at 2,750 fps. Today, the 150-grain .30-06 is fairly standard at 2,910 fps while most 150-grain .308 loads are rated at 2,820 fps. Both cartridges, however, are also available in "extra fast" factory loads--Hornady Light Magnum and Federal High Energy--that throw these figures out the window.
