Going Long

Thompson/Center's ICON is the first truly new bolt-action hunting rifle design to be offered from a mainstream firearms manufacturer in nearly a half-century. This is a pretty good accomplishment for a company previously known primarily for break-open single-shot pistols and muzzleloaders.

The Icon was announced early in 2007 and initially offered only in short-action format chambered for .22-250, .243, .308 and the then-new .30 TC--which was developed by Hornady specifically for this rifle and exceeds .30-06 ballistics with a 150-grain bullet in a case shorter than a .308. Now the Icon is available in long-action traditional hunting cartridges such as the .30-06, .270, 7mm Rem. Mag. and .300 Win. Mag.

The necessary elements of any quality bolt rifle are bore, bedding, and trigger pull, and the Icon exceeds conventional factory-production expectations on all three counts. The essential building block at the heart of the gun is a medium-contour twenty-four-inch button-rifled match-grade barrel with 5R rifling.

This five-groove rifling, pioneered in the U.S. by custom barrelmakers Boots Obermeyer and Mike Rock, features angle-sided lands for a more radiused interface with the grooves to eliminate the sharp 90-degree corner that is present in conventional rifling (there are many variations of the R5 concept). Instead of the lands being perpendicular to the surface of the bore, they are at slight angles.

The benefits are enhanced accuracy due to less stress on bullet jacket material; a smoother, easier engagement of the bullet entering the rifling; a fuller and more complete surface engagement (obturation) of the bullet surface with the bore; longer barrel life; less fouling accumulation in the corner between lands and grooves; and, consequently easier cleaning. This rifling has previously been available only on custom-barreled rifles and special-issue products for the military and law enforcement.

At the muzzle, the Icon features a 60-degree chamfered, recessed crown designed to allow propellant gases to have less influence on the bullet as it exits by venting to the sides more quickly and evenly. A chamfered crown is also less likely to be damaged by accidental impacts or poor cleaning techniques.

The Icon's forged receiver is a single piece of pre-heat-treated 4140 steel, machined in a single pass through a seven-axis CNC machine. The tang is made intentionally long to minimize bolt wiggle at full extension. The wide, flat receiver bottom has three integral lugs that mate with a quarter-inch-thick Interlok aluminum block screwed and epoxied into the wood stock.

This combination prevents twisting or torque of the action under recoil. The Interlock plate is also double-pinned at the web, between trigger and magazine well, to prevent stock splits--typically the weakest point in any bolt-action's stock. Actually, the center and rear receiver lugs may be a bit of design overkill because the action bedding is indexed from the thick, broad front lug, and has more than enough surface interface to handle the heaviest setback during recoil. Plus, the stock is secured to the action by three heavy-duty screws (not the typical two), one into each lug.

The receiver is a solid-top design with integral milled Picatinny rail slots. This makes the action stronger and less likely to flex. The integral multi-slotted mount bases provide a stronger overall scope -mount setup than do attached-base systems and are adaptable to a wide variety of Weaver-type scope-ring heights and designs. Picatinny/Weaver optics-mount systems have increasingly become the method of choice for serious riflemen in recent years dues to their versatility, simplicity and strength. Plus, flexible spacing options allow for considerable variation in positioning different optics for proper eye relief, and to accommodate varied turret sizes and positions on different makes and designs of scopes.