westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
I have been wanting a 308 rifle for a while and with my Remington 700 experience, decided I would not go that route. I have a very recent Savage 10PC experience which was very positive, but thought I would give the TC Icon a whirl, as the company historically has quite the reputation (based on the single shot rifles).
I spent quite a while looking for an Icon, since about October 2011 when all the stores seemed out of stock. I thought this situation would normalize after hunting season, but not so. In fact the supply of Icons seems to have all but dried up, even on Gunbroker. I finally found one in the most basic specification: Blued finish, sporter contour and regular wood stock.
Here some pictures:
The stock had a pretty hefty scratch on the left side, but otherwise it looked like the rifle had hardly been fired at all.
The removable magazine holds only 3 rounds, which is rather few, but otherwise everything appears to function fine. I cleaned the bore with Hoppes #9 and called it good.
My first trip to the range I was shooting DAG head stamped 7.62x51 German military ammo and the initial group was very close to 1MOA. From that point onward things went to pieces pretty fast. I ended after 40 rounds with a group that was nearly 4" at 100yards.
In cleaning the rifle afterwards, I noticed that there was heavy copper fouling on the rifling and what I also noticed was a very discernible "gramophone finish" when running the nylon brush through the bore. I have meanwhile had a few rifles pass through my hands and can't say I have ever felt that type of machining artifact in a barrel, so I am pretty disappointed.
So my question, is whether this would be a good candidate for fire lapping ? I am not aware of aftermarket barrels for the Icon, does anyone else ? I am afraid that the fire lapping would cause irreparable damage to the throat and I would be back to square 1. What attracted me to this rifle was the promise of reasonable accuracy in a relatively light weight package with the integral optics rail. Just the finish in that bore that is now the major problem.
I am guessing that this rifle uses threaded barrels that are locked against a shoulder in a similar style to Remington. The bolt has 3 locking lugs and I imagine that it locks up into the receiver and not a barrel extension. The gun has a definite "ring" to it when it is fired. Like someone tapped the barrel with a drum stick ? I wonder if this is a characteristic of the aluminum bedding plate in the stock with little to do any damping ?
Anyway, one way or the other, I have to figure out a way to improve the bore finish to reduce the fouling. I have to wonder who TC has making their barrels ? Probably not the same source as what they had historically used if the outcome is considered.
I spent quite a while looking for an Icon, since about October 2011 when all the stores seemed out of stock. I thought this situation would normalize after hunting season, but not so. In fact the supply of Icons seems to have all but dried up, even on Gunbroker. I finally found one in the most basic specification: Blued finish, sporter contour and regular wood stock.
Here some pictures:
The stock had a pretty hefty scratch on the left side, but otherwise it looked like the rifle had hardly been fired at all.
The removable magazine holds only 3 rounds, which is rather few, but otherwise everything appears to function fine. I cleaned the bore with Hoppes #9 and called it good.
My first trip to the range I was shooting DAG head stamped 7.62x51 German military ammo and the initial group was very close to 1MOA. From that point onward things went to pieces pretty fast. I ended after 40 rounds with a group that was nearly 4" at 100yards.
In cleaning the rifle afterwards, I noticed that there was heavy copper fouling on the rifling and what I also noticed was a very discernible "gramophone finish" when running the nylon brush through the bore. I have meanwhile had a few rifles pass through my hands and can't say I have ever felt that type of machining artifact in a barrel, so I am pretty disappointed.
So my question, is whether this would be a good candidate for fire lapping ? I am not aware of aftermarket barrels for the Icon, does anyone else ? I am afraid that the fire lapping would cause irreparable damage to the throat and I would be back to square 1. What attracted me to this rifle was the promise of reasonable accuracy in a relatively light weight package with the integral optics rail. Just the finish in that bore that is now the major problem.
I am guessing that this rifle uses threaded barrels that are locked against a shoulder in a similar style to Remington. The bolt has 3 locking lugs and I imagine that it locks up into the receiver and not a barrel extension. The gun has a definite "ring" to it when it is fired. Like someone tapped the barrel with a drum stick ? I wonder if this is a characteristic of the aluminum bedding plate in the stock with little to do any damping ?
Anyway, one way or the other, I have to figure out a way to improve the bore finish to reduce the fouling. I have to wonder who TC has making their barrels ? Probably not the same source as what they had historically used if the outcome is considered.
