BEST IN CLASS

Rodriguez says Thompson/Center’s
new Venture bolt-action is not just
another price-point gun.

Thompson/Center’s first bolt-action rifle—the Icon—was a resounding success. It met T/C’s very demanding standards for
quality and accuracy. Its sales figures prove that American 
shooters recognize the Icon’s value despite the fact that the cost 
of producing the Icon to T/C’s high standards moved the price point up a bit from the firm’s original target price. It’s still a rather affordable rifle at a bit more than a grand, but T/C’s latest bolt-action rifle—called the Venture—was designed from the ground up to deliver the level of quality for which T/C is known at an MSRP of just under $500, a price most American hunters can afford...

I first tested a Venture on a whitetail hunt in Kentucky. The synthetic-stocked, short-action prototype was chambered in .308 Winchester. According to T/C’s Craig Cushman, it wasn’t up to the standards T/C set for the production Venture, but it handled great and shot very well on the range. I really came to like it over the course of my four-day hunt, so I shot it a lot from 100 to 400 yards on the range. When a fine 13-point, drop-tined buck stepped out in front of me, the rifle felt like an old friend. Not surprisingly, my shot neatly folded the big-bodied buck.

I was so impressed with the quality of the new rifle and its inexpensive price tag that I asked to be put on the list to receive a Venture so that I could do some more extensive testing at my home range. I got my chance to do that in late March, and the rifle I received was a pre-production model chambered in .30-06. Here’s how the new rifle stacks up.

Features

It’s no secret that round actions are cheaper to produce than flatbottom actions like T/C’s Icon. But there’s nothing wrong with round actions, as evidenced by the classic Remington Model 700. It might be easier to make flat-bottomed actions shoot great, but the fact is there must be a great deal of precision throughout the manufacturing process, regardless of action design, to get the utmost accuracy. If you’re building a well-designed action from the best materials to tight tolerances on great machines, you will end up with an accurate rifle whether your action’s bottom is round or flat.

Like the T/C Icon’s action, the Venture’s action is machined from bar stock. In fact, the two actions share many features, such as the solid top; narrow ejection port; and detachable, three-round polymer magazine. The first rifles to roll off the production line are going to be long actions; as I said earlier, my review rifle is a .30-06. The Venture is also offered in .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, and .300 Winchester Magnum. Short action Ventures like the .308 I tested in Kentucky should be available early next year.

Like other round-action designs, the Venture employs a steel recoil lug that is sandwiched between the barrel and the action. The Venture’s recoil lug measures a substantial 0.2 inch on my calipers. The bolt release is the same slick design as the Icon’s. It is located aft on the left side of the receiver. The two-position safety is located just behind the bolt.

The Venture’s fat, solid bolt is machined from bar stock and wears a corrosion-resistant, black-nitride finish. Its three-lug design means the Venture requires just 60 degrees of bolt lift. This allows faster follow-up shots and ensures fat fingers won’t get crushed between the bolt and the scope’s ocular bell. The Venture’s bolt shroud has a sleek, racy appearance, though it is not skeletonized as it is on the Icon.

Extraction is via a small extractor fitted into one of the bolt’s three lugs, which means that like the Icon, the Venture’s boltface completely surrounds and supports the case head. It is a robust design, despite the extractor’s relatively small size. Ejection is accomplished by a conventional plunger-style ejector.

The stainless bolt handle is teardrop- shaped and user-replaceable. However, T/C will not be including a disassembly tool with the Venture. If you would like to replace the standard knob with a butter knife or oversized tactical knob, you’ll have to order an Icon handle and bolt tool from T/C. I like the supplied bolt handle just fine, but if you do decide to replace it, the process is simple. To remove the handle, release the spring tension, push down on the shroud, remove the bolt handle, and remove the firing pin and firing-pin spring from the bolt body. To replace it, simply insert the chosen handle when you reassemble the parts.

The Venture’s trigger is the same, simple, user-adjustable unit found on the Icon. It is factory set to break at 3 to 3.5 pounds with minimum creep and overtravel. My test rifle’s trigger pull is a bit heavier at 3 pounds, 13 ounces, but it is crisp, clean, and creep-free. If I wanted to adjust it, I could do it easily with the provided trigger adjustment tool, but I have no complaints about the trigger pull.

T/C wanted to stay true to its stated mission of providing a high-quality rifle at an affordable price. Consequently, the Venture has the same button- rifled, match-grade barrel that was originally developed for the Icon and the same accuracy guarantee. Both rifles are guaranteed to be capable of firing three shots into 1 inch at 100 yards.

To meet the high accuracy standards that were set when T/C designed the Icon, the company went to 5R rifling. 5R rifling has five grooves and lands with angular sides. The angular sides are said to reduce jacket deformation and fouling, resulting in a barrel that is faster, more accurate, and stays clean longer than conventional rifling.

The 24-inch, sporter-contour barrel has a 60-degree target crown. This is something many knowledgeable shooters consider to be superior to conventional crowns because it allows gases to vent to the sides of the bullet as it exits the muzzle, thereby exerting less influence on the projectile. The recessed design also protects the barrel crown from dents and dings that could affect accuracy.

The Venture’s barreled action is bolted into a relatively straight, sporter-style stock. The prototype rifle I tested had a wood stock that was painted black, but it had the same gray, synthetic inserts that will be standard on the production synthetic stock. The soft inserts make the gun feel good in the hand and will certainly provide increased traction with wet, slippery hands. The 1-inch-thick recoil pad is very nice, with a tremendous amount of cushion, but it’s not so soft that it will not hold up to field use. Overall, I really like the design and hope the production stock will have the exact same dimensions as the test rifle’s stock, as Cushman assured me it would.

Impressions

I was impressed with the first prototype version of the Venture I tested in Kentucky, and the test gun proved to be even better. Its bolt worked smoothly and easily, and the safety engaged and disengaged positively with an audible and tactile click. The magazine went in and out with minimal effort as long as I remembered to insert the back of the magazine first. The bolt release worked as well as it does on the Icon. Out of the box, the Venture’s fit and finish were excellent.

Feel is oh so important in a hunting gun, and the Venture didn’t let me down in that department either. The rifle came up to my shoulder quickly and pointed naturally, and its slender belly and trim fore-end felt perfect in my hands. I would have no qualms about carrying the lively piece on a long day afield.

The Venture came with a set of Weaver scope-mounting bases, so for my test, I installed a new Nikon Monarch 2.5-10X 42mm with BDC reticle on the rifle with a pair of T/C’s quick-detach, steel scope rings. I’ve used the same rings on all my T/C’s over the years and have found them to be robust and sure. I am equally fond of Nikon’s Monarch scope line, which I’ve used with great success on countless hunts and test rifles. I’ve found these scopes to be bright, clear, and rugged, and this one was no different. It had brilliant resolution and tracked perfectly throughout my testing.

I decided to select some proven factory loads from Federal, Hornady, Remington, and Winchester to test the new Venture. After boresighting the Nikon with a Leupold Zero Point magnetic boresighter and fine-tuning the zero with a few rounds, I did some serious accuracy work.

Results

I started out with Federal’s 2,766 fps, 165-grain Tipped Trophy Bonded load because I’ve had such great success with it in the field. It hit a hair low and left of center, but it shot the lights out. In fact, my first five-shot group measured just 0.65 inch, which is well under the Venture’s MOA three-shot accuracy guarantee. Subsequent groups, including a 0.547-inch screamer, proved that first group was no fluke.

The test rifle was also fond of Hornady’s 165-grain InterBond load, which averaged under 1 inch and clocked 2,774 fps over my Shooting Chrony chronograph. The InterBond is a great hunting bullet, so I was pleased to see the Venture shoot so well with it. Remington’s 150-grain Core-Lokt and Winchester’s 180-grain XP3 shot adequately, but they didn’t perform as well as the Federal and Hornady loads. But that’s no indictment of those two fine loads. The fact is some guns prefer different loads than others, and those two loads have been top performers in other rifles I’ve tested.

A tight deadline and looming thunderstorm didn’t allow me as much time to test the Venture as I would have liked, but I did get to spend a little time with it at the 200-yard line. It was very windy, so I limited my testing to the two loads that performed the best in my 100- yard shooting. Neither load shot MOA, but I attribute that to the gusting winds and my lack of time. Given better weather and more time at the 200-yard line, I would have allowed the gun to cool a little longer between shots and taken my time. I am certain that would have helped me milk the utmost accuracy from the test rifle. Still, I was quite pleased with the 2.15- inch accuracy average I achieved with the 165-grain Federal load considering the circumstances.

Overall, I was quite taken with the new Venture. The stock was designed by someone who actually knows what a hunting riflestock is supposed to feel like, and the soft, grooved grip inserts felt great in my hands. The straight-combed stock and soft recoil pad combined to make the Venture a pussycat from the bench.

The bolt release and safety worked smoothly and were positioned where they should be. The trigger pull was one of the best factory bolt-action rifle triggers I’ve ever tested. The Venture did not seem the least bit like a cobbled-together price-point gun.

With the Venture, T/C set out to build “the most accurate, finely crafted rifle available for under $500.” That’s a pretty lofty goal, but if production rifles are anywhere close to as good as the test rifle, I would have to say T/C succeeded. In fact, I would have to say that T/C’s $499 Venture is clearly the best in its class. Heck, it’s even noticeably nicer and better made than some more established models that cost a whole lot more.

The Venture should begin shipping to a store near you shortly after this magazine hits newsstands.

learn more about the new T/C Venture

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