I have previously handled the Icon rifles, but until recently had never fired one. This new Icon is one of their best. They are all chambered for the wonderfully efficient 7mm cartridge, which is one of the all-time best whitetail cartridges ever developed. The 7mm ammunition is readily available, and with this cartridge, premium bullets are not necessary.

Good old Core-Lokts and Power Points work just fine, and the cartridge has a good reputation for accuracy as well.

Instead of the thin layers in most laminated stocks, the Ultra Wood has only three pieces of walnut laminated together with two very thin layers of carbon fiber material separating the layers of wood.

The carbon fiber adds rigidity and stability, and the result is a very good-looking laminated stock that does not have that plywood look to it as do many laminated rifle stocks. The receiver of the Icon is machined from a solid billet of steel, and has some unique features of its own.

The bottom is flat, and has three integral recoil lugs, which is about three times as many as most bolt action rifles.

Lipsey’s Exclusive Thompson/Center 7mm Icon Bolt-Action Rifle

The bottom metal is a one-piece unit incorporating the trigger guard and magazine well. The magazine is plastic, holds three rounds, and is quickly released with the push of a button, dropping handily into the shooters hand. The receiver is mated to the stock with three bolts that pass through the IBS Interlok bedding block, an aluminum block that is glued into the stock, providing for a very rigid connection.

The receiver does not have front and rear bridges held together with thin sidewalls as do many bolt-action rifles, but instead is more of a solid receiver with an ejection port.

By using the removable magazine, the Icon can have a solid top receiver, as the cartridges are not loaded singly through the top of the receiver. The result is a receiver that has a more solid, rigid design, which strengthens the action and should improve accuracy. The top of the receiver has integral scope bases which are compatible with any Weaver or Picatinny rings or mounts. I love the scope bases. They have multiple slots, and offer great versatility in mounting a scope properly.

Thompson/Center ICON “Ultra-Wood”

The bolt of the Icon is also unique. It is very robust, and weighs a full pound. The cylindrical body measures. There is a visual and tactile cocking indicator, and a sliding T-slot extractor. The trigger pull on the Icon was very good as delivered, measuring just over three pounds and releasing crisply.

There is a tool included to adjust the trigger pull, and the stock does not need to be removed to do so. The safety is a two-position fore and aft unit, and the Icon has a separate bolt lock to secure the bolt handle, and it is automatically flipped off with the safety lever. That is a very useful and unique feature.

The barrel measures twenty-four inches long, and is of a sporter taper, measuring. The barrel is without sights, and is free-floated into the stock. Shooting the Icon was a pleasure. The low bolt lift and buttery-smooth feeding made for quick and reliable cycling of the action.

Feeding was flawless, as was ejection. I mounted a Leupold 3. The VXL has a crescent-shaped section relieved from the bottom of its objective bell, allowing the scope to be mounted as low as a 32mm bell, but with almost as much brightness as a 56mm scope. This is very useful at dawn and dusk when most game is moving, and allows a lot of light to enter the scope without having to crane your neck like you were looking over a wall. I like a scope mounted as low as possible, and the VXL design and the sixty-degree bolt lift allow for this to be done properly on the Icon rifle.

For accuracy testing, I kept things simple. The local hardware store had no 7mm ammo in stock, so I picked up two boxes of Remington grain Core-Lokt at the WalMart in Paris, Tennessee while on a bacon run. It is about thirty-five miles away, but worth the trip. I hate that thin slimy little bacon that comes in a package. If you want a steak, they slice it off of a big chunk as you wait.

They also have some mighty fine barbeque, almost as good as my own! Anyway, there is a WalMart in Paris, so I picked up the ammo there. As mentioned above, the 7mm does just fine with standard ammunition, and the Core-Lokt is a very good bullet. The grain bullets averaged feet-per-second over the chronograph set twelve feet from the muzzle.

It would consistently place three of the Core-Lokts into one-half inch or less at yards from my Target Shooting, Inc. Model rifle rest.

It is not an ultra light rifle, weighing in at seven and three-quarters pounds, but it is very well-balanced, and comes to the shoulder quickly. It would make an excellent deer rifle, and is suited to antelope and sheep hunting as well. For a look at the VXL and other quality optics, go to www. Remington's grain Core-Lokt factory ammo proved to be very accurate in the Icon. Got something to say about this article? Want to agree or disagree with it? Click the following link to go to the GUNBlast Feedback Page.

Lipsey’s Exclusive Thompson/Center 7mm Icon Bolt-Action Rifle

For a list of dealers where you can buy this gun, go to: Warne quick-release scope rings. Click pictures for a larger version. IBS Interlok bedding block. Equipped with sling swivel studs.