My guide, Dwayne Callado, spotted the bedded bull's massive ivory-tipped mainbeams from a mile away. We put a long stalk on the bull, climbing hard and fast against the setting sun. We ran out of cover at 297 yards, but I had a solid rest. I put the reticle a little high on the bull's shoulder and squeezed the trigger, sending a 180-grain Trophy Tip through both its shoulders. The bull dropped in its tracks, deader than dollar gas, the first wapiti to fall to the newest member of T/C's Icon family.

T/C's Icon--in short-action trim--made a big splash at the 2007 SHOT Show. I knew a long action would come eventually, but I was pleasantly surprised when T/C's Neil Sanders told me the new long-action Icon Classic would be out in 2008. I was even happier when he offered to let me use one of the prototypes on an upcoming New Mexico elk hunt and thrilled when I dropped my best-ever elk with the new rifle.

The long-action Icon uses one-piece bottom metal and a traditional hinged floorplate instead of the short-action’s detachable magazine.

I got the prototype rifle, a .300 Winchester Magnum, right before my hunt, so I didn't get to shoot it until I got to New Mexico. On the Jicarilla Apache Reservation's range, I covertly zeroed the rifle with Federal's yet-to-be-announced Trophy Tip ammunition. My first two shots were high and left, but only about an inch apart despite my improvised rest. A few cranks of the dial on my new Nikon Monarch got me zeroed in short order, and three more shots fell into a tight cluster an inch-and-a-half above the bull.

T/C ICON CLASSIC
Manufacturer	Thompson/Center, www.tcarms.com, 603-330-5659
Type	Bolt-action
Caliber	.300 Win. Mag.
Barrel Length	24 in.
Overall Length	44.75 in.
Weight	7.75 lbs.
Sights	None; integral Weaver-style base.
Stock	Checkered American Walnut
Finish	Matte Blue
Price	$1,100

That range session got me through my elk hunt in style, but I couldn't wait to get the rifle to my home range to get a better feel for its capabilities.

The new Icon Classic is an attractive rifle that is certainly deserving of its “Classic” moniker. The author paired it with his Nikon binocular and riflescope for his New Mexico elk hunt.

The Icon Classic
When Greg Ritz set out to design T/C's first turnbolt, he started with a blank sheet of paper and lofty accuracy requirements. To meet them, he consulted with some of the most knowledgeable folks in the precision shooting community.

All Icons are built on an action that is machined from bar stock in the T/C factory. The action has a flat bottom, which is designed to sit square in the rifle's aluminum bedding block, and three integral recoil lugs that lock the rifle into its bedding block for the utmost accuracy. An integral Weaver-style scope-mounting rail further bolsters accuracy by eliminating one more variable--screw-on scope bases--from the equation.

The Icon's solid bolt is also machined from bar stock. It is a jeweled, three-lug affair with a short, 60-degree bolt lift for greater clearance between the bolt handle and the scope's ocular lens. A small "T-slot" extractor is milled into one of the lugs, resulting in a solid ring of steel that uniformly supports the case head. Ejection is accomplished by a plunger-style ejector in the bolt face.