Since we posted the video blogs about building the Thompson/Center ICON .30-06 at the factory, there’s a new most-frequently-asked question. It is: “How’s the rifle shooting?”
Well, my buddy Mike has put about 200 rounds through it now and here’s what we’ve seen so far:
To date he’s tested Federal and Fusion factory loads with 8 different bullets including: 165 gr. Trophy Bonded Tip, 150 gr. Fusion, 165 gr. Ballistic Tip, 165 gr. Sierra Boattail, 165 gr Fusion, 150 gr. Federal Softpoint, 165 gr. Nosler Partition.
The average size of all groups fired with all loads has been 1.421433 inches. The smallest group average for a single bullet tested has been .734375 inch – that was with the 165 gr. Ballistic Tip. No single group with any bullet has yet matched the .40-inch we shot at the factory with 150 gr. Federal Softpoints.
The largest group average was 2.06 inches. This was the first group average recorded. The only other 2+ average was the second test batch which was 2.03 inch. Group averages are consistently becoming tighter, so we’ll go back and retest the early ammo again once the barrel is broken in.
The rifle is definitely still in its break-in stage. It has one spot in the barrel that collects some copper. If not well-cleaned with copper remover for each 15 rounds the groups expand quickly.
One very interesting finding is how consistent the point of impact has been from bullet to bullet and load to load. Through all tests thus far, POI has not moved more than ½-inch from the original sight-in with the 165 gr. Trophy Bonded Tip. That’s nice information to have on a rifle that could someday be force fed whatever ammo might be on hand if the airline loses my other luggage!
There are still a number of factory loads to test, and Mike wants to see if he can beat them with his hand loads, too. We’ll let you know more results once the next batch of data is in.
Shoot straight –
Bill Miller
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