In 1982 the firm bought 15 acres for future expansion. For the second time in four years, the factory doubled in size. The Hawken muzzle-loading rifle appeared first, followed by other black-powder guns. gave it the muscle for any North American game.īy 1970 Ken Thompson and Warren Center had formed Thompson/Center Arms and were hard at work on new designs. But its barrel-switching feature allowed shooters to easily fit several barrels to one breech. It had a unique profile not all shooters liked. The first Contender pistol came off the line in 1967. He’d applied for patents and was looking for a manufacturer. In his basement shop, Center had designed a single-shot pistol. A skilled machinist and die maker, he had also built guns for Iver Johnson and Harrington & Richardson. Thompson’s operation was already making gun parts, so…. One solution: design and sell a consumer product. But seasonal swings in demand for investment casting tools throttled growth. Its woolen mills and shoe factories were struggling, so Thompson got excellent hires for reasonable wages. In 1963 Thompson and crew moved the operation to Rochester, New Hampshire. He was also “good to work for.” Twenty-five years ago, researching for my book, America’s Great Gunmakers, I spoke with men who had been with the company 40 years! Ken had good business sense, and his enterprise grew fast. From his Long Island garage, Kenneth Thompson produced molds and tooling for the investment casting industry. Equipped with a pliable 3/4-inch-thick rubber buttpad, functional texturing on the grip and forend and dual sling-swivel studs, the polymer Compass stock checks all the “necessity” boxes.įor one New York toolmaker, the end of WW II marked the birth of his own company. What more could you ask for at $399? Wayne likes the slim stock, and how the straight comb aligns his eye through low and medium rings. Whether you’re considering a Compass for your first rifle, or as another of many, it seems to me a fine bargain-sturdy, reliable, smooth-cycling and accurate. T/C could make such adjustment easier for those shooters who don’t have a tool-room. The trigger is of well-proven design and obviously will respond to adjustments. Overall, T/C’s Compass impresses me with its salient features: three-lug bolt with 60-degree lift, new 3-position safety, well-fitted rotary magazine of quiet polymer, excellent barrel. No doubt a lighter trigger will help deliver groups that better reflect Compass capabilities. The movement came clear at 14x, and my calls when shots broke off-center were usually correct. Tugging on that 5.4-pound trigger made this lightweight rifle tremble. Impressed by such intrinsic accuracy, I found it hard to tap. My first group with Federal Fusion ammo measured exactly an inch, and tighter knots ensued. It showed an eagerness to shoot them well and meet T/C’s 1-MOA guarantee. Not that hunters will use the Compass as a single-shot but I’ve fired in hunting-rifle matches that prohibited magazine loading, so this is always a check-box in range trials.įrom the start, this rifle showed a preference for 140-grain bullets over lighter weights. The cartridge then noses readily into the chamber. However, tipping the rifle to so the case rolls against the left receiver wall is a quick solution. The magazine wasn’t designed for single feed, and cartridges dropped into the smallish port fall well below line of bore so they won’t chamber readily. 243 and up.Īt the range, the rifle fed three types of ammunition (Federal, Hornady and Creedmoor brands) without a hitch. A knurled cap covers the threaded muzzle, intended to facilitate mounting of suppressors or muzzle brakes: 1/2-28 for.
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