OT - Rem/Spartan SPR22 double rifle, .45-70

[Bill in Oregon]

Guys, in response to a request for more on this new gun, here is a post I made at Accuratereloading.com on my first impressions of the SPR22:
Picked up the Remington Spartan double .45-70 from my local FFL, where I had Luke at Pueblo Sports send it. It will be some time next week before I can get to the range with it, so a shooting report will have to wait.
I am a Spartan fan, having been very pleased with the function and durability of my Spartan 12-gauge side by side in the upland fields and on the duck marsh. I consider the gun nicely utilitarian for the money -- about in the same league as a Remington 870 Express in a pump gun.
The SPR22, however, will take some getting used to. From the receiver rearward, it is pretty much just another Spartan double, but the barrels are a very odd amalgamation of engineering that someone wiser than I will have to explain. The barrels proper seem to be machine and pressed into a monobloc sleeve, which is nothing unusual. From there forward, things get weird. The actual barrels quickly taper to mere wands for reasons that must make sense only to Remington and Baikal engineers. The rear sight is held on by a band that further knits the two barrels together, after which I believe they are unattached all the way to the muzzles. The jack screw that apparently regulates the vertical plane of the right barrel (and perhaps the horizantal, too) lies out of the way but easily accessible from the bottom side of the rib near the forward sling swivel. The rib from the top appeared to be plastic, I first feared, but a magnet sticks to it, thank gosh. The front sight looks like it is a surplus AK-47 bead, which screws in and out for elevation. It has to go, or at least a white bead must replace it. By the time we get to the end of the barrels, they have tapered away to nearly nothing. I will measure outside diameters and report. My initial sense is that this rifle still may be made to shoot. But at less than 7 pounds, with very light barrels, no one is going to seriously proceed with rechambering much beyond .45-70.

And here is a post on the SPR's first range session:

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve ... /458106129

[Leverluver]

I'll be interested in your findings. I was mildly intersted at the original price but at the current price, my interest wained. About the only reports that I have seen complained of horrendous triggers, but that can be fixed. I get a big kick out of the yahoos that want to hog a 7# 45-70 out to 450#2 Nitro. I'd pay to see that one on Utube It would be like the one of the tiros shooting that 577 T-Rex.

[O.S.O.K.]

[Bill in Oregon]

Not the best, but a photo nonetheless ...

[hfcable]

that is a nice looking double rifle! nice wood. are the barrels adjustable to regulate point of impact?

[Bluehawk]

When the gun was first announced I was first in line trying to get one . The price was NICE and I wanted one bad. I was working part time at a gun store at the time and we coud not figure out why we coud not get one once Remington had advertised it , none of the distributors could answer.
Finally found that the initial batch could NOT regulate the barrels and that stopped the whole production .
SOOOO im still interested but IM waiting to see how these fellows who now have one find as to the regulation of the barrels . I cant wait for the reports ont he firing

[Bill in Oregon]

hfcable: There is a barrel-regulating jackscrew that adjusts the right barrel. It's located forward of the front swivel under the rib. Remington does not even mention this in the manual that comes with the gun, but I plan to start working with it at the next range session. Some fellows are reporting the jackscrew only makes matters worse, and at least one is returning his double for servicing already. Jury is still out on these.

[northwoods]

When these were first announced the pressure listed was 28000psi for loading in the 45-70. In a more sane mode, Lyman loading for the Springfield trap door pressure. Reports from Canada with a 30-06, factory loads sliped the face. Think it would be great fun and safer to use BP and we know that would be safe.

Are you the Bill from Oregon that was at Raton the first of June?

Bob

[Bill in Oregon]

Bob: I'm not that Bill, although I have visited Raton a few times as a tourist.
My understanding is that this gun is designed for pressure not exceeding about 30,000, and I will stick to the Speer and other data that limit pressures to about 28,000. Believe me, a 405-grain bullet going 1700 really gets your attention in this lightweight double.