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.
Soooo, I think if I had a chance to handle this in the shop before buying, I might have passed until I hear more from other users. But here it is, and so I will put it to use and see what manner of tool it is I have purchased.
More later.

Bill

Thanks for your report.
Please keep us updated on your shooting results.

When this gun was first anounced, many people immediately had rechambering plans for much more powerful harder kicking cartridges.

Such plans on this gun, are foolish at best, and probably dangerous.

If these SPR22's shoot good enough for hunting, then at 7 pounds will make a fun effective 45/70 double. Which is it original design, after all.

NE450: MEasured the barrel exterior on the way out the door to work: .582 at the muzzle. That ain't much. On the other hand, the thing handles like a light 20 double.

When I first heard of the Baikal 45/70 a little over 3 years ago, I was all hot to get one via a dealer for EAA. Now that Remington offers it, I have changed my mind after looking at one acquired by my employee. There are too many compromises from what you would expect in an inexpensive double rifle.

For the same money, I would settle for one barrel in another Ruger #1.

Geoff

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
The actual barrels quickly taper to mere wands for reasons that must make sense only to Remington and Baikal engineers...By the time we get to the end of the barrels, they have tapered away to nearly nothing.
More later.

My sense that the design is the result of Remington's concerns regarding liability in the event people were tempted to bore the barrels out. If I recall, one of the major hold ups in rolling out the 45/70 version was related to "chatter" Remington was picking up concerning some folks frothing at the mouth in ancitipcation of boring out the 45/70 to something larger. (The "jeffe" modification). By thinning out the barrels, they have all but prevented people from going into a reamer frenzy.

Bill,
Glad you got yours! I was one of those thinking about opening the chamber up to .45-90 or .45-100, but after shooting mine with 405gr bullets and a stout, but safe, charge of 4198, I may just leave it as is. At 7 lbs, it does let you know when you've fired it. Safari Kid may think its still to heavy, but not me. I like the way it handles and will use it for black bear and hogs this year.
Again, congrats and...does this mean we get into the DRSS as black sheep cousins?

Prof: I have it on good authority that we will in fact be allowed into the DRSS with our Rooskie irons. But we have to do the dishes afterward ...
The down side of those light barrels is that they give the gun a bird gun feel, not the purposeful swing of a DG double. The up side of those barrels is that they give the gun a bird gun feel ...
Really look forward to spanking some targets with this thing.

Jim: You might be right about Big Green trying to head off rechambering liability with the skinny tubes, although I think their fears are misplaced. I wish they were a bit heavier though. I have shotguns with much stouter barrels.

Just picked mine up, my first impressions is lenght of pull to forward trigger 14" and 13 1/8 to rear, kinda short but would make for fast pointing grip is robust so you can get a full grip. long travel on rear trigger. The pistol grip is angle back alittle to much for my grip making uncomfortable trigger finger placement on forward trigger slightly less than desirable. Overall fit and pointing for me OK overall lenght was under 40". Rough measurement on stock 1.5" at comb and 2.25 at heel

It is no High Quality SXS rifle but for the money I believe it to be a fine value.

The NEC rear peep set up for ruger rifles work perfectly on the spr-22, again you would need to remove the rear sight from the quarter rib