In the world of gun writing, the use of clichés is all too prevalent. “Venerable” is one and “iconic” another. Both are overused to the point of absurdity, but how else do you describe the Remington Model 700 rifle? It’s the best-selling bolt-action sporting rifle in history, with nearly seven million made. Its legacy lives on in both the multitude of aftermarket accessories and imitators.
Certainly, the Spandau Arms RL Bolt Action rifle falls deep into the latter category. This rifle is made in Turkey, which is in and of itself interesting, since that country did not allow the export of bolt-action rifles until the last decade or so. The Spandau RL and a slew of other Turkish bolt guns are now entering the market and have been called Model 700 clones, with just a little stretching of the truth. Many of the differences on the RL could be called improvements, in fact, such as a better bolt-release. It protrudes from the side of the receiver with a spring-loaded lever, and it’s much easier to use and less prone to problems than the original Remington design.
After all, every gun guy knows someone who has a brother-in-law who knows a guy whose cousin’s plumber’s nephew has had a 700 extractor fail. As I said in my book, “Gunsmithing Modern Firearms,” “For years the extractor on a Remington 700 has been subject to brutal criticism from just about every direction. The dangerous game hunting guys and the tactical guys all claim it’s a huge problem that will get you killed in the ‘real’ world.”
A knurled, oversize bolt is one of several improvements on this Turkish Model 700 near-clone • Equipped with an optics rail from the factory, the author found it on the high side, necessitating the use of a comb riser • In front of the trigger guard, the paddle-style magazine-release functioned as designed. The trigger itself proved a bit rough in testing • Remington 700 fans will immediately recognize the RL’s bolt • The solid-rubber buttpad is textured to help keep the rifle still in your shoulder • A knurled thread protector covers the threaded muzzle • Checkering on the wrist provides ample purchase without being overly abrasive • The Turkish walnut stock comes with sling-swivel studs installed • Fed from AICS-pattern magazines, the RL comes with both a flush-fitting, three-round version and an extended five-round unit.
It does look fragile and could become a problem. (For the record, I have never seen one fail unless it was previously damaged.) As a result, one common upgrade for the Model 700 is to replace the extractor with a Sako or M16-type extractor. I have done several of them myself. Spandau chose the M16-type in its rifles, which is, in my never-humble opinion, the better of the two options. It’s not exactly true to the 700 design, but unquestionably better, at least in theory, and since this is only a near-clone, why not make improvements where it’s possible and fairly easy to do so? The ejector is a spring-loaded pin in the face of the bolt, just like all 700s.
The gun also has an oversize bolt knob and a threaded muzzle. While both had been offered in the 700, they were not standard, which, of course, meant they added cost. Both features are viable improvements. So, the short-action .308 Win. rifle might not be an exact clone, but it certainly uses a lot of 700 DNA.
The included scope-mounting rail is quite tall, which allows the use of the popular tactical scopes with objectives large enough for the Hubble telescope. The trouble is, this makes the comb too low for proper eye alignment. For a standard-size scope, you may wish to replace the rail with a lower one. Or, as I did, add an aftermarket comb riser to the stock.
The rifle takes AICS magazines and comes with a three-round, flush-fitting unit for easy field carry and a five-round, extended version for added capacity. Any AICS magazine will fit, and the gun can easily use larger mags. (Using a 20-round magazine while practicing some tactical-shooting skills is an ammo vacuum.)
The rifle has a 20-inch barrel, as is the popular trend right now, and it’s threaded 5/8×24 tpi. The Spandau Arms website says that a muzzle brake is included, but my sample came with a thread protector and no brake. The barrel sports 5R rifling, which is another popular trend, and is topped with an 11-degree crown. I looked at the brand-new gun with a borescope, and it was either unfired or nicely cleaned and showed one of the most spotless bores I have seen in a factory rifle.
Turkish walnut, perhaps unsurprisingly given the country of origin, is used for the stock. It has what appears to be machine-cut checkering, with the diamonds left flat on top. The finish is my only aesthetic complaint. It’s a muddy brown that hides, rather than enhances, the wood grain—quite functional, but it could be prettier. The half-inch buttpad is solid rubber, while the trigger guard and magazine well are injection-molded polymer. There is a spring-loaded lever on the front of the trigger guard to release the magazine.
The trigger is a little rough with a bit of creep, and it breaks at just more than 4 pounds on average. The safety is all Remington 700: it’s a two-position unit, and it does not lock the bolt. The metal finish is oxynitride, which provides a matte-grayish finish that I think looks good.
The owner’s manual claims sub-MOA accuracy … with select ammo. Spandau really means that last statement. After shooting the RL with close to a dozen different ammunition products, I found that, like a kid who hates Brussels sprouts, it’s a fussy eater. My test rifle liked precision-match ammo as the manual suggested.
I produced some good groups using Federal Premium Gold Medal Match with 168-grain Sierra MatchKing bullets. A couple of my five-shot groups were indeed just smaller than 1 MOA. The average of five 100-yard groups was 1.17 inches. One MOA is 1.047-inches. So, as Agent 86 used to say, “missed it by that much.” Still, this is decent accuracy for a price-point rifle right out of the box. I will note that the rifle does not seem to like the less expensive cup-and-core-type ammo or lighter hunting bullets, so it might take a little searching and tweaking to find something it does like.
At an MSRP of $799, the Spandau Arms RL proved worthy of a hard look for anyone in the market for a new hunting rifle. It’s also a solid entry in the growing Turkish bolt-gun space, and if that becomes anything like the established Turkish shotgun market, consumers will benefit.
Read the full article here