Remington SPR18 How To Go About Getting One

[Abraham]

In the July issue of "Guns and Ammo" magazine there's a write up on Remington's single shot (.223/.243/.270/7.62X39mm/30-06 caliber choices)

Though apparently they're calling it a Remington rifle, it's actually a Baikal. (former Soviet Union)

From the photos it's beautiful and relatively inexpensive, $277.00, per the magazine.

I want one and while I haven't looked around to see if one can be had locally, I doubt it can be found. Therefore I'll have to order it.

There's the rub. I have no idea how to go about doing so utilizing an FFL person. Presumably this is the most economical way to go about it?

Suggestions anyone?

Also, anyone know if .243 caliber is a common enough caliber to find - well, pre-crazy ammo shortage time.

I don't want an exotic and never was easy to find type ammo i.e., .357 Sig, but something most sporting goods store would likely inventory during normal times, as in 30-30 or 30-06?

I shot a borrowed .243 once years ago and took a Javelina with it. I was impressed with it's almost total lack of recoil, but it was still plenty powerful. I plan to let my 9 and 13 years girls shoot it.

[AEA]

.243 should be relatively easy to get. It's a fairly common cartridge.

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http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0031554213240a.shtml

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http://www.ammo-sale.com/products.asp?cat=9860

There is no problem getting a local FFL to receive the rifle for you from an in (or out of) State Dealer and then transfer it to you for a small sum (usually 10-30 bux). If you are a CHL holder you can get it done for 10-20 in the DFW area.

Look here for FFL Dealers who have offered and their contact info and prices:
http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... m.php?f=22" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The way it usually works is you find a FFL that is close to you and make arrangements with him/her to receive a purchase for you. You can get him/her to email you a copy of his/her FFL and then you email that to the person you are buying from. Or the local FFL MAY want to send his/her FFL to the seller directly....makes no difference really cause it is verified online anyway by the seller.

When you send you payment to the seller, include a copy of the receiving FFL so that they know where to send the gun. It's really very easy.......

There is one thing that you should know.......
Some FFL's will not receive a gun from a Non FFL (Individual) even though it is legal for that individual to ship to a FFL. Some do receive from non FFL's but usually ask for a copy of the seller's Driver's license for record. You just need to know if your seller is or is not a FFL and notify your receiving FFL accordingly.

You can actually buy one right here for 250.99 with free shipping from Atlanta, Georgia:

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http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=130304110

By the way.......there are good and bad reviews of this gun out there.......just do a google of "SPR18" and you will find plenty of info. Here is an example of a person who was not too happy:

Posted by Jack Landers (written in 2008):

"Each and every year, I look forward to the release of the new Remington catalog in a manner not unlike Ralph's fascination with the local storefront display of the Red Ryder BB gun in 'A Christmas Story.' I love Remington's whole line-up and I love the way that their annual catalog is perfectly calculated to make me drool over something on nearly every page.

This past year they managed to get me pretty well worked up over their 'Spartan' line of single-shot rifles. Elegant things with break-action, nickel receivers, the MSRP ranges between $200-$270, making them hands-down the least expensive items in the catalog. Practical, too. When you just want a rifle chambered for a given cartridge and it doesn't need to be anything fancy, a single shot rifle is not a bad way to go.

Finally, with a bit of the money from my 'economic stimulus' check, I ordered one at my local gun shop. Being on a tear for some sort of non-semi-automatic chambered for 7.62x39, that was the cartridge I went with. I've got an entire case of the ammunition sitting around doing nothing and decided that this would be a good way to put it to use. It's cheap target practice.

By the way, the rife goes by several names. 'Remington Spartan,' 'IZH-18,' 'IZH18,' 'SPR18' and 'SPR-18.' There are also shotguns in the same product line.

At this price, I was not expecting a fantastic rifle. With it's hammer-forged barrel, I was expected good accuracy and so-so fit and finish. Nothing that would rival the Ruger No. 1 for looks, but a decent working rifle. However, what I received from Remington falls far short of even that low standard.

Let me first say that these rifles are not manufactured by Remington. They are made by Baikal in Russia. Ok, I've got some excellent Russian rifles and they all work pretty well. That shouldn't be a problem. Remington imports them and puts their label on the gun.

The first thing I was struck by was the checkering. This is literally the worst checkering that I have ever seen on any firearm. It looks like a 3rd grader attacked the stock and handguard with a rasp. Strings of loose wood and sawdust literally hang off of the wood. Why? Why do this? No checkering at all would have been better than this horrible crap that I was presented with out of the box.

Next I was puzzled by the front sight with its slots along either side. Clearly this was designed to have a hood that clips into those slots. Ok, so where is it? If Remington doesn't want to include it then fine. Just don't put those shots in the sides of the sight so it won't look like there's a part missing.

You'll want to be in good shape to get the action open. It is extremely stiff. This will almost certainly loosen up with use and careful lubrication. This is something I actually expected and am more or less ok with.

The extractor doesn't so much extract as sit there like a bump in a log. Sometimes you need to find something handy to pry the empty case out. The tip of a screwdriver or a knife usually works but sometimes it is necessary to poke the spent casing out by shoving a cleaning rod down the barrel from the muzzle-end. There are in-line muzzleloaders that probably allow you faster follow-up shots.

On to the trigger. Yeah. Ok, let's get real. After what you've heard about the checkering and the front sight, was there any way that I was going to have anything good to say about the trigger? Lots of creep and way too heavy.

Then we have the scope situation. Remington is kind enough to provide us with a scope base machined into the top of the receiver. Great! Except that they are complete idiots and went with an 11 mm base instead of a Weaver-style system that would allow the shooter to use proper rings. So we're supposed to do what? Put on a .22 rimfire scope that will shatter or go off zero the very first time you put a centerfire round through the rifle?

I happened to have a set of 11mm dovetail to Weaver adaptors that I'd bought for a .22 a few years ago and I will be using those when I attempt to scope the rifle. But anyone with any sense knows that those 11mm dovetails do not provide enough surface area to reliably resist the recoil of a centerfire rifle. This is something akin to being asked to use a ball-hitch in order to tow a 40 foot trailer.

WHY? Why the idiocy?

As for accuracy, it's hard to get a really good idea considering how impossible they've made it to properly scope the thing and how wretched this trigger is. I will say that my esteemed colleague, Paul Fritz, managed to put 4 rounds into about 3 inches at 50 yards off-hand with the open sights. Pretty darn good, actually. Why only a 4 round group instead of the standard 5? Well you see, the rifle inexplicably locked up and the action refused to open after the 4th shot, requiring the partial disassembly of the device and much head-scratching between the two of us over what may have been the cause. The case was not ruptured and the primer was not 'holed.' The rifle had malfunctioned, not the ammunition. We suspect a burr in the chamber.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this rifle the finger. I will manage to make a useful rifle out of it eventually. I'll re-do the checkering by hand, find some way to scope it and Paul has an idea as to how we could polish the sear of the trigger to smooth it out some. But look, this is a brand new rifle. I shouldn't have to put the kind of work into it that I would normally reserve for a 70 year old piece of military surplus hardware.

No, this is not exclusively the fault of the price. This rifle suffers from 'stupid', not from 'cheap.' It's idiotic design that did the SPR18 in. Remington could have skipped the checkering entirely, used Weaver dimensions for the scope mount and lost the slots on the sides of the front sight without adding a penny to the price. Maybe add $5 to polish the trigger sear for a better pull. Proper attention to removing any burrs from the chamber should be more of a function of good management than money.

As a blacksmith, Paul will probably disagree with my condemnation of the Remington Spartan rifle. What fun would any device be to a professional metalworker if it didn't need tinkering with to make it work? He surely has something there, but the vast portion of Remington's intended market does not consist of blacksmiths, gunsmiths or machinists and so I am writing this review with the more typical customer in mind.

The nice folks at Remington should hang their heads in shame. Remington should be embarrassed to put their name on this hunk of crap. I have bought quite a few Remington rifles and shotguns over the years and from now on I'm not going to do that as readily as I did in the past. Apparently they will stamp that brand name on any old hunk of crap that can make them a buck. I don't care that this was made by an outside company. Remington put it in their catalog and calls it one of their own and so it is they who are responsible for the product.

On a final note, I'd like to point out the fact that as of this writing, when you google the SPR under it's various names you will not find a single review in any regular hunting or shooting magazine. That is the dog that didn't bark. Gun magazines never write bad reviews of rifles, because they depend on ad revenue from the manufacturers. Look in any of those publications and you'll find several full-page ads from Remington. The back cover is almost always bought by either Remington or Kimber. Big money right there. They need Remington's business and good will. So the rule they all seem to go by is that if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all. The silence from all of the trade magazines in this case is deafening. Fortunately, you've still got a few gonzo bloggers like me here to bitch and moan about poor quality and design since I'm not getting a dime from any of these people."

Based on this report only,.........you may want to try and find one at a local gun show or other location where you can actually handle the rifle before purchasing it. That way you could look for these flaws mentioned above and possibly see that they have addressed some of these since this report in 2008.

Good luck!

[Abraham]

AEA,

Thanks very much for all your help. Very instructive.

I've spent quite a bit of time reviewing the SPR18 and am will now reconsider. The bad reviews outweigh the good I'm sad to say. So much for G&A...

I still want an economical single shot .243 caliber, but have yet to really start in on the hunt. Frankly, I haven't a clue as to who makes a decent, budget, single shot.

I have no interest in fine wood checkering or anything fancy - just good function.

I also wonder if I buy out of state if that'll overly complicate matters or simply save me money on state sales tax, that is, if the distributor has no businesses in Texas requiring him to collect such?

[AEA]

Your welcome........

I am afraid I cannot personally help you with a single shot .243 that you may like. I have no experience with Single Shot Rifles.

Your other question is correct. You do not normally pay any sales tax to purchases made from out of State unless you are dealing with a company that has a presence in Texas (such as Cabella's, Cheaper than Dirt or whatever).

So you see that if you find a good deal with free shipping (or low cost shipping) then you can save quite a bit of money on high dollar items that you would have to pay tax on if purchased in Texas.

Remember though that you need to find a local FFL to receive your purchase and transfer it to you. That is the only complication with a non face to face purchase. But if you look around you can usually find one that will do the deal for you for around 10-20 bux......

Good Luck!

[boomerang]

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/s ... .html#use3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you purchase merchandise through a catalog or the Internet from a seller located outside of Texas and use the taxable item in Texas, then you owe Texas use tax on the purchase. An out-of-state mail-order company or an Internet company may hold a Texas Sales and Use tax permit and collect Texas tax. If the out-of-state seller does not have a Texas permit or does not collect Texas use tax, the use tax is due and payable by the purchaser.

[AEA]

So after you buy stuff on the Internet, be sure to contact the Texas State Comptroller and make arrangements to send a check for all the taxable items you have brought into the State for your use........

[Carrots]

So after you buy stuff on the Internet, be sure to contact the Texas State Comptroller and make arrangements to send a check for all the taxable items you have brought into the State for your use........

Indeed.

[boomerang]

Maybe you won't get caught if you don't pay the use tax.

So it's like carrying on 51% premises, in school buildings, etc.

[AEA]

Maybe you won't get caught if you don't pay the use tax.

So it's like carrying on 51% premises, in school buildings, etc.

Yea,........kinda like that
But in my case, I don't go to 51% places and I don't go to school buildings, etc......

And, with regard to firearms, I suggest that if anyone pays a Texas Sales Tax on a firearm that was purchased out of State and sent to a Texas FFL, that the Texas FFL is responsible for the Sales Tax as he is the receiver (and now Dealer in Texas) of the weapon. He of course would then pass that Tax on to the actual purchaser of the weapon when it is picked up, but it would be up to the FFL to collect and file State Tax Forms and payments.

I am actually surprised that Texas and other States have not figured this out and put the burden of collecting Sales Tax on our Texas FFL's for incoming out of State weapons when they are transferred (delivered) to a Texas resident.

Oh,........and speaking of Transfer FFL Dealers...........
Do you think that all of them are collecting/reporting/sending their Texas Sales Tax in on all the money they charge for the service (goods & Services) of receiving and transferring an out of State weapon to a Texas resident? I bet you cannot find even one that does!

And finally boomerang, thanks for hijacking the thread........

[Liberty]

AEA,


I've spent quite a bit of time reviewing the SPR18 and am will now reconsider. The bad reviews outweigh the good I'm sad to say. So much for G&A...

G&A never saw an advertisers gun they didn't like. Every gun they review seems to be the greatest thing they ever laid hands on.