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In a recent thread about over/under guns (thread here) I mentioned that I had bought a Remington branded, made in Russia, SPR310 from their Spartan line as a "starter O/U" for clays and hunting. While I'd like to have a Browning I don't have the budget for it at present. MSRP on these is ~$650, I scored mine on a SHOT show sale from Gallery of Guns for a mere $359 plus tax, shipping and DROS... helluva deal. Today it made it's first trip to the clays and all things considered it did pretty well.
While this gun is not a Browning, Beretta or Perrazi, it is still pretty well made. The model lives up to it's moniker... spartan. Very much plain jane. No engraving on the receiver and not much else in the way of cosmetic adornment. Barrels on mine are 28 inch, unported, and with fully internal choke tubes. Four tubes came with it (F, M, IC, C) and three of the tubes were marked as being okay for both steel and lead shot. I think I would have preferred the 26 inch ported barrels that are offered, but this set was the sale item so good to go.
Fit and finish were good to very good in some places. The inside of the receiver is a bit rougher than I might like, a very sharp edge here and there, but it locks up positively and tight. The receiver is in the white, looking almost stainless. The barrels are a bit better grade of blue than I might have expected and both look and shoot very true. The only unblued items on the barrels are where block meets receiver. These are in the white and jeweled a bit as they should be. The surface of the rib is finished with a sharp checkering that breaks up light well.
The stock and fore end look to be a fairly good quality of walnut, with good weight and a solid feel. The fitting of the latch into the fore end was absolutely perfect. Checkering is minimal, at the wrist and a bit on both sides of the fore end. It is clearly machine pressed, but still very clean. A generously thick, but rather stiff butt pad rounded things out.
Initial cleaning was a brute and I think I know understand how guys who buy milsurp Mosins that have been in storage for 40 years must feel. The layers and layers of cosmoline were thick, trying and pervasive.
I quickly, and incompletely, patterned it a couple of days ago. Point of impact was right close to point of aim and the barrels pattern well against each other.
The single, selective trigger is crisp although it has more take up than I prefer. The safety is automatic... open the gun, safety goes on. The safety itself is on the top tang as it should be and operated both easily and positively. The gun is selectable for extraction or ejection. When ejecting the hulls are sent on a good arc landing reliably about six feet back. For clays today I chose extraction and it too was positive, bringing the hulls up reliably.
I put 75 rounds downrange between the two barrels with no failures of any kind. The gun mounted well and once used to it little adjustment was needed from shot to shot. Length of pull is 14.5 and a bit of fitting is going to be in order for me to dial it in. The butt pad is going to have to go, too stiff for my taste. The only real complaint I have is that the bead is way too small to be considered truly useful, at least to me. It was very hard to pick up the bead against a bright sky so it will be replaced with some type of hi-viz unit.
All in all... it's not a top o' the line clays gun. But on a somewhat off day for me and with an unfamiliar gun I beat a couple of guys shooting higher priced, name brand, guns so perhaps there is something to be said for it. The SPR310 is going to be exactly what I hoped it would... a bargain priced, reasonably good quality introduction into a higher level of shotgun sports. I'm not going to feel bad busting clays or dragging it across a hayfield kicking up pheasant.
While this gun is not a Browning, Beretta or Perrazi, it is still pretty well made. The model lives up to it's moniker... spartan. Very much plain jane. No engraving on the receiver and not much else in the way of cosmetic adornment. Barrels on mine are 28 inch, unported, and with fully internal choke tubes. Four tubes came with it (F, M, IC, C) and three of the tubes were marked as being okay for both steel and lead shot. I think I would have preferred the 26 inch ported barrels that are offered, but this set was the sale item so good to go.
Fit and finish were good to very good in some places. The inside of the receiver is a bit rougher than I might like, a very sharp edge here and there, but it locks up positively and tight. The receiver is in the white, looking almost stainless. The barrels are a bit better grade of blue than I might have expected and both look and shoot very true. The only unblued items on the barrels are where block meets receiver. These are in the white and jeweled a bit as they should be. The surface of the rib is finished with a sharp checkering that breaks up light well.
The stock and fore end look to be a fairly good quality of walnut, with good weight and a solid feel. The fitting of the latch into the fore end was absolutely perfect. Checkering is minimal, at the wrist and a bit on both sides of the fore end. It is clearly machine pressed, but still very clean. A generously thick, but rather stiff butt pad rounded things out.
Initial cleaning was a brute and I think I know understand how guys who buy milsurp Mosins that have been in storage for 40 years must feel. The layers and layers of cosmoline were thick, trying and pervasive.
I quickly, and incompletely, patterned it a couple of days ago. Point of impact was right close to point of aim and the barrels pattern well against each other.
The single, selective trigger is crisp although it has more take up than I prefer. The safety is automatic... open the gun, safety goes on. The safety itself is on the top tang as it should be and operated both easily and positively. The gun is selectable for extraction or ejection. When ejecting the hulls are sent on a good arc landing reliably about six feet back. For clays today I chose extraction and it too was positive, bringing the hulls up reliably.
I put 75 rounds downrange between the two barrels with no failures of any kind. The gun mounted well and once used to it little adjustment was needed from shot to shot. Length of pull is 14.5 and a bit of fitting is going to be in order for me to dial it in. The butt pad is going to have to go, too stiff for my taste. The only real complaint I have is that the bead is way too small to be considered truly useful, at least to me. It was very hard to pick up the bead against a bright sky so it will be replaced with some type of hi-viz unit.
All in all... it's not a top o' the line clays gun. But on a somewhat off day for me and with an unfamiliar gun I beat a couple of guys shooting higher priced, name brand, guns so perhaps there is something to be said for it. The SPR310 is going to be exactly what I hoped it would... a bargain priced, reasonably good quality introduction into a higher level of shotgun sports. I'm not going to feel bad busting clays or dragging it across a hayfield kicking up pheasant.
-- Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun
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