Scouting Out the Remington SPR 18 Rifle

There’s a little village in Russia that’s so small you might not find it on your world map. Remington says it took them along time to pin down its location during a worldwide search. As it happens, the inhabitants of this formerly-behind-theiron-curtain village are highly motivated, very productive, and unusually skilled when it comes to making guns. They make break-open long guns one at a time, and they make them extremely well.

I was very curious to learn the name and location of this village, but, so far, I haven’t been able to pry any information loose from my contacts in Ilion, New York. I can’t say that I blame them for keeping mum, however; any gun maker with a direct pipeline to the kind of quality produced in this village would probably keep quiet about it, too.

In future issues, I’ll be dealing with some of the other Remington firearms made in "the village without a name." The one I’ve chosen to initiate the series is about as simple mechanically as a modern rifle can get. The workmanship, however, is at a level you would not expect considering the price of the gun. One example of this quality can be seen on the receiver. Actually, "seen" probably isn’t a good choice of words. There are pins running through the receiver. None can be easily seen’if you can see them at all.

These pins have been installed and finished off flush with the outside receiver walls before the metal is blued. The word "installed" hardly describes how tightly these pins fit, and neither does "tightly." If I had to guess at the method these Russian villagers use, I’d say the pins were a shrink fit produced along these lines: Warm pins go into the receiver’t ightly’and then the receiver is cryogenically shrunk to put on the final squeeze. I have never encountered pins as

1 Barrel 2 Sling Swivel Base 3 Sling Swivel Ring 4 Pin 5 Front Sight 6 Extractor Pin 7 Extractor 8 Forend 9 Forend Nut 10 Hinge Screw 11 Hinge 12 Hinge Screw 13 Hinge Screw 14 Spring 15 Catch Housing 16 Forend Catch tight as the ones on an SPR 18. I doubt that a bench-mounted arbor press would even budge them. I know that any attempt to drift them out as you would a normal pin would result in a damaged receiver and the need to refinish the rifle.

The good news is none of the internal pins used to retain components or as pivots have 17 Pin 18 Forend Bushing 19 Receiver 20 Hinge Axis 21 Firing Pin Spring 22 Firing Pin 23 Firing Pin Retaining Pin 24 Locking Lever Pin 25 Locking Lever 26 Locking Lever Spring 27 Locking Lever Spring Pin 28 Cocking Indicator 29 Hammer 30 Hammer Pin 31 Sear 32 Trigger been installed like those receiver pins. Field Stripping As you do this, stop and smell the roses, so to speak. Take the time to notice the fit and finish.

Notice the fluted barrel, adjustable sights, and 11mm scope rail.

This is a nice-looking and well-put-together light rifle, Remington SPR 18 Single-Shot Centerfire Rifle (Specifications subject to change without notice) 33 Trigger Pin 34 Trigger Spring 35 Safety Group 36 Mainspring Plunger 37 Trigger Plate 38 Detent Spring 39 Locking Lever Detent 40 Detent Pin 41 Trigger Guard 42 Trigger Guard Screw 43 Stock 44 Stock Screw 45 Washer 46 Buttplate 47 Wood Screw 48 Stock Sling Swivel Base 49 Cocking Indicator Spring 50 Mainspring 51 Trigger Spring Screw 52 Elevation Screw 53 Front Sight Pin 54 Front Sight Base 55 Front Sight Spring 56 Rear Sight Base 57 Rear Sight 58 Rear Sight Washer 59 Rear Sight Screw 60 Extractor Catch 61 Extractor Catch Spring 62 Extractor Catch Pin 63 Safety Button 64 Plunger 65 Plunger Spring weighing less than 7 pounds.

The caliber of the SPR 18 shown here is .308 Winchester. Others that are available include .221 Remington, .243 and .270 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield, and 7.62 x 39mm. At present, the rifle is not offered in rimfire or shotgun configurations, but that might change in the future.

The pins traversing the receiver are finished off flush before the rifle is blued. Any attempt to drive them out will cause damage and will require a rebluing job. Okay, once you’ve finished admiring the rifle, be certain the chamber is empty and place the safety in the "on" position. Swing out the forend catch (#16) and remove the wood from the barrel/receiver assembly with a downward motion. Hold the assembly in one hand and squeeze up on the locking lever (#25).

Tip the barrel down with your free hand until it disengages the receiver. All the rifles in the SPR series field strip and take down in the same manner, and all have those very tight, perfectly blended-in receiver cross pins mentioned earlier. Detailed Disassembly Begin with the forend (#8). Back out the three screws (#10, 12, and 13) in order to easily remove the balance of the parts. The two elements that remain united are the catch housing (#15) and the catch (#16).

They’re held together by a pin (#17) which, thankfully, is a very ordinary pin and can be drifted in either direction. Another ordinary pin (#6) retains the extractor assembly (#7). Look at the secondary schematic at the bottom of this page. After removing the #6 pin, pull out the assembly. The extractor catch (#60) and its spring (#61) are secured by their pin (#62). Drifting out that pin releases both the catch and spring.

Keep these parts under control, or at least hold the extractor assembly over a soft bench pad, so nothing bounces merrily away. After removing the buttplate (#46), select a screwdriver with a shank long enough to reach the stock screw (#44). This screw has a slotted head. The blade of the driver should fit the screw slot well but not be too wide to turn freely in the stock-screw hole. If the blade binds against the wood, it could split it.

Even if you have to grind down the width of the blade to avoid this possibility, the cost of anew driver will be small compared to the cost of replacing a bustedout piece of walnut. The stock (#43) is pulled off the receiver tangs to the rear. Now you can go after more assemblies. The first is the triggerplate (#37). Remove the rear trigger-guard screw (#42).

The front of the guard (#41) is held in a slot in the plate by a stud resembling a "T-ball." Rotate the guard to align the ball with its plate slot, and remove the guard. At the receiver end of the plate is another screw (#42). The only difference between it and the rear-guard screw is the rear screw head is slotted, while the front screw #42 is a Phillips-head. Back it out enough to push it toward the receiver and remove the detent spring (#38), locking-lever detent (#39), and detent pin (#40). Now cock the gun.

This compresses the mainspring (#50) and reveals a hole in the end of the mainspring plunger (#36). Reach for your trusty straightened-out paper clip or a slave pin of the same diameter. Insert it in the hole in the plunger to capture the spring. If you haven’t already taken off the safety group (#35), do it now. Whenever you do it, the group comes out as a unit and should remain a unit ever after. Pull up on the locking lever and pull the trigger to disengage it from the sear.

Drift out the trigger pin (#33) in either direction. Now slow down and take a look at how the trigger (#32), trigger spring (#34), and triggerspring screw (#51) interface. Remembering what you see will be very help- Be careful: All of these parts can be easily lost. 1 Barrel 7 Extractor 60 Extractor Catch 61 Extractor Catch Spring 62 Extractor Catch Pin

ful come reassembly time. Once you’ve burned-in the mental picture, remove the pin, trigger, spring, and spring screw. One of the plus features of the SPR 18 is a cocking indicator. It sticks up in the rear tang as an easy-to-see signal that the rifle is cocked and locked. The indicator reacts to a spring (#49).