Spartan Gunworks SPR 18

Several weeks ago I attended the Gunshow at Glendive, Montana and was informed by a dealer that Remington had dropped this line of firearms. The only thing that he had in stock were several that were chambered in 30-06 and priced at $255. Good price but not what I wanted. A couple days later I hied my rear over to Miles City and had Red Rock Sporting Goods order me one in 7.62X39. Their normal supplier was out of stock so they went straight to Remington. Ten days later I took delivery.
I am rather impressed with this little rifle. I was told that it was the last one in stock. It is a lot of rifle for the money. It makes my NEW ENGLAND ARMS rifles look rather crude by comparison and the Rossi Single Shot is not even in the same class. The machinging is clean, sharp and well done. The stock is some type of Walnut and is well inletted although the wood does stand proud by at least .015". The stock boasts of genuine checkering een although it is minimal and rather fuzzy. The fore end is a rather odd triangular shape that I consider very homely but it is also very good feeling while shooting. The comb is high enough that I have to snug down very tight on the stock to use the iron sights. I like the iron sights. Most of my shooting has been done with military sights. Square notch rear and square post front. The sights seem to be fairly well balanced as to width, allowing a good sight picture. The rear sight has a set screw that allows rather rough adjustments for windage. The front sight as a pin in the center and a set screw that allows a rather teeter totter type of sight adjustmrnt for elevation. Unfortunately it requires a special tool for adjustment that did not accompany the rifle. The rear sight leans forward and the edges are razor sharp and need to be rounded to prevent slashing the operator. The barrel is hammer forged and sports the spiral marks ala Mannilicher. Perhaps I had better check the twist again. The twist is supposed to be 1 X 9 1/2” but my crude attempts indicate that mine is somewhere between 10 and 10 1/2". Sharp, clean rifiling that after about one hundred rounds dispays absolutly no leading. Thr bsrrel is not drilled and tapped for ascope but is grovved for an eleven milimeter scope base. Eleven millimeter didn't meen zip to me but i found that the Simmons scope mount that is designed for a one inch scope and for 22 caliber tip off mount fits perfectly. There is just barely room to mount the short NC-Star four power scope. This scope seems to be a great match for this rifle. The biggest problem that I found with this rifle is the loooong, heavy trigger pull. Actually it doesn't seem to be any worse than my New England arms rifles and certainly no worse than my Savage Model 219. Hopefully it will be easy to improve. Testing has been very limited at this time but I have high hopes. Neil