Hunting

Springfield Armory’s New 2020 Boundary Rifle

By: Mike Dickerson

The latest addition to the Model 2020 lineup is born to hunt

When Springfield Armory introduced model 2020 Waypoint rifles a few years ago, they packed a lot of custom-gun features into a production rifle. These included carbon fiber stocks, the option of a carbon fiber barrel, QD mounts instead of swivel studs, custom-painted camo, and detachable AICS-style magazines.

The guns initially had short-action receivers, with long-action guns subsequently added to the lineup. One thing notably missing was a sleeker design utilizing a flush-fitting, hinged-floorplate magazine, which many hunters desire over guns with protruding detachable magazines.

Initially offered in 308 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 300 PRC, 300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag, and 7mm PRC chamberings, with a 20, 22, or 24 in barrel depending on chambering, On Target’s 2020 Boundary test rifle was chambered in 7mm Rem Mag and fitted with a 24-inch stainless-steel fluted barrel with a multi-port muzzle brake. A carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel is also an option. M-LOK cuts are present on the underside of the forend for mounting accessories.

That has now been addressed in the newly announced 2020 Boundary rifle, which offers many of the same great features of 2020 rifles in a package that’s less likely to hang up on brush or cause concern over inadvertently dropping or losing a detachable magazine. The Boundary is initially offered in 308 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 300 PRC, 300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag, and 7mm PRC chamberings, with a choice of carbon fiber-wrapped or fluted stainless barrels with caliber-appropriate rates of twist.

The Boundary is built around a cylindrical machined action that’s reminiscent of the Remington 700 action. A recoil lug is machined into the front end of the receiver. The action is topped with a 7-inch Picatinny rail, attached via Remington 700-pattern mounting screw holes, so you can replace the rail with direct-mount rings of your choice if you wish. The spiral-fluted bolt has dual locking lugs, a 90-degree lift, and a black nitride protective finish. The bolt knob is removable and can be replaced. I found that the bolt cycles quite smoothly along the action’s precisely machined EDM raceways.

Highlights of the Boundary’s Remington 700-based action include EDM cut raceways, a spiral-fluted and nitride-coated two-lug bolt, a removable bolt handle, an adjustable TriggerTech Field trigger, and a streamlined hinged floorplate magazine that less hang up on brush, be accidentally ejected, or impeded a solid rest on a tripod. Finish on the barreled action is Tactical Gray Cerakote.

Standard controls are in standard positions, with a bolt-release button on the left rear of the receiver and a two-position safety on the right rear of the receiver, within easy reach of the thumb. The release button for the hinged floorplate magazine is protected within the trigger guard. All bottom metal is made of lightweight aluminum and protected with a Tactical Gray Cerakote finish, as are the receiver and barrel on models equipped with stainless steel barrels. Magazine capacity is three or four rounds, depending on chambering.

Springfield Armory equips the Boundary with an excellent TriggerTech Field trigger, which is externally adjustable within a range of 2.5-5 pounds. The trigger on the rifle sent to me for testing broke crisply and consistently at a pull weight of 3 pounds, 7 ounces, with zero creep and zero take-up. I left the trigger at its factory setting because the break felt lighter than it was. That’s partly due to the trigger’s lightning-fast lock time, which Springfield Armory says is just 1.9 milliseconds.

The Boundary’s action is pillar bedded to a carbon fiber AG Sportsman stock sporting an attractive hand-painted Rogue camo finish and a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad. The stock is equipped with two QD cups, allowing you to quickly attach and detach a sling. Beneath the front of the forend, you’ll find two M-Lock slots for attaching accessories such as a bipod or mounting Picatinny or ARCA-Swiss rails. The lines of the stock are straight and clean, with a flattened bottom to help ensure a solid rest. The forend is wide enough to fill the hand, which I like.

The 2020 Boundary wears a lightweight, pillar-bedded carbon fiber AG Sportsman stock with an attractive hand-painted Rogue camo finish, a Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pad, and QD sling swivel cups fore and aft. Its streamlined yet hand-filling dimensions were well-liked by the author.

With the Boundary, you can choose between a stainless-steel barrel or a barrel with a roll-wrapped carbon fiber sleeve. The sleeve is loaded under tension so that most of the sleeve doesn’t contact the barrel, providing cooling air gaps. Fluting under the sleeve also increases the surface cooling area. In most chamberings, rifles with carbon fiber barrels weigh a couple of ounces less than guns with stainless barrels.

The rifle sent to me for testing, chambered in 7mm Rem Mag, had a 24-inch fluted, button-rifled, free-floated stainless barrel with a 1:8 twist rate. It’s topped with a removable radial muzzle brake. The muzzle is threaded (5/8×24), so you can attach a suppressor, and comes with a thread protector. Barrel length varies by chambering. Guns in 308 Win have 20-inch barrels, while rifles in 6.5 Creedmoor have 22-inch barrels. All others have 24-inch barrels.

Weight also varies by chambering, with shorter-barreled rifles weighing a bit less than those with longer barrels. My test rifle weighed 7 pounds, two ounces. I tested the rifle with a Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×44 scope mounted to the Picatinny rail, bringing full-up weight to 8 pounds, 11 ounces. That doesn’t equate to a lightweight mountain gun, but it does translate into a very stable shooting platform, and the VX-6HD scope is a good match for the long-range capabilities of the 7mm Rem Mag. That’s especially true if you take advantage of the in-scope electronic reticle level and CDS (Custom Dial System) elevation dial paired with Leupold’s excellent high-definition glass.

On Target’s 2020 Boundary rifle was tested using a Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×44 scope — a good match for the long-range capabilities of the 7mm Rem Mag cartridge, especially given the in-scope electronic reticle level and CDS (Custom Dial System) elevation dial. We mounted the Leupold to the rifle’s factory-installed Remington 700-compatible Picatinny optic rail.

I put the rifle to the test with four different loads from Barnes, Federal, and Hornady. Functionally, the rifle did everything it was supposed to do, but it did have one quirk. With all rounds tested, the last round in the magazine hung up slightly upon feeding. This required extra force to drive that last round into the chamber. I was initially concerned that this might damage the tips of bullets, but inspection revealed they were undamaged. With this particular rifle, at least, you just need to be aware of that tendency and apply a little extra force when chambering the last round in the magazine.

Velocities of the four tested loads, measured with my Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph, were mildly surprising. With most rifles, measured velocities are usually a little slower than factory-stated numbers. With the Boundary, they were faster. Average velocity ranged from 32 to 103 fps faster than the factory numbers, indicating the rifle has a somewhat “fast’ barrel.

The Boundary comes with a 0.75-inch accuracy guarantee when using match-grade ammo. Because this is a hunting rifle, I tested it with four factory hunting loads and no match ammo in the mix. I didn’t expect it to meet that accuracy guarantee with hunting ammo, but it came close with loads it liked and beat that mark with the best group from one load.

The star performer was a Federal Fusion 175-grain load that printed 0.85-inch average groups and a 0.70-inch best group. The other three tested loads, with bullet weights in the 150- to 155-grain range, turned in averaged groups ranging from one inch to 1.29 inches. The overall average group size for all loads tested was 1.09 inches. In my experience, that’s very good accuracy for a production rifle in 7mm Rem Mag shooting factory hunting ammunition.

The Boundary is a worthy addition to the 2020 line. It’s a no-nonsense rifle that gives today’s hunters everything they want and nothing they don’t want. MSRP is $2,173 for stainless steel-barreled guns and $2,599 for guns with carbon fiber barrels. For more information, contact Springfield Armory; Tel.: (800) 680-6866; Web: www.springfield-armory.com.