Springfield Armory Model 2020 Heatseeker

By: Mike Dickerson

This new chassis rifle hits the sweet spot in terms of accuracy potential, modularity, and weight

With the new Model 2020 Heatseeker rifle, Springfield Armory has joined the ranks of gunmakers producing a modular chassis gun designed for accurate long-range shooting. Springfield accomplished this by building the Heatseeker around its custom-grade Model 2020 Waypoint action and using high-grade components. The goal was to produce a chassis gun that lives up to the company’s bold 0.75 MOA accuracy guarantee for Model 2020 series rifles.

Does the Heatseeker deliver on that accuracy promise? We’ll get to that in a moment, but first, here’s a peek under the hood at the Heatseeker’s components, starting with the action. The action is a cylindrical, push-feed design made of stainless steel. In production, each action is heat-treated, machined, and blueprinted. The smooth-cycling action features dual locking lugs, dual cocking cams, a fluted bolt, and EDM raceways. The bolt has a single plunger ejector and a beefy extractor on the outer lug. The bolt handle has a 90-degree throw and a removable, slightly oversized bolt knob that makes it easy to run the gun fast.

Atop the receiver, there’s a Picatinny rail for mounting optics. This rail has two recoil pins and is mounted to the action using standard Remington 700-pattern screw attachment points.

The action is paired with a single-stage Triggertech trigger that has no creep, no take-up, and minimal overtravel. The trigger is externally adjustable within a range of 2.5-5 lb. I measured the trigger pull on our test rifle at 3 lb., 7 oz. That’s heavier than I prefer, but I left the trigger at that setting for testing to duplicate a buyer’s out-of-the-box experience. I suspect test groups would have tightened up slightly had I lightened the trigger pull, but the trigger broke crisply at its factory setting. The trigger is mated to a basic two-position safety.

The action is nestled in a Sharps Bros. Heatseeker chassis, from which the rifle takes its name. This chassis is machined from a single piece of 6061-T6 aluminum for strength and is coated with a Coyote Brown Cerakote protective finish. The chassis is specifically designed to give bolt guns AR-style modularity. The free-floated handguard has a host of M-LOK attachment points for accessories, and the platform is compatible with traditional AR-15 buffer tubes and grip attachments. Multiple QD cups allow for a variety of sling mounting options.

This chassis weighs just 1 lb., 3 oz. Combined with the rifle’s carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel, this makes the Heatseeker relatively light for a chassis rifle of this size. Our 308-Win chambered test rifle has a 20-inch barrel and weighs 7 lbs. 10 oz. The barrel has a 1:10 rate of twist and is threaded 5/8×24 for attaching a suppressor or muzzle brake. It comes with a thread protector in place.

The rifle is initially offered in only 308 Win and 6.5 Creedmoor chamberings. With the 308 Win rifles, you can choose 16-inch or 20-inch barreled versions. Rifles chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor are available with barrels measuring 16, 20, or 22 inches.

The Heatseeker’s receiver has a large enough ejection port that I had no difficulty loading single rounds through the port at the range. There’s not a lot to criticize with the Heatseeker, but if I had to nitpick on something, it would be the gun’s five-round AICS-style magazine. Magazine spring tension was extremely strong, making the magazine a little difficult to load. I also experienced one failure to feed in range testing when a round hung up and could not be pushed into the chamber with the bolt. This only happened once, with one load, the first time I tried to run the gun with more than three rounds in the magazine. I suspect that the overly strong magazine spring tension was the culprit, but that tension seemed to lessen just a little with use.

The Heatseeker is equipped with a B5 Systems Collapsible Precision Stock. This stock has a simple, wheel-adjustable cheekpiece to quickly achieve optimal cheek weld and scope-eye alignment in any shooting position. The stock also has a wheel-adjustable buttpad to customize length of pull for a perfect fit.

Springfield Armory also equipped the rifle with the B5 Systems Type 23 P-Grip. This provides an increased vertical grip, with a 13-degree angle and extended tang, for improved ergonomics and proper trigger index. The grip has aggressive texturing on the sides and frontstrap for a sure grip in any weather. All furniture color matches the Coyote Brown Cerakote on the receiver and chassis.

For range testing, the rifle was topped with a Zeiss LRP S3 425-50 (4-25×50) riflescope, which offers a large field of view and best-in-class total elevation travel of 160 MOA, making it a perfect optic for engaging medium- and long-range targets with the Heatseeker.

All range testing of the rifle was done on a day when the wind varied 5-10 mph, which had minimal impact on accuracy at 100 yards. I chose to test the rifle with four factory hunting loads and only one match-grade load to get a better idea of the rifle’s hunting accuracy versus pure target accuracy. Surprisingly, the gun’s 20-inch barrel produced bullet velocities, measured with a Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph, that were only slightly slower than factory-stated velocities achieved with longer barrels. On average, variations were just 39 fps slower than the muzzle velocities printed on the boxes, and ranged from minus 17 fps to minus 68 fps.

As noted, the Heatseeker comes with a 0.75 MOA (or 3/4-inch at 100 yards) accuracy guarantee. The important caveats to remember with this guarantee are that it is for a three-shot group at 100 yards, using quality match-grade factory ammunition, in the hands of a skilled shooter.

Although I tested the rifle mostly with hunting ammunition, which I generally do in most testing, so hunters can know how their ammo is likely to perform, I did include one factory match load in order to test the rifle’s accuracy guarantee. That load was Nosler’s Match Grade 308 Win ammo using a 168-gr. hollow point, boat tail bullet. That load easily met the guarantee, producing 0.63-in. average groups and a 0.54-in. best group.

One of the tested hunting loads also met that standard. Federal’s 150 gr. NonTypical hunting load printed 0.75-in average groups and a 0.47-in best group. Three other hunting loads did not meet that 3/4 MOA mark, but still shot fine for hunting purposes. These included a Federal Fusion 165-gr. load producing 0.92-inch average groups, a Hornady American Whitetail 150-gr. load turning in 1.14-in. average groups, and a Nosler Whitetail Country 165-gr. load printing 1.37-in. average groups. Two of these loads had 3/4-MOA best groups.

In short, the gun easily meets Springfield’s accuracy guarantee with match ammo, and with hunting ammo it likes. I have no doubt that handloaders could work up some impressively accurate loads with this rifle, as well.

With its accuracy potential and relatively light weight, the Heatseeker nicely bridges the gap between heavy, precision chassis rifles and hunting-focused rifles. Moreover, you can easily customize the gun and bolt on virtually any optic or accessory you wish to put on it.

Although I can think of several relatively affordable chassis guns, high-quality ones tend to be expensive and offer advantages such as potentially improved accuracy, modularity and customization, accessory attachment, and durability. You can find cheaper chassis rifles for less than $1,800, but higher-quality chassis rifles can cost far more. With its MSRP of $2,355, the Heatseeker falls in what I call the mid-priced chassis gun category. For more information, contact Springfield Armory; Tel.: (800) 680-6866; Web: www.springfield-armory.com.

Specifications:

Caliber:                      308 Win, as tested

Action Type:              Bolt action

Barrel:                      20-inch carbon fiber wrapped

Rate of twist:            1:10 RH

Finish:                      Coyote Brown Cerakote

Chassis:                   Sharps Bros. Heatseeker

Handguard:               Aluminum, with M-Lok attachment points

Buttstock:                 B5 Systems CPS

Grip:                        B5 Systems Type 23 P-Grip

Magazine/capacity:   AICS-style detachable, 5+1

Sights:                     None, Picatinny rail for optics

Overall Length:         38.25 inches

Weight:                    7 pounds, 10 ounces

MSRP:                     $2,355.00