Springfield Armory's New Model 2020 Boundary

There are a lot of very good rifles on the market these days. Some are highly accurate, some very shootable, some powerful and some are lightweight. But a rifle that is all of these things in one package?

There are very few of those and Springfield Armory’s new Model 2020 Boundary is definitely one of them.

The Boundary is a modification of the Model 2020 Waypoint, which appeared five years ago. It’s not merely an older model in new packaging, but a complete, head to toe refinement of what was already a fine rifle. While the Waypoint is suited primarily for targets, the Boundary is very much a hunting rifle — and one for hunters who walk and climb to impossible places with their home on their back as well as those who lurk in stands, waiting for a far-off trophy to reveal itself.

The rifle I was sent for testing is chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum, with a carbon-fiber wrapped barrel that is 25.5 inches long with the muzzle brake, 24 inches without. It has a three-round magazine and conventional hinged floorplate with a release inside the trigger guard, an integral Picatinny rail, two-position safety in the style of the Remington Model 700 and a spiral-fluted bolt.

Of those features, the only one I take issue with is the safety, which does not lock the bolt closed in any position. This has become all too common on rifles patterned to an extent after the Model 700, and it’s anathema to anyone who travels rough country with a slung rifle. I will come back to this.

Aesthetically, the Boundary brags — I use the term in the most positive sense — of having an AG Composites stock, painted in Rogue-pattern camouflage. AG Composites makes very fine stocks — synthetics that don’t feel cold, clammy, noisy and ill-fitting. Aesthetically, they’re not my thing, but there is no denying their positive qualities.

As of this writing, the Boundary is available in seven chamberings (308 Winchester, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 300 PRC, 300 Winchester Magnum, 7mm PRC, as well as 7mm Remington Magnum). In each, you have a choice of a fluted stainless steel barrel or one wrapped in carbon fiber. The former’s listed retail is $2,173, while carbon fiber boosts the price to $2,599.

The carbon-fiber barrel is also fluted stainless steel, so the carbon-fiber roll comes into contact with only five percent of the barrel. According to Springfield Armory, this helps to cool the barrel between shots as well as reduce weight. Speaking of which, the basic rifle with carbon fiber tips the scale at exactly 7 pounds, translating to a touch over 9 pounds with scope, sling and four rounds of ammunition. That is enough to at least dampen the recoil of the 7mm Rem Mag, although it is still noticeable with the muzzle brake removed.

In a rifle such as this, very little else matters if it is not accurate to a degree almost unheard of a generation ago. Springfield Armory has an accuracy guarantee of .75-minute-of-angle (MOA) with certain stipulations: In the hands of a good marksman and using top-quality, match-grade ammunition. That is three shots into three-quarters of an inch, at 100 yards, under good shooting conditions.

They do not say if this is an average group size, or a guarantee for every single group you shoot — cold barrel, hot barrel, clean, fouled, whatever. Since we all know how those factors affect accuracy, let’s just take it at face value and not quibble.

Accordingly, I obtained some top-quality ammunition from both Hornady (139-grain and 154-grain SST) and Nosler (150-grain Ballistic Tip). To the best of my knowledge no one makes actual “match” ammunition in 7mm Remington Magnum, so this is the best we could do, and it all is extremely good too.

As for the “skilled shooter” requirement, I recruited Burt Reynolds, manager of my favorite shooting club, who is a better marksman than I am with such rifles. I do it for work, he still does it for fun. Also, as I age and my bad shoulder gets worse, I don’t trust myself to shoot well enough to provide a legitimate test.

We made it simple: We set targets at 100 yards, made sure my collimator-assisted zero was close enough, and fired three, three-shot groups. All three measured under an inch, with Hornady 154-grain SST at .815 inch, Hornady 139 SST at .835 inch, and Nosler at .875 inch. I am happy to take any of those three elk hunting tomorrow.

Something that concerns me as much as absolute accuracy is any difference in point of impact with and without the muzzle brake. The Boundary comes with both a muzzle brake and a thread protector if you want to shoot with the brake removed. Given the muzzle blast with the brake, ear protection is strongly recommended whether on a range or in the field. Some would rather remove the brake instead, so it’s good to know what effect this might have.

The reason I worry about this is because, in 1990, I went to Africa with a then-new 416 Weatherby fitted with a brake. The safari began in Tanzania, where I shot with the brake on. The blast was deafening, not just for me and my professional hunter, Robin Hurt, but more so for the trackers who were with us, stationed to one side. I collected a Cape buffalo, so I did not have to shoot the rifle again until we moved on to Botswana. There, I removed the brake but neglected to check the sighting. This led to some adventures that ended with a dead Cape buffalo and no serious mishaps, but when I got home, I carried out a series of tests and found there was about an 18-inch difference in group location at 100 yards, with and without the brake. It was fortunate I was shooting at the buffalo a lot closer than 100 yards.

Since then, I’ve always tested rifles with removable brakes this way and had some unpleasant surprises as a result. But, better to have those surprises on your shooting range than in some thornbush with a Cape buffalo glowering at you.

The Boundary, I am happy to say, exhibited no such problems. Burt fired three shots with the brake, replaced it with a thread protector, then fired three more shots. There was one flyer, from the first group shot with the brake, while the three shots without it simply printed into the middle of the existing group. This gave us a five-shot group measuring .855 inch, with the flyer expanding it to 1.815 inches. I’ll take that gratefully, even if others might not.

As you would expect, every other aspect of the rifle performed beautifully — loading the magazine, feeding, extracting, ejecting and opening and closing the floorplate. It’s a constant unpleasant surprise to me just how many rifles, including those that cost a good chunk of dough, perform these basic functions either reluctantly or not at all. There were no such issues with the Boundary. In fact, looking back on several years of testing products from Springfield Armory, including a couple of M14s, a slew of 1911s, and the aforementioned 2020 Waypoint, all have worked very slickly, doing what they are supposed to do without a hitch.

The Boundary is fitted with a TriggerTech trigger, adjustable from 2.5 to 5 pounds. Combined with the Boundary’s lightning-quick lock time of a mere 1.9 milliseconds, it would take a more sensitive trigger finger than mine to find any fault. The shot is on its way practically before you’ve finished thinking about it.

The Boundary stock is not adjustable for comb height and so on, but fitted with an integral Picatinny mount, it allows the scope to be moved forward or back, accommodating your eye position. Picatinny rails are not the most elegant, but they certainly work.

Now, back to my one complaint.

For a variety of legal and production-economics reasons, two-position safeties have become the accepted standard on bolt-action rifles. The argument in favor is that they allow the rifle to be unloaded, working the bolt, with the safety on. Unfortunately, this also means the bolt can pop open at any time, usually when you least want it to, such as when struggling up a mountain through the snow with the rifle slung on your shoulder. This flings the chambered cartridge into the snow and mud. Of course, you can carry the rifle without a round in the chamber, but this is not advisable in country where you could run into a bear, or come across the trophy of a lifetime looking at you across a ravine.

I don’t know if this was Springfield Armory’s (or AG Composites) motivation for locating quick-release sling mounts on the side of the stock, rather than conventional swivels on the underside of the forend and buttstock. With the sling on the side, the rifle is carried with its bolt and safety not touching anything that could pop it open, and it keeps the sling from interfering with the integral bipod mount. Does it work? Possibly. But I’d still rather have the bolt firmly closed and knowing it will stay that way.

My suspicion is that we’ve reached a point where many hunters don’t know there’s any alternative to the two-position, bolt-unlocked mechanism, so they don’t demand anything better. Since the hunters who ride horses, backpack, climb and crawl through thick brush are a tiny minority compared to those who merely take up residence in a deer stand, this is unlikely to change.

While we’re on the subject of slings and sling attachments, I would prefer the Boundary have conventional mounts at least available, since I profoundly distrust quick-detachable systems such as the ones with which it was fitted, and regardless of the mount, I still want a Brownells Latigo leather sling. This preference can be dismissed, however, as further evidence of my dinosaur status.

It’s possible, in reviewing a rifle such as this, to get lost in the welter of trade names and strange acronyms accompanied by little TM’s and R’s in circles, and lose sight of whether the gun is really suitable for its intended purpose.

Four years ago, almost against my will, I became enamored of the Springfield Armory 2020 Waypoint. I thought the synthetic stock was too angular and sniper-like, its multi-round box magazine was not well-suited to hunting and its overall appearance was too military. What won me over was the almost effortless ease with which the rifle knocked down little steel plates at 500 yards, then responded instantly to adjustments to allow it to do the same at 700, then back at 300. There is nothing like calm and deadly efficiency to endear a rifle to me.

Well, much the same thing has occurred with the Boundary. Aesthetically, it is far closer to my admittedly traditional taste in rifles than the Waypoint is, but as far as I can tell, it shoots every bit as well as the Waypoint. If I were to open my mail and find an invitation to hunt trophy elk in the mountains of Montana, on foot and on horseback, there is a very good chance that, looking over the rifles I have in the rack right now, I’d pick up the Boundary and head west.

In fact, I’m sure I would.