First Look: Springfield's New Model 2020 Boundary Rifle (Full Review)

Historically, Springfield Armory has leaned into the modern with their Model 2020 Waypoint and Redline bolt-action rifles. But not all hunters like a detachable box magazine or a competition-style stock. Some prefer more traditional lines, and that’s what they get with the newest addition to the Model 2020 stable: the Boundary.

The concept behind the Boundary, like that famous Old El Paso meme, is, “Why not both?” The Boundary combines the hinged floorplate and traditional sporter-style stock of your grandfather’s deer rifle with all-modern features and components. The result is a lighter, more streamlined version of the 2020 Waypoint that, Springfield hopes, will appeal to the Charlton Heston-types who wouldn’t be caught dead in the woods with anything that smacks of the newfangled.

Springfield just released the Springfield Model 2020 Boundary last week (bottom), several years after their original Model 2020 Waypoint (top).

Specs and Features (Test Model)

• Caliber: 6.5 Creedmoor
• Color: Rogue Camo
• Barrel: 22" Carbon Fiber, 1:8, Tactical Grey Cerakote® H-227
• Receiver: Model 2020 Stainless Steel, Tactical Grey Cerakote® H-227
• Optic Mounting: Picatinny Mount, Rem 700 SA Pattern, 6-48 Screws
• Bolt: Fluted 4140 Tool Steel, Nitride
• Stock: AG Sportsman, Carbon Fiber, M-Lok®, QD Cups
• Trigger: TriggerTech Adjustable, 2.5 - 5 lbs
• Muzzle Device: SA Radial Brake, Tactical Grey Cerakote® H-227
• Magazines: 4-Round Internal
• Weight: 6 lbs 15 oz
• Length: 43"
• MSRP: $2,599

Other chamberings: .308 Win., 6.5 PRC, .300 PRC, .300 Win. Mag., 7mm Rem. Mag. or 7mm PRC

First Impressions

The Boundary was just released last week, but I’ve had a sample for the last two months. This one is chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor and features a 22-inch carbon-wrapped barrel (you can save about $400 by opting for the steel fluted barrel).

I've had a blast putting the Boundary through its paces.

At just a hair under seven pounds, the Boundary isn't exactly a featherweight, which is surprising given its all-carbon features. Still, its heft absorbs recoil and makes it comfortable to shoot in most field positions. The 22-inch barrel is also a good length for a 6.5 Creedmoor. It’s long enough to squeeze about 2,700 fps out of the cartridge, but it isn’t so long that a suppressor makes it feel like shooting a broomstick.

The gun is fitted with Springfield’s proprietary Model 2020 action–the same one on the Waypoint and Redline. It features a 90-degree bolt throw, removable bolt head, dual locking lugs, and a fluted bolt. I prefer a shorter throw for quicker followup shots, but it’s a smooth action, and I haven’t had any trouble with loading or extraction in the months I’ve had it.

The Model 2020 action is Springfield's proprietary design.

Like many rifles these days, the action, picatinny rail, floorplate, and trigger are all patterned after the Remington 700. This allows you to swap out the stock or trigger with anything that fits a Remmy 700, which is convenient for sourcing aftermarket products.

Springfield bills the rifle as “custom-grade," which I believe is a reference to its premium components since "custom-grade" isn't a real category. But if I'm right, they aren't wrong. The BSF barrel on this rifle is $750, and the AG Sportsman stock is about $700. Springfield isn't paying these prices, of course, but if you were to build a similar rifle by yourself, those components are three-quarters the cost of the Boundary. Buyers can derive comfort from the fact that, if nothing else, Springfield isn't ripping them off.

Digging Deeper

But are those premium components worth the squeeze? That depends on who you ask, but there’s no use pretending that this is an inexpensive firearm. The older Model 2020 Waypoint has the same MSRP as the Boundary, and that rifle can be found on the street for right around $2,000. For most hunters, that’s the most they’ll ever spend on a rifle, and they want to be sure they’re getting their money’s worth.

The receiver is constructed from stainless steel and Cerakoted in H-227 Tactical Gray. Cerakote has long been the industry standard for protecting metal firearm parts from the elements, so hunters need not worry that the rifle’s most important part will succumb to rain, snow, and rust. Same goes for the fluted bolt, which is constructed from 4140 tool steel and finished with a nitride coating process.

The receiver is Cerakoted to protect against the elements.

Carbon fiber barrels have become fairly common, and there’s a reason. Wrapping a barrel in carbon fiber gives it the same profile as a bull barrel with a weight closer to that of a sporter barrel. This, theoretically, produces a more accurate rifle without having to carry a competition gun through the woods. The knock on carbon fiber barrels has always been that they don’t dissipate heat well, but the barrel on the Boundary mitigates against that in several ways.

First, it’s jacketed in a roll-wrapped carbon fiber sleeve and loaded under tension. According to Springfield, this means that 95 percent of the carbon fiber sleeve doesn’t contact the barrel, which provides cooling air gaps. In addition, the barrel is also fluted under the sleeve, which reduces weight and increases surface cooling area. Most hunters don’t worry about long shot strings in the field (unless they’re having a very, very bad day), but the Boundary’s barrel avoids some of the mistakes that previous generations of carbon fiber barrels have made.

Is carbon fiber worth the added cost?

The question, of course, is whether a carbon fiber barrel is worth an extra $400. That’s the only difference between the two models of 6.5 Creedmoor Boundary rifles, and the all-steel rifle only weighs two ounces more. For high-mountain backcountry hunters, two ounces on a rifle might be worth it; for others, not so much.

Carbon fiber barrels have their detractors, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like a carbon fiber stock. The Boundary uses a 100 percent carbon stock from AG Composites called the Sportsman. It has a 13.5-inch length of pull, and includes two quick-detach cups for mounting a sling along with a one-inch Pachmayr Decelerator Pad. That shooting pad isn’t necessary for a 6.5 Creedmoor but would definitely come in handy for hotter cartridges.

Most importantly, the stock saves weight. The AG Sportsman only weighs about 27 ounces, which makes it one of the lightest sporter-style stocks on the market. Aluminum pillars also keep shots on target, and AG Composites says that no bedding is required to achieve ½ MOA accuracy.

The stock reduces overall weight and offers a durable home for the receiver and action.

I also appreciate the addition of a TriggerTech Field trigger. The Field model is user-adjustable between 2.5 and 5 pounds, and the model I received clocked in at 3.5 pounds. The trigger is adjustable via a small Allen-wrench-style set screw located underneath the action, which can be accessed without removing the action from the stock.

The trigger has zero creep, takeup, or grittiness. It doesn’t move at all until it breaks, and the break is clean and consistent. TriggerTech’s Frictionless Release Technology paired with hardened 440C stainless steel internal components also helps resist corrosion in the field. The Field is the most budget-friendly of TriggerTech's offerings at about $130, but it's still a useful and effective product.

The Field is TriggerTech's base model, but it still offers excellent performance.

I’m personally ambivalent about the hinged floorplate magazine, but I understand why some hunters prefer this style. It’s less likely to get snagged on a branch and fall out than a detachable box mag, and it gives the rifle a cleaner, more streamlined appearance. Still, you can usually find a flush-fitting box mag, and I much prefer popping out a box magazine than popping open a hinged floorplate and hoping I catch all the falling cartridges. Box mags are also easier to load.

In either case, it’s unlikely that you’ll unintentionally disengage the magazine on the Boundary. The mag release is tucked inside the trigger guard and requires a good amount of force to depress. Springfield’s design is also pretty slick. Rather than have the magazine box be a separate piece, they integrated the box and bottom metal. This provides one universal bottom metal setup for short-action calibers, and keeps everything together if you decide to take it out.

Are you a fan of the hinged floorplate or removeable box magazine?

I do have one or two gripes. The radial muzzle brake successfully reduces recoil, but it’s loud as all getout. That’s true of most muzzle brakes, but radial brakes have a cost that directional brakes don’t: they blast dirt and debris into the air when shot from the prone position. The advantage of a radial brake is that it doesn’t have to be tuned–it has holes around the entire circumference, so it doesn’t matter where it ends up tightening down. But those holes that end up on the bottom cause a minor dust storm if you’re ever unfortunate enough to shoot the rifle from the ground in a dry environment.

The good news is that the brake can be removed easily, and the Boundary comes with a thread protector if you don’t have your own muzzle device or suppressor to use.

Not a big fan of these radial muzzle devices.

At the Range

I was excited to get the Boundary to the range and confirm Springfield’s accuracy guarantee, which remains one of the best in the business: 0.75 MOA, or about three-quarters of an inch at 100 yards. Of course, as with most accuracy guarantees, there’s some fine print, but Springfield doesn’t try to hide it. It’s listed on their website and in most marketing materials as, “for a three-shot group at 100 yards with quality match-grade factory ammunition, in the hands of a skilled shooter.”

That’s a lot of caveats. Most accuracy tests are conducted using five-shot groups. That number is somewhat arbitrary, but for good or ill, it’s become the standard by which rifles are compared. What’s more, most hunters don’t hunt with match-grade ammunition, so an accuracy guarantee with match ammo isn’t worth as much. And the definition of a “skilled shooter” is anyone’s guess.

A bad day at the range is better than a good day at the office.

Still, for a hunting rifle, a three-shot group from a cool barrel is a fine test. That’s as many shots as most hunters will take on a single animal. If a rifle can put three shots in a row in the same place, you can be sure it’ll perform well in the field.

With that in mind, I shot five, five-shot groups with each type of ammunition, but I also recorded the size of each group after the first three shots. As you can see, the fourth and fifth shots of most groups are where the group size started to expand.

A solid five-shot group from the Boundary with these 130-grain loads from Sig.

(All groups were shot from 100 yards using an MDT CKYE-POD and rear bags. Velocities were recorded with a Garmin Xero C1 Pro Chronograph.)

I'd say that the Boundary holds up Springfield’s accuracy guarantee. Nearly every three-shot group clocked in under an inch, and 75% of them measured less than 0.75 inches. I saw these results whether I used match-grade or hunting ammunition, which is great news for anyone who takes this rifle into the field. Some hunting rigs are picky about their ammunition, but the Boundary handled everything I threw at it (or, more accurately, threw with it) about the same.

The Boundary would also be a great suppressor host.

The five-shot groups tended to be larger. While the gun is certainly capable of sub-MOA accuracy, I wouldn’t say it’s a three-quarter-inch gun using the five-shot group test. At this price point, that’s a knock on the Boundary. True sub-MOA guns–meaning, guns that shoot less than an inch on virtually every group–are less common than the gun forums would have you believe. Still, I’ve tested and reviewed hunting rigs that are lighter and cheaper than the Boundary and do a better job handling five consecutive shots in a row.

I didn’t test every type of 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition, of course. While the rifle shot all three ammo types well in a three-shot group test, the Boundary might shoot better five-shot groups with a different bullet weight or powder. If you pull the trigger on a Boundary, keep testing ammo until you find one that it shoots to your standards. Considering the quality of its parts, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that it can improve upon my results.

The Boundary uses a simple two-position safety.

Whatever you think about the rifle’s accuracy, the gun is a pleasure to shoot. It doesn’t produce a great amount of felt recoil (even sans muzzle brake), it’s natural to shoulder and fire off-hand, and the trigger helps keep shots on target. I was able to ring six- and eight-inch steel plates at 400 yards from field shooting positions, which, for me, is an accurate real-world test of the rifle’s capabilities in the field.

Last Shot

I often think about how spoiled we are for hunting rifle selection these days. It wasn’t that long ago that wood-stock bolt guns were the only game in town. Now, whether you’re a traditionalist or a modernist, you can find a gun that floats your boat and shoots the lights out, to boot. The Model 2020 Boundary offers plenty to love for both camps. It uses space-age components but fits them into a shape your grandfather would recognize. Whether it’s worth the cost is a personal decision, but if you’re in the market for a premium rifle, it’s at least worth a look.

Everyone is interested in the Boundary rifle, including roosters that Tractor Supply assured me were hens.