Now HERE'S an informed Rockslider!!!
(That's exactly what I thought, too, after laying hands on it...)
So the cat's out of the bag. Yes, I went with the Alpha 1 precisely for the reason stated above. Let me qualify this.
There is NOTHING that one could look at on the Alpha 1, not knowing the make, that would indicate (looks like) a Model 700.
First off, the stock is an AG Composites Sportsman. INDESTRUCTIBLE!! This ain't plastic, fellas! It would take sliding down a mountain to put a scratch on this thing. Bumping around off pine and oak trees and trekking through blackberry briars ain't gonna put a mark on it! How do I know? It's the same material as that in the old Barrett Fieldcraft they made after acquiring NULA's remaining tooling and inventory and moving it south to Tennessee. Very near AG Composites in north Alabama, so I'm pretty confident now AG provided the stocks for them. The material and feel is identical. I had one of these, obviously. It's not the slimline Privateer that Weatherby used. Even still, the material should be the same. Barrel is free floated with very little gap between barrel and forearm. 7 flutes in the barrel measuring .740" just behind the 5/8x24 threaded muzzle.
The floor plate is completely redone. Still an obermdorf style, but sculpted a little more externally and lengthened internally to 2.950" of useful cartridge space. The internal metal box is gone.
Also gone, is the swept iconic Remington bolt handle. The handle is straight and comes with removable knob, so you can put whatever you like on it.
The bolt release is now nice and high on the left side of the receiver ala Tikka, and works flawlessly. The Timney trigger has a flat shoe and breaks right at 3 pounds like a glass rod with no makeup, as advertised. Mine actually breaks about 2 7/8lbs. Since we're a spoiled bunch use to $300 - $400 TriggerTechs and Bixes, we would scoff at that. But for someone coming from am X-Mark trigger, this is a huge leap forward!
The bolt isn't fluted, rather faceted. It is unique from any other bolt on a production rifle as far as I know. I've never seen one like it.
The action itself is a different shape than the round 700. It has a flat on the left side like a Savage Axis or Barrett Fieldcraft or several aftermarkets. In the flat is engraved "Alpha 1".
The stock is finished off with a nice 1" Decelerator pad, not the squishy thing that dissolves on carpet.
Fit and finish is top shelf, regardless of price. There are a couple of things I don't like, and one is the trigger only because I normally shoot a 4oz Bix TacSport Pro-X. That's just me.
Next, the action is not ultra smooth. This is shared with the old 700 model. After lubrication and running it a few times, it did smooth out, but still isn't on par with Tikka. Again, for someone coming from a 700, it would be indistinguishable. This isn't a deal breaker for me for what I'm getting. I will say there is very very little to no slop in the action and it locks up TIGHT. Takes a little effort to close and to open. Built like a tank is how I would describe it.
I'm getting reports of guys shooting these routinely in the 1/2 MOA range. That will be the deciding factor to me is how accurate it is.
Oh, I should add balance is PERFECT. They still use a .187" recoil lug looks like. I measured as best I could at .200, but is likely just me being off a smidge in my measurement. It shoulders and points effortlessly.
The supplied thread protector is nearly seamless, but not quite.
That's about all I have to add now before a range test, which may happen in a couple of days. I will say mine is a .243 Win with 1:8 twist. Rifling is 5R. Not sure of the quality or source of steel. Chamber is SAAMI, so the extended mag well is superfluous for my bullets up to 100 grains, BUT, when I load some Berger VLDs, we'll see if it's useful. That's what the extra twist is for, after all. I would assume that's what the mag length would be for, as well.
Reloader 26 reaches 48 grains under a 100gr Sierra GK BTSP, and would have plenty of room to spare if I wanted to go heavier (deeper into case). May be the magic powder. That and Ramshot Grand for the 103 - 107gr pills. Range report to follow.