Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ordered my first Bergara rifle today

A Bergara B-14 Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor. 'Hope that it turns out to be a shooter.

You know the old saw about how you identify the pioneers, don't you?

Thanks for taking one for the team.

It's only money.

Well, at least the Bergara barrel I picked up was a good one. Building a new bare Remington 700 short action into a super-duper varmint rifle I had the action semi-blueprinted and ordered a custom barrel that would take six months to arrive. So, just for a lark I ordered a Bergara stainless steel barrel in .22-250 Remington. It came in less than a week and cost about $300. Screwed it on with an OEM recoil lug, headspaced it and tightened the barrel nut with a plumber's strap wrench as Bergara recommends. Of course that meant there was no way to accurately set the torque with a torque wrench, but I got it tight.

Next, loaded up some ammo. Picked out two powders, a bullet I had on the shelf, and loaded a couple loads of each powder by guesswork. The Bargara barrel came in 1:12" twist, so I couldn't use the 50 grain Barnes Varmint Grenade, as that bullet requires at least a 1:9" twist, which is why I used the Berger 50 grain Flat Base bullet to test the Bergara. The results of two 10 shot groups at 100 yards are shown below (the red diamonds are 1/2" on a side):



Not bad for a production barrel made to installed with a barrel nut and strap wrench. Bergara uses modern machine tools and techniques to manufacturer their barrels, and consulted with Ed Shilen in setting up the process, so at least the potential is there. I never went on to experiment more with it, because lead free bullets are required where I hunt and this twist wouldn't stabilize the Varmint Grenade, which was the only available lead free at the time. Since then there have been other bullets by Hornady and Noasler that may work, but my custom barrel arrived.

That Remington 700 I built has morphed into a multi-caliber rifle by swapping out barrels, using Pac-Nor custom barrels and their Rem-Nut, and of course that original Bergara barrel. I bet your rifle will shoot very well indeed.

Did you go wood or synthetic?

A synthetic 6.5 Creed.

260RemGuy,

Any update on how you like this rifle? There's not much info out there on these!

Thanks!

Sounds Great! We're going to need some pictures when you get her home.....please

I fondled a B-14 Hunter in 6.5 Creedmoor last weekend.
Tis a nice offering and I suspect they'll sell a pantload of them.

It was damaged by UPS and returned to the wholesaler for a refund, as they didn't have another in 6.5 Creed. I'm on the waiting list and will get a replacement in 2016.

Well that sucks. With the way guns are packaged and as tough as guns are, that's quite an accomplishment for UPS to screw the thing up. How did the claims process work out, or did you refuse it?

Not sure where in NE you are, but the Sportsman's Warehouse in Cheyenne has some Bergaras on the shelf. I think one is 6.5 CM, although it might be the plastic stock version.

That plastic stock is the Hunter.

I've fondled these at the local SW and they appear to be a lot of rifle for the $.

handled the Timber model the other day. seemed like q heck of a rifle. bolt was smooth. nice finish. nice looking wood. im contemplating trying one myself. wish they come out with a stainless

Yeah, I've looked at them a couple times too, they seem very well done, although the wood stocked ones are a little portly. Some of Bergara's other rifles feature nitrocarburized barrels, and I was kind of hopeful that the B14's did too. I sent the question in an email and got a quick response, but unfortunately they are just blued. A stainless version might get me to bite though.