Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles BARRETT FIELDCRAFT OR BERGARA MOUNTAIN

I want to buy a new hunting rifle, and have mostly narrowed it down to 2 rifles. I really like the Bergara Premier Mountain, and the Barrett Fieldcraft. I can get both for roughly the same price. Any advice, experiences, or comments from people who have handled, shot, or used either of these guns would be great!!! This rifle will be used mostly for hunting whitetails in WI, and an occasional elk trip in Colorado. I am leaning towards 30-06 in both, but if I went with the Bergara, may consider the 300wm also. Any help would greatly be appreciated!!!!!!
Thank-you!

Happy to have either, but the one I want is the Barrett .243 1-8" like JB reviewed. The Barrett is marginally better looking, but that's like saying Elisha Cuthbert is better looking than Dakota Blue Richards. WTF difference does it make?

Do you want a light weight rifle? I also would never buy a 300 win mag for whitetails with a possible elk trip in the mix. The 30-06 will be plenty and you will enjoy it a lot longer.

I'd been pondering the same thing in a 6.5 Creedmoor for a while now. A coworker has a Christenson Arms Mesa 6.5 Creedmoor and was encouraging me to look at the Bergaras. After a bit of research, the Barrett pushed more buttons for me. I've been waiting on scope rings for a few weeks and am finally ready to start working on some loads...

I would prefer to stay with a lighter rifle, for the amount of walking I do with it.

I've been hunting with an 06 Fieldcraft for the last 5 days (only 1/2 day today). The only thing I'd change about it would be to make the mag box length 700 long action length....but not much can be done there. Nice rifle with great balance and very shootable...handles recoil well. I've only run factory ammo through it at 100, 200, and 300...and very little at those ranges but it appears to be very accurate. It's a good rifle.

I know nothing about the Bergara so can't weigh in on it.

That's a SWFS SS 3-9X42 isn't it? Do you have a weight for that complete rig? Looks good and I like the scope choice.

You might consider the Barrett in 7mm-08- 308, or 6.5 Creedmoor. One of those would only weigh 5 lbs and I would be very comfortable hunting deer or elk with the 308 or 7mm-08. Personally,I would go with the 7mm-08 because I have lots of reloading stuff and like the recoil and performance. If you don't reload one of the others offer cheaper factory ammo.

Fieldcraft

Pappy,

Actually, the twist in the Fieldcraft .243 is 1-7. That's just an inch different from 1-8, but there it is. :-)

fieldcraft in 6.5x55 looks tempting

Barrett in 6.5 Creed, SS 3-9x, Talley LW Low:



Talley pic rail and Burris XTR Sig Med rings:



Fantastic combo that goes between 6 lbs 8 oz and 6 lbs 14 oz scoped and ready to go, depending on mounting options. A setup like this would be my pick for your application.

No experience with either but have drooled over both. I think it would be difficult to make a wrong choice here. First-world problems. :-)

I, too, would probably look to something with a little less recoil than the .30-06 and I certainly wouldn’t consider a .300 Win Mag as a whitetail rifle.

I’d do a 6.5 Creedmoor or maybe a .308 in the Bergara and a 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 in the Barrett. These cartridges will be much more fun to shoot at the range and all will take elk to any reasonable range.

The .270 Win and .280 Ackley would both be good choices if you prefer a long action for some reason.

Having an affinity for many things Spanish ..... shotguns, food, cheese, wine, women ..... I’d probably go with the Bergara in 6.5 Creedmoor.

I hunted with this Barrett in 7mm-08 this past fall and can honestly say it is one of the best shooting rifles I have owned. Very accurate with several different loads and a dream to carry

It is the SS 3-9. I don't have a good scale (electronic fish/archery type) but two different scales that seem to weigh 1/2 to 3/4 lb heavy in the 5-10 lb range read 6.8-6.9 lbs. Certainly under 7 lbs all up and probably closer to 6.5 (as another posted)...

edit to add: a digital food scale just said 6 lb 11-12 oz...

I dont blame you here, I have hunted lightweight bolt action .300 Win Mags for years and i enjoy them hunting and at the range, i can tell very little difference in recoil between a .300 Win and a 30-06 in any given rifle, I consider a .300 Win a 30-06 in steroids.....Enjoy!.......Hb

Barret in 7/08 would be my pick

Well, so much for my razor-sharp rememberer!🤔

Even better.

Did you keep that one?

Of note, the Bergara advertises the use of a #2 barrel in the Mountain version, which many folks have stated they'd have liked to see on the short action Fieldcrafts...

Bergara, simply because someone needs to review one