Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Bergara rifles

I've heard good things about them, and plan to buy one this summer.

Do any of ya'll have one to tell us what you think about them?

A friend bought a Ridge last year in 30-06. I shot it some, it was pleasant to shoot, appeared well put together. I liked it so much I bought a Hunter in .308.

It’s a Remington 700 clone action. It will accept scope bases that fit a Remington which give you endless options. The trigger is very good, I adjusted mine down to 2.5 # with no problems. The action has a integral recoil lug which I like. The stock is pretty good for an injection molded and has a soft recoil pad. And if you wanted to restock it, any Remington 700 inletted stock will work, you may have to sand a little. I also like the large bolt knob.

For an economical hunting rifle I really like them. I couple gun shops around here say they sell a lot of them with only positive feedback. Oh, and accuracy of mine is sub moa, I only shot a couple of handloads through mine. And I’m not as picky as I once was about getting every bit of accuracy I can out of a gun, I’m shooting 150 grain Accubonds at 3/4”.

Last year a friend bought a B14 Hunter in 7mm Rem Mag. He told me about the accuracy he was getting, with several weights/bullet styles. I later handled one in a GS and really liked how they felt in my hands.

I recently bought a Bergara B14 Hunter in 300 win Mag. Even though the Bergara trigger is a good one, I like a really light trigger, so had a Trigger Tech Special put in and the had the action "skim bedded". Torqued it all down to 55 inch pounds. I cleaned the bore down to bare metal, sopped the EezOx to it, let sit overnight. I shot a few fouling rounds through it, then began load workup. I puts 3 rounds ( repeated a few more times too) of R23/Barnes 175 LRX into a ragged hole. One hole...I am impressed! ha.

They are great rifles. I have sold dozens of them with only positive feedback. Spain like Greece, Italy, Portugal, and some other countries of the EU,are struggling financially. Hence a great product for less money than a German or USA gun.

My example of one has been favorable (6.5CM HMR). Shoots well with cheap factory ammo and better with my handloads (around 3/4MOA for 5 shot) although I've not tinkered with the loads much. Just plug and play, no bedding. The action is slick and well-designed.

If they would make those Ridge rifles in SS, they'd be even better.

The actions are slick, and I do wish mine was stainless also.

I've got 2 Bergara Ridges, 300WM and 270 Win. Got the 300 first, guy put 13 rounds through it and decided to sell. With 190gr Berger bullets I've shot a group of 0.3" and the 168gr Nosler BT aren't far behind. Just got the 270 last fall and haven't tinkered with it much but it easily shoots under an inch. They are heavier due to barrel profile and stock but I like the slightly heavier feel and don't mind hauling the extra pound or 2 to the stand. If you get one I followed the break in procedure to the letter. No sure you have to but I noticed with both rifles accuracy continues to slowly improve through about 70 rounds or so.

As others have said the action is very smooth and the trigger is darn good for a factory trigger. If you go into their higher end rifles (B-23 series) they come with TriggerTechs. Otherwise think of quality Remingtons from the 60s and 70s and for the price I think the Bergara's are tough to beat. All the 700 aftermarket stuff fits them too so plenty of options to change things out. I'm pretty sure all their rifles come with an MOA guarantee too.

Disclaimer: there was a customer (an old man I didn’t know who liked shooting the sheit) in the store when I bought my Bergara. He had a $5000 Christensen Arms and was trying to talk me into buying one (he’s friends with the owner of the gun store) when I settled on the Bergara he told me his son had 2 of them and I wouldn’t be disappointed. As Tstorm said, the old man at the store said follow the break in procedure. I don’t doubt it may help but my barrel break in days are past, if the sob won’t shoot out of the box as is I don’t need it, but as I said mine shoots plenty good.

I have a B14 Hunter in 6.5 CM. It is very accurate, but my Ruger Predator in 6.5 CM is more accurate for 1/2 the money. But to be fair the difference in negligible.

The experience was positive enough that I bought a 2nd one, this time a 308 B14 Ridge. For those not familiar the Ridge has a bit heavier barrel. I'm not giving up on it yet, but so far accuracy has been only acceptable for a hunting rifle. Around 1.25 to 1.5 MOA. Out of a lot of rifles I'd be OK with that, but I bought it expecting better. And we may get there. Some rifles need a few rounds through the barrel before they start shooting up to potential. I've probably put less than 40 downrange with this one.

I have a Woodsman in 7-08. Sent it to Bergara because it wouldn't do any better than 1 1/2". Most factory ammo ran over 2". (I don't reload anymore.) They had the gun for just over 2 months. Not only couldn't they make it shoot, but all the other examples they pulled from the shelf wouldn't shoot either. At least, that's what they told me was the reason for the delay in turn around. Finally sent me one back that they recrowned the muzzle and did some other work to the action. Gave me a much better piece of wood for my troubles. It shoots .6 -.7 now.

After all that, the forend feels like I'm holding the barrel of a baseball bat. I'm going to give it to a kid in my hunting club in November.

I recently purchased their premier mountain rifle in 270. I sent them an email asking what barrel break in they recommend. The person who answered my email said to just go ahead and shoot it. So when you say follow their break in procedure to the letter, I'm like 'that's interesting'. Can you provide any additional info on what they recommend?

Thanks

Just shoot it is the advice of most custom barrel makers and actual snipers.



Barrel

Build it, they'll come. Shoot it, it'll break in.

I have two B-14 Hunters. I bought the first one, a 30-06, from a guy here at the 'Fire. It shoots incredibly well, so well that I bought another B-14 in 7mm-08 earlier this year. So far, the jury is out on that one. As far as the Bergara design is concerned, they are a Remington 700 clone, and an improvement. I like the bolt stop on the side of the receiver which does away with the silly frammis under the trigger. The trigger on my 30-06 was pretty good, but I like the gun so much that I sprang for a Trigger Tech.

I had trouble with the 30-06 not feeding properly from the hinged floor plate magazine that came with the rifle. Bergara offered to fix it, but I bought their detachable box magazine kit instead. it works much better.

Bottom line is I probably would buy another Tikka instead if I had to do it over. I have owned five, and never had any issues.

I just wish they weren't so dang heavy. I'd sacrifice 0.5 MOA for a pound lighter.

The only one that's around 6.5lbs is a model over $2000!