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

That's fine,but it would still weigh quite a bit more than a short action Barrett with a #2

I bet the difference would be less than 6 ounces.

Never having handled the two mentioned, I'd go Barrett just to buy from an American manufacturer. I'd bet a dollar to a donut the customer service, if ever needed, would be hard to top as well.

I do like the Bergaras I have handled though. That Premier Mountain is a great looking rifle. I like the stock lines on it better than the Field Craft, but again, I haven't handled either one.

Since we are splitting cuni hairs, I'll take that bet :-)
If the Bergara in '06 is 6 pd 3 oz as listed, it will be more than 6 oz ... Probably closer to 10-12 oz.

SA vs SA.

Same barrel weight.

Stocks are likely a wash. Both carbon fiber.

Action would be the only difference. The Bergara is a 700 clone, so it would be about the same weight as a SA 700. Not sure what the Barret SA weighs, but I'd be shocked if it was more than 6oz lighter than a 700.

I've been shocked before though.

ETA - You might have me with the bottom metal. Especially if its steel..

Im going based on Bergara's website based weight; '06 to '06.
If their SA offering weights 6 pd 3 oz as well, then the equivalent barrett is a full pound lighter.

I'd guess the Barrett SA to be ~20oz as it's modeled after the NULA M20 action. Big plus (in my book) for the Barrett SA is that it has a 3" mag box. Anyone know the Bergara's SA mag box length?

In long actions, there's no plus for mag box length on the Barrett LA...I'm guessing the Bergara is going to be 700 length.(?)

I think it will be tough to beat the Barrett long or short action on action weight. They are slim and trim.

Even if it is "only" 6 ounces,when you are paying for a 5 lbs rifle 6 ounces is a big deal. If 6 ounces isn't a big deal then there are many options to look at in rifles in the 6 lb range.

You're right. Didn't realize the Barrett was so trimmed down. Whats a 700 SA weigh? 30oz or so? 10oz right there.

That Bergara mountain looks pretty cool and if one wanted to go magnum likely a great lightweight option no doubt.

However if one wants a SA lightweight in standard cartridges really you are looking at Kimber or Barrett to get you in the 5.5.5 pound weight rifle. I mean my Barrett is almost exactly 7 pounds on the nose, even with 29-30 oz of scope, rings, and rail on it. (Maybe if I took the extra tape off the barrel it would be right on. )

I'd choose Bergara but that's because I have a B14 here and I'm impressed by the quality.

Nice rig! How's the balance with the short barrel? Do you normally hunt with it suppressed? Seems like the perfect rifle for hunting with a can just curious how it is without one.

I think Bergara as I could get in my favorite cartridge .300 Win and kick some ass!.....Lol....plus the Bergara has a floorplate, im not a fan of blind magazine rifles...Hb

A few months back I wanted to build a light weight mountain rifle, but most on the forum said go Fieldcraft. When adding everything up for a build there was no way the build would cost less than a Fieldcraft. So...I bought a 6.5 CM from a member on the Fire. Bare rifle with rings weighed 5lbs 4 oz. Scoped with a 4x12 it weighs 6 lbs even.

I like to fit and finish of the rifle. The only thing I guess I could complain about would be the stock. The fore end is a little large. I have a McMillan compact stock on another rifle and it is perfect for me. Very slim and narrow fore arm. With that said, I would not go through the expense of another stock and bedding.

Recoil of the CM is a lot more than what I expected, compared to other CMs I have in heavier rifles. A lot of barrel jump and muzzle blast. I had to modify my shooting style to the rifle while on the bench.

Best group so far with factory ammo is a five shot group with the Hornady 143 ELDXs. Group measured 0.69”. I have some 140 Bergers and H 4350 that I am waiting to try when it warms up a bit this weekend.

Long story is that I am 97% satisfied with the Fieldcraft so I recommend going that route.

Luke.....what scope is that???

Throw an Ultra 7 on there and you’d be up over 7.5 lbs of perfection.....

HAHA....waiting on the ATF for just that!! Likely get it just after hunting season of this year I would be my guess...which is a bummer. That said the ultimate for this would actually be the Ultra 5. I through my brothers Ultra 5 on this setup and it went together like PB&J IMO. Still plenty quiet but 23" barrel overall and still suppressed and 7.5 pounds all up is hard not to like. As it is I will "suffer" with the Ultra 7 when I do get it jail broke.

A March 3-24X52 I traded into. Thus far I like it...we will see how it tracks. I got .097 MILs per click typed into my app data for corrections and will see how that works to 1000. I also need to slap this on the scope tracking tester and see how it works that way as well. The glass is way nice but I could care less about that aspect for the most part as a VX-2 glass is generally good enough for me and what I shoot haha.

Which 4-12 model did you get that was 10 oz? Figuring the rings themselves where 2 oz or so.

I just ordered one from SAS Bergara Premier Mountain 6.5 Creed

I have not handled a Bergara, but I did just get a Barrett. My only real comment is you'll want to think a little about going 30-06 in that light of a rifle, and really hard about a 300wm. That would not be pleasant at all! FWIW, I plan to use my 6.5 for elk in CO. My 6lb 338 FED roughly matches a 30-06 and is more than adequate for elk.

Lefthand?!? If so I'm really interested in what you think of it. Got a couple of LH boys...

I've never seen or shot a Bergara, but my FC shoots like a custom rifle. It keeps impressing me.