Bergara B14 BMP. Good deal or mistake?

[GonzoCM89]

I decided to get a dedicated rifle for shooting 1000 yard match under CMP rules (20 rounds in 30 minutes with unlimited sighters).

unlike the sighter shots my budget isn’t unlimited so I decided on the Bergara BMP (6.5 creedmoor) in case I wanted to dabble with PRS shooting in the near future during the off season. The more expensive alternative would obviously have been better (build your own from the ground up).

To the point:
I have the rifle now and now have been reading horror stories about the bolt breaking (too late for me now...) from the handle simply breaking the welds and falling off to pierced primers sending pressure back to the firing pin which strikes and destroys the bolt shroud.

I intend to eventually get into hand loading which I have not yet, this seems to be bergara’s go to boogeyman to blame for these issues unless my recent research has been misread.

My rifle is a xx-06-xxxxxx-19 serial number (2019 year of manufacture?). Have they or have they not fixed any of these issues by now?

 

[jcmullis2]

One of my shooting buddies came apart during a match and you’re exactly right they’re saying it was his ammo. He lost several hundred dollars in hotel fees, gas, ruined his match and his weekend. He’s still gonna have to shell out $$$ to get the damn thing fixed and any other hidden problem it may have. How can he ever trust it again? I personally would sell the darn thing even it I had to take a loss. Buy you a Howa Heavy Barreled Action $530 at Brownells and a krg bravo chassis $350 and you’re good to go. Just my humble opinion

 

[stello1001]

Go Howa...

 

[GonzoCM89]

That’s a bit disappointing because I purchased this over the how HCR because I liked the trigger more on the Bergara. Honestly I like their chassis better as well.

I noticed with the howa bolt they have holes drilled for in the unfortunate event of pierced primers the gas has somewhere to go other than ramming the back of your firing pin into the shroud. I was thinking that if I do happen to keep the BMP could these same relief holes be drilled into the Bergara bolt by the Gretan guys when they are bushing and doing their wizardry metal work to my bolt and firing pin? Seems like a must at this point in the very least.

Sad but like Remington seems this brand needs some work before it is considered to be “match ready” however I don’t place that price point up into another thousand invested until complete like the Remington 700.

 

[stello1001]

That’s a bit disappointing because I purchased this over the how HCR because I liked the trigger more on the Bergara. Honestly I like their chassis better as well.

I noticed with the howa bolt they have holes drilled for in the unfortunate event of pierced primers the gas has somewhere to go other than ramming the back of your firing pin into the shroud. I was thinking that if I do happen to keep the BMP could these same relief holes be drilled into the Bergara bolt by the Gretan guys when they are bushing and doing their wizardry metal work to my bolt and firing pin? Seems like a must at this point in the very least.

Sad but like Remington seems this brand needs some work before it is considered to be “match ready” however I don’t place that price point up into another thousand invested until complete like the Remington 700.

I'll tell you one thing. I sure am glad my howa bolt has those holes and directed the gases down. Not sure I would have liked the outcome on all those over pressure rounds!

 

[Just Chuck]

I just got the same one and have put the first 30 or so rounds through it. No problem up to this point and really liking the accuracy for new outta the box ~ .8 MOA from 100 to 600yards.

My S/N reads similar to yours.

 

[GonzoCM89]

I'll tell you one thing. I sure am glad my howa bolt has those holes and directed the gases down. Not sure I would have liked the outcome on all those over pressure rounds!

So your howa has a pierced primer and directed gas down into the magazine well?

Was it enough pressure to force your magazine out? Did it cause any damage to the mag itself? I would imagine there being enough holes in that bolt to just blow carbon on it- no harm little foul.

 

[HousePlant]

It's highly unlikely your Bergara is going to have any issues. There's thousands of these things out there and only a few people online complaining.

Certainly you'd have a small chance of issues with factory ammo, which is what the B-14 HMR's intended use aligns to most.

You have an excellent rifle to get into long range competition with. You won't use it forever.

If you get into hand loading, don't load a round that's on the bleeding edge of safe for a 6.5 CM round.

 

[stello1001]

So your howa has a pierced primer and directed gas down into the magazine well?

Was it enough pressure to force your magazine out? Did it cause any damage to the mag itself? I would imagine there being enough holes in that bolt to just blow carbon on it- no harm little foul.

I've pierced primers on maybe 10 different rounds. Never enough to make the magazine receive any damage or push it out. But the next round in the mag was covered with black as if it has carbon buildup all over it haha...

 

[GonzoCM89]

I've pierced primers on maybe 10 different rounds. Never enough to make the magazine receive any damage or push it out. But the next round in the mag was covered with black as if it has carbon buildup all over it haha...

Well then I think that’s the answer to making this rifle last. Bushing, firing pin, and copy howa’s relief ports and this rifle will shoot out many barrels without ever having to worry about the bolt failure issue.

Perhaps sir boom is right and I may never have an issue however I cannot ignore bad history. I have read some have just purchased the premier bolt and that solved their problems however the guys at Badger Ordnance advised me that their rail may have some binding issues with fluted bolts for the B14.

I don’t know why the Spanish gun maker hasn’t thought of taking a page out of the Japanese play book and doing this already. There is a reason their cars have a reputation for reliability. Though that is another subject of debate.

 

[GonzoCM89]

Found something interesting. There actually is a gas relief hole in my bolt, not as extreme as howa’s however it doesn’t make sense to me.

The hole would be positioned at the 9 clock position in battery while the receivers gas exhaust port is positioned at the 3 clock position.

Though there may be enough space for the lugs to move around it seems to me that it would choke the gas flow enough to maybe still create enough pressure to pressurize the firing pin enough to slam it into the shroud.

This is on my Smith Corona 1903A3, notice you can actually see the relief hole in the bolt line up with the one in the receiver.... perhaps there is a reason for this as this rifle craters primers like no tomorrow and probably has for its 70+ years of being around. Never has the old gun ever pierced a primer.... yet.

 

[GonzoCM89]

I feel like it’s time for my range report and conclusion of this thread.

I contacted Bergara BPI through phone calls who said the problems with the B14 rifles have been addressed and all new models are unaffected. In regard to the gas ports not aligned I had to contact Bergara Spain through email addressing both the shroud and the gas port misalignment.

I will attach email responses and pictures from the range. It is fair to note that I am not the best shooter so I don’t think I am capable of holding a sub minute group as of yet. They did have a ransom rest however I opted to not use it and fired all shots from a Harris BRM bipod without the use of any bags.

Followed bergara’s barrel break in guidelines and cleaned after each shot for 5 shots, then clean after 5 shots for 50. Ammo used was Hornady ELD Match 140 gr, Hornady Black 140 gr, and Hornady American Whitetail 129 gr. Point of impact at 100 yards after switching ammo was minimal, almost not worth noticing.

Glass being used was a Steiner P4xi 4-16x56 mounted to a Badger Ordnance 306-06A rail with Steiner’s T-Series High (1.25”) 34mm rings

I am happy to report out of the 60 rounds fired I have had experienced zero primer craters and the rifle performed flawlessly.

Hats off to Sirboom he was spot on I doubt I will ever have any issues with this rifle.

If you were thinking about this rifle I would recommend buy brand new and don’t look back.

 

[PaulPaladin]

So like the OP I fell for the “great deal” on a BMP in .308 and THEN started reading about the bolt shroud/primer issue.

I bought this rifle from Sportsman’s Whse in Aug 2020 and the serial is xxxxxx-16!!! An early production model with the barrel nut. Been on the shelf for 4 years. Wow.

But I love it, I’ve put 20 rounds downrange and have shot 2 cloverleafs at 100 yards. Love the trigger, the consistency, the action....until I read about these issues.

I have been shooting some Lake City Match 175gr M118LR that I picked up 6-7 years ago. No pierced primers, but mild cratering. Here is what the primers look like. Should I be worried?

 

[Jumper]

I wouldn't say those primers are cratered. In fact, they look like very mild pressure signs.

 

[PaulPaladin]

Thanks. Super helpful

 

[ChadG460]

Hi guys,

All of the new rifles have a slightly smaller firing pin so the signs on the primers that people are concerned with have mostly gone away. There can still be signs if you use small rifle primers. The bold shroud issue that was mentioned has been taken care of. If someone has a bolt shroud issue on an older rifle you can contact me here or at the office and I can send out a new MIM shroud. Based on the serial number we can tell if you have the newer shroud. If anyone has a question or concern I will be glad to help.

Chad Gibbs
800.320.8767
[email protected]-

 

[fua11]

All i've heard are good things on the B14 BMP. Just going to wait and experience it on the range. Hopefully it'll be here in the next few weeks. I am sure it'll be a blast. Thanks for the headsup.