Just got back from another extended range day with my Bergara HMR Pro and once again the rifle did not fail to blow me away. From day one with this gun I have been astounded at what is possible in a factory rifle. No, it’s not a cheap gun but for $1400 base rifle I’d call it a bargain gun as far as value for results. I know guys who have paid a helluva lot more for the same accuracy.
Today I was ladder testing 10 different loads, 3 shots each, and while I haven’t crunched the numbers yet, I got great SDs at around 41.2 and 41.5 grains of IMR 4350 under a Hornady 108 ELD pushing a touch over 3000fps. I stopped at 41.5 by the way as I’m not trying to push the gun as far as it can go. Barrel life on 6mm is short enough as it is.
Today my son and I moved over to the 200 yard range to do the chrono work and while I was more concerned with the speeds than tight groups, I was noticing that my groups were under 1” without really working too hard. So for the last few strings I decided to focus and see what I could do with it and that resulted in this 1/4” clover leaf. The largest group of the day was a hair under 1”.
I have nothing but good things to say about this rifle and I’ll definitely go with Bergara for the next gun I put together for my son.
here’s what I’m running on it now:
Bergara HMR Pro 6mm Creed 26”
Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-37x50
Area 419 scope rail and pic rail for bipod.
Vortex pro rings.
Ultradyne Apollo S brake
UTG Recon 360 bipod.
home built bag rider. (Pic rail fit to stock, w/ Leupold scope ring holding a 6” section of delrin rod)
Action bedded to stock from rear tang to 1/4” forward of the recoil lug. 3/4lb added in rear of stock.
The gun is down to lower than .223 recoil levels. Super soft impulse and I have zero problem staying on target.
I also have to add that the UTG Recon 360 is one of the best bargains in a bipod I’ve ever shot so far. Time will tell if it holds up. I bought it to tide me over while I decided which bipod I wanted to spend real money on but this thing does the job so well that I may just keep running it and see how it holds up over time or until I find I need something more versatile.
This was my version of a low budget long range shooter. So far it’s proved to be everything I wanted and has performed far better than I could have hoped. Thank you Bergara for making it possible to get into helluva shooter with a factory gun. This would have been tough to find and likely luck of the draw only a decade or so ago.
Total cost in the gun to date not including reloading components is right around $2600
Here are today’s biggest and smallest groups from the 200 yard range today after my ladder test. And my son on the gun who with his eyes should be a better shooter than I ever was.
Today I was ladder testing 10 different loads, 3 shots each, and while I haven’t crunched the numbers yet, I got great SDs at around 41.2 and 41.5 grains of IMR 4350 under a Hornady 108 ELD pushing a touch over 3000fps. I stopped at 41.5 by the way as I’m not trying to push the gun as far as it can go. Barrel life on 6mm is short enough as it is.
Today my son and I moved over to the 200 yard range to do the chrono work and while I was more concerned with the speeds than tight groups, I was noticing that my groups were under 1” without really working too hard. So for the last few strings I decided to focus and see what I could do with it and that resulted in this 1/4” clover leaf. The largest group of the day was a hair under 1”.
I have nothing but good things to say about this rifle and I’ll definitely go with Bergara for the next gun I put together for my son.
here’s what I’m running on it now:
Bergara HMR Pro 6mm Creed 26”
Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-37x50
Area 419 scope rail and pic rail for bipod.
Vortex pro rings.
Ultradyne Apollo S brake
UTG Recon 360 bipod.
home built bag rider. (Pic rail fit to stock, w/ Leupold scope ring holding a 6” section of delrin rod)
Action bedded to stock from rear tang to 1/4” forward of the recoil lug. 3/4lb added in rear of stock.
The gun is down to lower than .223 recoil levels. Super soft impulse and I have zero problem staying on target.
I also have to add that the UTG Recon 360 is one of the best bargains in a bipod I’ve ever shot so far. Time will tell if it holds up. I bought it to tide me over while I decided which bipod I wanted to spend real money on but this thing does the job so well that I may just keep running it and see how it holds up over time or until I find I need something more versatile.
This was my version of a low budget long range shooter. So far it’s proved to be everything I wanted and has performed far better than I could have hoped. Thank you Bergara for making it possible to get into helluva shooter with a factory gun. This would have been tough to find and likely luck of the draw only a decade or so ago.
Total cost in the gun to date not including reloading components is right around $2600
Here are today’s biggest and smallest groups from the 200 yard range today after my ladder test. And my son on the gun who with his eyes should be a better shooter than I ever was.
