These rifles are pure trash. Against my better judgement I bought a new B14 Sierra Wilderness in 7PRC after already having been burned 2 times by rifles of theirs that shot like crap out of the box (including a premier).
The first trip to the range right out of the box it was shooting roughly 4-6” groups with all three types of Hornady factory ammo. I started with a barrel that I had cleaned at home prior to the range trip and did a break in since factory barrels are known to be rough. Even during the break in and cleaning the barrel frequently the groups were a whole hell of a lot larger than you’d ever expect to see.
Everything was checked for torque, I pulled that optic off of the rifle and put it on my PH2 6.5CM and confirmed there wasn’t an issue with it and put the optic from my PH2 on the Bergara with the same result. Also tried different torque settings on the action screws other than their 55inlbs spec going to 65 on both and also lightening the rear. I also pulled the barreled action out of the chassis where I saw a lot of heavy overspray from their panting process and proceeded to sand the thick webbing spots down at the range. Nothing I did changed the result.
After 60 rounds the rifle was still shooting like absolute dog shit and copper fouling like crazy. I called Bergara on the way home from the range and got an RMA to send it in.
At home I inspected the rifle where I noticed the absolute terrible bolt lug contact and thought that might be causing an issue as well so I noted that when I sent it in.
Bergara inspected the rifle, recrowned it and said it shot a .9” and .6” group with Terminal Ascent 170gr and sent it back out. They didn’t address the bolt lug contact issue or the issue with the hinge pin on the floorplate of the bottom metal falling out of one side of the hinge due to the pin either being too short or the relief being too wide and their “gunsmith” said was in spec.
I was hopeful it would shoot as I do generally like the rifle and it has improved but it still shoots like complete ass. I even bedded the stock since it was showing signs of a bedding issue and Bergara fucked up the paint in the inlet while they had it which uncovered how uneven and thick the paint was in places. The bedding seemed to have made a difference because the erratic flyers are gone and it’s just shooting large triangle type 3 shot groups now… for the most part.
I got frustrated at the range after group after group being 1.5-2MOA with every ammo type include the Terminal Ascent they recommended for another 50-60 rounds or so. I had cleaned the copper mine yet again with bore tech eliminator which is quite the process due to how badly it fouls and decided I was just going to put some rounds through it to try to smooth it out in 10 round strings. So I shot the first two 3 shot groups back to back and they were… large. Loaded up another 3 and it stacked them sub .5moa… no shit. So I shot a 4th and it put it right in there. At this point I’m thinking this thing is starting to shoot and get excited. I shot another 3 shot group with the barrel super hot with was also very good.
So I let it cool completely and shot another 3 shot group… back to dog shit. WTF? I cleaned it again and shot two more 3 shot groups with the same result. I was done wasting ammo so I put it away. I was thinking the barrel might have a stress relieving issue based on this and texted another hide member what had happened and he said the same thing.
I also brought my Seekins Element 7mm PRC to the range and shot them side by side and all of the ammo shot exceptional in the Seekins, so I know it’s not an issue with the ammo or an issue with recoil. Despite the Seekins being nearly 3lbs lighter as configured it still didn’t manage a group larger than 3/4moa, even the 8 shot group I fired in 1.5min trying to mimic barrel heat over a NRLH stage.
So here we are yet again, I called Bergara again and they said they’ll issue another RMA and look at it again but won’t test fire it. I feel like that’s a waste of my time when I’ve already gone down that road with negative results so I have zero faith in a positive outcome from that nor do I wish to waste any more time or ammo verifying the rifle when it comes back. I proposed that they either 1. Accept the rifle back and issue a full refund of my purchase price or 2. Agree to rebarrel the rifle so that I can send it down the road with some level of confidence that whoever bought it might get a decent rifle. They denied both.
I’ve followed up with the same documentation of my results in an email as well as my proposal. I doubt anything will come of it so my next step will be to send it to a gunsmith next week for a third party evaluation and I’ll then just take legal action and seek the cost of the rifle, inspection fees, as well as the ammo I’ve wasted on this piece of crap.
So my advice, buy a rifle from just about any other rifle manufacturer.
I’ll update this later tonight or tomorrow with some pictures as well as update it with third party findings or any resolution from Bergara.
The first trip to the range right out of the box it was shooting roughly 4-6” groups with all three types of Hornady factory ammo. I started with a barrel that I had cleaned at home prior to the range trip and did a break in since factory barrels are known to be rough. Even during the break in and cleaning the barrel frequently the groups were a whole hell of a lot larger than you’d ever expect to see.
Everything was checked for torque, I pulled that optic off of the rifle and put it on my PH2 6.5CM and confirmed there wasn’t an issue with it and put the optic from my PH2 on the Bergara with the same result. Also tried different torque settings on the action screws other than their 55inlbs spec going to 65 on both and also lightening the rear. I also pulled the barreled action out of the chassis where I saw a lot of heavy overspray from their panting process and proceeded to sand the thick webbing spots down at the range. Nothing I did changed the result.
After 60 rounds the rifle was still shooting like absolute dog shit and copper fouling like crazy. I called Bergara on the way home from the range and got an RMA to send it in.
At home I inspected the rifle where I noticed the absolute terrible bolt lug contact and thought that might be causing an issue as well so I noted that when I sent it in.
Bergara inspected the rifle, recrowned it and said it shot a .9” and .6” group with Terminal Ascent 170gr and sent it back out. They didn’t address the bolt lug contact issue or the issue with the hinge pin on the floorplate of the bottom metal falling out of one side of the hinge due to the pin either being too short or the relief being too wide and their “gunsmith” said was in spec.
I was hopeful it would shoot as I do generally like the rifle and it has improved but it still shoots like complete ass. I even bedded the stock since it was showing signs of a bedding issue and Bergara fucked up the paint in the inlet while they had it which uncovered how uneven and thick the paint was in places. The bedding seemed to have made a difference because the erratic flyers are gone and it’s just shooting large triangle type 3 shot groups now… for the most part.
I got frustrated at the range after group after group being 1.5-2MOA with every ammo type include the Terminal Ascent they recommended for another 50-60 rounds or so. I had cleaned the copper mine yet again with bore tech eliminator which is quite the process due to how badly it fouls and decided I was just going to put some rounds through it to try to smooth it out in 10 round strings. So I shot the first two 3 shot groups back to back and they were… large. Loaded up another 3 and it stacked them sub .5moa… no shit. So I shot a 4th and it put it right in there. At this point I’m thinking this thing is starting to shoot and get excited. I shot another 3 shot group with the barrel super hot with was also very good.
So I let it cool completely and shot another 3 shot group… back to dog shit. WTF? I cleaned it again and shot two more 3 shot groups with the same result. I was done wasting ammo so I put it away. I was thinking the barrel might have a stress relieving issue based on this and texted another hide member what had happened and he said the same thing.
I also brought my Seekins Element 7mm PRC to the range and shot them side by side and all of the ammo shot exceptional in the Seekins, so I know it’s not an issue with the ammo or an issue with recoil. Despite the Seekins being nearly 3lbs lighter as configured it still didn’t manage a group larger than 3/4moa, even the 8 shot group I fired in 1.5min trying to mimic barrel heat over a NRLH stage.
So here we are yet again, I called Bergara again and they said they’ll issue another RMA and look at it again but won’t test fire it. I feel like that’s a waste of my time when I’ve already gone down that road with negative results so I have zero faith in a positive outcome from that nor do I wish to waste any more time or ammo verifying the rifle when it comes back. I proposed that they either 1. Accept the rifle back and issue a full refund of my purchase price or 2. Agree to rebarrel the rifle so that I can send it down the road with some level of confidence that whoever bought it might get a decent rifle. They denied both.
I’ve followed up with the same documentation of my results in an email as well as my proposal. I doubt anything will come of it so my next step will be to send it to a gunsmith next week for a third party evaluation and I’ll then just take legal action and seek the cost of the rifle, inspection fees, as well as the ammo I’ve wasted on this piece of crap.
So my advice, buy a rifle from just about any other rifle manufacturer.
I’ll update this later tonight or tomorrow with some pictures as well as update it with third party findings or any resolution from Bergara.
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