Howa vs bergara for 300 prc hunting rifle

[CCRBUM]

Looking at the howa hs precision in 300 prc and the bergara b14 wilderness in 300 prc. I'd love to build something but for right now i just need something factory, affordable and accurate enough for elk out to 500 or 600 yards. Both are under $1k which would be nice. Any preference for one vs the other?

 

[Average guy]

Both are solid choices. Me personally I’d go Howa. Always had good luck with them. Nut prefit barrels are also available. Timney makes a good trigger also.

 

[MDof2]

It's pretty much a coin flip or personal preference. I own a couple 1500's with factory and custom barrels that shoot respectably, as well a Bergara HMR that is a solid performer as well. It's not a drawback but if you do go with a Howa know they are metric threads so if/when you rebarrel it, you'll need a smith who can thread metric, most do but there's a few out there that still don't. You'll also start seeing prefit's for the Howa's as well if you go that route.
For the money, the Howa is pretty hard to beat out of the box.

 

[Emerson0311]

I’ve got a Howa in 300PRC. My only complaint is the super skinny 1/2”x28 threaded muzzle. I took my aftermarket brake off and groups tightened up a bit. Not much meat left for a threaded brake that doesn’t change muzzle dimensions a tiny bit. I’ve got it in an ORYX chassis and a Razor 3-18 mounted so heavy enough to calm it down some. The Hornady 225 ELD-X factory ammo chrono’ed 2700 ish for me. I’ll try to speed things up a bit with hand loads.

 

[HousePlant]

Which Bergara Wilderness? There's the Ridge, Terrain, and HMR. Given mentioned price, I assume you're looking at the Ridge (lightest, non-adjustable stock).

I'm a huge Bergara fan, personally. I have shot many B-14 actions. It's a nice action and responds to a simple true-up job, but not needed.

I own two Premier action rifles, personally. If you can spare the coin, the action is butter on the Premiers... if you care. I think the barrels are "better".

I've also shot and own(ed) two Howas, one of which I recently sold which was a 300 Weatherby Magnum. The other is a 6.5 Creedmor.

I prefer the B-14 action and included trigger over the Howa. And as for customer service and quality, Bergara wins for me, too.

Howa action doesn't ever snag up but it's also oddly loud (at least on the ones I have/had). The trigger ain't bad if like a 2-stage. I'm agnostic.

The Howa 6.5 Creedmor I have came with a "wood" stock. Said stock split when I was breaking it in at the range (right out of the box) and, worse than that, the stock itself looked like it was cut by a blind ape and the indicator for fire/safe fell off after the first shot. I contacted Howa, some guy over email didn't once apologize and instead had me fill out a PDF form that looked like it was printed than scanned twice. I had to pay to mail the form and the stock in to them for "evaluation" despite photos demonstrating how awful it was. It's been >1.5 years and I never got a new stock or a single response. For 6 months I had an action sitting in the safe useless. So I bought a stock for it and moved on with life. Howa NEVER, EVER responded again. I'll never buy another Howa factory rifle as a result. Cannot believe how awful that experience was.

Meanwhile, with Bergara, I had an issue with my HMR Pro that I bought used at a gun store and it didn't come with any magazines. They sent me two 5 round magazines for free, helped me fix the problem I caused with compassion, and sent me a coupon for % off at their website for gear.

Bergara's are "harder" to rebarrel with aftermarket pre-fits bought off a website but they're out there and it's not rocket surgery. Been done a bunch. Considering you're buying a factory rifle for hunting to 600 yards, you don't need to rebarrel and likely never will. If you do need to rebarrel, you can just send it to Bergara and they'll do it and the price and turnaround time isn't abhorrent like some other brands.

FWIW, both of my Bergaras are less accurate with Norma factory rounds than Hornady or Federal. No idea why.

 

[CCRBUM]

Good information. I'm looking at the ridge unless an HMR wilderness pops up for a good price.... i do like HMR stock but don't knoenif i need the extra weight. Ceracoat finish is a nice bonus though.

Also good to know on the customer service side... i had some terrible experience with beretta one time and it really turned me off to them. I realize compaies pump out a bad product from time to time but quality customer service covers goes a long way with me.

 

[FjallJager]

Here's my 2 cents:

Howa
Ups
1. Best factory trigger in any rifle under $1400 (but I am a two-stage whore).
2. Wide variety of after market support, only 3rd after the 700, 110 Savage and still beats the T3 out, but not by much.
3. Howa barrels are usually really good, but not all of them.
Downs
1. Resale could be iffy compared to a Bergara
2. Stocks and bottom metal abound, but there are a limited number of atermarket triggers that are better than their own factory proprietary trigger.

Bergara
Ups
1. Best aftermarket support of any platform as it is 700 based with a 110 barrel tennon.
2. Barrel should be good to go.
3. Factory HMR stock is set up for long range out of the box.
Downs
1. Ridge and HMR stocks are flexy and plastic.
2. Trigger sucks compared to the Howa


I think both of these have a 24 inch barrel in a 300 PRC which would not be my first choice but would be handy.

I am considering buying a 6.5 PRC in a Ridge and putting a good two stage in it to throw in my Christensen's MPR chassis.

If I didn't have a pile of 700 parts in my house I'd buy a Howa every time.

 

[FjallJager]

Why is a Bergara harder to rebarrel? It is a Savage 110 tennon?

Which Bergara Wilderness? There's the Ridge, Terrain, and HMR. Given mentioned price, I assume you're looking at the Ridge (lightest, non-adjustable stock).

I'm a huge Bergara fan, personally. I have shot many B-14 actions. It's a nice action and responds to a simple true-up job, but not needed.

I own two Premier action rifles, personally. If you can spare the coin, the action is butter on the Premiers... if you care. I think the barrels are "better".

I've also shot and own(ed) two Howas, one of which I recently sold which was a 300 Weatherby Magnum. The other is a 6.5 Creedmor.

I prefer the B-14 action and included trigger over the Howa. And as for customer service and quality, Bergara wins for me, too.

Howa action doesn't ever snag up but it's also oddly loud (at least on the ones I have/had). The trigger ain't bad if like a 2-stage. I'm agnostic.

The Howa 6.5 Creedmor I have came with a "wood" stock. Said stock split when I was breaking it in at the range (right out of the box) and, worse than that, the stock itself looked like it was cut by a blind ape and the indicator for fire/safe fell off after the first shot. I contacted Howa, some guy over email didn't once apologize and instead had me fill out a PDF form that looked like it was printed than scanned twice. I had to pay to mail the form and the stock in to them for "evaluation" despite photos demonstrating how awful it was. It's been >1.5 years and I never got a new stock or a single response. For 6 months I had an action sitting in the safe useless. So I bought a stock for it and moved on with life. Howa NEVER, EVER responded again. I'll never buy another Howa factory rifle as a result. Cannot believe how awful that experience was.

Meanwhile, with Bergara, I had an issue with my HMR Pro that I bought used at a gun store and it didn't come with any magazines. They sent me two 5 round magazines for free, helped me fix the problem I caused with compassion, and sent me a coupon for % off at their website for gear.

Bergara's are "harder" to rebarrel with aftermarket pre-fits bought off a website but they're out there and it's not rocket surgery. Been done a bunch. Considering you're buying a factory rifle for hunting to 600 yards, you don't need to rebarrel and likely never will. If you do need to rebarrel, you can just send it to Bergara and they'll do it and the price and turnaround time isn't abhorrent like some other brands.

FWIW, both of my Bergaras are less accurate with Norma factory rounds than Hornady or Federal. No idea why.

l,

 

[Ocharlie33]

I’ve got a Howa in 300PRC. My only complaint is the super skinny 1/2”x28 threaded muzzle. I took my aftermarket brake off and groups tightened up a bit. Not much meat left for a threaded brake that doesn’t change muzzle dimensions a tiny bit. I’ve got it in an ORYX chassis and a Razor 3-18 mounted so heavy enough to calm it down some. The Hornady 225 ELD-X factory ammo chrono’ed 2700 ish for me. I’ll try to speed things up a bit with hand loads.

Do the factory rounds fit in the long action mag? Or is there a CIP compatible version of the ORYX?

 

[BobKaare]

Mostly preference that dictates what makes more sense.
My personal biased opinion is that Howas are a bit higher quality, but Bergara has better compatibility with aftermarket parts due to being a reminton 700 clone.
I think the flat bottom action of the Howa is a better design than the rem 700 pattern from an engineering standpoint.
Comparing my own Howa to my cousin's Bergara, I find mine to be a bit smoother and the stock trigger is also a little better.
Should be noted that I've lapped my action and polished my trigger, so it's quite a bit smoother now than when it was new.

On another note, I picked up a Tikka UPR yesterday, and it feels way nicer than both Howa and Bergara, and with how much shit you get for Tikkas now, and the ridiculously low prices you get them for in burgerland, I see no reason to buy anything else on that side of the pond.

Edit: For 300 PRC, Tikka action might be a little short?

 

[mick243]

Do the factory rounds fit in the long action mag? Or is there a CIP compatible version of the ORYX?

Just tried today…. Hornady factory ammo, 200gn eldx, does fit into an mdt (aics pattern) 300win mag magazine.

 

[Emerson0311]

Do the factory rounds fit in the long action mag? Or is there a CIP compatible version of the ORYX?

MDT 3.850” mags.

 

[mick243]

I’m using MDT part number 102143-blk “Metal Mag 300WM” which is a long action magazine intended for use with 300 Winchester magnum ammunition. This is the magazine that MDT long action howa 1500 chassis are insetted for, to use the MDT CIP3.850 mags MDT advised me that I would need a machinist to remove 200 thou from the front of the mag well.

the Hornady 300PRC 200gn ELDX factory ammo does fit the shorter magazine (the 300wm one I mentioned) but only just, on my howa 1500 this ammo is jumping about 40 thou to the lands. - so to get the most performance out of the 300prc with hand loads, you very well may want to mod the chassis and use the bigger mags (as I understand, part of the whole desigun idea of the prc was to be able to seat long projos out a long way)

 

[supercorndogs]

For me when chooseing between something that is and something that isn't built on a 700 foot print. I choose the one that is.

 

[Hoody2shoes]

Both are solid.
I like bergara a lot. Ymmv

 

[FNG1001]

Bergara Premier actions are pretty great

 

[BobKaare]

Bergara Premier actions are pretty great

Sure, but it's also more expensive than many custom options.
OP was looking for <$1k gun.