Rough bolt on new Bergara HMR Pro

[Hydrogen]

Picked up a brand new Bergara HMR Pro in 6.5 CM.

When I picked it up, I ran the bolt and felt some roughness. It felt rougher than a B14 I tried at a Bass Pro last year, but didn’t think much of it as another HMR Pro I checked at another dealer seemed to also have some roughness.

While setting it up today, I reached out to an acquaintance who owns the same exact HMR Pro about the bolt. He said the day he bought his, he could point the muzzle toward the ceiling, unlock the bolt and the bolt would just drop straight out with no resistance.

Even after working the bolt around 200-300 times, while it’s a bit smoother, it’s definitely not dropping out like his did when brand new.

I cleaned the entire bolt and put a spread a very small amount of BoreTech Extreme Grease HD on the lugs before I worked it.

Still doesn’t seem that smooth.

Thoughts?

Would expect this to be smoother or as smooth as the non-premier B14 was that I tried.

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Send it back.
There are a ton of people buying weapons that just sit in the safe and no one ever checks the action. That is what manufacturer's are banking on.
Obviously you are not happy with it.

 

[spife7980]

I’m curious how it could not fall out being that the bolt must be an alert than the action to fit, would obviously require some sort of interference to not, can you identify where it’s interfering between the action and bolt?

 

[tarheel7734]

Send it back.
There are a ton of people buying weapons that just sit in the safe and no one ever checks the action. That is what manufacturer's are banking on.
Obviously you are not happy with it.

That is a ridiculous statement. Not a single manufacturer is building a firearm expecting it to sit in a safe and not be shot.

 

[ALShooter]

I would look for excess cerakote somewhere. Something’s obviously causing interference. My 300prc premier action isn’t like that.

 

[Hydrogen]

I would look for excess cerakote somewhere. Something’s obviously causing interference. My 300prc premier action isn’t like that.

I was wondering the same considering the chamber is also cerakoted.

How though am I to notice where something microns thicker than it’s supposed to be, is?

 

[ALShooter]

I was wondering the same considering the chamber is also cerakoted.

How though am I to notice where something microns thicker than it’s supposed to be, is?

Is it just rough when the lugs are riding the rails on each side? If so you can mark the rails and see where it’s interfering.

 

[spife7980]

You can see cerakote is in the chamber? Send it back.

 

[ALShooter]

You can see cerakote is in the chamber? Send it back.

Hopefully he meant in the action.

 

[Hydrogen]

Hopefully he meant in the action.

Yes, sorry. I meant action, but I will double check when I inspect the entire action with a flashlight. Will provide an update after I am done.

 

[Hydrogen]

Is it just rough when the lugs are riding the rails on each side? If so you can mark the rails and see where it’s interfering.

Don’t see anything visibly throughout the action. A few rub marks maybe but in areas I would expect to be normal such as the bolt entry at the breach end of the action.

How would I ‘’mark” the rails?

Thanks

 

[Hydrogen]

I would look for excess cerakote somewhere. Something’s obviously causing interference. My 300prc premier action isn’t like that.

I may have narrowed down one possibility.

Right as the rear cap of the bolt (the black colored portion with the handle) touches the rear action’s bottom rails/guides, things get snug.

Then, once the firing pin assembly makes contact with the bottom guide rail (just before the sear) is when it gets tight and that must be why the bolt does not drop on its own when unlocked and held vertically.

Some rub marks exist in that area, but I would expect them to?

Attached is a photo.

 

[supercorndogs]

I was wondering the same considering the chamber is also cerakoted.

How though am I to notice where something microns thicker than it’s supposed to be, is?

its starts wearing off in that spot.

 

[spife7980]

Rotate the bolt shroud clockwise 1/4 turn (black piece at the end of the bolt) and remove the firing pin bayonet assembly. If you insert it back into the action and it doesn’t hold onto the bolt then you know the issue is with the ignition system. If it’s still tight with no firing pin installed then you know it’s between the bolt body and the action body.

 

[Hydrogen]

Rotate the bolt shroud clockwise 1/4 turn (black piece at the end of the bolt) and remove the firing pin bayonet assembly. If you insert it back into the action and it doesn’t hold onto the bolt then you know the issue is with the ignition system. If it’s still tight with no firing pin installed then you know it’s between the bolt body and the action body.

Upon doing this - inserting the bolt body without the firing pin assembly, the bolt moves far more freely and most of the time slides on its own out of the action when pointing the muzzle to the ceiling!

BUT… working the bolt assembly back in and out by hand without the firing pin assembly often yields to a lot of slop and a ‘jittery’ motion. It’s more ‘freed up’ but also wiggles and doesn’t just seem to slide right in.

PS - I am calling Bergara in the morning and discussing with them. Will be interesting to see how they handle this.

Rifle is brand new with a May ‘23 manufacturing date on the serial number sticker. It shipped without their logo sticker on the bottom of the barrel and without their Quality Control “inspected by (name)” sub MOA guarantee card - but that slipped past my inspection upon transferring/taking possession. So I feel like this one went right out BPI’s door to EuroOptic without proper QC.

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Run it 10K times or go buy a real custom action that cost as much as your whole gun.

Or just buy a tikka.

 

[Hydrogen]

Run it 10K times or go buy a real custom action that cost as much as your whole gun.

Or just buy a tikka.

Thank you for your helpful post, but when a product doesn’t perform to its baseline, it doesn’t matter what it costs. It needs to be corrected.

I purchased the BMW of rifles, not a Ferrari, and I appreciate the difference.

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

Thank you for your helpful post, but when a product doesn’t perform to its baseline, it doesn’t matter what it costs. It needs to be corrected.

I purchased the BMW of rifles, not a Ferrari, and I appreciate the difference.

LOL you purchased a Kia with some rims, a spoiler and a nice sound system. Its a run of the mill factory rifle, nothing special about them. In the two Bergera's I have owned (and sold shortly after) they were clearly inferior to Tikka which is cheaper AND better quality.

The bolt falling out doesn't make sense, but rough action is most likely a combination of tolerance stacking and coatings. Run the bitch and smooth it out if thats what you care about. Or just go shoot it.

Bergera came on the market years ago touting USMC PWS guys running their US presense and premium euro barrels. Truth is, they have a host of issues and pump them out with little qc/qa. You should have seen the NF rail I installed on a HMR pro, it was visibly bent, which means the action was not true and needed a ton of shims to bed. They are a budget rifle marketed as something more than they are. Just like christensen. But dont feel bad, lots of other not so educated gun enthusiasts fell into the same trap. Its how marketing works. Sell the shit and buy something that works , Hence the recommendation to buy a quality custom action or just get a tikka.

 

[Hydrogen]

LOL you purchased a Kia with some rims, a spoiler and a nice sound system. Its a run of the mill factory rifle, nothing special about them. In the two Bergera's I have owned (and sold shortly after) they were clearly inferior to Tikka which is cheaper AND better quality.

The bolt falling out doesn't make sense, but rough action is most likely a combination of tolerance stacking and coatings. Run the bitch and smooth it out if thats what you care about. Or just go shoot it.

Bergera came on the market years ago touting USMC PWS guys running their US presense and premium euro barrels. Truth is, they have a host of issues and pump them out with little qc/qa. You should have seen the NF rail I installed on a HMR pro, it was visibly bent, which means the action was not true and needed a ton of shims to bed. They are a budget rifle marketed as something more than they are. Just like christensen. But dont feel bad, lots of other not so educated gun enthusiasts fell into the same trap. Its how marketing works. Sell the shit and buy something that works , Hence the recommendation to buy a quality custom action or just get a tikka.

Fair and I understand but there are definitely far better ‘copies’ of the HMR out there than the one I ended up with, but should have been more critical of before I accepted the transfer.

As I stated in a prior comment, I’ve felt smoother Bergara’s than this.

I intend to demand that replace the action & receiver and see where that gets me even if I end up selling it, I can sell it in better performing condition than it is now.

 

[mikehill85]

LOL you purchased a Kia with some rims, a spoiler and a nice sound system. Its a run of the mill factory rifle, nothing special about them. In the two Bergera's I have owned (and sold shortly after) they were clearly inferior to Tikka which is cheaper AND better quality.

The bolt falling out doesn't make sense, but rough action is most likely a combination of tolerance stacking and coatings. Run the bitch and smooth it out if thats what you care about. Or just go shoot it.

Bergera came on the market years ago touting USMC PWS guys running their US presense and premium euro barrels. Truth is, they have a host of issues and pump them out with little qc/qa. You should have seen the NF rail I installed on a HMR pro, it was visibly bent, which means the action was not true and needed a ton of shims to bed. They are a budget rifle marketed as something more than they are. Just like christensen. But dont feel bad, lots of other not so educated gun enthusiasts fell into the same trap. Its how marketing works. Sell the shit and buy something that works , Hence the recommendation to buy a quality custom action or just get a tikka.

My Bergara came from the factory with a bolt so rough it felt like running a rake over gravel and I discovered it was because they laser etched the Bergara logo, rifle serial number, and a QR code onto the bottom of the bolt. Some 3,000 grit sandpaper sorted it out. I'd personally say that one of the only good things about the Bergara is how smooth the action is (Now, at least...After I fixed it...).

Yep. I've had the same experience with Bergara. It was one of my first bolt guns and I thought I just sucked at shooting before I bought a Tikka CTR. My CTR averages < 0.5 MOA for 5-shot groups with handloads. My Bergara does around 1 MOA for 5-shot groups with handloads it "likes". For handloads it doesn't like it is around 1.5 MOA.

The funny thing is all the reviews I've seen for the B-14 HMR in 308 (which is what I have) show similarly poor groups but the reviewer raves about how well the gun shoots. Lol. I sent the gun in to Bergara because of how poorly it shoots. They shot two 3-shot groups (one being 0.98 MOA) and sent the gun back to me without doing anything to it or even telling me they were sending it. I was out of town on vacation and it almost got returned to sender. I had to pay UPS to hold it for me.

Anyway, I agree, in my experience, Bergara is a product of marketing hype. I haven't been able to get mine to shoot to what I consider to be acceptable standards (even a $400 hunting rifle from Walmart should be able to shoot under 1 MOA consistently with quality handloads) and it seems there is a lot of inconsistency in their products/poor QC. It also seems they don't stand by their products. My recommendation would also be to buy a Tikka or a custom rifle if you want something that shoots like a precision rifle and doesn't just look like one.