Thoughts of Bergara 22 RF Rifles
- Thread starter K22
- Start date
In the last 2 years I have had extensive experience with now three bergara 22's.
Originally I was given the opportunity to shoot a friend's b14r.
For a factory rifle, when shooting mainly at 50 and 100 metres it far exceeded my expectations.
Subsequently I purchased 2 bergaras for use by myself and son.
We have tested and shot both mainly upto 200 metres but occasionally at 300 metres.
The only change made so far is to replace both triggers with remington match clones.
Personally I feel the change of triggers has greatly contributed to the accuracy standards that both rifles are now capable of.
As per usual with 22's to achieve relevant accuracy standards both required testing with different ammo to find what worked and what didn't.
In good shooter friendly conditions both rifles are able to shoot 5 shot groups under an inch at 100 metres and hold 1.25 inches to 2 inches at 200 metres.
cheers
goodi
Originally I was given the opportunity to shoot a friend's b14r.
For a factory rifle, when shooting mainly at 50 and 100 metres it far exceeded my expectations.
Subsequently I purchased 2 bergaras for use by myself and son.
We have tested and shot both mainly upto 200 metres but occasionally at 300 metres.
The only change made so far is to replace both triggers with remington match clones.
Personally I feel the change of triggers has greatly contributed to the accuracy standards that both rifles are now capable of.
As per usual with 22's to achieve relevant accuracy standards both required testing with different ammo to find what worked and what didn't.
In good shooter friendly conditions both rifles are able to shoot 5 shot groups under an inch at 100 metres and hold 1.25 inches to 2 inches at 200 metres.
cheers
goodi
Do you have a source for cleaning rod guides for these rifles?
Do you have a source for cleaning rod guides for these rifles?
You can call Possum Hollow. They make one even though I don't think they've added it to their site. https://possumhollowproducts.com
MarkS
Silver $$ Contributor
I'm happy with my B14R. It even shoots cheap Automatch pretty well.
JSH
Gold $$ Contributor
Nothing to add really to what has already been said.
I sold my 52’s as I was really shooting them enough, so let someone else enjoy them. I didn’t really miss them, but still a feeling of a vacant space. I ran across a B14R and just placed a bid on it to keep track of it, won it for a ridiculous price. I swapped triggers and have been more than pleased with it since then.
I sold my 52’s as I was really shooting them enough, so let someone else enjoy them. I didn’t really miss them, but still a feeling of a vacant space. I ran across a B14R and just placed a bid on it to keep track of it, won it for a ridiculous price. I swapped triggers and have been more than pleased with it since then.
If relevant or of interest these are a few more of our experiences and observations with the bergara 22.
I am not sure what the retail price in the USA is, but in Australia the price seems to vary between $1500 to $1800 for the complete rifle.
Barrelled actions can be obtained for approx $1100 but the catch is, for the remington 700 replacement stocks i have tested, the problem is that the bergara trigger guard/magazine plate does not fit.
While not inexpensive, for what the bergara offers and delivers, these prices are excellent value for money and are more than acceptable in our marketplace.
If the length of pull spacers are removed, I would suggest that the original long recoil pad screws are not used for re attaching.
In my experience, shorter screws are necessary to replace the recoil pad in position.
Using a borescope on both of our rifles revealed a clean cut and neat chamber with consistent and very pleasing throat and lead angles in the initial rifling.
Removal of chambered rounds reveals distinct land engagement on all rifles.
However the chamber in the initial bergara we tested, seemed to have concerning and noticeable scratches in the land/throat junction.
Off the topic, but since obtaining a borescope 10 years ago I always check the chambering and bore appearance of all rifles prior to purchase. This can be at times both a pleasing and alarming experience.
Regardless of make, price or calibre, in my observations there is inconsistency in the chamber appearance of all rifle manufacturers.
Prior to purchase, i had expected that bedding of the bergaras would be necessary to obtain the required accuracy standards. However this has not been necessary, but this is not to say that bedding would not produce even finer accuracy results.
As most would know, feeding from the magazine is a necessity.
Since purchase in total of approx 2 to 3 thousand rounds have been fired through both rifles, no misfires have occurred and chambering and extraction have been faultless.
Another factor influencing our purchase of the bergaras was the threaded barrel attachment to the action.
It was felt that this, would give if necessary , the option of easy barrel replacement in the future, which is still not a feasible option with many much more expensive match 22s.
As a side note I was recently given from a fellow club member, a new voodoo 22 to sight in.
Imagine our surprise and shock when the firing pin failed to detonate the first three sk match ammo rounds. Changing to rws match ammo resulted in the detonation of 1 round out of 5 attempts.
Inspection of case rims revealed only the slightest firing pin indentation. That rifle has now been returned to the Australian importer for rectification.
cheers
goodi
I am not sure what the retail price in the USA is, but in Australia the price seems to vary between $1500 to $1800 for the complete rifle.
Barrelled actions can be obtained for approx $1100 but the catch is, for the remington 700 replacement stocks i have tested, the problem is that the bergara trigger guard/magazine plate does not fit.
While not inexpensive, for what the bergara offers and delivers, these prices are excellent value for money and are more than acceptable in our marketplace.
If the length of pull spacers are removed, I would suggest that the original long recoil pad screws are not used for re attaching.
In my experience, shorter screws are necessary to replace the recoil pad in position.
Using a borescope on both of our rifles revealed a clean cut and neat chamber with consistent and very pleasing throat and lead angles in the initial rifling.
Removal of chambered rounds reveals distinct land engagement on all rifles.
However the chamber in the initial bergara we tested, seemed to have concerning and noticeable scratches in the land/throat junction.
Off the topic, but since obtaining a borescope 10 years ago I always check the chambering and bore appearance of all rifles prior to purchase. This can be at times both a pleasing and alarming experience.
Regardless of make, price or calibre, in my observations there is inconsistency in the chamber appearance of all rifle manufacturers.
Prior to purchase, i had expected that bedding of the bergaras would be necessary to obtain the required accuracy standards. However this has not been necessary, but this is not to say that bedding would not produce even finer accuracy results.
As most would know, feeding from the magazine is a necessity.
Since purchase in total of approx 2 to 3 thousand rounds have been fired through both rifles, no misfires have occurred and chambering and extraction have been faultless.
Another factor influencing our purchase of the bergaras was the threaded barrel attachment to the action.
It was felt that this, would give if necessary , the option of easy barrel replacement in the future, which is still not a feasible option with many much more expensive match 22s.
As a side note I was recently given from a fellow club member, a new voodoo 22 to sight in.
Imagine our surprise and shock when the firing pin failed to detonate the first three sk match ammo rounds. Changing to rws match ammo resulted in the detonation of 1 round out of 5 attempts.
Inspection of case rims revealed only the slightest firing pin indentation. That rifle has now been returned to the Australian importer for rectification.
cheers
goodi
Thanks for the specific referral.
glide
Gold $$ Contributor
Are you saying they dont shoot well enough to be competitive?
I've had one for a few months. The factory trigger was gravel in my opinion. I put a elftmann in. Drastically improved. The rifle constantly shoots .8 moa out at 25, 50, 100 and 300. Those are the yardage available to me at this time. My major bitch is the cock on close. It's horrible to keep the gun on target. Coming from kimbers, coopers and tikka rimfires the effort it takes to close the bolt turned me off enough to buy a voduu. I'm not going to spend another 150$ on a fix for the bolt that will help it but not eliminate. Just my thoughts, a +1000$ rimfire should be target ready, no trigger change no bolt work.
They have been known to break bolts. But thats all I've seen. Seems bergera is pretty good about getting bolts put to customers. With the effort it takes to close it no wonder it breaks
No no, most are good shooters but there has been magazine issues, ejection issues. I don’t use one so I can’t tell you all the problems we’ve seen. Luckily a bergara rep shoots most of my local matches and brings spare parts with him cause the 2nd last big match we had he had to replace parts on 3 different bergara shooters rifles. That was an extreme case, but most shoots we see issue or hear of small breaks.
Personally I’ve seen more issues with bergara for parts breaking then any other rimfire in competition. I’ve seen more feeding issue/magazine issues with them as well.
For a factory gun, I think the cz is king. I shoot against a ton of cz’s (most with aftermarket barrels) but never an issue! Once in a blue moon the user doesn’t insert mag fully into chassis and the mag drops but that’s user error. The tikka’s seem to be great two. I’ve seen 2 issues but 1 was an after market barrel without the proper ramp in the chamber and rounds wouldn’t feed great.
If I wasn’t to do a vudoo, rimx or deuce build, I’d go cz for out of box reliability and accuracy. I prefer the tikka feel, but hard to argue with the results I’ve seen
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