Bergara short chamber

[Eagle Six]

That is very strange, never have I seen a picture of a OEM Bergara with a barrel nut.
Is this a newly manufactured Bergara or an older one?

When Savage introduced their barrel nut many folks thought the nut thing was rather ugly. In around 15 years ago Bergara was selling their Remington barrels with a smooth nut and they marketed it as being prettier than the Savage nut and that required a strap wrench (as seen in the video posted above). If I'm not mistaken that was before the Remage craze. I have a 26" SS 6 grove Bergara with this nut I purchased about 12 years ago.

I'm not familiar with the Bergara bolt, on the Remington I strip the firing pin out of the bolt which isn't necessary but the bolt is smoother to work. If the bolt extracts the gauge it has most likely been seated into the bolt face past the extractor, otherwise the gauge will remain in the chamber.

As @INTJ has stated about insuring the chamber is clean, that also applies to the gauges and the bolt face.

I torque the nut between 50-60 ft pounds, and then again check the headspace. Depending on the tools being used sometimes the headspace will move and it needs to be set again. It is a small learning curve.

 

[whatsupdoc]

I know Bergara sold an aftermarket Barrel with a smooth Barrel nut, but did they ever sell FACTORY rifles with the barrel nut. Second OP's picture shows a savage type
barrel nut. I find that strange as I have NEVER seen a picture of a factory
Bergara with a barrel nut.

 

[Eagle Six]

I know Bergara sold an aftermarket Barrel with a smooth Barrel nut, but did they ever sell FACTORY rifles with the barrel nut. Second OP's picture shows a savage type
barrel nut. I find that strange as I have NEVER seen a picture of a factory
Bergara with a barrel nut.

Well I would go with what was stated previously, that the first 500 or so rifles included the barrel nut, that wouldn't be difficult for any of us to miss. That would make sense as they started to produce their rifle with barrels they had and then made a switch in tooling.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Hes within .004 at the max. Thats not going to push him over the limit. He can chamber saami ammo its just tight, so hes right at the GO and NO GO is .004 past that.

Look up saami cartridge vs chamber specs. There are actually several examples where there is some overlap..meaning, there are rare instances where both the brass and the chamber are with spec, but the factory brass is longer than the chamber. It's rare to see, but it can happen and both be within "spec". If the chamber is at the low end and the brass at the high, it's possible. Obviously, mfgs don't want this to happen and most brass is made toward the small end of specs.

 

[Mdhmsmith]

Hes within .004 at the max. Thats not going to push him over the limit. He can chamber saami ammo its just tight, so hes right at the GO and NO GO is .004 past that.

For conversations sake, the case wall failure I mentioned happened on a very short chambered barrel with a barrel nut. They guy thought he headspaced it with the go gauge but didn’t realize that even though the go/no-go fit was good at the bolt face, there was too much unsupported case wall protruding from the chamber. I don’t think this is what the OP is dealing with but I can’t measure or see what he is seeing. In his shoes I would measure what I could and if I was happy I’d headspace it and rock on.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Look up saami cartridge vs chamber specs. There are actually several examples where there is some overlap..meaning, there are rare instances where both the brass and the chamber are with spec, but the factory brass is longer than the chamber. It's rare to see, but it can happen and both be within "spec". If the chamber is at the low end and the brass at the high, it's possible. Obviously, mfgs don't want this to happen and most brass is made toward the small end of specs.

Id go along with the long cases if he didnt have a go gage. In reality his ammo may actually be on the very short saami side since he can close the bolt on them but not on a go gage

 

[Dusty Stevens]

For conversations sake, the case wall failure I mentioned happened on a very short chambered barrel with a barrel nut. They guy thought he headspaced it with the go gauge but didn’t realize that even though the go/no-go fit was good at the bolt face, there was too much unsupported case wall protruding from the chamber. I don’t think this is what the OP is dealing with but I can’t measure or see what he is seeing. In his shoes I would measure what I could and if I was happy I’d headspace it and rock on.

You ever seen the unsupported case on a savage? The case is solid up to .200 from the bolt face. Savage has what .175? He will be around .140-.145 if they used their normal bolt on that early model.

 

[tobnpr]

Savage spec is .125-.130 except for .338 LM which is .140-.145 because of the deeper boltface.

 

[gero]

So today I stripped the ejector out of the bolt and put the go gauge in the clean chamber. It still does not close, but as I said before stops at the point where the handle cams over. When my tools finally get here and I correct the problem, I will post the result here so you can know the result. Thanks to all

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Id go along with the long cases if he didnt have a go gage. In reality his ammo may actually be on the very short saami side since he can close the bolt on them but not on a go gage

Yes, I had forgotten it won't close on his Go gauge either. Every saami chamber should close on it. Otherwise, the most common problem is dies won't be able to bump the shoulder back.

 

[Ksracer]

You ever seen the unsupported case on a savage? The case is solid up to .200 from the bolt face. Savage has what .175? He will be around .140-.145 if they used their normal bolt on that early model.

Certain Lapua and Alpha cases are only .180 thick with a sharp corner on the inside with very little additional "web". It only takes .010 here or there to run into the danger zone on a Remington style rifle and the Seekins actions are worse. A quick visual is that the chamber should extend to the extractor groove.

I'm just trying to add info because I think it's important that anybody reading this is aware of how little safety margin there is. I've seen a rifle that blew up with only .200 of exposed case head.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Certain Lapua and Alpha cases are only .180 thick with a sharp corner on the inside with very little additional "web". It only takes .010 here or there to run into the danger zone on a Remington style rifle and the Seekins actions are worse. A quick visual is that the chamber should extend to the extractor groove.

I'm just trying to add info because I think it's important that anybody reading this is aware of how little safety margin there is. I've seen a rifle that blew up with only .200 of exposed case head.View attachment 1417172

Right! I prefer near zero unsupported non solid case whenever possible. A Remington has a lot of other safety features built in but the design requires more case protrusion than I like. Savage is better in this regard by a bit..approximately. 030 less. That's an important. 030 imo.

 

[INTJ]

CRF M-70 does pretty good.....

 

[SKWERLZ]

So today I stripped the ejector out of the bolt and put the go gauge in the clean chamber. It still does not close, but as I said before stops at the point where the handle cams over. When my tools finally get here and I correct the problem, I will post the result here so you can know the result. Thanks to all

If possible measure the datum of the go gauge and brass your using.
As long as go gauge is longer than virgin brass your at least in a workable range.
I have seen a few go gauge’s that were incorrect from a certain popular manufacturer.

What are you getting for case expansion now after firing now?

 

[gero]

If possible measure the datum of the go gauge and brass your using.
As long as go gauge is longer than virgin brass your at least in a workable range.
I have seen a few go gauge’s that were incorrect from a certain popular manufacturer.

What are you getting for case expansion?

 

[gero]

Would you mind repeating your question, fat fingered a delete

 

[whatsupdoc]

Premier barrel on left and carbon B14 on the right, for those wondering
about the chamber depth on Bergaras.

 

[tobnpr]

^^^
I don't get that breech design on the Bergara...
The "semi" cone doesn't look like it would help feeding, so why not just have a flat breech?
I'm sure someone here can enlighten me.

 

[LVLAaron]

^^^
I don't get that breech design on the Bergara...
The "semi" cone doesn't look like it would help feeding, so why not just have a flat breech?
I'm sure someone here can enlighten me.

And looks more annoying than it needs to be to machine

 

[Dusty Stevens]

And looks more annoying than it needs to be to machine

Make it flat