Bergara B14R Carbon - 60 5-shot groups

[Cuda440]

Here's a suggestion. Keep in mind that it's not the brand or name on the box that any barrel "likes".

The fact is that barrels don't know what brand or variety of ammo is being used, least of all whether it's Lapua X-Act, Midas, or Center X. Except for the packaging, these three are indistinguishable from each other.

What rifles shoot well is good quality and consistent ammo, regardless of the name. Look for good lot of Center X. It's not necessary for you to spend X-Act money.

I've tried 5 different lots of center x, 2 lots of midas plus, 2 lots of SK rifle match, SK long range match, 2 lots of Polar Biathlon, eley club and eley tenex. The factory barrel shot the center X and Midas plus well and I won a bulls eye shootout with Lapua Polar Biathlon (497 score out of a possible 500).

The KI barrel shoots the X-Act fairly well and nothing else shoots good enough to complete with the guys I'm shooting against. Again, the factory barrel shot most Lapua ammo pretty well and I would usually win 3+ rounds. The KI barrel is all over the place.

I only changed barrels, nothing else.
Trying to troubleshoot, I double checked the torque on the screws and made sure they were not bottoming out...

The barrel is threaded, and have tried a silencer, it seems to help tighten the groups somewhat, but nothing to write home about.

This week I'm going to clean the barrel again with the IOSSO bore paste and give the Tenex another try. Also going to try a friend's lot of Polar Biathlon that his KI barrel shoots very well.

Just thinking I got a bad barrel. I know it happens.

 

[xswanted]

To be totally honest, not happy. The only ammo it seems to like is Lapua X-ACT. Of course that is one of the most expensive ammo to buy. Second best ammo was Lapua Polar Biathlon, an older lot I had. I have a new lot that does not shoot well.

I told a friend to also try a barrel for his CZ, which he purchased. We put his together and I also made him one of my designed bipod's. Yesterday he won 8 rounds in a row and is super happy.

I'm going to clean mine again and maybe try some Eley Tenex. Also going to double check the head spacing.

If that doesn't work, I'm going to contact KI and ask them for suggestions.

Bottom line, my carbon filter factory barrel shot better and think I got a bad barrel.

What kind of groups are you getting with both?

Size and distance.

The KI I have on mine shoots nearly every type of ammo I’ve shot through it better than the factory steel barrel.

Eley Tenex will agg in the .7s at 100 yards over 50 rounds.

 

[kojaone]

I've tried 5 different lots of center x, 2 lots of midas plus, 2 lots of SK rifle match, SK long range match, 2 lots of Polar Biathlon, eley club and eley tenex. The factory barrel shot the center X and Midas plus well and I won a bulls eye shootout with Lapua Polar Biathlon (497 score out of a possible 500).

The KI barrel shoots the X-Act fairly well and nothing else shoots good enough to complete with the guys I'm shooting against. Again, the factory barrel shot most Lapua ammo pretty well and I would usually win 3+ rounds. The KI barrel is all over the place.

I only changed barrels, nothing else.
Trying to troubleshoot, I double checked the torque on the screws and made sure they were not bottoming out...

The barrel is threaded, and have tried a silencer, it seems to help tighten the groups somewhat, but nothing to write home about.

This week I'm going to clean the barrel again with the IOSSO bore paste and give the Tenex another try. Also going to try a friend's lot of Polar Biathlon that his KI barrel shoots very well.

Just thinking I got a bad barrel. I know it happens

What stock are you using,how much clearence between barrel and stock?

 

[Cuda440]

What kind of groups are you getting with both?

Size and distance.

The KI I have on mine shoots nearly every type of ammo I’ve shot through it better than the factory steel barrel.

Eley Tenex will agg in the .7s at 100 yards over 50 rounds.

I had seen where people that have the KI barrel can shoot about any ammo. I had high hopes, but really am disappointed. As far as groups. Stock carbon barrel, was shooting many <0.6-0.7 MOA groups at 100 yards. Midas Plus and Center X well and also Polar Biathlon shot good with several different lots. Some were better then others as usual, but nothing super bad.

The KI barrel with Lapua and Eley is shooting >1.25. Multiple fliers. Like I have mentioned, the only fairly good ammo I had shot is the x-act. That will shoot <0.9, not bad, but not great.

I cleaned the barrel yesterday and also disassembled the bolt and cleaned that also. Going to shoot some more Eley Sunday at an 100 yard egg shoot. Hope to see an improvement.

Wish mine shot as well as yours and my buddies KI barrel on his CZ 457.

 

[Cuda440]

What stock are you using,how much clearence between barrel and stock?

I have a MTD XRS Chassis. Good clearance around the barrel. Nothing hitting anywhere. I had to machine my buddies CZ 457's stock to take his KI barrel as it would not fit. He got the Ø1.0" barrel. Put it my CNC and opened it up. Turned out great.

 

[Westex]

B14R carbon barrel would be hit or miss on getting one to shoot ! after looking at some of the borescope pictures of Bergara factory barrels it is wonder they shoot ask good as they do . you could get a good barrel for the money wasted trying to get factory barrel to shoot . lots of great barrels for B14R now ! I built some Bergaras with Shilen Ratchet barrels when you could them from Killoughs and they all shot really good .

 

[Cuda440]

B14R carbon barrel would be hit or miss on getting one to shoot ! after looking at some of the borescope pictures of Bergara factory barrels it is wonder they shoot ask good as they do . you could get a good barrel for the money wasted trying to get factory barrel to shoot . lots of great barrels for B14R now ! I built some Bergaras with Shilen Ratchet barrels when you could them from Killoughs and they all shot really good .

My factory Carbon barrel shot pretty good, so I felt pretty lucky. Putting it in the MTD Chassis and adding a TT Diamond Pro trigger in also helped.

So far the KI barrel is off the mark from what I was hoping for. I'll see what happens this Sunday at the egg shoot. Going to try some different ammo after the cleaning of the barrel with the paste and taking the bolt apart and cleaning all that. Also broke some sharp edges on the bolt that looked like they were scraping.

I'm not putting a lot of hope in it, as all I did when I went to the KI barrel is swap it with the factory carbon, nothing else. It came apart and assembled without an issue. I torqued the barrel to the KI spec and it aligned nicely. I can't find anything that is off. Just ordered another set of go/no go head spacing gauges that doesn't have the gauge length in them for the standard reamer depth. The reamer depth on the match chamber is not as deep, so the gauges I have will not work.

 

[xswanted]

I had seen where people that have the KI barrel can shoot about any ammo. I had high hopes, but really am disappointed. As far as groups. Stock carbon barrel, was shooting many <0.6-0.7 MOA groups at 100 yards. Midas Plus and Center X well and also Polar Biathlon shot good with several different lots. Some were better then others as usual, but nothing super bad.

The KI barrel with Lapua and Eley is shooting >1.25. Multiple fliers. Like I have mentioned, the only fairly good ammo I had shot is the x-act. That will shoot <0.9, not bad, but not great.

I cleaned the barrel yesterday and also disassembled the bolt and cleaned that also. Going to shoot some more Eley Sunday at an 100 yard egg shoot. Hope to see an improvement.

Wish mine shot as well as yours and my buddies KI barrel on his CZ 457.

Send it back.

Those guys will make it right. I’ve talked to a number of people with KI rimfire barrels and they’ve all shot very well.

 

[Cuda440]

Send it back.

Those guys will make it right. I’ve talked to a number of people with KI rimfire barrels and they’ve all shot very well.

I'm going to double check the head spacing and try a few more types/lots of ammo. If that doesn't work, I will call and speak with them. Maybe I can send the triggered action and barrel to them to try and diagnosis the issue.
I'm really wanting it to work out and have not seen anything bad about them. I'm sure they will help. I know they can make a great product, my buddies rifle is a great example. We put his together in a few hours and he is really happy he didn't go spend some big money on a Vudoo.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Dgd6mm]

B14R carbon barrel would be hit or miss on getting one to shoot ! after looking at some of the borescope pictures of Bergara factory barrels

The same goes for Savage centerfire factory barrels but they do.

 

[kojaone]

I'm going to double check the head spacing and try a few more types/lots of ammo. If that doesn't work, I will call and speak with them. Maybe I can send the triggered action and barrel to them to try and diagnosis the issue.
I'm really wanting it to work out and have not seen anything bad about them. I'm sure they will help. I know they can make a great product, my buddies rifle is a great example. We put his together in a few hours and he is really happy he didn't go spend some big money on a Vudoo.

Thanks for your input!

Any progress ?