Chris Shelton
Silver $$ Contributor
Thought it might be helpful to someone if I posted some info on the Bergara BMR-X steel that I have roughly 800 rounds through it now. The rifle is all factory except for the triggertech diamond. It has a bushnell 6500 2.5-16x50 scope on it. I’ll list some pros and cons below.
Pros:
-The ergonomics if the new X stock is leaps and bounds more comfortable than the original BMR in my opinion. My buddy has the original BMR carbon and I can’t get comfortable behind it.
-I have had ZERO failure to feed since I bought it. The magazines load easy and fit very well into the stock.
-The rifle is plenty accurate for friendly competition and for sure extremely accurate for hunting purposes. This particular rifle shoots eley sub HP about as good as any of the match ammo I have put through it. Last year I purchased a hollow pointing die from a member that has proven to turn match ammo into effective hunting ammo if desired and I can’t wait to do some testing with this rifle.
-The factory trigger did adjust down to about 2.25 lb and is actually a very nice trigger if someone wants to keep it stock. I wanted a trigger in ounces so I installed a TT diamond.
Cons:
-The action is pretty rough mainly due to the bolt dragging on the side bolt release. Even after 800 rounds, it has not smoothed up much, but it does function with zero issues.
-Not really an issue, but I did have to Dremel the trigger mount opening for the triggertech to fit. The lowest I can get the trigger is about 9-10 oz. Anything lower it will let the sear go on closing the bolt.
Overall I have no deal breaking complaints about the rifle. Part of me does wish I would have gone with a CZ 457 or a bergara B14R just for the aftermarket following, but it gives me another reason to buy another rifle. I shoot the rifle primarily suppressed. I use a silencerco sparrow. The group size and point of impact does not change with it on or off.
Let’s see if these pictures will work. This is the last target I shot a couple weeks ago. This is at 48.5 yards. That’s as far as I can get shooting from inside the shop to the fence. All 5 shot groups. There are bullet splashes on the target because I’m shooting our indoor steel trap and the lead catcher is full when I shot this. The 1st and 4th row are Norma Tac-22. I bought a bunch of this for the kids to shoot. It shoots very accurate for the price. Lapua Pistol OSP is usually what it likes (2nd row), but on this day the center-x beat it. The middle group of center-x was one of the best groups it has shot but I pulled the 5th one with a premature trigger pull, so I put a 6th shot in the group to make sure I screwed up…I did hah. This is pretty common groups out of this rifle. Some days better, some days worse. I’m to blame for the worse days I would say. It still won’t outshoot my ruger 10/22 rifle build with Kidd barrel and a bunch of other modifications. Overall though, it’s a fun gun to shoot.
Pros:
-The ergonomics if the new X stock is leaps and bounds more comfortable than the original BMR in my opinion. My buddy has the original BMR carbon and I can’t get comfortable behind it.
-I have had ZERO failure to feed since I bought it. The magazines load easy and fit very well into the stock.
-The rifle is plenty accurate for friendly competition and for sure extremely accurate for hunting purposes. This particular rifle shoots eley sub HP about as good as any of the match ammo I have put through it. Last year I purchased a hollow pointing die from a member that has proven to turn match ammo into effective hunting ammo if desired and I can’t wait to do some testing with this rifle.
-The factory trigger did adjust down to about 2.25 lb and is actually a very nice trigger if someone wants to keep it stock. I wanted a trigger in ounces so I installed a TT diamond.
Cons:
-The action is pretty rough mainly due to the bolt dragging on the side bolt release. Even after 800 rounds, it has not smoothed up much, but it does function with zero issues.
-Not really an issue, but I did have to Dremel the trigger mount opening for the triggertech to fit. The lowest I can get the trigger is about 9-10 oz. Anything lower it will let the sear go on closing the bolt.
Overall I have no deal breaking complaints about the rifle. Part of me does wish I would have gone with a CZ 457 or a bergara B14R just for the aftermarket following, but it gives me another reason to buy another rifle. I shoot the rifle primarily suppressed. I use a silencerco sparrow. The group size and point of impact does not change with it on or off.
Let’s see if these pictures will work. This is the last target I shot a couple weeks ago. This is at 48.5 yards. That’s as far as I can get shooting from inside the shop to the fence. All 5 shot groups. There are bullet splashes on the target because I’m shooting our indoor steel trap and the lead catcher is full when I shot this. The 1st and 4th row are Norma Tac-22. I bought a bunch of this for the kids to shoot. It shoots very accurate for the price. Lapua Pistol OSP is usually what it likes (2nd row), but on this day the center-x beat it. The middle group of center-x was one of the best groups it has shot but I pulled the 5th one with a premature trigger pull, so I put a 6th shot in the group to make sure I screwed up…I did hah. This is pretty common groups out of this rifle. Some days better, some days worse. I’m to blame for the worse days I would say. It still won’t outshoot my ruger 10/22 rifle build with Kidd barrel and a bunch of other modifications. Overall though, it’s a fun gun to shoot.
