Question about Bergara B14 HMR 300 Win Mag Recoil Lug

[ddjchemist]

I just purchased Bergara B14 HMR in 300 WM and went to my range to test the rifle. The results were dismal. I was getting 3-4 MOA groups with both factory 190gr and my 175gr reloads. At the same time my Tikka 300WM was doing 1/2-0.8 MOAs with the same ammo. I removed the action now and I am noticing that the hole for the recoil lug in the stock is almost twice wider than the recoil lug thickness. Is that normal or is there some spacer that is supposed to be there?

Cheers,

Dan from Seattle

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[tomcat]

I had a HMR 300wm and it too shot 3-4" groups I looked it over called customer support and was told to send it back. I took the stock off my spare Remington 700 and it shot under 1" so I had the factory stock bedded and it shoots 1" factory ammo by the way my rifle hated the hornady Percision hunter ammo it liked the match ammo tho.

 

[ddjchemist]

Now I am convinced I got a lemon. Every piece of brass has about 1/2 inch scratch just below the shoulder, which tells me something is wrong with the chamber. It looks all clean and shinny, but something is scratching the cases. I had few rounds that shot about 8 inches from the target.

I had a HMR 300wm and it too shot 3-4" groups I looked it over called customer support and was told to send it back. I took the stock off my spare Remington 700 and it shot under 1" so I had the factory stock bedded and it shoots 1" factory ammo by the way my rifle hated the hornady Percision hunter ammo it liked the match ammo tho.

I am heading to the range with a series of my 190gr reloads and see how it does. I checked the bedding and there was a lot of paint under, so I cleaned it and tightened the action to 55 in/lb (Bergara specs) and will see how the rifle does. If it still shoots poorly, I will contact Bergara Customer Service, but I do not have much hope with them. I read on their website the way they test accuracy, and pretty much they shoot 3 rounds group until one goes under 1in, and they call it PASS. Even blind chicken once in a while find the corn. I will try to find a gun smith to do a bedding job (recoil lug hole in the stock is 1/8 inch wider than recoil lug thickness), and if that does not work I will go for a custom barrel. Before I purchased this rifle, I was contemplating to have my Tikka 300WM that shoots super accurate customized with new barrel and new new stock (current stock in my Tikka would not be able to fit heavy barrel) and between a new barrel, precision stock and a gunsmith service I calculated about $2K cost. Thus, if I replace the Bergara barrel, between the barrel and gunsmith service I could be around $1K and still have my Tikka in its near-original configuration for hunting.
The scratches on the brass are not caused by the chamber, but by the feeding rump. If I insert an empty resized case into the chamber with bolt removed, the case comes out without any scratches. Thus, these case scratches are not a problem except that my Nosler brass won't last as long is it should.

 

[tomcat]

Now I am convinced I got a lemon. Every piece of brass has about 1/2 inch scratch just below the shoulder, which tells me something is wrong with the chamber. It looks all clean and shinny, but something is scratching the cases. I had few rounds that shot about 8 inches from the target.

I am heading to the range with a series of my 190gr reloads and see how it does. I checked the bedding and there was a lot of paint under, so I cleaned it and tightened the action to 55 in/lb (Bergara specs) and will see how the rifle does. If it still shoots poorly, I will contact Bergara Customer Service, but I do not have much hope with them. I read on their website the way they test accuracy, and pretty much they shoot 3 rounds group until one goes under 1in, and they call it PASS. Even blind chicken once in a while find the corn. I will try to find a gun smith to do a bedding job (recoil lug hole in the stock is 1/8 inch wider than recoil lug thickness), and if that does not work I will go for a custom barrel. Before I purchased this rifle, I was contemplating to have my Tikka 300WM that shoots super accurate customized with new barrel and new new stock (current stock in my Tikka would not be able to fit heavy barrel) and between a new barrel, precision stock and a gunsmith service I calculated about $2K cost. Thus, if I replace the Bergara barrel, between the barrel and gunsmith service I could be around $1K and still have my Tikka in its near-original configuration for hunting.
The scratches on the brass are not caused by the chamber, but by the feeding rump. If I insert an empty resized case into the chamber with bolt removed, the case comes out without any scratches. Thus, these case scratches are not a problem except that my Nosler brass won't last as long is it should.

Had the same problem with mine. Was super unhappy with it but then I have a few friends with them that make my customs look bad at the range.

 

[ddjchemist]

I just came back from the range and was shooting Bergara and Tikka 30-06, both with my reloads. For Bergara I was using 190gr Nosler bullets with H1000 powder and Nosler brass. I made various combinations of bullet seating and powder charge. For Tikka I was using 30-06 reloads composed of Nosler 168gr bullets and 4064 powder and Federal brass. These 30-06 reloads were left over from last week and they were mixed between power loads (47gr ,48gr and 49gr powder charge). After shooting 5 groups with Tikka and 8 groups with Bergara, I can now conclude that the Bergara has an accuracy issue and I have no idea what causes it. The Bergara groups were all over the place from 7-inches groups (worst) to 2.6inches (best). I posted a picture of the target with two best Bergara groups (middle and lower left) and two Tikka's groups (lower right and upper left). Trigger pull in the Tikka is 3lb and in Bergara 2.5lb. Now I need to decide should I sell the rifle for half price I paid and of course disclose this accuracy issue, or have a gun smith first try to do bedding, and if that does not solve the problem to have a new custom barrel (no way I would ever put another Bergara barrel on my rifle if bedding job does not solve the accuracy problem).
Another thing that I a super disappointed with Bergara is how fast their bull barrel overheats (mirage in my scope). One of the reason I wanted a heavy bull barrel rifle is to be able to shoot more rounds before having to coold down the barrel. I have Tikka T3x in 300WM and the rifle is super accurate. However, the barrel is too skinny and I have to cool it down every about 10 rounds in order to keep sub-MOA groups. This Bergara bull barrel heats as fast as Tikka's barrel if not even faster.

 

[tomcat]

look at the crown good.. if it has a brake take it off. And shoot it and make sure scope base and rings are tight I had my scope base get loose after 10 rounds even with blue thread lock on

 

[ddjchemist]

The crown looks fine to me (I took a look with a swab and flash light such that I could see about 1 inch inside). There is no any muzzle brake on the barrel. I shot both with and without muzzle brake tread cover. Scope, ring and rail are all tight. Next two possibilities are or bedding or barrel is just not accurate. I am waiting to hear from Bergara. Considering how fast this heavy bull barrel overheats, at this point I am leaning for barrel replacement if I could find a good gunsmith to do the job within a months or so.

 

[edzz]

Bad scope?

 

[ddjchemist]

No, I am using the same scope and Warne rings on my Tikka T3X with no issues. This is definitely not scope or ring problem.

 

[TTSX]

If you want to wash your hands of it, I'm sure someone would be happy to try their luck fixing it for the right deal. Before you do, maybe try a different stock or shim your current one to fit the recoil lug tighter.

 

[ddjchemist]

I contacted Bergara and they sent me a shipping label and requested to send them the rifle for service. I will do that. I have other rifles that are great shooters and I can wait to see if Bergara will figure out what is wrong. If I have to bet my $$, I would bet on poor bedding (There is so much empty space between recoil lug and its hole in the stock) or on defective barrel (to me it does not seem right that an 300WM heavy bull barrel overheats faster that a skinny 300WM barrel on my other rifle). I will give an update when Bergara checks the rifle, but that will take probably a months or longer. They told me their turn around time is about a months.