Bergara B14 issues / upgrade

[Addicting]

I picked up a Bergara B14 Ridge in 7mm Mag a few months ago and have been trying several loads with varied success. After quite a few rounds of test batches I felt I was chasing my tail. One group it was a tac driver and the next would have a flyer. I thought it was just me pulling a shot until I compared old targets. 4 out 5 three shot groups would always have one low and to the right.

I called Bergara and spoke with them about it and they were very nice. They offered to have me send it back and they would check it with thier Federal Match ammo to see if it met the 1MOA warranty. Knowing the gun really liked lower power rounds, it likely would with that ammo. I took it to my local gun smith to have him look it over first.

We found 2 major things that needed attention. The bedding pillars had a very small contact patch with the action. They were also very shiny from the Mag recoil moving the action around. Next on the right bolt lug was not in locking contact with the receiver. The left lug had been doing all the work.

I opted to have the Gunsmith blueprint it and bed it instead of send it back in. He also wanted to have a cryogenic tempering done. I’m a bit skeptical about that but he has never steered me wrong in the past so I said OK. I sure hope that this gets it shooting consistent. I know I will void the warranty but I want to have confidence in the gun verses getting a ok one back from the manufacture. It will be a few weeks but I will try and post some pics up when it gets done.

 

[TheJason]

Hopefully this fixes it for you. It is really easy to skim bed an action, I've done several and it's not hard to save a couple hundred bucks.

 

[Addicting]

I picked up a Bergara B14 Ridge in 7mm Mag a few months ago and have been trying several loads with varied success. After quite a few rounds of test batches I felt I was chasing my tail. One group it was a tac driver and the next would have a flyer. I thought it was just me pulling a shot until I compared old targets. 4 out 5 three shot groups would always have one low and to the right.

I called Bergara and spoke with them about it and they were very nice. They offered to have me send it back and they would check it with thier Federal Match ammo to see if it met the 1MOA warranty. Knowing the gun really liked lower power rounds, it likely would with that ammo. I took it to my local gun smith to have him look it over first.

We found 2 major things that needed attention. The bedding pillars had a very small contact patch with the action. They were also very shiny from the Mag recoil. Next on the right bolt lug was not in locking contact with the receiver. The left lug had been doing all the work.

I opted to have the Gunsmith blueprint it and bed it instead of send it back in. He also wanted to have a cryogenic tempering done. I’m a bit skeptical about that but he has never steered me wrong in the past so I said OK. I sure hope that this gets it shooting consistent. I know I will void the warranty but I want to have confidence in the gun verses getting a ok one back from the manufacture. It will be a few weeks but I will try and post some pics up when it gets done.

Hopefully this fixes it for you. It is really easy to skim bed an action, I've done several and it's not hard to save a couple hundred bucks.

That is what I was thinking about doing as well but the lug not making contact is past my skill level. He offered to just do it while he had it apart. So for $250, with that amount of machining, it was worth it to just let him do it.

My mind has been wandering lately and I find myself wanting to build a .280 like you got.

 

[TheJason]

Actually, lug contact is as easy as it gets to fix with bedding. When I skim bedded my Remington I took a dremel and removed material anyway.

 

[Addicting]

Actually, lug contact is as easy as it gets to fix with bedding. When I skim bedded my Remington I took a dremel and removed material anyway.

The lugs I am talking about are on the end of the Bolt. Don’t think we are on the same page.

 

[TheJason]

The lugs I am talking about are on the end of the Bolt. Don’t think we are on the same page.

No, we sure weren't. I thought you were talking about the recoil lug. Reading comprehension issues. Yeah, that's outside my pay grade as well.

 

[cur dog]

Yikes! I just ordered that exact same rifle yesterday. Its supposed to be in on Wed. Hopefully mine is more trouble free. Keep us posted.

 

[Addicting]

Yikes! I just ordered that exact same rifle yesterday. Its supposed to be in on Wed. Hopefully mine is more trouble free. Keep us posted.

You will like the way it feels in your hands. For a $750 gun it is a good starting platform. Even with the extra money I’m spending it is still well under what it would of cost me to build a comparable Rem 700.

 

[Addicting]

Here is a photo of the bedding pillars from the factory. Notice how it’s flat and the contact patch. Mine had a contact patch about half the width of this. Skim bedding it as JLS said would of taken care of the movement I had, but that will void the warranty.

 

[cur dog]

I've become a fan of heavier barrels. They generally seem more stable and easier to shoot.
How is the trigger on your rifle? I hear they are pretty good, but notice they use Timneys on their custom guns.

 

[Addicting]

It’s really good. It’s not a Timney or Jewel but it’s not at that price point. It’s good enough I have no plans on replacing it. I adjusted it as light as I could to 2.8lbs and it is relatively crisp.

 

[cahunter805]

A skim bed and fixing the bolt lugs should definitely help with accuracy.
Just curious what was his reasoning for the cryo treatment? I’d opt to skip that IMO.

 

[PsRpOiGrRiAtM]

The cryo treatment would be the cherry on top. You should be squared away with the skim bed and the blueprinting of the action. It all boils down to whether you want Bergara to do the work for you, or spend your money on a gunsmith to do the work. That goes with any manufacturer--it might be a longer runaround with the manufacturer, but ultimately cheaper for you, or you can take it to a 'smith that you trust, spend a couple hundred, and know that you're squared away as soon as you leave his shop with the gun.

Edited to add: I bought a Ridge in 6.5 Manbun/Needmore and it shot great with the factory stock. It shot great in the factory stock, but the only problem was that I didn't like the factory stock and actually bought it to put in a Grayboe stock I had laying around, and it didn't shoot well in it. It needed a bedding job, but once there was solid contact in the stock, it went back to shooting well within Bergara's guarantee.

 

[Addicting]

I opted into a local Smith that I trust. He built me a .450 Bushmaster on a Rem 700 action that is just down right tac driving deadly. It was worth it to me to pay and be done verses have Bergara do the minimum to get it within the guarantee MOA.

 

[cur dog]

I picked my Ridge 7MM Rem mag. a few days ago. I mounted a new VX3i 4.5-14x40 on it. I wont have a chance to shoot it for a few more days. Hopefully, I make out better than you did.

 

[Addicting]

Well an update on the rifle. I picked it back up today but didn’t get the chance to talk with the smith. I see he recut the muzzle crown and the lugs are in full contact. He also bedded the recoil lug and it turned out pretty good. It feels a lot stiffer in the stock now.

I am going to take it out to the range tomorrow and see what she does. Keep you posted.

 

[Addicting]

Here is the best group of the day. There is actually 4 shots here. The 4th is me moving the scope 1 click. So it shoots much better, no flyers today.

 

[cahunter805]

Looks good. Did you end up cryo the barrel??

 

[Addicting]

Yes, not sure if it was worth it or not but it sure shoots better than the guy using it.

 

[TheJason]

Too bad you couldn't have done one item at a time to see what modification had the most impact on accuracy. Looks like it shoots.