Was going to say the same thing, even though has aluminum pillars I also bedded my action and my hmr 6.5 prc is a solid 3/4" gun with 140gr Sierra Gamekings
Same problem with my hmr 6.5 cm cleaned up the bedding blocks and bedded just the recoil lug... Totally fixed, now shoots 3/8-5/8 5 shot groups. The recoil lug was only making partial contact based on the thickness of the bedding. Used marine Tex grey to bed it
Looks like it helped Rob , while I don’t own a PRC , I have read that they are bit more finicky than the 6.5 cm , also if u just cleaned the barrel it will take about 50 rounds before it gets really good again.
I just had to do this to my new Bergara Wilderness Terrain in 300 win. It shot horrible groups. Did this today and it shot so much better!! Same loads, same weather same elevation etc.. We actually found some of the aluminum bedding locations we're lower in the stock than the plastic. Causing the gunt to bedded on paint and plastic instead of aluminum.
I have the same gun in 300 prc. I went ahead and epoxy bedded it with jb weld original before even shooting it. Every gun i own tightened group size immensely. Cut in half or more. With a proper bedding job and then torqued down there is no question the gun is seated solid and will not move
With further testing, I believe the primary issue was actually barrel cleaning. I have started to keep this rifle nearly clean all the time and accuracy has shown significant improvements.
Ahh. Ill be running n160 in mine. Now they have a huge claim at to have anti copper fowling cleaners in the powder. Maybe the N560 with a bore snake or dry patch every 50-100. Most claim over cleaning is worse as a clean barrel noticeably changes POI “walking upward” while building up carbon and slightly increasing pressure and speed until it finds its balance. Now how the cleaning agent might change that effect… no clue tbh. I can also say i use the limbsaver xring harmonic dampener. Helps out. Also loading .050” from the lands was how the eldms did best. And as said the epoxy bedding is key. All in all, the main thing is taking the time to try one thing and see noticeable results as i can see you know. Knowing your improvement is key to your end success and i enjoy it the most. All of us start somewhere. I just got into it seriously a few years back and LOVE researching and improving. Video logs like yours aid in my end success as i reference different tactics and techniques. Thanks again
I've heard of people cleaning and then shimming those bedding blocks with plastic from milk jugs. They cut pieces off the jug the same size as the bedding block and drill a hole in it. Those jugs are usually around 0.5mm and give just enough clearance from the barrel to the stock. That being said, if I'm spending $1000+ on a gun, and I have to shim it with milk jug plastic, that gun goes back.
It's not uncommon to have your gun professionally bedded.. if you want ultimate accuracy.. it is no different than making custom hand loads for shooting... 🤷
After calling Bergara Customer service they said they are aware but they don't think it matters. I explained mine had plastic above the aluminum so the action was resting on plastic not aluminum, he said "so that is fine"! WTF is the point in making an aluminum mini chasis if you put plastic in the way of it!! I was disgusted by their customer service when I called. He said I could send it in and they would check it out. I said I did your job for you and was hoping you would address it so others do not waist their time or valuable ammo!! If Bergara makes no attempt to remedy thus I will sale my rifle and never buy another Bergara. Out of the box it was the worst grouping gun I have ever owned!!
It wasn't until I got into AR15's that I started messing with guns like lapping receivers and bedding barrels then I started messing with a couple Howa rifles and barreled actions. It's always interested me to see what very minor changes can do to accuracy but I would've never thought a little bit of flaking paint would've made much of a difference. Which it didn't make a huge difference but there was definitely an improvement. I wonder if maybe environmentals had anything to do with the groups tightening up or just a better day shooting day at the range this time?? The gun nerd in me can't wait to see what happens next time... Great video as always keepem coming brother!!!
Yes, as a continue shooting this rifle I think we will have a more concrete answer as to if it helped or not. At this point in time it seems it has but more rounds are needed to say for sure.
That's great, im glad to see it's shooting better. From my experience with a case that big and SD's that high I'd be leery if that was actually a fix though. You may just be seeing how inconsistent the load is, especially since it shot single digit SD's before. I'm sure you've seen those tiny groups with big SD's that don't shoot very good the next time you shoot them. Sorry, I don't mean to be a Debby downer or naysayer. That stock may just need a bedding job. If the pillars are below the paint now you may have exasperated the situation. Any stress introduced into the receiver is going to make it shoot inconsistent.
If it continues to be erradic I'll probably throw it into a chassis like my other rifles. Ergonomics on my other rifles make them easier to shoot well anyways. Time will tell if this helped or not.
Try Retumbo, H-1000 or other slow burners in various charges, then select the lowest SD then begin changing seating depth. May want to start with .0030 off lands then move in .0005 increments looking for rifle’s preference. Have to look for lowest SD before you worry about group size.
I remember watching a erik cortina video and him saying he doesn't care about groups when searching for powder charge. He then went on to saying if sd and es are good and groups are leave the power charge alone and adjust seating. You reminded me of that video lol
I just watched the other video's with N560 and the 140 eldm's. I'm guessing it's the hornady brass causing the sticky bolt lift and stuff. I've had the same issues with hornady brass in a 28 nosler, I switched to nosler brass and I was able to get to the higher velocities with no issue.
Good vid thanks, I was upset because I can only get 2" groups at 200 yards with my B14 wilderness in .308. Looks like its shooting ok with bluebox 180's?
@@yamahapeanut44 Yes I agree, after my post I tried again and it was 2" - 4"@100 yds with 8 brands/grains of ammo and 3 diff scopes. I sent it in for warranty and just got it back, 6 months later and I had to pay for shipping both ways. So I'm out gas/time/ammo for at least 6 range trips, multiple headaches, and $200 for shipping lol I know ppl who have Bergaras that shoot well. Guess I am part of their QA dept at my expanse. Not impressed.
I used paint remover applied with a cotton bud rather than sanding so no aluminium or plastic was lost and thoroughly cleaned the stock with soapy water immediately afterward.
My Bergara Hunter in 7mm-08 didn't group well at all with factory 140 grain ammo. My favorite hunting load that I shot in my Tikka was Federal Vitol Shok Ballistic Tips. The Bergara didn't do well at all with that.
Clean up the end of your barrel/ thread protector make sure it’s tight . Clean the crown up very clean, that’s another thing that seemed to help me it seems to cloud up with powder pretty fast .
I had their Premier Approach, had 25% fail to fire with reloads, long story, but I tried everything, ended up getting rid of it. Will not buy another Bergara til they redo their bolts. And even then, a generation or so after that.
Update, I am going to re-crown and bed the stock to try to get my B14 to shoot without random 4" flyers at 100m, sigh. My previous comment on 2" groups at 200m has not been repeatable. I think I got cocky and jinxed myself lol
I have a B-14 HMR in 308. It didn't shoot. I cleaned the overspray off and it made zero difference. It's averaging about 1.1-1.3 MOA for 5-shot groups with premium factory ammo. I'll definitely never buy another Bergara product.
@@RobsReloading Interesting. I've played around with that too. Nothing seems to help, I'm pretty sure it's the barrel but it simply doesn't make monetary sense to change it.
@@michaelhill6451 I had to use iosso abrasive to clean the barrel to get it to shoot. As long as it stays clean it shoots around 3/4 moa. It's too bad because I really like the way the action runs.
I have the same rifle in 6.5 creedmoor and it is a total dog. Even running handloads with single digit SD’s and trying different bullets and playing around with seating depths, I’ve never been satisfied. I removed the paint on the stock pillars as you did and found that it made no discernible difference. I have the delima of rebarreling it and hoping for the best, or cutting my losses and developing a new rifle
Mine had some issues too. I cleaned up the chassis, changed out the trigger, torqued everything down to spec and that tightened everything up really well. I still wasn't happy, so I bedded the recoil lug, and boy, did that change things.
your problem with bergara b14 you not using the pro which has full internal bedding, go buy a 700 magpul I have two and my 700 308 varmint at 2,500 fps shoot half inch groups. bergara world class barrels bull shit what you have now is pillar bedding. I bought a b14 308 and it would not shoot and the match chamber was a pain in the ass to reload for. Barrels it is all about stress relief and a good solid bedding it is all about harmonics. I read about a bad barrel pitted with good copper coating shot light out.
Bergara needs to fix this crap! I have the same rifle and it shoots like shit and it's the heaviest rifle I own. These are not tough issues to fix at the factory, and if you're going to portray yourselves as super accurate manufacturers you better get it right. Also, why does Bergara use match ammo to test the rifle? Because it shoots like shit with anything else? Probably!
Why is such a modern precision rifle made worthless by such a ridiculous discrepancy? My bergara shoots 3MOA at 100yards. Meanwhile my dads 3006 from the 70s which costs $500 shot 1moa
My HMR pro in 6.5 prc did the same. Removed material and glass bed the stock that tightened up the groups
Was going to say the same thing, even though has aluminum pillars I also bedded my action and my hmr 6.5 prc is a solid 3/4" gun with 140gr Sierra Gamekings
Same problem with my hmr 6.5 cm cleaned up the bedding blocks and bedded just the recoil lug... Totally fixed, now shoots 3/8-5/8 5 shot groups. The recoil lug was only making partial contact based on the thickness of the bedding. Used marine Tex grey to bed it
Looks better from here. Good analysis.
Looks like it helped Rob , while I don’t own a PRC , I have read that they are bit more finicky than the 6.5 cm , also if u just cleaned the barrel it will take about 50 rounds before it gets really good again.
I just had to do this to my new Bergara Wilderness Terrain in 300 win.
It shot horrible groups. Did this today and it shot so much better!! Same loads, same weather same elevation etc..
We actually found some of the aluminum bedding locations we're lower in the stock than the plastic. Causing the gunt to bedded on paint and plastic instead of aluminum.
I have two. HMR 308 and a 7 rem ridge. Both shoot great.
I have the same gun in 300 prc. I went ahead and epoxy bedded it with jb weld original before even shooting it. Every gun i own tightened group size immensely. Cut in half or more. With a proper bedding job and then torqued down there is no question the gun is seated solid and will not move
With further testing, I believe the primary issue was actually barrel cleaning. I have started to keep this rifle nearly clean all the time and accuracy has shown significant improvements.
Ahh. Ill be running n160 in mine. Now they have a huge claim at to have anti copper fowling cleaners in the powder. Maybe the N560 with a bore snake or dry patch every 50-100. Most claim over cleaning is worse as a clean barrel noticeably changes POI “walking upward” while building up carbon and slightly increasing pressure and speed until it finds its balance. Now how the cleaning agent might change that effect… no clue tbh. I can also say i use the limbsaver xring harmonic dampener. Helps out. Also loading .050” from the lands was how the eldms did best. And as said the epoxy bedding is key. All in all, the main thing is taking the time to try one thing and see noticeable results as i can see you know. Knowing your improvement is key to your end success and i enjoy it the most. All of us start somewhere. I just got into it seriously a few years back and LOVE researching and improving. Video logs like yours aid in my end success as i reference different tactics and techniques. Thanks again
I've heard of people cleaning and then shimming those bedding blocks with plastic from milk jugs. They cut pieces off the jug the same size as the bedding block and drill a hole in it. Those jugs are usually around 0.5mm and give just enough clearance from the barrel to the stock.
That being said, if I'm spending $1000+ on a gun, and I have to shim it with milk jug plastic, that gun goes back.
It's not uncommon to have your gun professionally bedded.. if you want ultimate accuracy.. it is no different than making custom hand loads for shooting... 🤷
This is very troubling to see because I've got the same rifle but in 6.5 CM and it is a tack driver. I hope you are able to fix the issue.
Same. The day I got mine I put 10 in an inch back to back with factory ammo. My .308 cant do 10 without opening up a bit but its still a sub MOA gun
My is great, no problems, very accurate
After calling Bergara Customer service they said they are aware but they don't think it matters. I explained mine had plastic above the aluminum so the action was resting on plastic not aluminum, he said "so that is fine"! WTF is the point in making an aluminum mini chasis if you put plastic in the way of it!! I was disgusted by their customer service when I called. He said I could send it in and they would check it out. I said I did your job for you and was hoping you would address it so others do not waist their time or valuable ammo!! If Bergara makes no attempt to remedy thus I will sale my rifle and never buy another Bergara. Out of the box it was the worst grouping gun I have ever owned!!
Same boat. Pitiful
It wasn't until I got into AR15's that I started messing with guns like lapping receivers and bedding barrels then I started messing with a couple Howa rifles and barreled actions. It's always interested me to see what very minor changes can do to accuracy but I would've never thought a little bit of flaking paint would've made much of a difference. Which it didn't make a huge difference but there was definitely an improvement. I wonder if maybe environmentals had anything to do with the groups tightening up or just a better day shooting day at the range this time?? The gun nerd in me can't wait to see what happens next time... Great video as always keepem coming brother!!!
Yes, as a continue shooting this rifle I think we will have a more concrete answer as to if it helped or not. At this point in time it seems it has but more rounds are needed to say for sure.
Both of mine are sub MOA out of the box with factory Hornady ammo. 6.5 Cm and .308
What factory ammo do you recommend for the 308?
That's great, im glad to see it's shooting better.
From my experience with a case that big and SD's that high I'd be leery if that was actually a fix though. You may just be seeing how inconsistent the load is, especially since it shot single digit SD's before. I'm sure you've seen those tiny groups with big SD's that don't shoot very good the next time you shoot them. Sorry, I don't mean to be a Debby downer or naysayer.
That stock may just need a bedding job. If the pillars are below the paint now you may have exasperated the situation. Any stress introduced into the receiver is going to make it shoot inconsistent.
If it continues to be erradic I'll probably throw it into a chassis like my other rifles. Ergonomics on my other rifles make them easier to shoot well anyways. Time will tell if this helped or not.
Try Retumbo, H-1000 or other slow burners in various charges, then select the lowest SD then begin changing seating depth. May want to start with .0030 off lands then move in .0005 increments looking for rifle’s preference. Have to look for lowest SD before you worry about group size.
I remember watching a erik cortina video and him saying he doesn't care about groups when searching for powder charge. He then went on to saying if sd and es are good and groups are leave the power charge alone and adjust seating. You reminded me of that video lol
How about where the recoil lug rests?
I just watched the other video's with N560 and the 140 eldm's. I'm guessing it's the hornady brass causing the sticky bolt lift and stuff. I've had the same issues with hornady brass in a 28 nosler, I switched to nosler brass and I was able to get to the higher velocities with no issue.
Good vid thanks, I was upset because I can only get 2" groups at 200 yards with my B14 wilderness in .308. Looks like its shooting ok with bluebox 180's?
These rifles are pitiful
@@yamahapeanut44 Yes I agree, after my post I tried again and it was 2" - 4"@100 yds with 8 brands/grains of ammo and 3 diff scopes. I sent it in for warranty and just got it back, 6 months later and I had to pay for shipping both ways. So I'm out gas/time/ammo for at least 6 range trips, multiple headaches, and $200 for shipping lol I know ppl who have Bergaras that shoot well. Guess I am part of their QA dept at my expanse. Not impressed.
@@dukevonflankenheimer9430 mine was awful. We are not alone in our opinions here.
Have you tried skim bedding it?
I have the bergara hmr pro 6.5 prc. I've only shot hornady 147 grain factory ammo but it groups sub moa.
Clean up the area where the action screws enter the bottom of the stock also.
I used paint remover applied with a cotton bud rather than sanding so no aluminium or plastic was lost and thoroughly cleaned the stock with soapy water immediately afterward.
How did it shoot after that ?
@@5.56NTOdefinitely tighter groups.
@@saxdearing3395 just done that to mine, excited to see the results this weekend
@@5.56NTO Good on you. I've now bedded mine and that also shrunk the groups a bit more.
My Bergara Hunter in 7mm-08 didn't group well at all with factory 140 grain ammo. My favorite hunting load that I shot in my Tikka was Federal Vitol Shok Ballistic Tips. The Bergara didn't do well at all with that.
Clean up the end of your barrel/ thread protector make sure it’s tight . Clean the crown up very clean, that’s another thing that seemed to help me it seems to cloud up with powder pretty fast .
Are these problems in bergara mountain crest as well?
I have no experience with that rifle but if it has a traditional stock I would assume so
@@RobsReloading just checked, it wasnt. The stock on crest is carbon fiber, so I guess they are different
morning Robert
I had their Premier Approach, had 25% fail to fire with reloads, long story, but I tried everything, ended up getting rid of it. Will not buy another Bergara til they redo their bolts. And even then, a generation or so after that.
I have a 6.5 prc Begara. Bed your barrel lug.
She starting to come around try h1000 if u can get it
I missed out on some h1k on hodgon this week.
@@RobsReloading hope u can find some at a good price rob it's 38.00 a pound here in Marietta ohio
@@waynemayle865 I'd gladly pay 38$ per pound for some. I think hodgon wanted like 49$ per pound
@@RobsReloading wow that's high
@@waynemayle865 it sold out in minutes
Update, I am going to re-crown and bed the stock to try to get my B14 to shoot without random 4" flyers at 100m, sigh. My previous comment on 2" groups at 200m has not been repeatable. I think I got cocky and jinxed myself lol
Any progress?. I have the same issue.
I have a B-14 HMR in 308. It didn't shoot. I cleaned the overspray off and it made zero difference. It's averaging about 1.1-1.3 MOA for 5-shot groups with premium factory ammo. I'll definitely never buy another Bergara product.
Mine turns out only shoot well when the barrel is clean.
@@RobsReloading Interesting. I've played around with that too. Nothing seems to help, I'm pretty sure it's the barrel but it simply doesn't make monetary sense to change it.
@@michaelhill6451 I had to use iosso abrasive to clean the barrel to get it to shoot. As long as it stays clean it shoots around 3/4 moa. It's too bad because I really like the way the action runs.
@@RobsReloading I have JB Bore paste. I'll probably give that a try.
@@RobsReloading FYI, I tried thoroughly cleaning the barrel and it seems my Bergara actually shot worse.
I have the same rifle in 6.5 creedmoor and it is a total dog. Even running handloads with single digit SD’s and trying different bullets and playing around with seating depths, I’ve never been satisfied. I removed the paint on the stock pillars as you did and found that it made no discernible difference. I have the delima of rebarreling it and hoping for the best, or cutting my losses and developing a new rifle
Mine had some issues too. I cleaned up the chassis, changed out the trigger, torqued everything down to spec and that tightened everything up really well. I still wasn't happy, so I bedded the recoil lug, and boy, did that change things.
ill never buy a bergara again, mines been a frustrating pos
your problem with bergara b14 you not using the pro which has full internal bedding, go buy a 700 magpul I have two and my 700 308 varmint at 2,500 fps shoot half inch groups. bergara world class barrels bull shit what you have now is pillar bedding. I bought a
b14 308 and it would not shoot and the match chamber was a pain in the ass to reload for. Barrels it is all about stress relief and a
good solid bedding it is all about harmonics. I read about a bad barrel pitted with good copper coating shot light out.
If you multiply that by 500 yards you're a foot off target.
Bergara needs to fix this crap! I have the same rifle and it shoots like shit and it's the heaviest rifle I own. These are not tough issues to fix at the factory, and if you're going to portray yourselves as super accurate manufacturers you better get it right. Also, why does Bergara use match ammo to test the rifle? Because it shoots like shit with anything else? Probably!
Why is such a modern precision rifle made worthless by such a ridiculous discrepancy? My bergara shoots 3MOA at 100yards. Meanwhile my dads 3006 from the 70s which costs $500 shot 1moa
None of those groups are good. You need to try different loads and bullets.
It’s trash. I wish more companies would go with barreled actions over putting them in shitty stocks.
Worst groups I have ever seen...I think it's the bullets