2 Crow
Member
There was a time (a lifetime ago) that I would spend entire days out at the range getting to know a new rifle. I would leave the house before the sun came up. I’d have my breakfast and lunch packed, a thermos of coffee, and a cooler of waters. I’d take along 100 rounds of ammo, and a garage full of cleaning gear. From sun to sun, I would shoot and clean, clean and shoot, taking breaks from time to time to have a bite and just enjoy the day. I never did get to a point where I was going to be invited to any national level competitions or asked to pose for the cover of Shooting Times or any such thing, but I enjoyed the process.
Then..... life happened. I got out of the shooting routine. I let the ember of my passion cool..... until recently. Several stars have lined up and suddenly I find that Amore still burns within me!!
Between my kids ALL now wanting to start shooting rifles and a trip to Missouri to visit and shoot with a life long friend, I find myself back in the rifle game. I took stock of my inventory of long guns and realized, I had some big gaps in the the ol’ golf bag. I went from a beautiful .22-250 then skipped to magnum calibers. I took my .257 Weatherby Mag out to knock the dust off of it, and although the Roy isn’t brutal by any means, it definitely let me (and my injured back) know I had been shooting it that day. It just wasn’t enjoyable after the third round. I wanted something that I could do some hunting with but still take to the range for a day of reaching out and touching some targets a ways off.
I realize at my age and diminished abilities, I’m not going to be dropping down into Hells Canyon after elk or climbing the high peaks looking for big horn sheep, so the weight of the rifle was not terribly significant. In fact, a little more weight might help out. As for caliber, I wanted something that was capable of cleanly bringing down mule/ whitetail sized game, with the occasional coyote of opportunity thrown in and a caliber that wouldn’t beat the snot out of me any more than necessary. I had recently set my daughter up with a youth sized Weatherby Vanguard ( she is an adult but of tiny size) in 6.5 Creedmoor. I have been ready about the accuracy of the round and was very surprised at how little felt recall there was when shooting it in the little rifle. Caliber selected. Now, what platform?
Research..... lots of reading and YouTube videos later and I narrowed it down. My first inclination was the Ruger American Predator. I mean, for the price, can you go wrong? Right out of the box, throw a scope on it, BAM!! 1,000 yard shooter..... but I know me. After seeing how flexible the stocks are on the Predator, the Franklins started adding up in my mind for all of the things I would want to do the the Predator before I even shot it. Then I came across the Bergara B-14 Ridge. Not Bergara’s top of the line rifle by any means, but a rig that I could afford (after liquidating a few items ) and not have to automatically start looking for a new stock etc.
I picked up a Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44 scope, mounted it in some Weaver 30mm low rings on a Weaver 20MOA base and headed to the range. I loaded the Barnes 127grn LRX over Superformance and H4350 powders and ended up with some good starting points for a hunting load.
The Bergara (I shall call him Noriega to honor his Basque origins and my favorite Basque restaurant that just closed due to Da Rona economy) is such a well behaved rifle. Easy shooting and great tigger right out of the box. The scope was clear and easy to use. It was a great day and helped me find the joy of shooting all over again. Time to tweak on these loads some more, then get back to the range!!
