Opinions on the Bergara B-14 HMR?

[Rubber_Duck]

I'm looking at getting into long-range shooting and am considering a Bergara B-14 HMR in 6.5 Creedmoor. I've checked one out in person (but in .308) and I really like the HMR stock and the overall quality feel of the Bergara. I don't hear them mentioned often so I'm wondering what peoples' experiences are with these Spanish made rifles. The Bergara seems like a great turn-key option for getting into LR shooting.

 

[LoonWulf]

I have a B-14 timber and really like it. I know some of the guys on here have gotten the hmr, so hopefully they will come along and chime in.

 

[Tad_T]

I’m picking up a Bergara B-14 HMR in 6.5 Creedmoor off of layaway Friday.

I did quite a bit of research and came to the same conclusion that you did. My youngest daughter (15) wants to get into long range shooting and I figured that the HMR was probably going to be about the most affordable starter rig for us to learn with.

I’ll have to get back to you on whether or not I was right.

 

[Rubber_Duck]

I’m picking up a Bergara B-14 HMR in 6.5 Creedmoor off of layaway Friday.

I did quite a bit of research and came to the same conclusion that you did. My youngest daughter (15) wants to get into long range shooting and I figured that the HMR was probably going to be about the most affordable starter rig for us to learn with.

I’ll have to get back to you on whether or not I was right.

I think you will end up being right.

 

[OldBrownDog]

Interested as well....going to follow this thread closely.

 

[Tad_T]

I was off work Friday and my daughter was out of school because of Parent Teacher Conferences.

We went and picked up the HMR off of layaway. I took the scope, mount, and rail with me and had them mount and boresight it for us.

The scope is a Nikon Black X1000 6-24x50 with the MRAD reticle. The mount is the Nikon Black 30mm Medium Precision Mount. The rail is a Leupold 20 MOA. The HMR takes the same rail as the Remington 700.



I bought three boxes of American Eagle 6.5 Creedmoor 140 grain Open Tip Match. I got that because it was the only match ammo that they had. There was a lot of empty space on the 6.5 Creedmoor shelf.

It looked like it was going to rain but we headed out to the desert to shoot it anyway. It was overcast with a slight wind ~5 mph into our faces. We set up to sight it in. Fired a group at 25 yards just to check the boresight. It was on the paper. Made a minor adjustment and moved out to 100 yards.

The group in the center was my daughter’s 5 round group. She said that she knew it wasn’t the rifle and that it was her. She wasn’t happy with herself and and asked me to shoot it. The group in upper left was my 5 round group.

Adjusted it and then I have no idea why I fired the third round in my confirmation group at the lower dot. While we were doing this we were going through the breakin procedure out of the manual. Maybe that’s why I got lost or maybe I was just being an idiot.



After that it looked like the weather was really fixing to set in. We had already set up a gong at 200 yards. I told my daughter to go ahead and whack it. She put 5 on the gong and had a really big smile on her face. That was cool. We gathered everything up and got back in the truck about the time the bottom fell out.

We only got to fire a a little over a box of ammo out of it but my initial impression of the HMR is very favorable. We’ll have to get back out and give it another go.

 

[Robert25Ga]

I was thinking of getting one to in 308 or 6.5 I wanna get in to long range shooting myself it would be my first rifle ever in bolt action how do you like so far?

 

[Damon555]

I handled one a few weeks ago at my LGS....I was impressed with everything but the stock material....I liked how the stock fit me and the contour felt good but the feel of cheap plastic came to mind.....The trigger was very nice right out of the box and the action was surprisingly smooth. I could see owning one....It seems that they took Remington's basic design and improved on it quite a bit in subtle ways....

 

[LoonWulf]

I handled one a few weeks ago at my LGS....I was impressed with everything but the stock material....I liked how the stock fit me and the contour felt good but the feel of cheap plastic came to mind.....The trigger was very nice right out of the box and the action was surprisingly smooth. I could see owning one....It seems that they took Remington's basic design and improved on it quite a bit in subtle ways....

The action share a common foot print with the 700.
Its basically a 700 copy but with a coned bolt head, savage lug based extractor, and bolt release on the rear left of the action. All improvments in my opinion.
The trigger is also a simpler design. On my b14 hunter the inly adjustment present was pull weight.
BUT the holes for the other adjustment screws are drilled most of the way thru and tapped. All you need to do is take apart the trigger mech and carefully finish drilling the holes. I ran a 4-40 tap thru to complete the job and i had all the regular adjustments for a 700 style trigger.

The HMRs stock is injection molded like most other factory stocks, but has a bedding block molded in. This lets the gun be priced significantly cheaper than a comparable model of 700 or other design.

 

[DannyLandrum]

The milling of the receiver & parts is outstanding, looks like.

http://bergarausa.com/bergara_b-14_series_hmr_hunting_and_match_rifle.php

 

[someguy2800]

Looks nice. Why did they have call it the HMR? Did someone not realize that acronym is taken?

 

[Legionnaire]

HMR. Hazardous Material Regulation ... i.e., "regulating" the delivery of small packages of lead ...



I do not need another rifle. With a couple of 260 Remingtons to hand, I certainly don't need a 6.5 Creedmoor. But if I were in the market for another intermediate cartridge bolt action rifle, this one would be at or near the top of the list; looks to me like Bergara got it right with this one.

Thanks for the range report, and I look forward to hearing more!

 

[Crunchy Frog]

Good reviews of Bergara rifles on Twang n’ Bang’s YouTube channel.

 

[Tad_T]

I got out yesterday in the desert and got a chance to shoot my Bergara B-14 HMR (Hunting and Match Rifle) again. It was 43 degrees, barometric pressure was 30.32”,wind was variable out of the SSE between 6 to 12 mph and averaging 8.3 mph according to my Kestrel.

I first setup some targets. I setup a target stand with a paper target at 50 yards. I setup a 10” gong at 200 yards. I have some 10” x 10” square AR500 1/4” steel targets. The squares have a hole drilled in one corner. I picked up some Champion shepherd hook target hangers at Cabela’s. When you hang the square targets on the hooks they present as diamonds. I hung the square/diamond targets at 300, 400, and 500 yards.

I walked out to set the targets and lased back to my truck with my Bushnell CONX to confirm the ranges.



My muzzle brake and MGM Switchview Eagle Eye Lever had come in and I had mounted them on the HMR. I had also acquired 100 rounds of Hornady American Gunner 140 grain BTHP.

I measured the distance between the central axis of the bore and the central axis of the scope. With my setup it came out to be 2.0955”. I plugged 2.10” into the Nikon Spot On app, it will only go two decimal places, selected my Black X1000 6-24x50 IL X-MRAD and the Hornady American Gunner.

I selected a 50 yard target with a 300 yard zero. The app said that I needed to be 1.72” high at 50 yards to be on at 300 yards. I set up a 50 yard target and adjusted the strike of my rounds. I had a cloverleaf that 1.72” was pretty close to the middle of.

The targets were setup so that I was firing to the South. That gave me the wind from the about 10:30.

I fired at the 300 yard target and hit it with the first round a couple inches to the right of center. I held a little to the left and hit it dead center with the next two rounds.

On the 400 yard target I held up almost a mil since the Spot On app said that I would need a 0.85mil adjustment. I saw the strike of my first round to the right and behind the target. I continued to hold up and I also held to the left edge of the target and hit it with the next four rounds.

I tried holding up and left on the 500 yard target. I had a hard time with that and just barely missed all around the target with three rounds. At that range it’s a 2 MOA target. I looked at the Spot On Ballistic Chart and it called for a 1.8 mil up adjustment for 500 yards. It called for 17.3 inches of drift for a 10 mph wind at 500 yards.

I put on 18 clicks up and pushed 8 clicks left. I fired three rounds at the target with that setting.


I have some more learning and practicing to do but I’m pretty happy with those hits at 500 yards in a variable wind.

I think that my HMR is capable of better performance than I am at this point.

 

[Skylerbone]

wants to get into long range shooting and I figured that the HMR was probably going to be about the most affordable

I'm calling you out right there for using the word affordable and long range shooting in the same sentence!

Looks to be a really nice set-up without the outlandish price tag normally associated and good on you for taking your daughter shooting. Fingers crossed that ammo costs don't spike too severely from all the fun that rifle brings.

 

[Legionnaire]

I'm still looking at this rifle. I contacted Bergara to see if they had a 6mm Creedmoor in the works, and they said "No plans at this time." Guess I'll keep shooting my Remingtons in .243 until the accuracy degrades, then rebarrel in 6mm CM ... or maybe by then Bergara will have recognized the growing interest in the cartridge. Their high-end customs are available in the cartridge, but I don't want to spend that kind of coin at this point.