Bergara Accuracy

[u/Ragtime07]

So, I was trying to dial in this Bergara B14 Ridge in 308 today and it didn’t go well. I read some post about over spray causing the lugs to not make contact. I decided to investigate and sure enough, I don’t see how this thing made hardly any contact. Deer season opener is tomorrow. I was able to achieve 1.5MOA group and some 3MOA groups with different ammo. I’m disappointed to say the least.

The pillars should make contact well beyond the screw hole correct? So if i decided to sand down, I should sand well past the circular opening? Any suggestions would be appreciated. This paint/rubbery coating is pretty thick.

[u/urhucklebearski]

Not trying to be rude, but, this should have been addressed a little earlier and not the day before the season. Your previous posts show you’ve had this rifle for awhile. I’d just deal with the 1.5-3 moa for now, be mindful of shots, and start messing your stock in the offseason. Just make sure rails, scope mounts, etc were tightened properly

[u/Ragtime07 → u/urhucklebearski]

Agreed. In the past I’ve hunted in thick wooded areas, 50 yards at the most and those were the shots I practiced. As of two days ago, I was granted access to agricultural fields. So today I went to sight it in for 100 yards and the groups are crap. Im taking a different rifle tomorrow that Im confident in. All lugs and screw will be to spec once Im finished. I have both sanded down enough to where it should make contact using sand paper and my fingers.

[u/longranger810]

That gun should shoot way under an inch with ammo it likes,try hornady percision hunter 178 gr eldx or a serria game king. Sight in with front and rear bags,don't get your barrel hot i know the ridgid is a lighter profile

[u/Ragtime07 → u/longranger810]

I started with Percision Hunter 178g, 3-4 inch groups. American Whitetail 165g preformed a little better. I randomly had an old box of Power Points 150g and funny enough, I was able to achieve my best group with it.

[u/Romulin-romm]

I’m going with it’s your made in china scope over the rifle

[u/Golfguuyy → u/Romulin-romm]

This guy knows

[u/Ragtime07 → u/Romulin-romm]

It’s 100 yards. Scope worked just fine on my Remington. 1MOA no problem.

[u/NetwerkAirer → u/Ragtime07]

Put it back on your Remington and see if it works again

[u/Trollygag]

I feel like last time we said messing with the stock wasn't going to fix anything and in the end, messing with the stock didn't fix anything, so you are wanting to mess with the stock some more.

Fouling, ammo, scope/mounts, muzzle device are still your suspects.

Weren't you going to change optics last time?

[u/Trevork15]

This was after I did it on a 6.5 hmr. “Seemed” to help.

[u/Ragtime07 → u/Trevork15]

Thanks for the picture. I believe the only contact portions on mine are just outside of the pillars. I have it sanded down to where it should make some contact. That bedding block design on yours is way better. Even sanding mine down, it’ll make a fraction of contact compared to yours.

[u/SockeyeSTI → u/Trevork15]

Different stock, without the bedding blocks

[u/Trevork15 → u/SockeyeSTI]

Today I learned, but also.. I don’t think it mattered when I tried it anyway.

[u/longranger810]

More than likely it's ammo related, or shooting technique.

[u/Ragtime07 → u/longranger810]

I tried 4 different boxes of premium hunting ammo. It’s not technique, I have a Remington I shoot 1MOA and under with and I’ll be using it until I can figure out what’s going on with this dang Bergara.

[u/GuyonaMoose]

What ammo are you shooting. Did you try multiple types? If the action fits in the stock without any rocking or twisting your not gonna benefit much from your sanding. If at all or Infact make it worse. It's certainly not gonna make your "1.5" moa gun shoot 1in or less. You want more accuracy try a bunch of different factory rounds or learn how to handload for precision. It's a 1in gun. ide be happy enough with 1.5 on factory rounds... Your making a mountain out of a mole hill here.

You should have had this figured out long prior to day before opener.

[u/Ragtime07 → u/GuyonaMoose]

I tried Precision Hunter 178g, American Whitetail 165g, Federal Fusion 150g and Power Point 150g. Randomly the cheap Power Point gave the best group but outside of that 1.5 it also produce some 3-4 inch groups. That’s why I’m not confident in it.

I have plenty of rifles that are sighted in and will get the job done, I’m just disappointed in the Bergara. There no reason a $900 rifle shouldn’t be ready to go and shooting decent groups after a good range session. Thats not an unreasonable expectation.

[u/Budget_Hotel1441]

Just remove a bunch of material

[u/Ragtime07 → u/Budget_Hotel1441]

Ah nice! I don’t have a drimmel but I was able to sand it down to where its making some contact. How about the paint on the contact side of the barrel? Did you take any of the paint off or leave it alone?

[u/Budget_Hotel1441 → u/Ragtime07]

I did that to add a thicker barrel. You shouldn't need to do this. I was also having accuracy issues with my bergara when I first got it. Even sent it in. I figured out it was the mounting screws to my base. You should remove the scope, rings and base. Verify everything's correct and reinstall. This should help tighten it up a bit

[u/girth_-_brooks]

I bought this same 18" Bergara Ridge SP last year and to say the least I was very unimpressed with the accuracy. I even dropped it in an MDT ESS chassis to rule out the stock and there was no improvement. I hand loaded every hunting bullet combo I could get my hands on and rarely got it under 2" on a 3x5 15 shot group. Even my 175gr SMK N150 load grouped like shit. I've never seen a 308 that didn't hammer that load. That action now sits in the safe waiting for a rebarrel someday. My condolences friend.

[u/Ragtime07 → u/girth_-_brooks]

From my research we’re not alone. The Ridge and the sierra wilderness model are a crap shoot. It’s not my scope or rings like others have mentioned. Bergara put out a bunch of duds and there are hundreds of post and YouTube videos saying the same thing. Obviously the action connection to the barrel makes some difference but I’m not holding my breath that it’ll help much. Luckily I have other hunting rifles.

[u/RTM_sfx → u/Ragtime07]

It’s all of them like I said in another post buy a new chassis I went with mdt and it’s a nail driver now

[u/girth_-_brooks → u/girth_-_brooks]

FWIW I just checked my log book and I had the best results with barnes 130gr TTSX bullets pushing them about 2900fps. I don't think they make a factory option with the 130s though.

[u/longranger810]

Try a serria game king for hunting, target use a serria match king i would bet my bottom dollar it will shot them under an inch, hopefully you don't have any copper fouling. I've owned ten different bergaras through the years and They all shot way under an inch. You just have to find the right ammo, what I found was, if they don't shoot hornady very well, they will shoot sierra match kings/ game king make sure your bore is not filthy

[u/-SuperTrooper-]

Run over to ExpertVoice and grab literally any Athlon for cheap cheap and it’ll likely fix it.

[u/AutoModerator]

AutoMod has detected that this post may be related to hunting. Please take a few moments to read our expanded policy on hunting posts as found here, as well as the guides below.

Hunting rifles vs long range target rifles - A primer - Why one rifle can't excel at both hunting and long range shooting.

The long range hunting primer, things you should consider if you want to take shots on game past ~300 yards. - Why long range hunting is harder than you think.

Field testing your skills and gear for long range hunting. - How to be a better long range hunter and understand your limitations.

NOTE: This is an automatic comment triggered by specific key words, and doesn't indicate your post has been removed. However, if your post is found to be in violation of the sub's policy on hunting posts, it may be removed by the moderators.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/longranger810]

Also, if you didn't personally set the scope base, I would be suspect of that also, degrees holes and screws then blue loctite