Buddy is looking at a Bergara HMR Pro with the nice stock. Looks like equivalent of a Tikka CTR style setup with a nicer stock. How accurate are these? Sub-moa pretty easy with good factory ammo and reloads?

I recommended Tikka but he didn't want to spend $1k and then be stuck with another $500+ to fix the crap stock problem. Can't say I blame him. But curious how the Bergara stacks up in accuracy, trigger, bolt throw, action smoothness, etc.

I had a Bergara B-14 Hunter in 6.5CM. Fit and finish was excellent. Trigger was excellent. Bolt operation was excellent. I just could not get it to shoot well. I tried Factory and reloads and the absolutely best group I could get was 1MOA. Most groups were 1.5 MOA and bigger. I ended up trading it to 603, and he said that he got lighter bullets to shoot very well. I never tried lighter bullets, so, maybe that chamber just did not like the 143's. I have a buddy that bought an HMR in 6.5, and it shoots light out. Doesn't seem to matter what you feed it, it just shoots small groups. Same excellent rigger, same smooth bolt. Maybe I just had one that was built on Friday right before happy hour? Either way, I would give Bergara another try if the opportunity presented itself.

My Bergara HMR is as accurate as my semi custom Horizon Firearms Rem 700.

My Tikka doesn't like anything over 140, but the factory hornady 140 eld-m has shot in every 6.5 i've put it in. Did you try that, or were you mainly trying hunting ammo?

My Tikka hated the factory 143 ELD-X

What ammo do you shoot out of it?

I just bought and then traded off a B14 HMR, a couple small upgrades in the pro model but most of what I will share should carry over. It’s called a Hunter/Match rifle but it is a fish and ski of the boat world. While you can hunt and you can match, they are really unnecessarily heavy for hunting and too light for match work according to the PRS guys.

The rifle weighs in at about 10 pounds before optics and suppressor etc.

Maybe the pro series fluted bolt is better but I felt like the B14 had a smooth but cheap bolt. Like if you got in a big hurry and ripped on the bolt it would fall apart. The B14 is not nearly as smooth as the Tikkas I have handled. Factory trigger on the b14 was fine, plenty light to shoot accurately. Do the pro models come with the trigger tech they are supposed to be a nice upgrade.

Having a rem 700 pattern is nice for bases and stocks, but you are talking about picking the HMR so you don’t have to pick up a different stock.

The Bergara has the big advantage of using AICS pattern mags in its factory form vs the tikka proprietary mags.

Resale wise the Bergaras get no love. So if you change your mind prepare to lose especially if you pay retail.

Accuracy mine in 6.5 Creedmoor shot lights out with 140eldm and 143eldx, but at the end of the day I do far more hunting than target shooting so I sold it to get back into a short fluted .308 that weights 3lbs less but shoots just as well.

140 ELDM

Specifically hunting ammo. I ended up buying a Savage model 12, and it shot the same 143 gr precision hunter to 1 moa consistently. My reloads are almost .5 moa with the 143's. My friend's hmr is shooting .5 moa with factory 143 precision hunter.

I was super impressed that Bergara not only had an accuracy guarantee they said hey, here is the ammo we test with and have had good success with.

https://www.bergara.online/us/accuracy-testing/

That is super interesting!

That is clear and concise communication with the customer. Very impressive.

Looks like a world-beater to me. They have got it all and the price is right.

I've got the 6.5 PRC HMR and very happy it. Shoots factory ammo .75, has a very usable stock, the bottom metal is excellent and decent trigger. I'd consider it the best value out there for this type of rifle.

The Bergara in 6.5 CM that I got in a swap with unclebubba was a nice rifle, though I don’t think I’d prefer it over my Tikka. It absolutely loved 120 gr Nosler BTs over H4350. The Nosler BT is my go to bullet in the Tikka 260. The only bad news is that my youngest brother has the rifle now, and he may never shoot it. Seriously…never.

I shopped SS 24" CTR v HMR and bought the Tikka, but I bought it for two reasons. First, this was going to be both a hunting and a target rifle (weight) and second, I'd heard a few rumblings about HMR accuracy. I'd never heard anything negative about CTR accuracy. Bone stock, unaltered trigger, with a Bushnell ET 6-24x50 and Chad's Speedmoor ammo, I finished 3rd at the 2019 Hunter's Shoot. Could the HMR have done that? Maybe, but I won't ever doubt Tikka. The HMR is a better value if the stock and weight are what you want.

My CTR will shoot 5-shot cloverleafs with either Chad's or Hornady's 143gr. I liked it so much I also bought a 20" SS CTR.

Yeah...I tried to talk him into a Tikka. He just really likes the stock on the Bergara. Problem is even if I did talk him into a Tikka, there's no remotely affordable stock upgrade solution...the unique bottom metal and mag prohibits it to my knowledge. So it's a really tough sell.

My Tikka shoots about like yours with my handloads. Just stupidly accurate. A joy to run to be perfectly honest.

I've picked up two McMillan stocks for CTRs, both under $600 shipped. Just gotta watch the Hide or LRH and pounce when they show up. Granted, you have to take the paint scheme the original owner picked.

Ive got a HMR in 6.5 that I cut the barrel to 16.5 for a truck gun with a suppressor and love it. Also have 2 PREMIER HMR PRO in 7mm. Along with their 10/22. Love the guns and can’t say enough good about them.
I also own a tikka T3 Lite in 308 that I love.

As soon as anyone gets a LH Bergara B-14 (7mm PRC) back in stock, it will most likely join my Tikka LH 6.5 CM in the safe. That is a good looking rifle.

As far as 6.5 CM ammo, I’ve had three different rifles (Ruger, Savage, Tikka), and all would shoot factory Hornady 143 ELD-X into very small groups. It’s been as close to a plug-and-play ammo as I’ve seen in 40+ years of hunting.

I handled a Bergara Crest 7 PRC. Initial impression I really liked it. Except the Accurate Mag. It’s long and clanky. Wish they offered it in a hinged floor plate.

At that point he's into it $1500+...just doesn't have that kind of budget. He's never owned a bolt action.

Personally if that's the kind of accuracy folks are getting out of Bergara (mostly 1" but not a ton less), I'd consider telling him to save his money and go with a Savage for a while. The Bergara groups, while good, don't look any better than a $400 Savage and definitely don't look as tight as my or your Tikka CTR

ETA: do those $600 stocks include new bottom metal and mags, or are they CTR-compatible?

Tikka are nice rifles but the Bergara has the Remington 700 footprint. It’s got pretty much everything you could ask for. Nice trigger, good barrel, decent bottom metal, limitless aftermarket, excellent QA/QC, and priced to sell. I promise i won’t try to turn this into a buy American thread but I am just saying, if it were made in USA I would have one.

How many people come into this thread complaining about accuracy? Everyone turns out a bad rifle once in a while, I don’t really see anybody complaining. It’s a world beater. Nope not a firsthand account lol sorry about that. I am just saying, reading this thread and knowing its compatible with a Remmy stock, makes me want one bad.

It really depends on what your usage and expectations are. If you want a hunting rifle, it's probably more than accurate enough to hunt anything at any range. If you're precision shooting, there's a world of difference in "barely gets 1 moa" versus "puts them in a cloverleaf hole all day long". Tikkas, for me, have always been the latter. I haven't seen any groups from a Bergara that lead me to believe they're in that same category. For me, Savages have been nearly equal to Tikka in accurracy, but the trigger isn't quite as nice and the action reliability definitely isn't as good, as they constantly run into extraction and ejection issues.

Personally I've gone from the "I don't want to spend money" crowd to the "buy quality and upgrade over time" crowd. If you don't like the stock, live with it til you save up enough to upgrade. It's way cheaper and simpler to upgrade the stock on a Tikka than the barrel on a Bergara.

Bergara brought Ed Shilen in to set up their shop and teach them how he made barrels. As long as they’re still following his teachings there shouldn’t be any accuracy concerns. The few I’ve experienced were well under MOA.

Did not know this either