Bergara HMR .308

Hello Everyone,

I bought a Bergara HMR in .308. It was first experience with Bergara and was expecting it to shoot well. I am very disappointed. I bought a box of Hornady ELD Match 168s to play with and then work with a buddy of mine on loads.

I bought this gun for 300 yards and under and shoot suppressed.

Best group was over an inch. Would get a couple of holes close and then a wild shot. I shot some reloads with 155 Berger VLD Hunting, shot them awful.

Very disappointed to say the least. Zero is not changing so not scope our mounts. Everything is tight as I double checked.

Anybody else ever have an issue with the HMR? I am ready to dump this rifle. I though about putting on another barrel or just getting another rig. I do not really want to go build a custom rifle in this caliber.

If you got another .308 what would you choose for a real shooter.

Spilks said:

Hello Everyone,

I bought a Bergara HMR in .308. It was first experience with Bergara and was expecting it to shoot well. I am very disappointed. I bought a box of Hornady ELD Match 168s to play with and then work with a buddy of mine on loads.

I bought this gun for 300 yards and under and shoot suppressed.

Best group was over an inch. Would get a couple of holes close and then a wild shot. I shot some reloads with 155 Berger VLD Hunting, shot them awful.

Very disappointed to say the least. Zero is not changing so not scope our mounts. Everything is tight as I double checked.

Anybody else ever have an issue with the HMR? I am ready to dump this rifle. I though about putting on another barrel or just getting another rig. I do not really want to go build a custom rifle in this caliber.

If you got another .308 what would you choose for a real shooter.

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Git some federal ammo and see what it does. I have never herd of a bergara not shooting good. And just because you have some reloads does not mean you rifle is going to like them.

I have a Bergara B-14 HMR in .300WM. She holds about 1.25 moa out to 600 so far. Still working on loads for her. I like the gun and will eventually get her under .5 moa without a doubt!

Try the FGMM 168's in your .308.

I have one in 6.5. Have not had a chance to shoot it much because of the weather. The couple times I have shot it were not to impressive. Was getting more flier that it thought I should but admittedly have not gave it a good chance yet. Most reports I read about have been great. Keep trying or call bergara. Keep us informed.

You've got a good platform to build on. Takes many 700 parts. The stocks are nice and the extractor and bolt stop are an improvement in my opinion over the Remington. If you can't get it to shoot, screw a good barrel on it and rock on...

I wouldnt give up just yet. I've found that Hornady factory ammo doesnt always shoot very consistent (178gr ELD-Xs had an SD of 25 in one of my 308's with an ES of 70 or so).

The Bergara is a 1:10 twist so maybe shoot some 175gr Fed GM Match out of it to see if it like heavier bullets. If your round count is low (less than 100) then you may find it gets a little more consistent once it fouls a bit more. Mine started out at just under 1MOA for the first few groups and shrunk to ~.5MOA by the time I had shot trough the second box of ammo when I was breaking it in.

I love my HMR, haven't been able to shoot a bad group with it yet. Their customer service is also outstanding. I had to deal with them for an issue I was having with pierced primers running small rifle primers, and they bent over backwards to make things right in time for a big hunt I was going on.

(first pic is factory Hornady Precision Hunter 143gr ELD-X second pic is handloads with the same bullet)

Hey! did you ever find a load for The bergara 308?

Another piece of crap bergara post lol. I remember when the sales guy at cane last talked me out of a tikka and into a bergara for my wife. That was the worst mistake I could have made. Sure wish she had the tikka. The bergara just sits in the safe. Been replaced by bergara and still doesn't shoot. I bought her a Christensen mesa and that things been wonderful.

The bergara is a 30-06 hunter. Shoots about 1.5-2 moa with hand loads. I'm gunna give it one more go with another couple bullets/powder and if it doesn't shoot it's getting a 7mm Bart lien and chambered up in 280ai

Joefrazell said:

Another piece of crap bergara post lol. I remember when the sales guy at cane last talked me out of a tikka and into a bergara for my wife. That was the worst mistake I could have made. Sure wish she had the tikka. The bergara just sits in the safe. Been replaced by bergara and still doesn't shoot. I bought her a Christensen mesa and that things been wonderful.

The bergara is a 30-06 hunter. Shoots about 1.5-2 moa with hand loads. I'm gunna give it one more go with another couple bullets/powder and if it doesn't shoot it's getting a 7mm Bart lien and chambered up in 280ai

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Man! 2 minds think alike! I was gonna go Tikka superlite, but IMO Bergara felt better, seen many posts that it doesnt like eld-m have some sierra matchking coming, that Bergara recommends, fingers crossed, if not I am too getting bartlein barrel and chamber in 7-08, if I knew I was going to Rebarrel I woulda bought a Decent receiver in the first place!

Well, I have a bergara hmr in .308 that shoots factory federal gold match into quarter moa holes. Zeroed it in 3 shots and used 3 more to confirm. I've had or have probably 5 different bergara rifles and not one of them wouldn't shoot way better than a minute with factory ammo.

I loaded some 110 v-max for that .308, and they shoot .5moa or better. It might be ammo picky, but I'd be amazed to hear that a bergara actually didn't shoot.

Hecouldgoalltheway said:

Well, I have a bergara hmr in .308 that shoots factory federal gold match into quarter moa holes. Zeroed it in 3 shots and used 3 more to confirm. I've had or have probably 5 different bergara rifles and not one of them wouldn't shoot way better than a minute with factory ammo.

I loaded some 110 v-max for that .308, and they shoot .5moa or better. It might be ammo picky, but I'd be amazed to hear that a bergara actually didn't shoot.

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I'm pretty sure mine won't. Although it's a 30-06. Not as inherently accurate as a 308

I have a Bergara wilderness hmr in 308 win. Shot it today for the first time with some old reloads that I hadnt shot. It took 3 shots to get it sighted in and then it produced 1/2 inch 5 shot group. They were speer 130 gr flat point bullets loaded with AR COMP powder. I have a 5x25 Burris Signature scope on the rifle. Then shot 150gr hornaday sst also using AR COMP powder and easily shot 4 rounds into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch group. My rifle also has the standard radial recoil brake on it. That was all the time I had to shoot it today. My take on the rifle is it is way more accurate than I shoot and had almost no recoil shooting off sandbags at 100 yard sight in targets. I think this will be one of my best shooting rifles . I read that some are wanting the Tikka T3X rifle. I also have one of those in 300 win mag. It shoots well but not as well as the Bergara so far. This is my honest experience with the Bergara. WOW!!! I also dont understand what the problem with the accuracy could be. I know mine shoots LIGHTS OUT today. I have new norma brass and will be loading the new Sierra 125 gr TGK bullets in the next few days to try.
I will share those results in a future post.

I'd talk to Bergara if you really think it's the rifle that's causing it. I have a hmr in 6.5 creedmoor and it shoots as good or better than my custom guns. It shot just under 1 moa while breaking the barrel in with hornady precision factory ammo and now it shoots way under 1 moa with reloads and I wouldn't hesitate at all to shoot deer or antelope at 1,000 yards with it. I bet Bergara would look at it if you contacted them.