Tikka T3x or Bergara B-14 in 6.5 CM

I've decided to purchase a new 6.5 CM rifle for hunting Whitetail and I've narrowed it down to either a Tikka T3x CTR / Varmint or Bergara B-14 HMR / Ridge and I'm not sure which would be the better company to go with. I've done a lot of reading and I've nothing but good about Tikka and I like the idea of the Bergara being based on the Rem 700. I went and looked at them the other day and both have features I like and the actions felt pretty good. On my sample of one, I have to give the nod to Tikka for having the smoothest action.

I've been using a Remington 700 that I've owned for right at 40 years so naturally I looked at those as well. I've read a lot about quality issues with the newer Remington's and I think I saw first hand what people have been saying. I was holding a new 700 Magpul and the first thing I noticed was the barrel was not centered in the barrel channel. It was pretty bad.... touching on one side and over a 1/8 inch gap on the other.

Anyhow, I am reaching out to you folks for input on Tikka vs. Bergara in hopes that it will give me a little more insight and help me with the decision making process. I am not looking to shoot competition, but I want it as accurate as possible. The biggest thing I am looking for is quality so I will have a reliable firearm for years to come because I tend to hold on to them. Thanks

GregBFL said:

I've decided to purchase a new 6.5 CM rifle for hunting Whitetail and I've narrowed it down to either a Tikka T3x CTR / Varmint or Bergara B-14 HMR / Ridge and I'm not sure which would be the better company to go with. I've done a lot of reading and I've nothing but good about Tikka and I like the idea of the Bergara being based on the Rem 700. I went and looked at them the other day and both have features I like and the actions felt pretty good. On my sample of one, I have to give the nod to Tikka for having the smoothest action.

I've been using a Remington 700 that I've owned for right at 40 years so naturally I looked at those as well. I've read a lot about quality issues with the newer Remington's and I think I saw first hand what people have been saying. I was holding a new 700 Magpul and the first thing I noticed was the barrel was not centered in the barrel channel. It was pretty bad.... touching on one side and over a 1/8 inch gap on the other.

Anyhow, I am reaching out to you folks for input on Tikka vs. Bergara in hopes that it will give me a little more insight and help me with the decision making process. I am not looking to shoot competition, but I want it as accurate as possible. The biggest thing I am looking for is quality so I will have a reliable firearm for years to come because I tend to hold on to them. Thanks

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Bergara, it and the tikka are going to git about the same accuracy, the bergara has a much better stock, and anything aftermarket. Also the mags for the tikka are like $80 to $100, the bergara has magpul AICS mags that you can git for $25 to $40.

I have had both and I like the specs and features of the tikka.

Have had both along with bergara premier rifles. As mentioned the bergara hmr stock is a nicer option than the tikka, but the tikka dbm is nicer than the hmr. Both shoot fairly well but I think if shooting factory stuff such as hornady match the tikka takes the win. Trigger with a cheap spring in the tikka is way bette than the hmr. If going to get a hmr spend the extra coin and get an hmr pro. That action and barrel is much better offering than hmr as well as trigger. However from my experience all of them shoot better than moa so pick your poison!

I have a Bergara Ridge and it's fantastic. I don't have a Tikka to compare it to but when I compared them in the gun store the Tikka magazine and stock felt pretty cheap. The Ridge has a pretty decent stock from the factory and being a R700 footprint your aftermarket options are endless. I really like the medium contour on the Ridge. It's light enough to carry all over the mountains but heavy enough to handle longer strings of fire, kind of an all arounder.
Mine shoots factory ammo pretty well, this is Hornady 140g ELD Match ammo.

I really appreciate the input everyone is providing. I was hoping for first hand information concerning the specifics of each rifle and I didn't take into consideration the cost of extra magazines. I am glad to hear about the Ridge as I listed that as well as the Varmint because I'm not sure if I should go for one of those two and put the savings towards a different stock in the future.

Which would be suggested to buy for the use of rebarreling and upgrading to stock? Just wondering if I can pick up a used one a decent price and have a quality trigger an action to start with would be better than buying a 700 action and have to upgrade extractor and trigger.

bowhunter020 said:

Which would be suggested to buy for the use of rebarreling and upgrading to stock? Just wondering if I can pick up a used one a decent price and have a quality trigger an action to start with would be better than buying a 700 action and have to upgrade extractor and trigger.

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If you are building off of it then bergara, it has all of the rem 700 aftermarket stuff for it. And the trigger on the bergara is just fine. I'am gitting .2 moa groups with my barnes handloads for my bergara.

the hunter said:

trigger on the bergara is just fine

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I thought it was an awful trigger, gritty and not smooth at all. It was on par with any factory Remington i have ever felt. I tried to "tune" it with little improvement. The tikka has a MUCH better one IMO.

Metzger said:

I thought it was an awful trigger, gritty and not smooth at all. It was on par with any factory Remington i have ever felt. I tried to "tune" it with little improvement. The tikka has a MUCH better one IMO.

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I have 250+ rounds through mine and have only felt creep two times.
And .2 moa groups with handloads, it shoots .5 moa with factory ammo all day long.

Well I ended up ordering the Bergara B-14 Ridge today because I felt it better suited my needs. Before I did, I went to a couple of LGS so that I could compare more samples of each. What I found was the Tikka actions were ever so slightly smoother as I previously noted. The Tikka trigger was better but the 3 Bergara triggers I tried were actually pretty good. If I find I need something better I can always pick up a Timney for $115. I really didn't care for the stock on the Tikkas and I would want to replace it as soon as possible (personal preference). To me, the stock on the Bergara Ridge much better and kind of reminded me of a Hogue. I will eventually replace it, but most of my hunting is off hand and for that it works just fine. I actually thought of going with the HMR but I prefer a stock like the McMillan Hunter/HTG and I could apply the price difference towards the new stock.

One of the things I didn't care for on the fact that the Tikkas used a proprietary (and pricey) magazine. I'm sure they are probably fine, but I've had bad experiences with some non-AICS magazines in the past. The Bergara has the tried and true hinged floor plate like I have used for 40 years. If I can't kill what I am shooting at with 4+1, I don't need to be hunting. I wanted to go with a little heavier barrel so that is why I was looking at the Tikka Varmint and the Bergara Ridge. When I shouldered the rifles the Bergara felt better balanced, the Tikka felt a little barrel heavy. Unfortunately, the two rifles were at different dealers so I couldn't compare the barrel contours. I know the Ridge has a #5 contour but I can't find where Tikka specifies the contour of the Varmint. Using my calibrated eyeballs it looks like at least a #6 contour so perhaps that is why it feels more barrel heavy.

It was an extremely difficult for me to decide between the two, each one had features I like better than the other. What tipped the scales for me was the Bergara action is based on the Remington 700 action and I decided to go with it because there are more aftermarket options for it due to that fact. In my trips to the various gun stores I ran across another rifle that caught my eye.... It was the Savage 110 Predator. I have zero personal experience with Savage but I have a really good friend that swears by them. I have to admit the 110 Predator is packed full of features including a #5 contour fluted barrel and was priced less than either of the rifles I was looking at. Rather than complicate the matter more than it was I stuck to the two rifles I was looking at. At the end of the day I was happy with my decision and even happier to get the Rifle and a Seekins 20MOA Picatinny rail for $750 OTD. Hopefully it will get here early next week so I can put my Vortex Viper HS-T 4-16x44 scope / Burris XTR Signature rings on it and head to the range.

I just got a Bergara Ridge up and running. These are the first rounds down range. Got her on with 120 grain Noslers, then tried 3 143 ELD-X.

Put me in the Bergara camp for triggers. Admittedly,this is my first,but I've had 13 T3s. Not bashing the Tikka trigger,just like this unit more. Tikka needs to employ an over travel adjustment. In my mind anyway. Before I'm drawn and quartered,I took my mule deer this year with a T3 in 270 Win.

The launching pad.

A victim of the Tikka.

25 Otter said:

I just got a Bergara Ridge up and running. These are the first rounds down range. Got her on with 120 grain Noslers, then tried 3 143 ELD-X.

Put me in the Bergara camp for triggers. Admittedly,this is my first,but I've had 13 T3s. Not bashing the Tikka trigger,just like this unit more. Tikka needs to employ an over travel adjustment. In my mind anyway. Before I'm drawn and quartered,I took my mule deer this year with a T3 in 270 Win.

The launching pad.

A victim of the Tikka.

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I've been thinking about the ridge in a .308, I'am glad you'rs is a shooter.

Do the Tikka CTR's use different mags then the Tikka Lites? Cause i bought a tikka lite and spare mag, and the spare magazine was less then $40.