Bergara B14 Re-Barrel

[Tex_Hunter]

Hi All,

Dont think this has been asked before (heck I dont think the B14 has even been out that long), but I was curious if any of the smiths on here had experience rebarreling a Bergara B14.

I just picked up a used B14 Woodsman in 6.5 Creedmoor a few months ago. Just in time to finish out the Spikes/Antlerless special late whitetail season here in TX. Its an amzing little rifle, accuracy is decent and it shoots just about everything into under or only just barely over 1MOA and I have already found at least one load using a 140gr Berger VLD that it shot sub .5MOA with.

This rifle has become me go-to field rifle, its just about perfect in every way, except it screams to have a slightly heavier contour barrel like a #3B (bull sporter) or maybe a #4 Light Varmint. Then it would be truly perfect.


So the question is, has anyone re-barreled one of these yet? How much work was needed on the action if so? According to their marketing literature, the receiver is already trued/blueprinted and loosely based on the Rem700 cylindrical action with a few key differences like it has an integral recoil lug and a coned breach, and side bolt release. I would wager it is pretty similar to a push feed Winchester M70 as far as what it would take to re barrel just from looking at it.

If the action really is true (or close enough) and wouldn't take hundreds of dollars and hours of machine time to true it up on top of the cost to chamber/install the barrel I would be very inclined to have a new barrel put on it. Any idea what something like this would run?

 

[FEENIX]

If the action really is true (or close enough) and wouldn't take hundreds of dollars and hours of machine time to true it up on top of the cost to chamber/install the barrel I would be very inclined to have a new barrel put on it. Any idea what something like this would run?

Cost varies from each gunsmiths, mine chargers $250 (thread, chamber, crown, head space, etc ...) to re-barrel + the cost of the barrel blank (~$375 - $400 for SS).

 

[Andrewjns]

Hi All,

Dont think this has been asked before (heck I dont think the B14 has even been out that long), but I was curious if any of the smiths on here had experience rebarreling a Bergara B14.

I just picked up a used B14 Woodsman in 6.5 Creedmoor a few months ago. Just in time to finish out the Spikes/Antlerless special late whitetail season here in TX. Its an amzing little rifle, accuracy is decent and it shoots just about everything into under or only just barely over 1MOA and I have already found at least one load using a 140gr Berger VLD that it shot sub .5MOA with.

This rifle has become me go-to field rifle, its just about perfect in every way, except it screams to have a slightly heavier contour barrel like a #3B (bull sporter) or maybe a #4 Light Varmint. Then it would be truly perfect.


So the question is, has anyone re-barreled one of these yet? How much work was needed on the action if so? According to their marketing literature, the receiver is already trued/blueprinted and loosely based on the Rem700 cylindrical action with a few key differences like it has an integral recoil lug and a coned breach, and side bolt release. I would wager it is pretty similar to a push feed Winchester M70 as far as what it would take to re barrel just from looking at it.

If the action really is true (or close enough) and wouldn't take hundreds of dollars and hours of machine time to true it up on top of the cost to chamber/install the barrel I would be very inclined to have a new barrel put on it. Any idea what something like this would run?

Did you ever rebarrel your B14? I would like to know how it turned out? What was different than your typical 700 if any?

 

[TheDude270]

I'm curious too if any gunsmiths have worked on the B14 action or rebarreled any. I heard a company exec state their tolerances are very tight, but we all know how marketing works. As an entry into the sport I purchased a Bergara B14 Hunter in 270win (nostalgia and hard headed reasons, not because I plan on competing with a 284win or 6mmbr) and am making improvements here and there (with plenty of help) along with my reloading abilities.... I'm now thinking a couple years out... If I want decent F-class performance out of this gun (I do know it's unorthodox and why that is so), even if it doesn't get used, would I be better off with a real 700 LA and get it trued and built up or is my action worthy of trueing and rebarreling. Along the way I might end up with other rifles, however, I am singularly wondering about this one.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

I'm curious too if any gunsmiths have worked on the B14 action or rebarreled any. I heard a company exec state their tolerances are very tight, but we all know how marketing works. As an entry into the sport I purchased a Bergara B14 Hunter in 270win (nostalgia and hard headed reasons, not because I plan on competing with a 284win or 6mmbr) and am making improvements here and there (with plenty of help) along with my reloading abilities.... I'm now thinking a couple years out... If I want decent F-class performance out of this gun (I do know it's unorthodox and why that is so), even if it doesn't get used, would I be better off with a real 700 LA and get it trued and built up or is my action worthy of trueing and rebarreling. Along the way I might end up with other rifles, however, I am singularly wondering about this one.

I never ended up getting the rifle re-barreled. Found a couple different loads (running both Varget and H4350) that shot ~0.3-0.4MOA with single digit SDs running 120gr Nosler ballistic tips that have been absolutely devastating on the whitetails I hunt with this rifle, so the re-barrel project got pushed to the back burner.

In the meantime I have become a bit of a Bergara supporter, I picked up a a B14 HMR in the same caliber (6.5 Creedmoor) that I have had excellent results with Hornady 143gr ELD-X at just under 2800fps with Alliant RE16 that shoots 0.20-0.25MOA with or without my Dead Air Sandman-S hung off the end.

If I was doing everything again today for the hunting rifle I would order the B14 Ridge if I wanted a heavier barrel, they have an impressive selection of calibers in that one and comes with a threaded barrel in #5 contour that seems like is a perfect weight for a hunting rifle.

 

[mrjashu]

I never ended up getting the rifle re-barreled. Found a couple different loads (running both Varget and H4350) that shot ~0.3-0.4MOA with single digit SDs running 120gr Nosler ballistic tips that have been absolutely devastating on the whitetails I hunt with this rifle, so the re-barrel project got pushed to the back burner.

In the meantime I have become a bit of a Bergara supporter, I picked up a a B14 HMR in the same caliber (6.5 Creedmoor) that I have had excellent results with Hornady 143gr ELD-X at just under 2800fps with Alliant RE16 that shoots 0.20-0.25MOA with or without my Dead Air Sandman-S hung off the end.

If I was doing everything again today for the hunting rifle I would order the B14 Ridge if I wanted a heavier barrel, they have an impressive selection of calibers in that one and comes with a threaded barrel in #5 contour that seems like is a perfect weight for a hunting rifle.

Glad to hear you like your Bergara. I just picked up a Ridge in 6.5CM and am starting load development with it. Looking to shoot 143g ELDXs. How has your experience been with seating depth and magazine length? I measured the throat and it seems like it might be a bit deep to be able to seat the ELDXs out where they like.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Glad to hear you like your Bergara. I just picked up a Ridge in 6.5CM and am starting load development with it. Looking to shoot 143g ELDXs. How has your experience been with seating depth and magazine length? I measured the throat and it seems like it might be a bit deep to be able to seat the ELDXs out where they like.

I have had great results shooting the 143gr ELD-X with Alliant Reloder 16, Lapua brass, and CCI magnum small rifle primers. As far as seating depth, I just loaded them to a base to ogive length that matched the Hornady factory ammo and since it shot so well I didnt see a reason to mess with it. I do get a pretty healthy crunch when seating bullets though, they are a touch "compressed". Alliant doesnt list a specific recipe for the ELD-X and RE16 so I started with the data they list for the 142gr Sierra MK and just started low and worked up while keeping an eye on the chrono to make sure there weren't any dangerous spikes until I got to a node that shot well.

Out of my Bergara HMR (same barreled action as the Ridge) I am getting 2791fps avg with an SD of 9.5 and prints .2-.3MOA both with and without my Dead Air Sandman-S screwed to the end (POI did shift 3" down at 100yds with the can on). The factory Hornady Precision Hunter ammo is almost 200fps slower but still groups ~.5-.75MOA in this rifle.

 

[mrjashu]

I have had great results shooting the 143gr ELD-X with Alliant Reloder 16, Lapua brass, and CCI magnum small rifle primers. As far as seating depth, I just loaded them to a base to ogive length that matched the Hornady factory ammo and since it shot so well I didnt see a reason to mess with it. I do get a pretty healthy crunch when seating bullets though, they are a touch "compressed". Alliant doesnt list a specific recipe for the ELD-X and RE16 so I started with the data they list for the 142gr Sierra MK and just started low and worked up while keeping an eye on the chrono to make sure there weren't any dangerous spikes until I got to a node that shot well.

Out of my Bergara HMR (same barreled action as the Ridge) I am getting 2791fps avg with an SD of 9.5 and prints .2-.3MOA both with and without my Dead Air Sandman-S screwed to the end (POI did shift 3" down at 100yds with the can on). The factory Hornady Precision Hunter ammo is almost 200fps slower but still groups ~.5-.75MOA in this rifle.

That's really great to hear. I'm also using RL-16 and have had really good results in other rifles. I'm using Starline LR brass with CCI LRM primers. So we'll see how that goes. I'm planning to shoot some test loads and some different factory ammo this weekend so we'll see.

I really like the Bergara rifles. Like you I was thinking about using it as the basis of a re-barrel at some point and as an "improved" R700 I could built upon. Planning on using the Ridge as my main rifle this fall.

 

[TheDude270]

That's really great to hear. I'm also using RL-16 and have had really good results in other rifles. I'm using Starline LR brass with CCI LRM primers. So we'll see how that goes. I'm planning to shoot some test loads and some different factory ammo this weekend so we'll see.

I really like the Bergara rifles. Like you I was thinking about using it as the basis of a re-barrel at some point and as an "improved" R700 I could built upon. Planning on using the Ridge as my main rifle this fall.

Same here. I'm using this barrel to learn how to efficiently do load development. The biggest part I've learned is to not try to do more then 1 bullet/powder combo at a time. I think I'm going to start doing 1 bullet with 3 powders per box and in the estimated charge/velocity window that I want to find a node. One thing I dislike is the bolt shroud is pretty ugly. Aren't most 700s and the like rounded? The Bergaras is odd shaped. Have you guys found out how to lighten trigger pull? Next step for me is to fix the trigger, I thin the adjustment screw is all the way out but it's still heavy compared to many other guns I've shot.