Bergara Wilderness HMR 6.5 PRC Trouble Shooting

[General RE LEE]

I just sent my HMR Wilderness 6.5 PRC back to Bergara. The rifle could never hold a 5 shot group under 1.5" at 100 yards. When cleaned down to the bare steel it would hold a sub MOA 3 shot group but it always threw fliers 5 shot groups. After 30-40 rounds, the barrel couldn't do better than 2". I noticed when cleaning, there was a TON of copper and even copper flakes. This was with ELD-X hand loads and ELD-M 147 factory loads.

I swapped scopes, let barrel cool 10 minutes between groups, JB Bore Paste, Wipe Out foam, check action screw torque, removed paint from contact points in stock, checked scope ring and bases, removed muzzle brake, added muzzle brake, etc. NOTHING could make this rifle hold a 5 shot group under 1.5" an after 40 rounds it was spraying bullets.

Anyone ever get a lemon from Bergara? My concern is they are going to get a sub MOA 3 shot group and not shoot much after that to discover it shoots like crap.

 

[fnlights]

I just sent my HMR Wilderness 6.5 PRC back to Bergara. The rifle could never hold a 5 shot group under 1.5" at 100 yards. When cleaned down to the bare steel it would hold a sub MOA 3 shot group but it always threw fliers 5 shot groups. After 30-40 rounds, the barrel couldn't do better than 2". I noticed when cleaning, there was a TON of copper and even copper flakes. This was with ELD-X hand loads and ELD-M 147 factory loads.

I swapped scopes, let barrel cool 10 minutes between groups, JB Bore Paste, Wipe Out foam, check action screw torque, removed paint from contact points in stock, checked scope ring and bases, removed muzzle brake, added muzzle brake, etc. NOTHING could make this rifle hold a 5 shot group under 1.5" an after 40 rounds it was spraying bullets.

Anyone ever get a lemon from Bergara? My concern is they are going to get a sub MOA 3 shot group and not shoot much after that to discover it shoots like crap.

Not exactly the same situation, but I wasted an insane amount of H1000, Berger 215's, and Primers trying to get my Bergara Premier in 300WM to shoot anything less than 1" at 100 yards and struggled. I finally ended up bedding the stock and switching to Berger 205's and got a group just under .5".

I thought all was well in the world until I took it on my first elk hunt last week and before the hunt even started, the entire sling swivel came loose - which is not ideal on a hunt in Colorado - so I pulled the action and used some super glue to have a temporary hold so I did not have to carry my rifle everywhere - went to the range to just make sure everything was good and the gun shot like absolute garbage. It couldn't maintain a group under 3" at 100 yards. Needless to say, I put that gun right back in the case and ended up using my dads Christensen to kill my elk. So as a heads up, always make sure to keep an eye on that front sling swivel because the design of it is absolute garbage. After I realized my issue, I searched through the Bergara owners FaceBook page and see that it has been an issue with others.

While I have never sent mine back, unfortunately, I do see Bergara just getting a sub moa 3 shot group and telling you the rifle is good to go.

 

[Teri Anne]

I just sent my HMR Wilderness 6.5 PRC back to Bergara. The rifle could never hold a 5 shot group under 1.5" at 100 yards. When cleaned down to the bare steel it would hold a sub MOA 3 shot group but it always threw fliers 5 shot groups. After 30-40 rounds, the barrel couldn't do better than 2". I noticed when cleaning, there was a TON of copper and even copper flakes. This was with ELD-X hand loads and ELD-M 147 factory loads.

I swapped scopes, let barrel cool 10 minutes between groups, JB Bore Paste, Wipe Out foam, check action screw torque, removed paint from contact points in stock, checked scope ring and bases, removed muzzle brake, added muzzle brake, etc. NOTHING could make this rifle hold a 5 shot group under 1.5" an after 40 rounds it was spraying bullets.

Anyone ever get a lemon from Bergara? My concern is they are going to get a sub MOA 3 shot group and not shoot much after that to discover it shoots like crap.

I don't own a Bergara, but have had a similar situation with a Browning 300wm. Best group for the first 150 rounds was about 2 1/2 inches average, Looking down the barrel after 20 rounds and the inside looked like the inside of a copper wire. After probably 20 times removing the copper from the bore things started to settle down. At about 250 rounds it will shoot 1MOA or maybe 0.9 with very little copper fouling. It's a hunting gun and I don't shoot over 300 yards at anything but a target so it's good enough for that. Probably should have sent it back to Browning. Lessons learned.

 

[General RE LEE]

A+ customer service from Bergara. They confirmed the rifle had accuracy issues, rebarreled it and shipped it back no charge. Now it shoots sub MOA. Great company to deal with.

 

[wasskeet]

Thanks for providing a follow-up and glad to hear all turned out well!