Hello everyone, here i am again, last step before starting actually buying a lot of stuff in the process of building my next hunting rig. So, as far as the rifle goes, even if i am open to change my mind, i am leaning toward a B14 hunter in .308 (i would put it in a PSE composites e-lite stock) for my new build for many reasons (and price is not one of them) but it seems like recently, in forums, the bergara is considered a good budget rifle but the QC is not very good and, for example, Tikkas are a “much better” choice, “you can’t beat a tikka”, etc. At the same time, the majority of criticism towards bergara seem to come from who doesn’t own one and several posters on various forums, owning both a tikka and a Bergara, stated that they prefer the Bergara. So what’s the deal? For my hunting rifles i have always preferred a “cheaper” mass produced rifle because i think that these are very good tools, looking at function over cosmetics and being much more tested than less sold rifles, even much more expensive ones. For example, as my main knife i much prefer a cheap mora of sweden knife than a 400 euros luxury knife from a small brand simply because one is just a tool and it’s made to work, the other one goes beyond that and maybe the functionality has not been set as number one priority. The following points summarize how i think the bergara is in the main fields of what i consider important for a hunting rifle (reliability, accuracy, durability/overall quality, features):
-very good reliability with reliable feeding and ejection. Actually b14 actions seem among the most reliable in factory rifles on the market from what i read and experienced. While for example i have heard of many feeding issues with rifles from many brands, i have never heard any problem with B14 actions cycling.
-very good accuracy. I have seen some reports of b14s being pretty picky with ammo but even more reports saying the contrary. My B14 is pretty picky with ammo, but for me a 1.5 MOA group is a bad group so everything depends on the standards of the owner when calling a group “bad”. My b14 hunter, despite the 1:12 twist, seems to hate 150 gr ammo and shoots very well (0.3-0.6 MOA) RWS DK 165 gr and Geco teilmantel 170 gr.
-Good construction quality. It’s not a premium level quality, of course, but to me the Bergara seems to be a rifle built good enough to be considered good to go for any practical application and, since i consider hunting rifles “tools”, i don’t care much about refined cosmetic, finitures, etc. In other words, i don’t think the bergara b14 lacks build quality if you look at the functional side. I can feel it while holding a b14 and, for example, an xpr or a remington and also a cz 550: the bergara feels much more refined and solid and trigger, action and safety work very well. However, there have been some issues with the pot metal bolt shroud breaking or getting out of alignement in early 2018 models (like mine) but mostly with rifles shooting small primer 6.5 creedmore ammo (i have never heard of problems on a 308 rifle) and primers cratering (which, as i understood, is pretty common and it becomes an issue only in certain circumstances). These issues were not followed by a recall and seem to be pretty rare but bergara offers free MIM bolt shrouds to anyone owning a model produced before 2019.
-lot of features: for example, compared to a 1700 euros tikka t3x lite (yeah, in Italy a tikka t3x lite costs twice a b14 hunter), for example, a standard b14 comes with: factory cerakote treatment, no plastic parts (aside from the magazine), muzzle thread, better stock and recoil pad with more aftermarket support, better customer service. Bergaras and tikkas seem to have comparable accuracy (maybe a bit better with bergaras), trigger (maybe better on tikkas with the cheap trigger spring upgrade) and action (it is said the action is better on the Tikka but i tried both and i didn’t feel that much difference, both actions are very smooth).
What do you think about all this? I know this post is the definition of overthinking but we are here to discuss afterall, a passion is a passion because we invest in it definitely too much time and energies than we need! Also hunting season is closed here at the moment, otherwise i would be in my hills, stalking roes and boars ahah
p.s.: it would be great if, when replying, you could specify if you have any direct experience or not!
