In a recent podcast you said bergara can do better on their barrel offering can you elaborate?
If I have a Tikka T3x and a Bergara, I’d bet on the Tikka winning an accuracy battle. Bergaras are good and I like Bergara, but I don’t often see half inch Bergaras. I’d put Bergara over many other brands for accuracy and reliability, but I wouldn’t consider them top tier accuracy.
HOWEVER, Bergara’s Premier series shoots lights out almost every time.
Do the premier series use different barrels?
I was always under the impression that the barrels were the same between the different series but the premier series gave you better stocks, better triggers and such.
But I’m not an expert.
Premier uses CURE barrels, which they are starting to put on non Premier rifles (Crest Carbon for one). The CURE barrels are top tier, no question.
I was told by Bergara that they do different processes on the Premier series barrels. Not just the cure carbon, but the steel barrels too. I pressed them, but they refused to say what they do differently.
So I get that there are other providers that create extremely good barrels such as Tikka and Proof, etc. I am more interested in understanding your opinion on where Bergara should up its game. Is it Bergara’s carbide button rifling, the type of steel they use for their barrels, or tolerance’s, that need improvement? Or all three?
This is an interesting YouTube video LINK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KwDcP-_WSw&ab_channel=ShootingUSA
Tikka barrels are CHF (Cold Hammer Forged) which do not have to be broken in; they shoot accurately out of the box. According to Tikka. LINK HERE: https://www.sako.global/article/cold-hammer-forged-barrels
Maybe that is the difference - the Bergara barrels need to be broken in?
Bergara barrels have a strong reputation for accuracy and are based on Ed Shilen’s Barrel Making Techniques so that does make sense as he is a notable barrel expert. Bergara also makes the CVA barrels as noted by you on the Backfire.tv site and they are quite accurate as well.
It would be interesting to determine if following a break-in process would improve that initial sense that Bergara Barrels could do better.
Christensen Arms Barrel Break-In Process | Christensen Arms
Maybe Bergara should polish the rifling in each barrel before they are shipped out that would remove the necessity of breaking in the barrel.
Just ramblings from an old man.
Lol
Cheers!
Makes sense. They are great barrels.
With manafacturing hitting such tight tolerances now in all levels of production, what seperates a $700 rifle and a $2000 rifle is less and less. Seams to me that its a choice to leave some things unimproved in the lower end rifles to keep the Premier line profitable.
I just wanted to add I have never broke-in a barrel using a traditional shoot-clean, shoot-clean process.
I just shoot 50 to 100 rounds of the same ammo through the rifle. After 500 rounds, I gently clean the barrel with Hoppes #9 solvent and wet/dry patches. I also will gently clean the barrel if I have been in the rain.
My 44 year old 30.06 is still highly accurate - I never broke it in and have taken many deer with it.
So, while I discussed in the previous post that perhaps a break-in process might improve Bergara barrels. I truly do not believe in a break-in process like the Christensen Arms process I linked in that post.
Thanks,
Larry D.
I don’t know specifically what they need to change. I’d just love to see the accuracy from the premier series trickling down to the lower level rifles.
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Bit of a late response but just for some reason occurred to me.
Do you know if that means that the Cure carbon barrels on a premier series rifle are handled, treated differently than the Cure carbon barrels on a non-premier series rifle?