Does anyone out there have experience with either of these rifles? Or have others to recommend like them?
Most of my firearms are all hunting-focused, lighter contour or medium contour at most. I have never gotten into the target/match stuff but I am toying with it. I found a range about an hour and half away that has targets to 1,000 and I already own a Viper PST 5-25 that I think would be up to the task. So, I guess I don’t need this gun to do double duty per se, but I don’t care much for the chassis style stocks… thinking that this stock shape might work better for me?
Another skepticism I have here is: are these things as good as advertised at “hybrid” tasks (i.e. hunting and match/target), or is it like a half-assed compromise that leaves you in between both worlds, with the gun not being particularly well suited to either task?
I have 3 of the Bergara HMR’s. I feel like they are what the Remington should have been. 6.5 CM, 308, and 300 Win Mag. All of them are shooters! I’ve taken the CM out to 1,500 yards consistently
I have a hybrid stock I suppose, B14, but it is more twoards the hunting market since its so light, but it shape is the same. I also have a chassis stock and I like both while at the range. I don’t think either of these is a backpacker/backcountry rifle, but for day hunts either of these would be great. They’re not 16-20lbs.
One thing the Bergara has over the Tikka, QD FLush cups [corrected below]. Tikka over Berara is the rail and more ajustment in the LoP.
I have owned four Bergara’s, only kept one the the premier series as the others were fickle. I would lean toward the Tikka or the HMR pro vs the B14 HMR.
That would make sense, the HMR Pro is more on-par with the price of the Tikka UPR. The non-pro price was so attractive, but when you compare apples to apples, and price isn’t an advantage anymore, then Tikka seems like the better choice between the two.
The only edge I would give the Bergara is great caliber selection. I don’t think you can go wrong with the Tikka - just upgrade the bottom plastic to metal
I like my b14 hmr in 308 the value at the price point. Mine has shot very well with 175 gr federal gold medal match.
If I did it again today I may go with the tikka ctr and put it in a different stock or maybe the aero SOLUS in the KRG stock/chassis they offer. Or possibly the sako s20
But all in all I don’t regret the hmr at all and the weight fully dressed has the recoil pretty mild for a 308 and it’s been very accurate so far for me
“…what Remington should have been”–I agree it seems Bergara has out-Remington’d Remington. At the same time, this is still a developing situation… my understanding is that in last two years they have upped the quality quite a bit at Rem Arms (new owners), and they will be moving and upgrading their manufacturing facility to GA–or they are already in the process of this maybe? Will be interesting to see what their lineup is like 3-4 years from now. But so far I have heard good things about the latest BDLs and Alpha 1s or whatever they are called now. Haven’t been able to put my hands on any though.
I sure the Remington brand recovers after the law suit fiasco from several years ago. I inherited several Winchester pre-‘64 and Remington 700’s and really enjoy them.
