Bergara??

[DannoBoone]

Has anyone tried a Bergara barrel for their Encore? They sound like very good
barrels, having received the advice and supervision of Ed Shilen in gearing up for
more accurate barrels. I do have a Shilen barrel in Tactical 20 on an Encore and
it rivals any of my bolt actions for accuracy.

[sweetwyominghome]

There are a couple of folks on here who have, in a deragatory way, called them "cheap," said they "hate" them because of where they are made and yet admittedly have zero experience with a Bergara barrel.

I've dealt with a number of them and in fact kept a 7-08 for a good while. All were MOA or better -- some remarkably better -- right out of the gate. The crowns were good and concentric, the chambers were of appropriate dimensions and on axis with the centerline of the bore and the overall workmanship was very good.

Th only area I'd say it would be inferior to a TC factory tube is in the bluing. They are satisfactory but do not have the richness or depth of bluing TC is renown for.

[bubba]

yes pretty bluing makes it shoot much better. I have a bergara 50 cal ml barrel. It shoots better and loads easier then my t/c 50 cal barrel.  I also have a 270 that I am ust starting to play with.  I would recommend them to anyone

[sweetwyominghome]

Here is a photo of a target from when I did some testing with the then-new 7mm 140 grain Berger. The Bergara barrel, using only a modest magnification scope, AVERAGED less than 1.2" at 200 yards. (Don't compare the group with that of the 7mm BB as that barrel is simply exceptional.)

But for the $170 utility Bergara barrel to turn in 0. 6 MOA on a consistent basis -- which it did -- tells me someone in the manufacturing process is paying attention and knows what they are doing. After all, every Bergara barrel I've had my hands on shot very well from the outset and produced MOA or better -- and that includes a couple fed nothing but cheap factory ammo.

 

[DannoBoone]

Actually, I've asked this question for a friend. His .22-250 T/C Encore barrel shot
out at about the 1500 round mark. Long story, but he is conservative with both
speeds and keeping the barrel from becoming hot.

Where did you guys find your barrels for $170?? Cheapest I've found them is from
E. Arthur Brown @ $199 + postage.

sweetwyominghome, those are some impressive 200yd targets! I just missed getting
in on testing the 140 VLD for Berger, so did my own when they came out. They did
better in my semi-custom Montana 1999 than anything else to date, but your Bergara
barrel has it beat by almost 1/2" @ 200yds. May be comparing apples and oranges,
the the '99 is in 7mm WSM. It was junk when I bought the expensive darned thing,
and I would recommend a Montana Rifle Company product to no one. It took a lot
of work to get it to shoot as well as it does, unlike your much less expensive
Bergara barrel.

[sweetwyominghome]

I just checked, and you can still get them for 185.99 from Grafs. They charge 4.50 for handling and no actual shipping charges.

Mine came from Midway when they had one of their inventory reduction sales. I think it was either 164.99 or 169.99 back then. Since then, though, the price of everything shooting-related seems to have gone up a good bit.

The Bergara barrels are finally catching on, and from what I have heard, they are having a hard time keeping up with distributor demand.

As to the Montana rifle, I have heard similar complaints and feel for you. That is a large amount of cash to give up for something that turns out to be a disappointment.