Howdy!

A few years ago I bought (from Ranger Firearms San Antonio) a Bergara B14 in .308 for my son. Put a nightforce SHV on it. They mounted the scope. We were unable to get it to consistently shoot a 3 shot group. Tried different ammo, had other shooters try, etc. No luck. Ended up taking it back to Ranger and they shipped it back to bergara. They put a new barrel on it. got it back, scope re-mounted, and same issue. My son and a few of the others on our lease are phenomenal shots and we often sight in rifles. We are completely stumped on not being able to get this thing to drive tacks.

Does anyone know of a good gunsmith in San Antonio? I would guess the issue would have to be in the scope or mounting as I can't imagine I'd get 2 bad barrels in a row from Bergara...or should i simply take it back to the place of purchase and explain it all to them again.... I just worry that they'd want to send it back to Bergara again..

TIA!

Gig'em!

agree on the mounts...I was planning to swap scopes this spring sometime but thought i'd check here for ideas

thanks!

This is curious. I would take it to a gunsmith and have him inspect the barrel with a bore scope. Nothing complicated about that. Has the action been bedded? I'm suspecting that it might not be supported properly, or there's a pressure point somewhere.

You can lap your rings too, if they're not lapped already

What's the twist rate? Have you tried 168 federal gold medal match? I also have a 308 that shot better with winchester 150gr than anyone else I tried off the shelf.
Also what kind of groups are you getting?

sorry for the ignorant question.... but what does it mean to have the rings lapped?

need to double check the twist rate, we have tried that ammo...hell i think we've tried everything including hand loads

in a 3 shot group we will get 2 consistent that are no closer than 3/4" at 100 yds, and the 3rd will be wild

That's your barrel heating up. Have you tried waiting like 5-10 minutes between shots? Probably shoots 3/4" all day as long as you keep the barrel cool

So many variables could be at play. First thing I would do is check the barrel for contact or pressure points within the stock mounts....making sure that the action mounts are torqued to specs. I would pull the barrel action and then remount and torque to specs. Then my next step would be to check your scope mounts and rings for proper torque and that the scope is in proper alignment and the rings have been lapped for the scope so you eliminate the possibility of any internal binding of the scope. If the above actions don't fix it then my third step would be to try a different scope.
Few gun shops and most shade tree gunsmiths don't know how to lap a set of rings for proper scope mounting correctly. Few even attempt it because of that.
By doing all of the above you have eliminated a stock, mount and scope possibility of cause.
If all the above is done and it still doesn't group....and you have exhausted all possibilities of it being a factory ammo cause....... then I would find someone with knowledge to check headspace and freebore dimensions…..even quality gun manufactures can get out of tolerances.
Some rifles can be finnicky on what loads they shoot and you may have to research and find a particular load that your rifle performs best with.

Lapping rings is a process of using very accurately machined hardened steel round bar stock to first assure that the rings are properly aligned. Then an abrasive paste material is applied to the round bar stock and it is worked back and forth within the rings to remove minute amounts of metal to make sure the rings do not put a bind on the scope when it is tightened.
This process is called "lapping". There are excellent quality kits that you can by if you want to attempt it yourself. I lap every ring mount on all my rifles when mounting a scope. Even with todays modern machining techniques, it is amazing how much inaccuracies exist in the machining of scope mounts and rings.
Here is the kit I use.
https://www.wheelertools.com/scope-mounting/rings-and-mounts/scope-ring-alignment-and-lapping-kit/633266.html?srsltid=AfmBOoodUpOcJu_yUwvKIxDYBHUrK_UnD-kCWxY32BhA3G8AZ8QuuC2H

Also cinch down your action screws to the stock. If there's a little play in them, the action and barrel are floating in the stock and that can cause problems.

There is an echo in here.

Thanks Gunny!
Very helpful

Gunny456 said:

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Even with todays modern machining techniques, it is amazing how much inaccuracies exist in the machining of scope mounts and rings.

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Imo most rings and bases on the market are perfect. Lapping (plus I also bed bases to receiver) has more to do with making up for inconsistencies in the top surface of the receiver, scope mount hole alignment, etc. Factory receivers aren't built like a custom, with everything concentric, the outside of the receiver has basically nothing to do with the inside so you often have to bed/lap to get the insides of the rings aligned

Roger that.
I was talking old school mounts and rings. I mounted two scopes on my neighbor new rifles back in November. He wanted to use the standard one piece solid Leupold base mount with dovetail Leupold rings.
After alignment I lapped his rings and the lapping was fairly substantial.

Gunny456 said:

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. He wanted to use the standard one piece solid Leupold base mount with dovetail Leupold rings.

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Ew. Why?

I went through this with a Ruger rifle a few years ago. My suggestion is to start eliminating potential problems one at a time. Start with a different scope. Then different rings. Then if still not right I would take it to a gunsmith and have them do a proper bedding job on the action and stock.

My issue ended up being a stock that was slightly "bent" on the fore end. When the barrel heated a little it would start walking on me. A bedding job fixed my rifle and it drives tacks now.

Ozark old school hillbilly. Two new old stock Rem. 700 BDL's. With varmint contour barrels. One in 220 Swift and the other in .22-250. Put Swarovski ZX's on them.
Guy is a fanatical prairie dog hunter.
He hand loads for them. They both are excellent shooting rifles though. He had Timney triggers put in and the actions/barrels bedded/glassed as well.

Next rifle try and sell him on some Talley steel 2-pieces. Still old school but no dumb dovetails and windage screws

I know. I have them on couple of my rifles and are choice. All his prairie dog rifles were set up the same. He even has a Sako with Redfield Junior mounts and rings on it but Swarovski glass sitting in them.

I have almost the exact same set up b-14 wilderness ridge with NF SHV. Using the Vortex precision scope mounts and torquing the rings to what the manual says.

Thing is a damn tack driver. Id really look at a good quality mount and try some match ammo.

I did notice mine really liked the 168 gr bullets. 150s not so much

How bad of a group are we talking 2 inch 3 inch or worse. Can u post a pic of a 10 shot group?

You said two of 3 are in 3/4 inch. That's 1 moa and not bad for off the shelf rifle. U need more data than 3 shots

How many shots through barrel? May need more fouling. Ive got a savage that will shoot a 3 inch group when squeaky clean and needs 50-100 rounds before it will shoot sub moa. I don't clean this much at all needless to say.

I agree with coming up with a troubleshooting list, then do everything that is free or low cost (degreasing screws, making sure action/ring/base screws are all torqued properly, making sure barrel is properly free floated in stock) all at once to save time an ammo cost.

After that....your call on throwing money at a gun that might be junk vs buying something that works *Tikka*

Highly doubt it's a barrel heat issue, 3 rounds causing a flier due to heat is unacceptable and does not occur in my experience shooting 10 rd groups with no thought to barrel heat for zero.

I went through this same exact issue. Fortunately I figured out that I was because it does not like to be clamped into a bog pod. Even just gently tightening down the bog pod clamp on the rifle was throwing my shots. Not sure if this is what OP is shooting off of, but may help someone in the future.

Or Sako.

Gunny456 said:

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Or Sako.

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Figured the he might be on a Tikka budget after trying to fix a Bergara, but I shouldn't assume...

I got a very nice Benelli rifle and Riton scope from my girlfriend this past year.

Took it to the range and could barely get it to cut paper. It came with cheap rings, I don't remember the brand but I had Leupold rings and bases put on it and now its a tackdriver.

I had not thought of that. Think you have some sound wisdom there!

I thought Bergara made a pretty good rifle?

I thought so too!!

thanks y'all! this is all super helpful

much appreciated

I had a very nice Rem BDL in .243 that I bought new in the box back in 1986 or so.
I had my FIL who was an accomplished smith glass and bed it and he put a Kanjar trigger in it for me.
I put a Leupold VX-3 on it with solid mount and their rings.
I love hand loading for accuracy so I started working up loads.
Damn thing would not group at all. Three shot good 4th one would throw. Two shots good then two throw. I tried this and that. Nothing worked. Checked everything. Nothing.
So I sent the scope back to Leupold. They sent it back in four weeks. On the ticket they just marked refurbished when they sent it back. I knew it was my scope because of a little mark that was on it.
I reinstalled and started shooting. Same damn thing again. I thought perhaps I couldn't shoot anymore and worked with some other rifles. I was still shooting them ok. So I decided to get rid of it but decided for the hell of it I would put a new scope on it as I had bought a Zeis at a gun show for a good deal.
Installed it and…..abra cadabra the group tightened up like magnets attracted to one another.
I again called Leupold, told them the story and they told me to send it back. Four weeks passed, heard nothing. Called them at five weeks and they told me there was nothing wrong with the scope and were sending it back. However the scope I got back was not my scope as it didn't have the little mark on it …In fact the scope looked brand new… even in a new box.
I mounted it on a Ruger M77 I had in .308.
and it grouped fine.
Anyway. Just an old guys story of an example of you just can't always go by what manufacturers tell you and nobody builds everything perfect and mistakes can happen.