Bergara Warranty/Customer Service

[General RE LEE]

I just sent my Wilderness HMR 6.5 PRC back to Bergara today. After 200 rounds, the rifle could never do better than a 5 shot 1.5” group. It could sub MOA occasionally on 2-3 shots but fliers always followed. I’ve also never seen a bore copper foul so rapidly. 40 shots from bare steel and it would be shooting 2” groups and patches were solid blue. I even found copper flakes. I’ve checked the stock, swapped scopes, verify torque values, installed a Trigger Tech, etc and no improvement.

Has anyone sent their rifle to Bergara and got their issue solved? Hoping honestly I get a rebarrel. The one I got should be a tomato plant stake.

 

[Decker9]

My shooting partner has the exact same rifle, with the same problem. He sent it back to the factory (in Canada) where they replaced his bolt. Received his rifle back, but made no difference to how it shot. The CS he received was very poor.

We took it apart ourselves and found the rear pillar had be painted over and the paint had started to chip off. We cleaned up the pillar and torqued everything down and it seems to have helped quite a bit. It’s still a super finicky rifle though.

 

[stanginthe11s]

if they get 3 shots to do sub moa from a cold bore they will send it back. also they will only use hornady match ammo so if that's not what you use then they likely will not help you. that seems to be the consensus all over the net. I know my barrel looked horrible when I bore scoped it but it does shoot that one load good, so I'll leave it till I feel like rebarreling it myself. hopefully your experience is better than what I have read. also, I did sand everything smooth on the action bedding and torque the screws. I forget the # but there are discussion where a certain tq did better.

 

[General RE LEE]

if they get 3 shots to do sub moa from a cold bore they will send it back. also they will only use hornady match ammo so if that's not what you use then they likely will not help you. that seems to be the consensus all over the net. I know my barrel looked horrible when I bore scoped it but it does shoot that one load good, so I'll leave it till I feel like rebarreling it myself. hopefully your experience is better than what I have read. also, I did sand everything smooth on the action bedding and torque the screws. I forget the # but there are discussion where a certain tq did better.

Occasional sub MOA 3 shot groups but consistent 1.5” 5 shot groups enlarging to 2-2.5” groups after 40 rounds is complete dog chit.

 

[Dan Carey]

The last time I contacted them, it was a 3rd party doing the repair. I finally hung up on the guy I was talking to, real piece of chit!!

 

[General RE LEE]

The last time I contacted them, it was a 3rd party doing the repair. I finally hung up on the guy I was talking to, real piece of chit!!

I don’t mind a 3rd party doing the work if they can fix the problem and Bergara stands behind it.

 

[General RE LEE]

Update: my rifle was received a week ago but was told it won’t be received in their system for another 2 weeks. I asked them if they will contact me with an update on what to do next with rifle. I was told no they will ship it back to me with the results of their testing?

Thankfully I have 2 trusty Tikkas in 6.5 Creedmoor and 308 to take in the woods. I was hoping the Bergara 6.5 PRC would be my primary hunting rifle this year but I guess not.

 

[03mossy]

This is disappointing… I love my Bergara and wanted to get another one but this isn’t confidence boosting.

 

[Dan Carey]

Is this with a factory service center or a third party service center?

 

[Pickettpuncher]

Action screw torque is 55. Sucks you’ve had an issue and hope they resolve it in a satisfactory way.

 

[General RE LEE]

Action screw torque is 55. Sucks you’ve had an issue and hope they resolve it in a satisfactory way.

Yep I’ve got a torque driver and they are set at 55 and checked multiple times.

 

[General RE LEE]

Is this with a factory service center or a third party service center?

I sent it to the factory.

 

[Nosferatu]

This makes me not want that 25-06 I've lusted for on their website anymore.

 

[Pickettpuncher]

This makes me not want that 25-06 I've lusted for on their website anymore.

I ordered one, it’s a shooter

 

[General RE LEE]

This makes me not want that 25-06 I've lusted for on their website anymore.

I’m sure, like every other manufacturer, I got the proverbial “lemon”.

 

[stanginthe11s]

there have been a few reports of bad barrels and Bergara replaced them, but some have also reported having to send the gun in a few times. maybe a call requesting a bore scope vid of your barrel will force them to actually check. unfortunately, from my research it seems 50/50 with Bergara which sucks, hopefully in the end your experience is good.

 

[slowelk]

I'm not trying to get under your skin, but do you with you'd bought the Sako S20 instead at this point?

 

[General RE LEE]

I'm not trying to get under your skin, but do you with you'd bought the Sako S20 instead at this point?

No that’s a fair question. Honestly I wish I had gotten a Tikka T3x in 6.5 PRC and installed a vertical grip. My 6.5 Creedmoor T3x is the best shooting gun I’ve ever owned and with a vertical grip is even better.

I bought the HMR hoping it would pull double duty as a range gun as well as hunting. Turns out after 20 rounds it was shooting all over the place. That’s allowing it to adequately cool. I believe the bore was likely rough. I don’t have a bore scope but the copper fouling in that rifle is incredible.

 

[Bolt Thrower]

Different type of rifle/issue, but may be relevant. I have a Bergara B-14-R (22LR) that, after around 200 rounds, had a defective firing pin (light strikes 50% of the time) and unreliable action (failure to eject spent case about 20% of the time). I sent it back to Bergara for the firing pin and ejection issues. They replaced the firing pin, but did not address the ejection issue. It took around a month. When I got it back, I realized the ejection issue was unchanged and called them. They said they could not replicate the issue and there was nothing more they could do, but did send me some replacement parts (extractors, springs, pins). I fixed it myself - rebuilt the bolt, staked the ejector. It runs fine now.

 

[General RE LEE]

I heard back from Bergara via email today. It will be test fired tomorrow. Hopefully they find the issue and the accuracy unsatisfactory.