Bergara Wilderness Ridge 18"

[HighDesertSage]

Anyone have one of these? Thinking about getting the 18" barrel in 308 win. Would love to talk to someone who has experience with this rifle.

Thanks!

 

[Teeejs]

I have one that picked up this summer in 308. Used it all Fall for Antelope, Deer and Elk. Success on 2 out of those three. Really like the gun. Have been running it supressed and got the short barrel with that in mind. That said, the suppressor throws off the balance and makes it seem much heavier so not sure I will do that next year. Liked the trigger. Super accurate for me so far. Did a lot of hiking with the gun as well and my only complaint there is that it was kinda heavy, but that was impacted by the suppressor and also I could get into better shape! Any specific questions?

 

[HighDesertSage]

Thanks for the Feedback Teeejs.

What kind of groups did you get? Load? Velocity? What did you harvest with it? Do you feel the 18" barrel handicapped the 308?

Thanks!

 

[Teeejs]

No worries. Here are my impressions:

- Groups: Sadly didn't do as much target shooting as I'd like due to not getting the scope for this until Sept. Ordered a Razor HD LHT in the summer and the wait turned out to be awhile. The couple sessions I took it out on I'd say I got around 2MOA accuracy, but I think that was more me than the gun.
- Load: Mostly shot Barnes TTSX 150gr with this since I used that hunting
- Velocity: No measurement here sadly.
- Harvest: Managed an Antelope and Mule Deer this year. Zeroed in at 3 inches high at 100yds. Antelope I'd guess was around 200yds and hit right behind the shoulder where I aimed. Dropped where it stood. Mule Deer was 275yds by my rangefinder. Aimed just slightly high on the shoulder and impact looked to be maybe a couple inches lower that where I aimed which was the intent. Dropped where is stood as well. So good results and a couple clean kills this year which was great. I planned not to take shots over 300 yards so not sure on anything beyond that.

So overall, good results but looking forward to spending more time on the range. Also, not sure how the suppressor affected ballistics here. I didn't feel handicapped at all, but maybe it'd be more of an issue if you were looking to take longer shots than I did.

 

[3855WIN]

Son shot the Ruger Compact in .308 with a 16.5” barrel. Loved the rifle, but the barrel was too short. Made it louder than it needdd to be. At 18”, that might also be a problem with this rifle.

 

[kylemcintyre67]

I have an HMR in .308 with the 20" barrel. Just a little under 1k rounds through it. It shoots great with heavier bullets, I can get sub moa with 175 gr ammo. 150 gr will be all over the place. It also doesn't like to be heated up. I limit my courses of fire to 5 rounds every 20 minutes or so. Great rifle, I am looking at picking up one of their hunter stocks and bottom metal so I can swap it into a lighter platform for the mountains though.

 

[BRI]

Son shot the Ruger Compact in .308 with a 16.5” barrel. Loved the rifle, but the barrel was too short. Made it louder than it needdd to be. At 18”, that might also be a problem with this rifle.

How's the accuracy? My brother picked up a ruger compact in 7mm-08 with the 16.5" barrel a couple years ago. It has been the most frustrating gun to try and load for. I couldn't get better than 3" groups at 100 yards with any load combination (accubonds, Barnes, Partition). Pretty slow too at 2550 fps. I put over 100 rounds through it trying to find something. Maybe my expectation is too high. Took it to a gunsmith to go through and see if he could identify any issues but there were none.

 

[3855WIN]

How's the accuracy? My brother picked up a ruger compact in 7mm-08 with the 16.5" barrel a couple years ago. It has been the most frustrating gun to try and load for. I couldn't get better than 3" groups at 100 yards with any load combination (accubonds, Barnes, Partition). Pretty slow too at 2550 fps. I put over 100 rounds through it trying to find something. Maybe my expectation is too high. Took it to a gunsmith to go through and see if he could identify any issues but there were none.

Tried multiple brands of ammo. Finally found that Federal 150 ballistic tips did ok. When we started hunting a property that had long shots, I bought him a 257 WBY.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Well after a pretty substantial wait I finally was able to find one of these on GunBroker last night. Should get it here in the next week or so. Looking forward to trying some 165 accubonds in it, when I can find some.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Teeejs, how'd you like that scope?

 

[HighDesertSage]

Got it all cleaned and lubed. Put a Mtn. Tech rail and a set of low Mtn Tech rings on it. My initial reaction of the rifle is its very handy (even with the suppressor), and very well made. The trigger came from the factory at 2.5lbs and breaks crisp. Bolt is smooth, and the Cerakote seems to be very well done. This is probably the first factory rifle I've bought were I have no intention of replacing the trigger or stock.

I'm currently shopping for a scope. I think I'm going to go with the Vortex Razor LHT, but I still want to look at the VX-6.

Stay tuned I'll post up an update when I get a scope on it and head out to the range.