Gotta Love a Bargin - Bergara B14 Stoke in 223
I've been on a 223 "bent" for some years, seeking a rifle that by my measure is 100% suitable for plinking, hunting and especially culling. For these jobs it needs to be reasonably accurate for not just 3 rounds, but it has to maintain accuracy for 8-10 rounds and smokin' hot. Best if it's not too heavy, and great if it'll take 10 shot mags. Gotta be nice to carry
Come and gone due to not meeting the accuracy requirement: CZ 527 American (2 of them I think), Remington Model 7, Howa 1500 (it came the closest of this bunch), Zastava M85, CZ 600 Alpha. There was a Remington 700 in a Bergara HMR stock, it had a Kreiger HB and shot lights out but was a big lump. Recently there was a Bergara B14 Extreme Hunter, it shot pretty good at the 10 shot thing, not a well as a custom barrel but a heck of a lot less money too.
Then recently Custom Guns had a new Bergara model in 223 on the rack - a sample of a new offering that will be available "maybe Christmas". This new model "Stoke" was very hard not to like. AICS bottom metal and magazine, 16.5" barrel, not a pencil but not heavy either, about #3, it's big enough to take a 5/8×24 thread (comes with it in fact). It's a blued only deal. Greg was kind enough to offer it to me, and then I got real lucky, out of the blue a forumite offered to take the B14 EH. Like everyone else funds are tight here too, but being able to get into the Stoke for $100 difference was great (and my wife paid that haha.) There's not a heap out there on the Stoke, just a few reviews. It's a slightly odd combination, a budget rifle with a youth proportion stock (it comes with spacers, with all 3 on its quite usable for me at a slight 1.83, but guys with big hands etc might find it a bit tight in the pistol grip, and in a snotty calibre your head might get pretty close to the scope.
I've been shooting it for about a month, it's pretty light and it took a while to get the best out of it on the bench. Before shooting it I bore scoped it and found a pretty decent factory barrel, no rough areas or garks (but nothing like a top shelf custom barrel either). In an unusual step for me I followed the recommended break in procedure, initially the barrel had a bit of copper fouling but that ceased after about 50 rounds. It's now over 250 rounds, feeds flawlessly from all my 223 magazines and the trigger has settled to an excellent 2 and a bit lbs - it's at least as good as a Tikka trigger, maybe not quite as good as the Mauser M18. It did have a major problem as delivered, it was throwing fliers, really big ones, like 50-100mm. A look at the bedding revealed that the steel pillars were about 0.5mm "proud" of the stock. I took to them with a round file and that improved it considerably although I think it probly needs bedded to effect a full cure.
It's quite bullet fussy, it won't produce decent groups with Fiocchi 55 gn "red box" for example, normally this is pretty good ammo. As mentioned I'm really only interested in "hot" groups with this rifle, ideally of 10 shots. Handloads with Sierra 55gn BTSP at 3025 fps (not bad from a 16.5" barrel) are regularly doing 30mm at 100M (that's right on "true" MOA) for 10 fast shots - barrel and suppressor way too hot to hold at the end of the string. But it won't shoot bulk Hornardy 55s worth a damm, and hasn't exactly been stellar with other normally "reliable" projectiles like Hornardy 60s or Sierra 69 TMK.
After work today I headed to the range on a glorious Southland day, a light breeze, sunny and a soft light. Perfect conditions really. I had in mind an experiment that had been brewing for a while. The Geco "match" ammo that's about just now in 55gn and 63gn fmjs is a bit useless for general shooting, no good for game and the projectiles let it down for target shooting, it's about 40mm groups at 100M (5-10 shot groups). But I pulled the projectiles from some and replaced them, 55s got 55gn Hornardy flat base SP and Sierra 55 gn BTSP. The 63s got Hornardy 60 flat base 60s, Nosler BT 60s and Sierra SPBT 65s. No chrony today.
Fired 10 quick shots with the FMJs to hot things up - 35 to 60mm for 5. Then at a very steady cadence fired the re-projectiled rounds. Sierra 55s 30.6mm, Hornady 55s (not the bulk ones) the same. Gave things a wee rest for 5 min then into the reprojectiled 63s. Hornardy 60s into 39.2mm (only had 4 rounds) Nosler 60s into 16.1mm, Sierra 65s into 20.2mm and finally with the barrel and suppressor very hot, absolutely not touchable, fired the Sirra 69 TMKs into 37.5mm. All 5 shot groups at 100M. I'd say I'd finally got a bargin. Pictures to follow.
