Bergara B14 vs older Rem 700 at this point

[Igloo]

So at this point, would you think there is a clear winner between a Bergara B14 Woodsman, lets say, and a 90s Rem 700 Classic etc?

Which one would you go with?

 

[swampy14]

From my understanding they are just about the same especially if they are both blueprinted/trued.
That said I haven’t handled a bergara that wasnt a smooth action.

The “issue” with bergara actions is the bolt nose. The back of the barrel is dished almost not flat like a standard rem700 or other clones. So that means they don’t take a shouldered prefit only barrel nut/ rebate style prefits.

Now you can order a barrel blank and have a gun smith cut you a shouldered. That’s what I’m having done over the course of this next year. I came upon to b14 rifles at a steal

 

[Igloo]

From my understanding they are just about the same especially if they are both blueprinted/trued.
That said I haven’t handled a bergara that wasnt a smooth action.

The “issue” with bergara actions is the bolt nose. The back of the barrel is dished almost not flat like a standard rem700 or other clones. So that means they don’t take a shouldered prefit only barrel nut/ rebate style prefits.

Now you can order a barrel blank and have a gun smith cut you a shouldered. That’s what I’m having done over the course of this next year. I came upon to b14 rifles at a steal

Hey, nice! Happy to hear you snagged one cheaply and it makes a good build!

I know what you mean about the "cone" shaped barrel face for lack of a better description and what would have to be machined into it.

There was so much about Bergaras being picky, rough barrels, extractors breaking, bolt handles falling off, bolt shrouds breaking etc etc that I am really curious if they really moved past these issues.

I mean, the new cocking piece looks like a start, and the firing pin channels don't need to be bushed anymore, but...

 

[swampy14]

Hey, nice! Happy to hear you snagged one cheaply and it makes a good build!

I know what you mean about the "cone" shaped barrel face for lack of a better description and what would have to be machined into it.

There was so much about Bergaras being picky, rough barrels, extractors breaking, bolt handles falling off, bolt shrouds breaking etc etc that I am really curious if they really moved past these issues.

I mean, the new cocking piece looks like a start, and the firing pin channels don't need to be bushed anymore, but...

I understand that. I know there is a company making billet extractors. And I plan on upgrading those right away to just avoid any problems. I will have these two actions “blueprinted” so we’ll see how good they are.

I’ve always heard Bergara made good barrels and they are generally shooters (even tho I’m replacing the barrels for my builds ).
I might shoot some groups just to see how the do before any work is done.

I got these cheap enough and they are rem700 footprint so if anything absolute worst case I can get a different action and swap over.