Bergara MG Lite 6.5 PRC

[Clarson757]

Well here I am. Maybe buyers remorse. Maybe just my luck.

This is only the second bolt gun I’ve ever purchased. My first was a very well-priced Bergara b14 that is amazing. How could the Premier line be anything but perfect?

Bought this rifle in April. Have a very difficult tag to draw, figured I’d splurge on, to me at least, a very very expensive firearm. By far the most expensive I’ve ever owned.

First range trip, notice that the action was not very smooth. Bolt would fight its way through the action as I cycled. Not what I expected given that it won’t even fall out on its own weight when held vertically. Contacted Bergara and they sent it back. Supposedly nothing wrong at all. Action still cycles like it doesn’t want it and won’t feed smoothly to save its life.

Took to the range to re-zero two weeks ago. Zero seemed fine and I had my dope. This passed Sunday, shot maybe 10 rounds before the muzzle brake damn near twisted itself off. No big deal. Figured that’s why I was not on zero again. Went home only to realize the action was nearly falling out of the chassis. The threads were finger loose at best. Nowhere near 20 inch Lbs. Let alone the 50-55 it should have been.

Gun feeds like trash and now this. I have little faith Bergara can or will attempt to do anything about it but since owning this rifle, I’m pretty disappointed.

Besides me venting, is this to be expected with less than 100 rnds and one trip back to the factory for inspection? I hope I’m over reacting but I also feel like this shouldn’t be anywhere close to the experience one would have with a “top tier” rifle with so few rounds through it.

 

[XLR]

Here is a few things to help you out. First on the muzzle brake go ahead and get some rocksett and put that on the threads of the muzzle brake. A little bit goes a long way... Once you put that on there go ahead and tighten it as much as you can and it will never come loose.

As far as feeding goes go ahead and check to make sure the hunter DBM is set to the proper height (if you have it on your trigger guard). I have attached a link below to adjusting an Envy pro but its the same thing on your Element. If that doesn't work then I would suggest trying another magazine that you can adjust the feed lips on instead of the polymer mags.

Last would be the action screws. Torque them to 65 inch lbs and you should also never have an issue with them coming loose. I always check all of my screws before shooting a match or hunting but I haven't had anything loose yet, just gives me a good piece of mind. Those should help you out with everything except the bolt not being smooth. You can try spraying a little lube on the bolt and the back of the lugs but then you run the risk of dust getting caught on it.

Flexbar Rocksett High Temperature Thread Locking Compound 2oz

Rocksett is a high temperature thread locking compound, perfect for attaching muzzle brakes or other muzzle devices to barrels. Resists temperatures as...

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Clarson757]

Thank you for all of this. It’s really helpful and I will definitely give it all a shot.

From my perspective, I shouldn’t really need to do any of the above for a $3k rifle. I get it, little things her and there will come up. But I’ve only had the gun in my possession since mid-April. During that time it spent a month back at Bergara. So call it 3.5-4 months. Maybe it’s nuances with the round specifically?

Either way, I really do appreciate your advice. I hate that I’m seeking guidance on what I assumed would be a problem free purchase. I will apply the above suggestions and report back.

 

[XLR]

You are totally correct you shouldn't have to! I know this wont make you feel any better but I have talked to a ton of people who have purchased the MG Lite and you are the only one I have heard of having any issues besides the one accuracy thread on here. Hopefully this was just a one off with their assembly team! If you have any questions about anything feel free to give us a call. I have spent a lot of time behind the MG Lite in the last year.

 

[Harvey_NW]

Thank you for all of this. It’s really helpful and I will definitely give it all a shot.

From my perspective, I shouldn’t really need to do any of the above for a $3k rifle. I get it, little things her and there will come up. But I’ve only had the gun in my possession since mid-April. During that time it spent a month back at Bergara. So call it 3.5-4 months. Maybe it’s nuances with the round specifically?

Either way, I really do appreciate your advice. I hate that I’m seeking guidance on what I assumed would be a problem free purchase. I will apply the above suggestions and report back.

All rifles need to be initially gone through and set to your expectation, and maintained, regardless of cost. The above is good advice, I'll add to it that when you take it apart, degrease everything with rubbing alcohol or acetone. Any tapped holes you can get into, threads of screws, bottom of action, bedding area, etc. Factory rifles are coated with oils that are your nemesis for staying tight and holding the foundation together. The action should get smoother over time.

 

[Clarson757]

I did just look at the DBM and it was position a noticeable amount outside of the two notches. It was above at almost 90 degrees to the top notch. I adjusted to center and it does seem to feed slightly better.

Torqued the action screws to 65lb.

Ordered Rocksett for the muzzle brake.

I took a video of before and after the DBM adjustment but it’s not letting me load those here.

 

[Clarson757]

All rifles need to be initially gone through and set to your expectation, and maintained, regardless of cost. The above is good advice, I'll add to it that when you take it apart, degrease everything with rubbing alcohol or acetone. Any tapped holes you can get into, threads of screws, bottom of action, bedding area, etc. Factory rifles are coated with oils that are your nemesis for staying tight and holding the foundation together. The action should get smoother over time.

Thanks for the advice. I’m a little shocked that these issues have come up with only owning for a short period of time and shooting the rifle maybe 5-6 times. I don’t think have time to do all of this and get to the range before my hunt coming up, unfortunately. Once my hunt is over, I will certainly break it all down and clean everything I can as you mentioned.

 

[XLR]

I did just look at the DBM and it was position a noticeable amount outside of the two notches. It was above at almost 90 degrees to the top notch. I adjusted to center and it does seem to feed slightly better.

Torqued the action screws to 65lb.

Ordered Rocksett for the muzzle brake.

I took a video of before and after the DBM adjustment but it’s not letting me load those here.

Take a picture of the trigger guard and send it over to [email protected] and I will make sure its all put together properly!

 

[Clarson757]

Flathead is roughly where it was set. I have adjusted it to the location in the photo.

 

[XLR]

That adjustment should help you out with the feeding for sure! Looks like it slipped a little so I am not sure if they tightened it up when they made the adjustment in the factory!

 

[WayneKerr]

I've owned 3 Bergaras. 2 came out of the box with loose action screws. My premier highlander had loose screws and a similar issue with the bolt/action. Mine was smooth, but it felt like the bolt wanted to bind up in certain places when cycled. It's hard to describe but it sounds like it might be the same thing you're dealing with. I don't own any Bergaras anymore. That highlander was a sweet shooter though.

 

[loganwayne]

This year I've bought 3 bergaras, a savage and Two o/u shotguns new.
1 bergara, and the savage the bolts needed to be torqued down to correct specs.
Unless your getting a custom built rifle I expect something to have been adjusted wrong or something not tightened like it should have.

 

[ElkPRC]

I’m sorry, I’m not saying the feeding issue is normal, and I am not saying you should have to deal with it or could have prevented it….. but the rest is just complaining and ignorance.

I mean that with the upmost respect but you have to be real here and realize that it is your responsibility to inspect and properly torque down everything on your rifle. I do this on every rifle I have after and before every use. The action screws coming loose, is your fault for not checking and the muzzle break as well.

I see someone gave you good advice on re torquing them and what I would caution you, is just because you torque these down once, just because you likely can leave it forever…. Don’t. Check it early and often, take your rifle apart, inspect it, get to know it there are more benefits outside of an action screw staying tight.

I would love an update on the feeding issues and if they got better better. Also curious what accuracy was like once everything was properly torqued down.

 

[swavescatter]

Sorry you're dealing with Bergarbage customer service. That action should be practically glass. Other than accuracy issues with my B14's, the bolt runs pretty smooth and will definitely slide in and out with gravity (not quite a Tikka, but definitely not a Savage).

How is the accuracy? As long as it shoots good, my advice would be to bite the bullet and sell it/trade it in (I personally would not sell a rifle that doesn't shoot without full disclaimer).

If you're like me, you'll never enjoy the rifle after such disappointment. Take the loss and move on.

 

[Clarson757]

Sorry you're dealing with Bergarbage customer service. That action should be practically glass. Other than accuracy issues with my B14's, the bolt runs pretty smooth and will definitely slide in and out with gravity (not quite a Tikka, but definitely not a Savage).

How is the accuracy? As long as it shoots good, my advice would be to bite the bullet and sell it/trade it in (I personally would not sell a rifle that doesn't shoot without full disclaimer).

If you're like me, you'll never enjoy the rifle after such disappointment. Take the loss and move on.

Accuracy has been great. I torqued and checked my zero and it was off quite a bit. Got zero sorted and it’s been completely fine.

Like you mentioned, I do have trust issues seeing that things seemingly weren’t properly torqued and inspected when I got it back from Bergara. Customer service was essentially them telling me everything was fine. I did adjust a few things and it does feed a little smoother. But it wasn’t Bergara who told me about these adjustments, it was the chassis company (Thank you XLR) oddly enough. And they were very apologetic on behalf of Bergara, but still. Since all of this, I’ve written into Bergara and reached out to them via form-fill on their website with no follow-up.

I took a buck at 357 yards this year with it. Besides that I just have a bad taste in my mouth overall with this rifle. Accurate but can I trust it? I’m not sure. For the money, I wouldn’t do it over again. I was excited for my first higher-end rifle (to me at least). I can’t help but feel like Bergara worked me over.

If I sell it, I’d probably attempt to build my own. Knowing that I won’t leave anything to question in my own build. Haven’t decided yet on keeping it or if I just need to get passed my concerns and trust that I’ve done all I can to get this rifle to be trustworthy for the long haul.

 

[Clarson757]

Here he is. 11,000ft. 3 miles from the truck.

 

[Jbuck]

Screw torque is a normal thing to check regardless of manufacturer or cost of rifle. As is the rest of the screws on the gun. As stated above this is something that is routinely checked and verified.

The factory rifles I've bought with brakes have all been fairly loose with a thread protector in the box, or vice versa. Again completely normal and expected to be tighted by the end user. Mine all come off as soon as I buy it and I'd be mad if they were rockset from the factory.

The magazine adjustment came lose, which sucks, but you had the chassis manufacturer step right up and help. They are going to know the process way better then Bergara.

How smooth the bolt runs is subjective enough I won't comment.

So all in all I think you should temper your anger/disappointment.