Starting Anew, Sort Of,

My first real experience with the .308 Winchester

My first gun that dipped my toe into the water of long range was a Mossberg Patriot in .308. It came with a Vortex Crossfire II 3-9×40 scope. It got me started, teaching me how to make adjustments in the scope, learning fundamentals and being able to do so inexpensively.

I loved that gun. It taught me a lot and even after I sold it and got into my Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, I didn’t think I’d ever shoot .308 again. After all, with the Creedmoor being all the rage, why would I want to shoot .308 again? Well, that changed earlier this month.

I decided I wanted a .308 for use in PRS matches in the Tactical division which is limited to .308 and .223 only. I knew some of the things I was looking for: a 1-10″ twist, at least a 20″ barrel and something Remington 700 based for the ease of aftermarket parts. The search came to its conclusion after a few months of deliberation and saving and elected to go with Bergara’s B-14 HMR.

Bergara’s reputation for top-notch barrels was the deciding factor and from reviews I’d seen, people were raving about the rifle’s performance. It was time to buy.

Luckily for me, I had the perfect optic sitting in my safe, a Vortex Viper PST Gen II 5-25×50 (with the EBR-2C reticle, not the newer EBR-7.) So that part was already taken care of. The only parts I would need to add were a scope base and muzzle brake, deciding on a Warne Remington 700 short action 20-MOA single-piece base and a Dead Air brake compatible with their Sandman suppressors (which I don’t have…yet.)

First Range Trip

After installing the base, brake and scope I took it to the range for the first time (since I had not planned on writing this review at the time I neglected to take pictures which will not be the case in the future).

I fired approximately 30 rounds of Hornady 168-grain ELDs and my groups weren’t as impressive as I had hoped, measuring roughly one to 1.5 MOA on average.

Now, with that said, it was a brand new gun with a shooter who hadn’t practiced in quite some time and ammunition I don’t plan on shooting regularly as I want to shoot 175 grain bullets normally. I gave myself and the gun a mulligan and will wait until my next range trip to make a final verdict.

Stay tuned for the next post, which will be more visually appealing, to see how the Bergara runs under more optimal conditions.