6.5 PRC Bergara

Mountainman

Mountainman

Hammer Time Executive member
First time I've bought a new factory bolt action rifle in years. I buy a lot of used rifles for donors and that's likely what will happen with this one too. Always wanted to try these out. Have a friend trying to talk me into PRS shooting but rather than a 6mm BR or Dasher I wanted something I could use for other purposes as well. Picked this one in particular because of the adjustable stock and detachable magazine. Initial impression is very favorable. I've got about 50 rounds down range (no hammers yet but they got here today). The worst group it has shot is still sub moa, just seems slightly erratic and I find the barrel somewhat difficult to clean. Factory trigger was just over 2 lbs which is fine for most purposes. I swapped it out though for a Triggertech diamond set at 8 oz. Very smooth action. I also installed a Harrell tuner/brake just because I always wanted to try them as well. This particular model fits the #6 contour perfectly.

In summary I like the action, I like the stock and I like the detachable magazine which has an internal length of 2.985". Usually when I buy a donor all I wind up keeping is the action so if I wind up replacing the barrel it won't bother me none . We'll see what it does in the morning with the 125 Hammers.

Regards

6.5 PRC.jpegtuner brake.jpeg
 
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Mountainman said:
First time I've bought a new factory bolt action rifle in years. I buy a lot of used rifles for donors and that's likely what will happen with this one too. Always wanted to try these out. Have a friend trying to talk me into PRS shooting but rather than a 6mm BR or Dasher I wanted something I could use for other purposes as well. Picked this one in particular because of the adjustable stock and detachable magazine. Initial impression is very favorable. I've got about 50 rounds down range (no hammers yet but they got here today). The worst group it has shot is still sub moa, just seems slightly erratic and I find the barrel somewhat difficult to clean. Factory trigger was just over 2 lbs which is fine for most purposes. I swapped it out though for a Triggertech diamond set at 8 oz. Very smooth action. I also installed a Harrell tuner/brake just because I always wanted to try them as well. This particular model fits the #6 contour perfectly.

In summary I like the action, I like the stock and I like the detachable magazine which has an internal length of 2.985". Usually when I buy a donor all I wind up keeping is the action so if I wind up replacing the barrel it won't bother me none . We'll see what it does in the morning with the 125 Hammers.

Regards

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Please keep us informed of your impressions of the tuner. I've used many Harrells and have them on several rifles. Haven't tried their tuner yet - but I'm thinking that way on my next barrel.
Thanks MM

PS don't forget to clean your barrel well before starting with Hammers.
 
Shortest ladder test ever. Started the 125 HHT's with 61 grains of N560 and worked my way up in 1/2 grain increments. First shot had heavy ejector swipe and blew the primer. No noticeable change in the bolt lift. Bullets are seated .025 off lands with a 1/8 crimp :oops:. Double checked my scale and load data. Many folks shooting the 124's at well over this charge. I'm shooting 130 eldm's at 59 grains.

Nothing quite as disappointing as going to the range and firing one shot. Will back off and retest tomorrow.

Dazed and confused
 
Upon closer research I did find a reference where one fellow had a heavy bolt with 59 grains with the HH 124. Others are loading as high as 64 grains. As usual I'm my own worst enemy. Starting over at 57 grains and will work up from there.

On a better note the brake part of the tuner/brake seems to work quite well even with just the two 90 degree ports. Once I settle on a load I'll be able to give a rundown on the tuner part.
 
Well, another Charlie Foxtrot this morning. Tried 2 different powders but still hitting pressure extremely early (57 grains N560). Pressure signs first round and 2nd round (57.5) jammed the ejector into the bolt. Tried the other loads with different powder and same thing. Something is wrong that is not right. Gotta find my borescope to verify but at this point I'd bet a lot of money that it's just a bad barrel. I can tell just by cleaning it. Feels rough and I get an incredible amount of copper even just after a few rounds.
 
@Mountainman,

Thank you for doing this review. Especially the early pressure issues and borescope pics. I see factory rifles with the same longitudinal gouges. I've also seen one that had latitudinal "rings." I'm assuming that barrel was a poorly hammer forged barrel. I didn't do any research to see if this was in fact the case. Just an observation. I deal with a few Christinsen Arms rifles. They are known to pressure out early. I see this when loading for some of them. Most of the speculation online is the CA chambers cause early pressure issues. But if the chambers are SAMMI spec can this really be the cause? A rough barrel makes more sense to me. It could be flees and ticks, maybe a little of both chamber and rough barrel. Accuracy has not been an issue so far but really pressure and lack of Velocity has been. With other factory brands as well. I have been putting off trying the final lap (or whatever they're called) bullets to see if this will smooth them out enough to increase velocity.

This posts confirms what I've seen in other brands. Thanks again.

kneedeep
 
Well the cerakote never arrived so I went shooting this morning with a naked stainless barrel to see how she works. All the bullets came out the end. Did a break in of 1 shot and clean for 3 rounds, then 3 and clean for 9 rounds. The last 3 shot group was a hot load in the old barrel and showed no pressure at all.

Gonna scrub it clean and load some 125 HHT's in my new Lapua brass and see what happens.
 
We're having some fun now. Loaded two 6 shot ladders just to find pressure. Started with 57 grains of N560 as well as 57 grains of Superformance and went up in 1/2 grain increments. So far superformance is the hands down winner with the last 5 rounds all touching and 59.5 grains had the slightest indication of pressure. Stopped one shy of completing the N560 string as I had quite visible pressure signs at 59 grains. Next trip I'll hopefully have some actual load and chronograph information.
 
Back out this morning to shoot for groups and see about tweaking the tuner/brake. 59.3 grains Superformance with 125 HHT's is getting me an average velicity of 3362 with an ES of 18. May have to try some different combinations to get that ES down. I'll take it out to distance first and see how it holds up.
GL, I was taking the brake 1 full turn each time and shooting 2 round groups. Seems like every other turn brought the groups to touching. I'll be narrowing that down next week and see if I can get them all in the same hole. Might need to recruit a younger pilot :)

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Dang! How many times did it do that (full turn, small group ' another full turn, bigger group)?
 
gltaylor said:
Dang! How many times did it do that (full turn, small group ' another full turn, bigger group)?
Click to expand...
3 times although the little groups seemed to get a little bigger..........or the heat waves were getting worse. At any rate I think they're on to something with that tuner. Just gotta burn a lot of ammo to get it ciphered. Oh well, I reckon Steve will make more. Want to try some other powders as well to see if I can get the ES down.

It's nice to have a barrel that's easy to clean too.

Regards,
 
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