I enjoy shooting my boltguns, both for work and personally. But let’s face it, that habit is expensive. Even after you get your rifles built the way you want them and all the supporting gear, ammunition prices for larger caliber centerfire, especially the newer precision calibers, are around $1-2+ a round for quality brands and components. That makes a proper range training session average about $50-100 or more. Plus you need a range that can stretch that rifle out at least 700 yards to 1200 or more to test your skills. There are lots of .22 rifles out there that will reduce that ammunition costs and then shrink your range requirements down to 300 yards and smaller steel or polymer targets. Some are mirrors of their full size versions, with proprietary parts and others are completely different from anything else out there with limited ability to upgrade them. The Bergara B14R is a mid-priced rimfire precision rifle that is good right out of the box or capable of being upgraded to match their centerfire counterparts.
The HMR Stock fits up to a #6 tapered barrels with Remington 700 Short Action. Adjustable cheekpiece and length of pull spacers. QD flush mount cups on both sides of the forend and stock. There are two front swivel sling mounts and one rear on the underside of the stock for traditional slings. I used the front sling swivel threads and front action screw to mount a 12” Universal ARCA Rail from Area 419, so it matches my other long guns and can use the same bipods and ARCA accessories. It uses 10 round, AICS Short Action style magazines and has an ambidextrous push style magazine release. I really liked the ergonomics of the stock shape and modern features that allowed me to set it up just like a larger caliber rifle. Perfect trainer for my 6.5CM bolt gun.
The action has a standard Remington 700 hole pattern for mounting scope bases. I added an MDT 30 MOA Picatinny Scope Base made from 6061-T6 aluminum to allow for additional elevation adjustment for Precision 22 “long range” type competitions. I mounted up a Blackhound Emerge Scope (see review here) with Warne’s Skyline 1-piece Precision 30mm mount with 10 different mounting interfaces for accessories like a bubble level, data card holder and additional accessory rails. Made from 7075 aluminum and cantilevered at both ends to give you the most space for adjustment to the shooter’s eye relief and the Ideal Height model can fit up to a 68mm objective lens. The Skyline Precision mount uses 4 cross bolts and a STANAG rail interface, which allows for a more precise mount alignment and return to zero capability than a traditional Mil Spec 1913 Picatinny interface and compatibility with all Picatinny rails
The Bergara B14R action has a floating bolt head design with a non-rotating gas shield and a firing pin reset indicator. The bolt release is located on the side of the action to keep your fingers out of the trigger guard when not shooting. The bolt handle is an oversized and knurled knob for easy manipulation of the bolt in the smooth action. During my time at the range I had very few, if any, feeding issues between the bolt design and forward loaded AICS style magazines. I was running SK Match ammunition and some CCI. Because it is the same size as a centerfire action, you can upgrade to any trigger that is compatible with Remington 700 actions. Meaning you can have the same trigger in your trainer as you do in your competition rifle or an upgraded trigger for NRL22 or PRS22. The B14R features a fully adjustable trigger mechanism. According to the Bergara owners manual, you can adjust the trigger pull between 2.8-4.4 lbs and is factory set at 3.7 lbs.
The full rifle MSRPs for $1229 and a barreled action (allowing you to select your own stock or chassis) MSRPs for $779. The B14R comes in .22LR with an 18” barrel and the .22WMR and .17HMR models in 20” barrels. There are left handed models available in the .22LR only. The steel model uses 4141 CrMo steel and has a No. 6 barrel taper, weighing 9.2 lbs. The Carbon barrel is $100 more and weighs only 8.1 lbs. Both are threaded barrels with thread protectors and a 1:16” twist rate.
Final Thoughts: Although this rimfire bolt gun is a little more than some of the other brands, it is a good replication of your centerfire rifles and has the capability of being matched up from stock/chassis all the way to the trigger. That price also means that you don’t have to feed it a specific brand of ammunition. Steel and squirrels be warned. I learned a few things with this review, if I’m going to do PRS with this rifle. I will drop the suppressor, upgrade the scope to at least 2/10 MIL capable reticle and try out some of the subsonic .22 ammunition choices. Thanks to Ray from X-Ring on Youtube.
By the numbers:
Comfort – 4.5/5 I don’t know if this really fits for a rifle, but the stock does have adjustable cheek rest and length of pull. Ergonomics are good, the pistol grip is vertical for a standard grip and trigger squeeze on a precision rifle. The ambidextrous mag release is a natural lever style.
Durability – 5/5 This is a solid Bergara rifle in their HMR stock with all their standard design features and quality. This will hold up just like its centerfire counterparts.
Functionality – 5/5 This rifle is good stock or capable of upgrading to most popular accessories. It has features that make it standout from the lesser costing rimfire rifles.
Weight – 4.5/5 The weight is on par with other rimfire bolt gun’s in adjustable and adaptable stocks or chassis. It will be heavier than your standard rimfire in a synthetic stock by a couple of pounds.
Value – 4/5 This is not your least expensive bolt gun rimfire. There are others out there that cost less but don’t have the same features or capability of upgrading to mirror your competition gun or similar. This is on the upper half of the scale but no where near the custom or semi-custom rifles. out of the box you are competitive, if that was your goal.
Overall rating – 4.6/5 Overall, this rimfire is a full-sized trainer, that comes capable from the factory or upgrade it to match your centerfire Remington 700 clones.
I received this product as a courtesy from the manufacturer via Spotter Up so I could test it and give my honest feedback. I am not bound by any written, verbal, or implied contract to give this product a good review. All opinions are my own and are based on my personal experience with the product.
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