Bergara Premier HMR Pro

[u/looloopklopm]

Talk me out of buying this rifle in 6.5 creedmoor with a 24 inch barrel. It's nearly $3k.

Looking for something 99% range use that I can take hunting maybe one or two times. I've never been hunting before but want to try it out. Main use will be as a target gun at 300 yards or less. I have another range nearby that goes out to 800, but I am not a member. I want to print holes in paper close together. My other guns are an sks, MRA renegade, shotgun, and 22s.

I want to get into reloading but have no setup yet. I will put some sort of $1k-$1.5k ffp optic on this.

My main concerns are:

- price. I wanted the regular hmr, but it's out of stock everywhere and has been for over 2 months. I know I get more for my money with the pro, but is it worth it?

- calibre. Given I want to reload, won't likely go past 300 yards, and might hunt, do I get a 308 instead? These only come in 20 inch barrels. Seems like a waste also to put a 308 into a target rifle chassis, etc like the pro provides. A regular hmr in 308 might make sense.

- What about tikka? I know their actions are smooth, but I've also heard great things about the Bergara hmr pro's. Rem 700 vs tikka systems, mag compatibility, etc. Not like the t3x CTR is in stock anywhere either.

You are me. What do you do?

[u/Icy6521]

Buy a Tikka and put the rest of your budget toward a quality scope and rings, that would be my recommendation. As a general rule, you should expect to spend about 1.5–2× the cost of the rifle on your optic and mounting system if you want to get the most out of it.

[u/LumberjackCDN → u/Icy6521]

What this guy said. A 1k rifle (tikka), plus a 3k scope will take you further than a 3k rifle and a 1k scope

[u/looloopklopm → u/LumberjackCDN]

Further in what way? Distance? Haha

The extra ~$1000 as far as I can tell between the b14 hmr and the hmr pro goes to a smoother action, freefloating bolt head, cerekote, stainless steel barrel and triggertech trigger. All of this is stuff I'd either appreciate from a day to day use perspective, improves accuracy, or improves the life of the rifle.

I'm not really budget limited. If I need to spend $7k to be able to shoot the dick off a hummingbird at 300 yards then so be it. It will just take me longer to build it out. I'm just tired of huge groups and using bulk ammo and am looking for something different.

[u/LumberjackCDN → u/looloopklopm]

If thats the goal then yes spend the 7k. Get a high end scope to go with the high end rifle and dont waste money on bulk ammo anymore. Get the reloading kit like you said and spend the time developing a load for the rifle