Like most of my gun reviews, I’m writing this after just shooting the Bergara B-14 Ridge. I went to the range this morning and ran into a friend who had just picked it up a couple of days ago. This was his, and my, first time shooting a Bergara.
Before we get into the gun itself, I think a little history about Bergara is in order. From Bergara’s About Us page:
OUR STORYManufactured in Bergara, Spain, a region known to produce some of the finest guns in the world, Bergara has combined the best barrel manufacturing equipment with a resolute commitment to quality and value. This superior technology combined with decades of barrel making experience delivers a production barrel that performs like it was custom made. . .
It all began several years ago when we first began with a small line of custom rifles and one top-notch craftsman, the former Production Chief & Chief Instructor for the United States Marine Corps Precision Weapons Section. As Bergara rapidly grew, we then assembled a hand-picked group of his best PWS alumni, the guys who built the rifles used by US Marines both in combat and competition all over the world.
Today, these Marines still form the core of our production team, passing their knowledge and expertise on to every new employee, and thereby bringing their own real world experience and expertise to every Bergara rifle.
The rifle I shot was their B-14 Ridge model chambered in 6.5 PRC (more on the 6.5 PRC later). The Ridge is marketed as a hunting rifle, and the specs seem to bear that out.
The black fiberglass reinforced polymer stock has an attractive gray splatter finish. The 24″ barrel with a 1:8 twist and action are cerakoted in graphite black. The action is a Remington 700 style and is buttery smooth. The single stage trigger had very little takeup and broke very cleanly at about 3.5 lbs. The barrel is threaded 5/8-24 for suppressor or muzzle brake use. The B-14 Ridge is available in .308 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, .243 Win, .22-250, 450 Bushmaster, 7mm-08, 6.5 PRC, .30-06, .270, 300 Win Mag, 7MM Rem Mag, and 300 PRC.
The rifle is 43.5″ overall and weighs in at 7.6 pounds bare. With the Vortex Viper HSLR 4-16×50 scope mounted it weighs in at a bit less than 10 pounds.
All Bergara center-fire rifle come with a sub-MOA guarantee, and this rifle delivered. From the bench using just bags, my best group was just under .7 MOA at 100m. All the groups shot today, both by me and the owner of this particular rifle averaged just under 1 MOA. The winds were a bit gusty, blowing up to 10mph at a 45 to the range. I admit this was only with one type of ammo, Hornady 143gr ELD-X Precision Hunter, and other types of ammo may give different results.
As a hunting rifle, bench work is all well and good, but it needs to perform offhand as well. And frankly, it did. Offhand, I got groups around 1.5 MOA, which is more than accurate enough to hunt with. Shooting from a couple of improvised rests, I got 1 MOA groups pretty easily.
Were I in the market for a new hunting rig, I’d give the Bergara B-14 Ridge a hard look. It does everything it’s intended for well and at a decent price. The MSRP of the Ridge is $949, but I’ve seen them at my local shops for around $850.
Now a note about the chambering of this particular rifle. The 6.5 PRC was developed by Hornady and first released in 2018. It was originally developed for use in the Precision Rifle Series. I suppose you could consider the 6.5 PRC a 6.5 Creedmoor magnum.
The load I shot today averaged 2965 fps over the chronograph. That puts the energy at 2765 lbft. If we look at the chart below, the 6.5 PRC delivers enough energy to take deer ethically out to 800 yards and elk out to 500.
6.5 PRC Ballistic Performance Chart
| Velocity (fps) | Drop (in) | Wind Drift (in) | Energy (ft-lbs) | |
| Muzzle | 2972 | 1.5 | 0 | 2,780 |
| 100 yds | 2807 | 0 | 0.2 | 2,481 |
| 200 yds | 2649 | -3 | 2.0 | 2,209 |
| 300 yds | 2495 | -10 | 4.3 | 1,960 |
| 400 yds | 2347 | -23 | 8.2 | 1,734 |
| 500 yds | 2204 | -41 | 13.2 | 1,529 |
| 600 yds | 2065 | -66 | 20.1 | 1,343 |
| 700 yds | 1932 | -99 | 27.6 | 1,175 |
| 800 yds | 1803 | -140 | 37.4 | 1,024 |
| 900 yds | 1680 | -191 | 48.8 | 889 |
| 1,000 yds | 1563 | -253.7 | 62.3 | 769 |