r/longrange • u/Due_Inspection1169 • 21h ago
Cheeto-fingered Bergara First Long Range Gun
Got this B14 HMR for an absolute steal from a guy who needed some cash. Mainly planning on using is for hunting but I’m interested to see which ammo you guys have found it to pattern best with. So far I’ve used 142gr SMK from Defender ammunition and it patterns best. I’ve also used some of federal’s hunting ammo and honestly I have found ammo that this gun doesn’t like. Also, what’s this whole thing about Cheetos?
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u/BruhCaden 21h ago
140gr Hornady ELDM do pretty well in mine, but this is the perfect opportunity to get yourself into reloading
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u/Over-Cardiologist743 19h ago
Cheeto fingers checking in !
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u/Rdubya291 21h ago
Welcome! I have the exact same rifle, in 308 (my wife bought it for me as a gift, so I didn't complain about the caliber - lol).
I've loved it. Had it for a few years and STILL haven't felt like it's holding me back at all.
I went full Cheeto and got the Match Pro and harris bi-pod, too. lol
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u/PGHStigg42 19h ago
When it comes to ammo for target shooting, really most forms of high qaulity, around 140 grain, boat tail, hollow points work well. Guns can be kinda like wine people. Theres a shit ton of great wine out there but everyone has their own specific preferences. I am currently gathering the last bits of my setup for my HMR and am looking more seriously into the hornady match ELDMs, and some of.the Federal gold loads. Particularly the 140 grain SMK load and the 140 grain berger hybrid loads. Theres also the honrandy american gunner stuff that om probaly gona buy first to just get used to the gun on. Its cheap and you can get it in bulk easily but isnt as consistent as the match oriented stuff. Those seem to be the top dog ones that you can find easily based on my research. My uncle really like the hornady 143 grain EDLXs for hunting and droppesd a deer like a sack of potatoes using that setup last year.
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u/CertifiedPublicAphid 16h ago
I've found that if you cruise around long enough on Proxibid or LiveAuctioneers you can find good single stage presses and other gear quite cheap. If you're here and asking after ammo recs, that might be a way to go. Match ammo is where it actually starts to make some sense, plus you can have fun putting together your own loads for this. Just make sure you don't let any cheeto dust get in your cartridges lol
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u/Euphoric-Arachnid-94 21h ago
Great rifle, but depending on your style of hunting it’s awful long and heavy. I don’t mind weight, but I do mind length. It’s a great starter bench gun though, and if you’re good with using something like that to hunt with then you’ll enjoy it. I do miss mine.
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u/Rdubya291 21h ago
My B14 HMER is around 13#. I hunt in Texas. Sit in a stand, or off a tripod. Weight really doesn't matter here.
When I lived in Montana, that was a different story. I have a rifle that sits around 6lbs with optic that I used out there.
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u/Euphoric-Arachnid-94 21h ago
I get it. I’m in Mississippi. We don’t have far to walk, so weight isn’t an issue. It’s the length, especially with a silencer. We have quite a few box stands(most of which are on the small side) on the property I hunt on and a gun that long just doesn’t make sense, especially inside 300yds like most of our shots. I do a lot of sitting on the ground, with my gun propped on a triggerstick bipod and in those cases it wouldn’t bother me as much.
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u/Rdubya291 21h ago
Gotcha. Well, mine has the 20" barrel, so it's not too bad. And I'm a little spoiled - My wife's uncle made a ton of money, and has a ranch in central Texas where he'd take clients. The blind has a full bar, sofas, AC/heat, a poker table... So I could realistically bring a freaking howitzer in there and not have to worry about barrel length.
But when I hunt a little closer to home, it's off a tripod from the edge of a clearing mostly.
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u/Euphoric-Arachnid-94 20h ago
Yeah you have a small house, we have 5x5 or smaller box stands. I honestly forget they have a 20” model now. Mine was the longer(24”?) and I’m pretty sure that was the only option at the time. I’m using a Ridge SP now, so 18” barrel, with a Magpul stock, so the weight isn’t much better, but the length difference is huge compared to the HMR I had.
OP didn’t specify(that I saw), so I’d probably tend to assume he has the longer barrel unless he says otherwise, just because it was so common for so long.
At the end of the day it just depends on your situation and hunting style.
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21h ago
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u/AutoModerator 21h ago
Here's the origin of the Cheetos running gag.
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u/CutTurbulent3015 21h ago
Couldn't get automod to come up but it's this