I'm getting ready to go down the rabbit hole of a 6.5CR long range rifle...

Anyone have first hand experience with Tikka T3x vs. Bergara Premium rifles? Read lots on the various forums, just curious if anyone here has any first hand input.

Shot my buddies P365 right before the pandemic hit. I loved it so much I paid pandemic prices for one, them promptly sold every Glock I owned. The grip angle never bothered me, but Glock triggers have lousy feel

I'll just give my .02 about the three types of "long-range shooters"...

#1, the guy with a Ruger American 6.5 and a 18x Vortex Crossfire who shot 300yds on his buddies farm with some Core-lokt and somehow through all the grace of our ever-expanding and slowly cooling universe managed an actual 3" group... claims he could hit a 12" gong at 1000yds any day of the week and truly considers himself a "long range guy".

#2, the guy who threw $10k at Moderna 18mo ago and now has a USO topped .338 Norma Mag Barrett and a crate of Lehigh Defense (the very best) target ammo and went through $800 of it and finally smacked that 12" gong at 1000yds and truly considers himself a "long range guy".

#3, the "just a bit past" middle-age white guy who is dabbling in yet another expensive and absurd hobby (RC jet aircraft, those dolphin-shaped jet-skis that actually go underwater, punkin-chunkin...), wouldn't dream of shooting a round he didn't painstakingly craft himself on his Forster Coax, and thinks Leupold scopes are for the poors... but can actually shoot thanks to his Platinum Membership at Gunsite.

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

That describes most of the market perfectly! You did forget the bearded youtuber Tactical Tony, though... :p

In all seriousness, it's definitely just an absurd hobby for me to screw around with when I retire in two years (so I guess I'm #3... but I flew RC helicopters, and actually taught a little for Gunsite back in the 1990s). The .22 Tikka got me back into enjoying precision rifles. I've also been reloading since about 1980, so I do appreciate that side of things, and I like to tinker. No $10k rifles, Kahles optics, or $5/round Lapuas in my tax bracket, though.

I ordered a Bergara Premium barreled action in 6.5CR today. Already got a Tikka, figured I'd try something new. Also, my sniper instructor (real deal) friend had nothing but good to say about Bergara's barrels.

That's the kind of "vouch" I look for as well. I will add that I've been behind a dozen or so truly world class precision rifles with somebody feeding me dope and watching my every move, to the point of him watching flags and telling me when to shoot. A 4ft plate at 1000yds on the first shot can become routine, but repeat MOA at that distance is equal parts art and science. It takes money, time, extreme -----retentive'ness, and you better be made of humility.

The most "shake my head every year" event is on my yearly hunting trip in Texas. The property owner has a 7mm-300 from Louisiana Precision Rifles (William Roscoe) that even a very drunk Michael J. Fox could shoot sub-MOA. He sits down every few years (at a Forster Coax) and cranks out a couple hundred rounds of the original load that Roscoe told him should work (we've never done any ladder testing or experimented with anything else) and we shoot that for a couple of years until he's "running low" and works up another batch of the magic. He weighs on a mechanical scale to the point of removing individual sticks with a pair of tiny tweezers, and is still on the same box of FGGM LR Magnum Match #215's. I hate to think of what will happen to our years of dope when he exhausts that box. The gun (I'm not shitting because I've done it) will group smaller than a clay pigeon at 500yds. I shot 5 clays in a row one year (we set'em up on a dirt mound).

I actually have a Ruger American (Go-Wild camo) 6.5CM that is a solid gun, but the best I've managed is with 125gr Winchester Deer Season XP (followed closely by Federal American Whitetail 129gr... it hates the 140gr stuff) is plain ol' 1xMOA. I wouldn't trust it past around 300yds on whitetail.

From what I see, prices on AR things are coming down. I do see a lot of out of stock items though (smaller parts mostly) which can be frustrating if you are trying to piece something together. Ammo is better than it was too, although again availability is not always great. Interested to see how things progress over the rest of the year.

Shelves are full around here of ammo, but at the cheapest, its 2x the price before all this garbage.

I have a few benchmarks for the state of the market.

1. Aero Precision stripped lower blems (historically bottom out at $42, currently $82).
2. Anderson Stripped lowers from anywhere (bottom $29, currently $39 KyGunCo).
3. Federal Automatch .22lr 325ct from PSA... (bottom $16, currently $29).
4. Savage FVSR .22lr from BudsGunshop... (bottom $205, currently $233, but hasn't been much lower than $220 in a couple years)
5. Mossberg Maverick 12ga 18" (bottom $190... currently $250'ish)

Ammo is coming back slowly. I see a decent amount in LGS's but none in the BassPro or Cabelas I've been to recently. As we approach general firearms season, expect all rifle calibers of all kinds, no matter how rare disappear, and if there is any, it'll be some kind of hi-dollar match stuff that nobody needs. Primers are still unicorn'ish although powder seems to be available as long as you're not picky. AR prices are mostly back to normal if the selection from PSA is any indication. Very surprisingly, I was in San Diego last week in a Big-5... they had everything... full ammo shelves in all calibers. I guess that's what happens when you need a 4473... nobody buys any.

I just paid an embarassing amount of money for 200 rounds of Hornady Match 6.5 Creedmoor on GB... but it's pretty much unobtainium everywhere. Ironically, one of my notifications popped for the same ammo later today... for almost $15/box MORE than I paid on GB. LOL. I figured if I wanted to shoot the 6.5 I'm building before next summer, I needed to jump, even at current prices. At least I'll have a batch of brass from the same lot...

Finished putting together the 6.5 creedmoor...

Bergara Premier barreled action
Triggertech trigger
KRG stock
Athlon Cronus optic

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a686ae27_c.jpg

Today I took it to the range for the first time. Only had time for a few (11) rounds before work stuff, just enough for a quick 100 yard zero.

First two rounds (boresighted) were touching on the right side of the paper an inch high. Made one scope adjustment, and fired three more rounds centered (.75 MOA). Next three were on the upper left (.5 MOA plus a called flyer), and three more on the upper right (.5 MOA).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...00659e03_c.jpg

Pretty pleased for the first 11 rounds out of a brand new gun, shooting off a picnic table. Next time out will be on a real bench, and over a chronograph so I can start working up the dope.

Sniper buddy grudgingly admitted the Cronus had pretty nice glass... still said Nightforce was better, but maybe not $800 better, which was the price difference to an NX8. Both are made in the same factory in Japan.

Nice! I've wanted a similar build albeit with a short barrel, but COVID 6.5C pricing and the lack of outdoor ranges near me have pushed it to the bottom of my list.

I'm never shooting centerfire rifles again without a suppressor ever and you can fuck off buying them in stores and waiting a year. I've just finished and tested a couple Form-1's (one 8" titanium .30cal and an 8" aluminum .22lr) and have 2 more in the pipe. The top-tier suppliers for Form-1 stuff is no joke. Next up are a pair of 6" 5.56 units for general range and zombie usage. I've got the tubes on order and just trying to finalize the guts. I will suppress all the things.

Agree.

Have a Nomad L in jail for the 6.5CM, and a Turbo K in jail for 5.56 things. The year wait sucks, but at least I have a hookup for good prices on the cans.

I should probably look into a suppressor given my hearing loss, but I'm too busy right now buying other things. Waiting on the rest of the parts for my mid-length gas system AR15 barrel so I can put that on my left-hand upper and see how the recoil changes (if any). Only shot carbine length systems to date so want to see how the extra 1.5" or so gas path changes things.

Oh, and I saw some 9mm ammo for 30.9 cents per yesterday (was actually 33 cents and change with tax).

Go to EFORMS and register. Follow any of the dozen YT videos that show you how to file (either individual or trust, all of mine will be individual). Buy stamps now (Form-1 waits are 2-3 weeks)... I recommend an 8" .30cal and a 6" .22cal for your first two... will cover the bulk of your rifle needs. You can buy the tubes and guts at your leisure in the future... it's painless.

Thanks for the info. I'll look into it.

Got all my parts today and assembled the new mid-length barrel. Can't wait to try it tomorrow.

Just to play devil's advocate... do your research before going DIY Form 1. The cheaper 'kits' are not going to perform as well, or be as durable as a 'commercial' can, and some of the better kits are just as expensive as some decent 'commercial' cans. And you don't get any kind of warranty, because they aren't "suppressors". The good side is Form 1s are coming back way faster than Form 4s these days.

Not saying they aren't an option, just make sure you're going to get what you want for your money. The only DIY suppressor I would consider would be a rimfire can.

I procrastinated for years because of the wait. Now I just send off the paperwork and forget about it. Eventually, I'll get a nice surprise in the mail.

As a separate issue, a 5.56 DI AR pattern rifle/pistol is about the hardest thing out there to suppress. It's never really going to be "quiet", but you can take it from 'hearing damage' to 'uncomfortable' if you ever need to shoot it without earpro. You can make them pretty quiet with a very large can, but it kind of defeats the purpose of an AR. Also pay attention to back pressure. Some of the 'quieter' cans can create a lot of back pressure, which is problematic in a DI AR. An adjustable gas block can mitigate it to some degree.

Well the new barrel was a bust. Well, not necessarily the barrel but she wouldn't feed a new round. After some research I went back from the H1 buffer weight to the normal carbine buffer weight. I'll try it again to see if that was the problem. It not then I didn't get the clamp-on gas block in the right position so I'll regoup.

Tried things out today. Still had some issues related mainly to the magazines not staying put (at least that is what I surmised was happening). When I got home I was able to get another complete turn in for the magazine release. Static testing shows things are working as they should, so I am hopeful this will be the final issue solved. When using the bipod I had a pretty good grouping.

Doing a completely ambidextrous build with left hand ejection has brought some unusual things to light given my slight experience with the platform. Moving forward etc.