The Bergara BXR

I bought the BXR in early December, my plan was to use this rifle in an upcoming PRS 22 match in January. Out of the box my first impression was that the rifle had great fit and finish with a familiar traditional feel. In the shooting world many know Bergara to be a name the goes hand and hand with accuracy. I could not wait to take the rifle out and test it!

The first step was to get the rifle ready for use. This required me inlaying a few nuts so I could use my ARCA rail. Then I filled the forearm with epoxy to help hold the inlay in place and stiffen my stock up. I mounted my leupold VX 5 HD 3X15, a US optics bubble level, and a Harris bipod. Now my rifle was ready for the range.

First round of testing yielded acceptable accuracy. CCI standard velocity grouped at .77 and .89 five shot groups at 50 yards. Eley club was .79 and .88 five shot groups at 50 yards. They were the best two types of ammo on that range day. Check out the complete list of ammo tested in the attached picture. One important note, the only malfunctions I experienced was with Eley match and Eley team. Both of these rounds have a flat nose, I believe that to be the contributing factor to the failed feeding.

My next trip to the range included some fire lapping. I did this with toothpaste and baking soda. In this process I rubbed a little toothpaste on a bullet and fired it. I then cleaned the bore, rinsed and repeat for ten shots. I did this process over with a baking soda paste for ten more shots.

My next set of accuracy groups provided .507 and .499 out of the CCI Standard velocity and the Eley club went to a .77 and .74 five shot group at fifty yards. The biggest accuracy jump came from Gemtech 42 grain subsonic. They went from a .99 and .93 of an inch to .67 and .61 of an inch. This is a neat little trick you can do on your own to help your 22 LR out in the accuracy department.

Now, we all know it’s not just about groups at 50 yards. It was finally time to run this rifle through some PRS style stages. Stage one was a simple stage one three inch target at one hundred yards, and to different positions on the tank trap barricade. On the sound of the buzzer I moved to the tank trap fired five shots at the target then move to the second position and fired five more shots. I completed this stage clean in 39 seconds, no doubt thanks to the semiauto factor of the gun. The next stage I ran was a little harder. On this one I shot five different targets from five different positions, moving every two shots. On the buzzer I moved to position one and shot it two times then moved to the new position. I cleaned this course in 87 seconds. The targets were a two inch steel circle at seventy five and eighty yards a two and a half inch target at eighty five and ninety-five yards and a three inch target at one hundred yards. All positions were fired from barricade with the help of a Whiskey Hotel stock-aid bag, All movement was on the clock. The Bergara BXR is a dream to shoot off of barricades.

My final impression of the BXR is that it’s a great 10 22 variant with good features. I love the 30 MOA rail milled into the receiver the trigger is perfect, and the rifle functioned flawlessly using 10/22 mags. I would like it if they would install some MLOCK rails on the bottom of the rifles forearm which would make tasks like mounting an ARCA rail easier. A it would not hurt the charging handle a quarter of an inch longer.

Overall, this rifle will fit the semiauto NRL shooter well, and it has a great price point. I hope to see more shooters out at the matches with this rifle. And I hope to see a next tier of this rifle come out of Bergara.