I got a new .22LR from Bergara ... the BXR001 and it sure shoots great.

[MCMXI]

Yesterday afternoon I received a new Bergara BXR001 with the heavy stainless steel barrel. I've had a Leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm FFP TMR mil/mil scope in the safe for a while so got that mounted this morning in the lowest 30mm rings I have on hand. I plan on using this rifle as a low cost trainer for long range centerfire shooting so the 30 MOA canted Picatinny rail and mil/mil scope should work well together out to 250 yards or more. The rifle as shown with scope, rings and suppressor weighs 8lb even. I would like to find lower rings than shown which are about 0.82" from the center of the tube to the top of the rail. If I can find some that are 0.70" or thereabouts it would be perfect. The stock is marked with four dimples that indicate the location of inserts for thumb screws, so I can add the adjustable comb that Bergara sells but lower rings would be easier and cleaner.

If you're not familiar with the BXR, the barrel is threaded into the receiver, but the receiver is fully compatible with Ruger 10/22 barrels i.e. the receiver works with Ruger tenon dimensions and V-block fastening method. Also, the receiver has an access port at the rear so that a cleaning rod can be used to clean the barrel.

I screwed on one of the AAC ELEMENT 2 suppressors, set a target up at 50 yards, didn't even bother to bore sight, and the first two shots were 2.5 milrad high and about 1 milrad left (measured using reticle) so on paper at least. I dialed in the corrections, sent one more round downrange, made a final small correction and then shot the 10-shot group shown below. I was using SK Rifle Match ammuntion and I couldn't be happier with the results. It was cold, and a bit windy, but so much fun to hit what I'm aiming at. The trigger is ok, but based on this sample of one it could be better. Maybe it will improve a bit, but worst case I'll try and find a really nice trigger for this rifle since I think it deserves it.

I've never owned a Ruger 10/22 and now have no reason to buy one. Here's the rifle and 10-shot group.

 

[ThomasT]

Wow great shooting. I have never heard of those before. It looks like another 10/22 knock off. Or a knock off of the TC 10/22 knock off. I hope you do some 200+ yard shooting and post the results. Great looking rifle.

 

[MCMXI]

I don't know much about 10/22 triggers so what's the consensus on the best trigger? Volquartsen, Timney etc? I'd really like a two-stage trigger if possible, something like the Jewell AR trigger that I have in a S&W M&P 15-22 or the numerous Geiselle triggers that I have in AR15/AR308 rifles.

 

[<*(((><]

Kidd would be another trigger to look into

 

[MCMXI]

Wow great shooting. I have never heard of those before. It looks like another 10/22 knock off. Or a knock off of the TC 10/22 knock off. I hope you do some 200+ yard shooting and post the results. Great looking rifle.

@Ratshooter, thanks but I don't really know if that's considered to be ok, good or great performance for a semi-auto .22LR at 50 yards. All rounds were shot from the BXR magazine (no single feeding), and I was certainly aware of the bolt moving, but overall I'm pleased with how it shoots. It's certainly way more accurate/precise than my S&W M&P 15-22. With a great trigger I think I could cut the group in half.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

That is good performance for a .22 semi auto at 50 yards.

 

[MCMXI]

@<*(((>< and @ColtPythonElite, thanks for the info and point of reference. I want to try some of the new SK Long Range ammo.

 

[TikkaShooter]

The trigger is ok, but based on this sample of one it could be better. Maybe it will improve a bit, but worst case I'll try and find a really nice trigger for this rifle since I think it deserves it.

IMO, when a rifle shows me what it can do; I'm open to buying it a better quality trigger or optics to enjoy all it can do. In short, we think alike

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Is that ammo super sonic? If so, that probably doesn't help your groups.

 

[bannockburn]

MCMXI

Nice shooting for the first time out! Looks like a winner to me!

 

[d2wing]

That is excellent shooting and accuracy at 50 yards for any OTB sporter .22 LR . for 10 rounds.

 

[Nature Boy]

Rifle looks as good as it shoots!

 

[<*(((><]

May have to look at picking one of those up down the road.

 

[MCMXI]

Is that ammo super sonic? If so, that probably doesn't help your groups.

It's SK Match which is subsonic.

A coworker bought the carbon sleeved barrel version which is the BXR002. He installed a Leupold 3-9x40mm scope that he had laying around and came over to my house this afternoon to zero and test. I was running an errand when he showed up but I had put a target up at 50 yards for him. When I got home I asked him how it was going and he mentioned that his eyes weren't as good as they used to be. I got behind his rifle, looked through the scope and the target was so blurred I had to laugh. His scope had no parallax adjustment and no adjustable objective so the target at 50 yards was far from clear. The Mark 4 on my BXR can focus down to 15 yards and when he looked at the target using my scope he was surprised by the clarity, so he's going to buy a better scope. He had some old Federal and CCI ammunition which didn't feed well. As the magazine round count decreased he'd get a jam with three or less rounds left. I tried his ammunition with my magazine that had worked flawlessly with SK and also had issues. I got some SK out of the house since it worked great for me this morning and his rifle/mag had no issues with it. His carbon sleeved barrel also shot very well and shows great potential.

 

[MCMXI]

@bannockburn, @d2wing and @Nature Boy, thanks very much. I'm really pleased with how the rifle looks, functions and shoots. I know that some don't like that the magazine won't drop out when the mag release is depressed but that's not a big deal for me. A bolt or last round hold open would be nice, but again not a deal breaker on this rifle.

 

[jmr40]

Nice looking rifle

 

[ThomasT]

@Ratshooter, thanks but I don't really know if that's considered to be ok, good or great performance for a semi-auto .22LR at 50 yards.

Thats excellent shooting for any 22 rifle and especially for a semi-auto 22. I'm not sure I would change anything on that gun. It looks like you have a winner on your hands already.

 

[Nature Boy]

That’s 10/10 headshots on (fill in your favorite rodent here)

 

[doubleh]

I don't know much about 10/22 triggers so what's the consensus on the best trigger? Volquartsen, Timney etc? I'd really like a two-stage trigger if possible, something like the Jewell AR trigger that I have in a S&W M&P 15-22 or the numerous Geiselle triggers that I have in AR15/AR308 rifles.

I have no experience with any of the triggers you listed but the Kidd is very highly rated among 10/22 shooters and that is what I went with. It is excellent and I believe it would be very hard for any other trigger to be better but that's just my opinion.

I wonder if Ruger will sue Bergara like they have TC.

 

[I6turbo]

Regarding triggers, I'm primarily a bolt action guy (rifle wise) and picky about good, light, 100% creep-free triggers. I sent the trigger from my 1966 model 10/22 trigger to Brimstone and had them perform their basic Tier 2 trigger work to hit the "sweet spot" (their description). It came back at 2.0 pounds and is completely creep free, very nice, and a GIGANTIC improvement over the factory trigger. http://brimstonegunsmithing.com/tier-2-intermediate-10-22-trigger-work/

 

[MCMXI]

I wonder if Ruger will sue Bergara like they have TC.

That's way above my pay grade and I'm certainly not a lawyer, but my rudimentary understanding of "Trade Dress" protections are based on a company trying trick a consumer into buying product B when they think they're buying product A. That clearly isn't the case here for the BXR or T/CR22, neither of which are branded, marketed or sold in such a way as to trick the consumer into thinking that they're buying a Ruger 10/22 . That said, I think it will result in more than a few sleepless nights for Bergara if Ruger's lawsuit is successful.

 

[MCMXI]

@doubleh and @I6turbo, thanks for the info on triggers. I'll do some digging.

 

[MCMXI]

I figured I need to buy myself a Christmas present so this afternoon I ordered a Kidd Innovative Design two-stage trigger. I opted for a black curved trigger, 2lb first stage/1lb second stage to be somewhat consistent with AI and Geissele triggers, the extended medium/target magazine release and .22LR hammer spring. I also ordered one of their bolt buffers. I'm looking forward to getting this trigger.

Thanks to @<*(((>< for the suggestion.

 

[MCMXI]

It was fairly calm this afternoon so I tried to chronograph the SK Match rounds I was shooting the other day with the intention of shooting at 100 yards and then 200 yards. Even with the accessory microphone the LabRADAR couldn't detect enough noise to get a reading so I didn't get any velocity data. That AAC ELEMENT 2 suppressor is quiet. I generated the elevation corrections shown below using Exbal and SK's bullet drop data for their Long Range Match ammunition. The actual vertical adjustments required this afternoon at 100 yards and 200 yards are shown in parentheses.

50 yards > 0.0 mil
100 yards > 1.8 mil (2.5 mil)
150 yards > 4.2 mil
200 yards > 6.9 mil (8.6 mil)
250 yards > 9.7 mil
300 yards > 12.8 mil
350 yards > 16.2 mil
400 yards > 19.7 mil

There's no danger of me winning anything based on the target below, but in my defense I did make some elevation corrections as I was shooting. I was holding 1 mil off to the left of the plate which measures 7-1/2" at the widest part. I wasn't even close with the 6.9 mil correction and couldn't see any trace or splash so had no idea where the bullets were going. By dumb luck I eventually hit the target and then was able to hit the plate at will. I probably missed three shots out of thirty five or more attempts once I had the elevation figured out. I'd really like to find a load that shoots 2 moa or better at 200 yards. Regardless, it was so much fun to hit this target with a .22LR and I want more.

200 yard target.

 

[MCMXI]

I stopped by the local Murdoch's store this afternoon and bought a 300 round box of CCI "AR Tactical" 40gr copper-plated round nose fodder that claims 1,200 fps but it didn't shoot well at all. I also bought a 100 round box of CCI 40gr standard velocity (1,070fps) that shot very well. At 50 yards it was comparable to the SK but way better at 100 yards. I was rushing a bit since I was on a lunch break, and I'm not trying to do much until the new Kidd trigger shows up, but I did want to see if a "cheap" ammo would shoot well. I don't know what happened with the one errant round or if it's even part of the 10 shot-group, but I'm very hopeful that this ammo is going to be good enough for what I want. It's a lot cheaper than the SK I was shooting. Those nine (or ten) shots are close to being inside a 1 moa group.

After shooting the group at 100 yards with 2.0 mil of elevation dialed in, I dialed in 7.0 mil of elevation and made a 200 yard first round hit on the steel target shown above. I followed up with four more hits on the plate but had no idea where I was hitting due to all of the hits from yesterday. It looks like this ammo matches the table I'd generated for the SK Long Range Match.

Next up is to swap out the Leupold for a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50mm and get the Kidd trigger installed.

CCI Standard Velocity 40gr at 100 yards.