I have got to get a 22 rimfire rifle to create more range time while keeping ammo cost in check. I want a heavy barrel 22 and am looking at the Bergara and the CZ 457 varmint model.

Any comments on Bergara rifles. I would normally look to buy American, but there is not a lot of choices around, and I do not want a 10/22

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

I’m a big fan of the CZ 457. Mine is a tack driver with the standard weight barrel. A very well made rifle. I have a Leopold 2-7x on it. I imagine the varmint version is even better. Sorry, I have no knowledge on the Bergara.

I really like my CZ models 455 and 457. We have a pretty serious rimfire league at the club. My own personal observation is that the accuracy of any premium rimfire is dependent upon your willingness to buy top tier ammo and lot test it. Of course when you get on this program the .22LR is no longer cheap to shoot.

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Another vote for the CZ. I have a 452 American and two 457s, a Varmint and Scout. You will be very pleased.

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SWCA #2922

I've been shooting in a 22 rifle league at my LGC for the last six years. Started with a 10/22 at 25 yards the first year and it shot pretty good. Second year moved to 50yards and the old 10/22 wasn't competitive. Bought a CZ 452 Varmint, it shot better but I was expecting more. Sold that and bought a Tikka TX1 which has been my most accurate 22rifle to date. Last year I bought the Bergara B14R with the carbon rapped barrel. I've tried numerous different ammo and have yet to find one I'm happy with. Don't get me wrong, I haven't given up on this rifle yet. I think it still needs more round down the tube. A friend of mine has the same gun and it's shooting light out. I really like the Bergara, sexy as all get out. Recommend the Tikka , it a real shooter with no frills. CZ are beautiful guns, can't knock em. On thing about 22 rifles, you can get a tack driver or a lemon. No matter the brand, you don't know until you shoot it. Also, thrown into all of that is finding the ammo that shoots the best in your particular rifle. Its not simple, but it's fun.

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My old Club has a very large 22 and 17 crowd. Lots of bench shoots at 50 and 100 yards. Most shoot CZ's No Begeras.

I have a CZ457AT1 with a Timney 12oz trigger and Bergera B14R with a Timney "The Hit" 8oz trigger. They both shoot way better than me, the B14R is not as picky with ammo. Both really like Eley Match but will also do very well with many other less expensive ammo.

Look for an older CZ 453 Varmint, heavy barrel and single set trigger!

I'm a big fan of CZs; mine are the older 452s and 453 models; in .22lr, .22 mag and .17hrm [ a 2008 453 varmint w/ fluted barrel] All have been capable of MOA even sub-MOA

I spent 8 years on my High School and College Rifle Teams.

I wish there was a quick fix for the Marlin 60 trigger. There is an accurate rifle in there trying to get out, but the trigger action is gritty and is extremely difficult to keep clean.

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Release the Kraken

You do not mention trigger pull weight in your post but if that is a concern M*Carbo has a spring kit for the Marlin model 60. I installed one on a model 60 I used to have and it reduced the pull weight by about half. Won't do anything for the gritty feel, but it made the rifle easier to shoot.

You can get some pretty good info at the "Rimfire Central Forum". Link below is the Bergara section. Don

Bergara | Rimfire Central Firearm Forum

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Laus Deo! <><

I use a Bergara B-14R for long range silhouette. It performs well out to 100 meters with most any ammo. Since we fire at 50, 100, 150 and 200 meters it's fed Eley Match. The rifle is plenty accurate at that distance with good ammo. The defect in the system is the shooter. All sorts of things go wrong in shooting 22's at distance from position inconsistencies to poor wind calls. I'm the weak link. That said I like the rifle, but have two caveats. I replaced the factory trigger with a Triggertech. You mentioned heavy barrel, so don't go for the carbon fiber wrapped one. Get the steel barrel. Mine is carbon fiber, but I hear steel barrels are more accurate. My beef is balance in offhand shooting. I thought the rearward center of mass would be best. But having hefted a B-14R with a steel barrel, I was wrong.

I have also used my CZ-452 Varmint in the same game. It's as accurate as my Bergara, but the stock isn't that great for the game I play. Of course, it's not the CZ-457 you mention but it speaks for CZ's quality.

I don't own or ever shot a Bergara in any chambering. I know a number of guys that have them and never heard a bad word about them.

For Ammo: My favorite is Eley Team EPS in the blue box. Out of my Anshutz 54 action Prone Rifle (circa 1966) it shot in the half inch range at 200 when I would do my job. It shot good in several target rifles and my good sporters!

I own a Kimber of Oregon 82 Varmint #133 of the first 250, it is fantastic, but not in production for a long time. So, my brother bought the successor, Kimber of America (Same guys as all the 1911's), Model 82 Varmint. Heavy fluted stainless barrel, laminated stock. He had difficulty spending money on quality ammo! However when we used my good Eley of a series that Federal no longer made, it shot just fine and his record is now 6 consecutive M&M's @ 100 yards! (My record is 7 consecutive M&M's at 200.) I have no idea how much of your money you want me to spend, but this is an American Made, High Quality, Magazine Fed and High Accuracy Adult Rifle. "Milk Carton" bulk ammo will get you Walmart results.

The cheapest "High Quality" ammo for 22's I found was in the 20teens, Aguila made a so called "Target Ammo: that the cases were primed by Eley and loaded in Mexico. In my Kimber Clackamas Government Target single shot, it did between 1/4 and 1/2 inch at 50 yards. I bought a case of it. 5000 rounds of medium quality ammo is way too much! So, I unloaded about 8 bricks by giving it to the 4-H range in Utica, Ohio.

Eley loads the best in the world, TENEX! I can't afford it; I buy 3 grades below that: Team in the Blue Box or Club in the Orange Box. They are the same except for the bullet. The Team has the EPS bullet (it has a little nipple for high ballistic co-efficient). The Club has a traditional Round Nose bullet. The EPS is great in single shot and bolt actions, the Club works in everything else.

RWS and Lapua make some super quality ammo also (I liked R-50 from RWS) but $35 a box of 50 before Covid, priced me out of the best Lapua!

A rifle not in current production is the Weatherby Mark XXII Bolt action. The barreled action is an Anschutz 64 and the stock is beautifully done by Weatherby. They are a traditional light barrel and shoot as good as any sporters in the world, so keep your eyes out for a used one, made in 22LR and 17 Mack2, 22 Mag and 17 HMR (Good ammo in any rimfire beside 22LR is very spotty! Hornady makes the best 17 HMR, but I had to test 5 different lots to find a lot that had no fliers! Then I bought about 4000 rounds of that lot!)

As you can tell. I believe that when you find something that works, buy all you can find!

Have Fun!

Ivan

If you don't mind a used rifle, why not a Remington 40X or 37 or a Winchester 52 (C, D, or E). The group shown was a five shot group with a measured center to center hits of 0.053" with iron sights.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

My goal is to find something newer and less costly. I used to have a 52D with 30X Unertl scope. Wish I still had it. There is good stuff around like CZ and Bergara. I just need to look more

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

I shoot RFBR matches at about 6K rounds annually.

For factory class the Bergara (steel barrel) and CZ 452, 455, 457’s are the top shooters.

I have this rifle set-up for unlimited. She’s a peach.






Pecked out on my iPhone.

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Death? Smile back...

That is Very nice!!

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

I had a Bergara BMR and it shot similar to my CZ's. I sold the BMR only because I already had a number of accurate 22LR's, Anschutz, Cooper, CZ, etc. and was just thinning the heard down some. I think you'll be happy with the CZ or Bergara.

You looking to buy a bergara and keep ammo cost in check ! Why not buy a Savage MKII BV or one of the other B* or B** models
I have a Savage BV with only a tuned acu-trigger now with a pull weight of 13oz . No mag issues ever some seem to have . Shoot .500 to .700 moa groups is more about the ammo you use but with some ammo changing ownership again and import tariffs ammo being available and expect ammo quality might be different from in the past .

I'm not really a match shooter or a range shooter do to what can be a waist of stand around time and seen I've seen club 22lr matches turn in to a piss'n contest about who won so I stopped going to clubs to shot . I can sit at home and ring 1" and 1.5" steels at 100 yards and 150 yards or visit a forestry range to shooting .

I'm still working thru some ammo bought by the cases of Federal 711b that I always found to be a good relaible ammo but now older ammo not newer stuff have a few bricks of discontinued federal 922a and sk rifle match bought by the case also back when Champion Choice was run by Hommer Person and his wife . What a wealth of info could be found threw those two folks .

The Savage MKII BV can still be bought in the mid 300 dollar range , then test ammo in a price range you can deal with .

Lets see some groups from all the rifles that have been discussed.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

This is a five shot group shot at our indoor range at 25 yards when sighting in my CZ455. Ammo was SK Standard Plus.

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My .02 based on limited experience with the models you mentioned. I am no fan of my Bergara. I made the mistake of buying the carbon wrapped barrel model. I have not been impressed. The CZs have a better reputation.

You did not mention the T1x, but I have one and know others who do also. I’ve never heard a complaint and I’m happy with mine. My rifle is the 20-inch version and is a field weight rifle, not a target gun.

I’d replace the Bergara with something else but I keep hoping I’ll find something it likes and shoots well. It’s a nicely designed rifle, but mine doesn’t shoot as well as it looks.

Long post incoming:

Our .22 rifles are our staple shooters for nearly every range trip. Before retiring I shot .22 BR with my club, but our new location doesn't have a BR match. We do have a 'Pig' match, where we shoot reduced size steel pigs at 200m, and my wife and I both shoot that match. It's very challenging!

I shoot a Tikka T1X and my wife shoots a CZ 457 Varmint Pro. Both are in KRG Bravo stocks, and the CZ has a Timney trigger. I recently bought a CZ 457 in .17HMR to shoot the pigs when the wind is blowing.

Tikka



T1X @ 50yds with CCI SV



T1X @ 50yds with SK STD



The T1X was my first 'precision' .22 rifle. I was really just looking for a suppressor host, but nothing was available at the time, and the LGS had a T1X on the rack, so I bought it. I was immediately impressed with the accuracy.

It's very good with CCI SV, and Norma Match 22. Groups are about the same, but IME the Norma has slightly less flyers and performs a little better at 200m where we shoot our pigs. The pic above is a practice target with the size pigs we shoot at 200m.

The factory stock was terrible, so I replaced it with a KRG Bravo. IMHO a good stock that you can dial in to fit you is critical to consistent performance with a rifle. The Bravo has a lot of great features at the price, and has worked very well for me. My Tikka still has the stock trigger, and it's still my preferred .22. It gets shot 100% suppressed with a Mask HD.


CZ 457 -



CZ 457 @ 50yd with CCI SV



The CZ is a solid performer. Ours likes CCI SV, which makes me happy because it works well in all my .22s so I have a lot of it. I replaced the original AT-One stock with the KRG Bravo to dial in the fit. I also added a Timney trigger. Interestingly, the CZ doesn't like my Mask HD suppressors, so we shoot it unsuppressed. One of these days, I'll get around to doing some more testing to try to figure that out.

The CZ does have the advantage of a better aftermarket than the Tikka, and barrels are easy to swap, which could be important if you're looking for that last 1-2%.

The CZ is primarily my wife's rifle at this point, and I haven't shot it months...

Ammo -

Ammo is the key to accurate .22 shooting. I have found CCI SV to be very good for the price point, but you will deal with 2-3 flyers every 15-20 rounds. Norma Tac-22 and Match 22 are about equivalent for accuracy, with the Match 22 having a slight edge with a smaller number of flyers. The Norma bullet has a better BC and performs marginally better at 200m for us.

You can really go off the deep end with match .22 ammo and spend up to $25-30 a box for the top level ammo. I did a bunch of testing when I was shooting 50m bench rest and decided the additional performance just wasn't worth the $$ for me for a 'fun' competition at 50m. I'm now looking into doing some more testing, because at 200m the difference is more significant. Of course, at the moment, there's not much ammo available! I can't even re-stock on Norma Match right now.

Bergara -

I don't own a Bergara .22. Amongst the shooters at our local range there are only 2-3 I know of and reports are mixed. The biggest 'advantage' of the Bergara is R700 compatibility, though the aftermarket for the CZ and Tikka have both grown quite a bit in the last few years.

I do have two centerfire Bergaras: a Premium in 6.5CM and a B-14 Ridge .223 I built for my wife. Both in KRG stocks with Triggertech triggers. The 6.5CM is a laser. The .223 is brand new, and I'm still testing ammo. The .223 replaced a post-bankruptcy Rem 700SPS that was not impressive. The Bergara is a much nicer rifle out of the box, and already shoots better, even though I'm less than 100 rounds in.

Bergara Premium 6.5CM



Bergara B14 .223



TL, DR -

I don't think you'd be at all disappointed in the CZ 457, but if I were to buy another rifle tomorrow, it would be another T1X. For me the only compelling reason to buy the Bergara is to get the R700 pattern compatibility.

Bergera B14R all 50 yards

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If I were going the CZ route I’d have to have a Mannlicher stock. Some European flair. Also I’ve seen some Ruger 77/22s that got tuned into tack drivers.

CZ 457AT1, all 50 yard

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I have a B-14 with heavy barrel. Excellent rifle, I've only shot SK rifle match which is very accurate.

All that being said, you won't go wrong with either one.

One thing that I have noticed is no one shoots with iron sights. Is this a lost art?

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

At our local range we have a 22 NRL and Long gong match every month. Many VUDUs and high end guns. But down around the $1000 range, most are Bergara and CZ547, with Bergara slightly edging out the CZs. I have a CZ547 MTR that I really like. I don't think you can go wrong with either.

I think many of us suffer from "Old eyes "!




Did 8 years of "irons" in High School and College at 50'

Today shoot mostly at 50 and 100yds.

I am 73 and I wear glasses. The sight picture is a bit harder to pick up at times. But it gives me immense satisfaction to shoot irons as well, if not better than most do scopes.
☺

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Most target 22 rifles these days aren't d&t for irons.
Most shooters coming in to today's 22 shooting sports would much rather bang steel out to 300 yards(NRL22, PRC22 and Long Gong) than shoot paper at 50 for score.

I enjoy the challenge of shooting irons, and we have a local 'Military' match that requires 'as issued' pre-1950 military rifles. I shoot a '96 Swedish Mauser, and can get very close to 1MOA at 100 yds. The aperture sight guys (Garands, 03-A3s, etc.) have a leg up on those of us with open, barrel mounted rear sights. Still, I need full lens readers to see a sharp front sight, and I'm still messing with front sight heights to get the sight picture I need.

For shooting precision .22s at anything beyond 50 yds, I prefer a telescopic sight. I don't think I could shoot our 200m .22 match with irons... the target (~5"x8") would be nearly invisible, and the kind of wind adjustments necessary would be impossible to judge.

Pete - A couple thoughts. I have been "into" .22 rf competition shooting for the last couple years. Mostly "ARA" 50 yard bench. I have noted that some of the guys shooting the Bergara's built on the model 700 platform have feeding issues. A known issue. The non-cf wrapped barreled versions seem to shoot more accurately. Bergara can make a fine rifle - My Bergara chassis rifle in 6.5cm is probably the most accurate rifle I own. I just haven't seen it carry over to the RF lineup?

Personally, the CZ 457 for the win. My CZ 457 AT1 is a solid 1/3 inch, 5 shot group at 50 yards gun, and often times a little better. Mine loves SK Rifle Match ammo. Smooth action, and great feeding reliability. Replace the rifles trigger spring with the "Yodave" version for a crisp 12 oz trigger.

You mentioned the Varmint version. Its a nice rifle, but for only a couple hundred more, the "MTR" version has a full bench style stock, and a special match grade barrel with a tight match chamber - a step up from the already impressive standard CZ rimfire barrels. It is rare to find a CZ that is not a shooter. Styling is odd, but you might like a AT1 version like mine with the adjustable comb and LOP - Easy to adjust the rifle to fit you just right.

Larry

I don't shoot a lot of center fire any more. I do shoot a Swede CG-63 at 100 yards with irons, but those are with Swedish aperture sights.

I do shoot various sized bullseye at 50 yards. This one shown is a 10 meter Air Rifle target at 50 Yards. It is with irons and is five shots. You can see what size the bullseye is by the size of the nickel.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

The chances of getting a great shooting cz with beautiful wood under factory mud finish is high.Some bergaras shoot very good but i don't care for their magazines and how they ride my shooting bags.You said you don't want a 10/22 but if you sent one to randy at CPC to work over you would keep it.TX1 is a great shooting gun but i like wood stocks and is expensive to replace.

Except if a person can't shoot well with a scope, what chance do you think they would have with iron sights?

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Tom,

About half of the folks I see at the range "can't hit a bull in the rear end with a bass fiddle" at 50 yards with irons or a scope. They buck, jerk, flinch and some other things. It is even worse on the pistol range.

My initial training was by my Grandfather. He taught me the fundamentals of gun safety and marksmanship. He then handed me an iron sighted Savage Model 7 and taught me some more about sight alignment and trigger control. After that session on paper, he threw several tin cans (long enough ago the soda can were not aluminum) out in the impact area (read trash dump on the farm). He then had me shoot at the cans and watched until I hit the can with every shot for 10 shots (a full magazine).

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

not one mention of the fabulous Remington 541T ???

Randy

Never shot a 541T. I have used the 40X and Model 37, they are good. I have used the 513T and while not up to the big boys, with a good trigger yanker using it, it will hold it's own. Thanks for the heads up on the 541T.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

From what I see, they are permanently closed. Too bad, you peaked my interest.

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

That is bad news cpc has closed i had a lvt ready to send him.i have shot two b14s at the range and get all 5 five touching groups often with SK and lapau ammo.If it is a true rem 700 copied action i guess a lot could be done with that.I have been pleased with several 452 457 americans and varmints for 25 years and run into a lot of people that say the same.