Question: Mark, BPI makes Bergara interchangeable barrels for the CVA Apex and the Thompson/Center Encore. What are the most-popular Bergara barrels that hunters often select, besides the .50-caliber muzzleloader barrels that come with both these guns?
Hendricks: I’m not in the sales department, so I don’t have the exact numbers, but my impression is that for smaller game, the most popular is the Bergara .223 barrel for the smaller-caliber rifle, since the ammunition is inexpensive and plentiful, and it’s a very-versatile cartridge. For larger game, the most-popular add-on Bergara barrel is the .308, because the ammunition is reasonably priced, it’s very versatile, and it has a recoil that most shooters can tolerate well. The .308 is getting a lot of publicity from the tactical shooters in the military, and people have a lot of confidence in it. For big game, we sell a number of the .300 Bergara Win Mag barrels. All three barrels are interchangeable with the CVA Apex and the Thompson/Center Encore. I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention the .243 barrel, which is excellent for centerfire rifles and for shooting deer at close range. It’s a great caliber for a young deer hunter to start with, because of low recoil, inexpensive shells and accuracy. A hunter can use the .243 for modern rifle season, if he or she is a two-season hunter (blackpowder season and modern-gun season).
Question: Don’t most muzzleloader hunters hunt two seasons to get a longer season and be able to take more deer. Hasn’t this caused much of the demand for the interchangeable centerfire rifle barrels?
Hendricks: Yes. By using an interchangeable barrel, the hunter can buy one frame and have a multitude of barrel choices for whatever game and season he wants to hunt. The scopes attach to the barrels, so when the hunter changes from blackpowder season, he can remove the scope off his blackpowder rifle, put that same scope on his centerfire rifle and, in most cases, have the same aim. Bergara has a variety of barrels for the hunter to choose from for any type of rifle hunting he wants to do, from the blackpowder barrels to the .300 Win Mag and many calibers and barrels in-between. A growing number of hunters are choosing the rifles that can accommodate additional barrels. With this system, a hunter can take one gun with a Bergara barrel in place for hunting and a second Bergara barrel with him or her to hunt other game.
Editor’s Note: Mike Bellm of Mike Bellm TC’s who has spent more than three decades specializing in precision chamber work, has been using the Bergara Barrel made for the Thompson/Center Encores to help improve their accuracy.
Question: Mike
why did you decide to put the barrels made by Bergara, on Thompson/Center frames?
Bellm: One of the reasons that I put the Bergara Barrels on the Thompson/Center frames is because the Bergara Barrels have a more-favorable price point than other barrels made for the T/C Encore. I’ve been doing barrel work on rifles for 33 years and making firearm systems as a whole function the way they are supposed to function. I really like the fact that the Bergara Barrels on average are much straighter than other barrels. I think they’re straighter than the T/C barrels, and I also like that the uniformity of the group diameter is much-more consistent. I think the Bergara Barrels address these issues much better than the T/C barrels do.
Question: How much more accurately can you make a Thompson/Center Encore shoot by replacing the factory barrel with a Bergara Barrel?
Bellm: I’m not saying that the T/C barrels can’t be made to shoot straighter. But regardless of how well manufactured a barrel is, if you put that barrel in an imperfect system that’s loose at the hinge, or the lock-up’s not good and tight – the gun’s won’t be as accurate as it can be.
I have a continuing and ongoing relationship with the BPI (Blackpowder Products, Inc.) engineers in Spain. The folks at BPI here in the States, is very experienced, knowledgeable and technically oriented in all aspects of guns and how they should function properly. When I point-out to him a change that will make the Bergara Barrels fit better on the T/C Encores, he’ll listen and work with me to incorporate those changes into the Bergara Barrels. The simple answer to your question, “Why did I start putting Bergara Barrels on the T/ C Encore?” is that the people at BPI work with me to make their Bergara Barrels fit the very best they possibly can fit on the T/C Encore frame. I’ve found BPI to be very diligent in trying to make the very-best product they can for what the consumers are willing to spend.
The very-first version of the Bergara Barrel for the T/C Encores was produced in 2006. BPI started with Ed Shilen as the company’s first adviser, which I thought was very smart on BPI’s part. One of the most-renowned rifle barrel makers in this country, Ed focused on bolt-action guns. Due to Ed’s experience and knowledge, BPI was able to blend the best of what’s been done in the fixed-barrel rifles and brought that knowledge and experience to the break-open interchangeable barrel systems. I told the folks at BPI that, “You can make a perfect barrel as perfect as manufacturing will allow you to, but that barrel’s not going to be any better than a reject barrel, if the entire rifle system that you put it on has problems. This is what my years of experience working with T/C break-open rifles have shown me – certain inherent problems with a system will keep a barrel from shooting well, such as the hinge pins. My company provides oversized hinge pins to give a tighter fit. To tighten-up the barrel, you’ve got to have good lock-up at the back of the gun and good trigger pull and be conscious of head space. Then you have to be extremely conscious of how these systems are bedded- especially how the forearm attaches to the barrel. Often if you take a stock forehand and screw it on, it may bend or tweak the barrel. That one screw can cause a rifle that’s capable of shooting sub-MOA groups to maybe shoot 3- or 4-inch groups, instead of grouping nice and tightly. With all of the emphasis being put on high velocity, Ultra mags and short mags that hunters are starting to choose, they’re hoping to place a shot that ranges from 400 to 500 yards. However, if you can’t place the shot in the animal, all your bullet will do is dig a deeper furrow when you miss.
Therefore, focusing the attention of the rifle on accuracy rather than distance is very important. If the rifle’s not shooting accurately, then how far the bullet will travel when you pull the trigger and how much knock-down power the bullet has doesn’t matter. Regardless of the caliber you shoot, the forehand of the gun and how it attaches to the barrel can play a major role in accuracy. To sum up, I like the Bergara Barrel on a Thompson/Center Encore, because I believe that the Bergara Barrel is the best factory-made interchangeable barrel I can put on the T/C Encore. However, if we don’t address the other small details on the Encore platform, the Bergara Barrel can’t perform as well as it’s been designed to perform. Bottom line is if you put a perfect barrel on an imperfect system, you still won’t get good results.
Question: Mark, BPI makes Bergara interchangeable barrels for the CVA Apex and the Thompson/Center Encore. What are the most-popular Bergara barrels that hunters often select, besides the .50-caliber muzzleloader barrels that come with both these guns?