Single Shot Muzzleloading Rifles Blog

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.