During the course of my researching Begara, the history of the brand and the parent company – Dikar S Coop, I encountered this very interesting tour of the Dikar S Coop factory in Bergara, Spain. It was conducted in 2019 and is a chance for you to see some of their barrel, bolt and receiver making plus assembly and testing.
In both videos, you can see in that they have invested in modern CNC manufacturing and have quality control steps integrated with manufacturing including visual inspections, go-no jigs and testing for run out.
They show their process for making B14 barrels. Here, they are getting ready to do button rifling.Here’s a screen shot of the CNC milling of a B14 receiver body.In addition to the manufacturing, you can see them assembling receivers.Here, the gentleman is assembling a B14 Wilderness.All rifles are proof tested. The person on the left is a rerpesentative of the Spanish proof house – he’s inspecting a casing.The tested rifles are packaged and then stored in the warehouse to await loading into containers.
Now, watch the video!
This first video was produced by Bergara and was the source for the above photos:
Please note, all photos are screenshots from the video and remain the property of their respective owners. They are used solely to highlight the video.
A Second Video From 2022
This second video was produced by Pedro Ampuero in 2022 and is also very cool. I’d recommend watching it as well for further insights. It is just over 20 minutes long so he could get into more detail.
Summary
I hope you enjoy these videos as much as I did. I’ve learned a great deal about Bergara over the past year and the fine barrels and rifles they make and wanted to share these.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
After going over my new Bergara B14 HMR, I realized there was actually nothing I needed to change in the base package itself. You need to understand, it is very rare that I don’t fiddle with a firearm and change things. The B14 HMR is a hidden gem in my opinion. A shooter wanting sub-MOA accuracy can buy one of these and then add the muzzle brake, bipod (if they want one) and a scope of their choice.
You’ll notice the brake and scope mirror what I added to my Aero Solus – I wanted to be able to compare the two rifles side by side. I always want a bipod option and that required a different tact with the B14 HMR than the Solus given the different chassis designs.
To do the work, I mainly used my Tipton Ultra Standing Gun Vise. If you need a free standing rifle vise, the Tipton is solid.
Muzzle Brake
I went with a Precision Armament Hypertap. It can cut felt recoil by up to 88% with little to no impacts on accuracy. Click here to visit their site.
I really like the Hypertap brakes.The Hypertap has the big rear-angled exhaust ports to push the rifle forward and offset the recoil. The integral locking collar on the right allows you to time (rotate) the brake you want and secure it by tightening down that rear nut. The “dimples” you see on the body are locations you could drill additional gas ports to customize the venting of gasses to offset vertical forces.
Bipod
I like Picatinny rail mounts for bipods and the Bergara stock did not have one. I installed an Atlas BT17 4″ rail adapter that goes under the existing dual sling swivel studs to create a solid mounting point. This then enabled me to use an Atlas bipod.
You could install a bipod that mounts on the sling swivels if you wanted. In my case, I prefer having a rail on the bottom so I used an Atlas BT17 4″ rail adapter that uses the sling swivels. The rear slot gives you some “wiggle room” to allow for different distances between the first and second sling studs.
I haven’t settled on which exact bipod to use yet but it will be one of my Atlas units – either a BT65 or BT46 with an American Defense Manufacturing (ADM) clamp.
Base, Rings & Scope
The Bergara is drilled and tapped for a scope mount and uses the same pattern as a Remington 700 short action receiver. I installed a Seekins 0-MOA aluminum rail segment to accomodate Vortex Precision Rings and a Vortex Strike Eagle Scope.
I was working on the Aero Solus and Bergara B14 HMR back-to-back and bought the scopes and rings at the same time. The Bergara needed a mount and I bought a Seekins 1-piece 0-MOA Picatinny rail base. Vortex gave me a pleasant surprise in the box – a bag of their own Columbian Supreme coffee – it was surprisingly good.My current go-to bit set is from Dewalt. I used a Wheeler for a while and slowly the most used hex head bits started rounding over so I bought this kit. It’s very nicely done plus I can use the bits in my Vortex torquing screwdriver.Installing the scope mount. I applied blue loctite to the screws before installation. The longer screws go to the back – check that the bolt moves freely before you call it done.I used a Vortex torquing screw driver (they refer to it as a wrench) to finish installation. It’s served me well for years and I always return the torque to zero to unload the spring in the driver. There are a ton of look-alike knock offs on Amazon. You have no guarantee of their accuracy or how they will hold up over time.I really like Vortex Precision Rings. You can really dial in the height you want to get the scope close to the bore but also allow the bolt handle to clear the scope. By the way, a huge difference you will see witth quality rings is that they will give you torque specs because the material can handle it. Cheap rings and the marvel mystery metal they are made from are a “best guess” in terms of torque and often strip out. Quality rings also are true with the tube to correctly hold the scope.To this day, I always enjoy opening a new scope and seeing it. This is a Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25x56mm Front Focal Plane (FFP) scope with 34mm tube. The images are bright and crisp and it has a cool MRAD reticle.I use a Wheeler Scope Level tool kit to make sure the scope and reticle are perpinduclar to the bore. The Wheeler unit is the easiest model I have found. There are cheap knock offs out there but I have no idea of their quality. I’d recommend sticking with the Wheeler unit.I like using a Wheeler professional laser bore sight. I have one with a green laser but you may find the red laser model available at a very decent price. It attaches via a magnet to the muzzle and while it is quick to attach, the end of the muzzle must be cut perpendicular to the bore. I’ve found it doesn’t work well on barrels that have the muzzle sloppily cut or muzzle devices that aren’t true to the bore or unevenly machined as well.
Plano All Weather Hard Case
I’m a fan of Plano’s All Weather hard cases. Maybe you haven’t encountered them but they are solid, waterproof, and have pluckable foam so you can easily custom fit whatever firearm(s) you want to store.
It’s a big case for sure. ID is 51.5x14x5.5 inches. OD is 53.5x17x7 inches.The pluckable foam makes customization easy and there are keys for the locking latches.I lay my rifles on the foam and then pluck out the sections until I get the fit I want.Once I get the rifle situated, I’ll then do whatever other “pockets” I need for magazines, ammo, etc. In general, I like to keep the weapon away from the edges as much as I can to ensure protection. Once everything is done, I spray the bottom of the pluckable foam layer (it is removable) and then spray it with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to lock it in place.
Result
Here’s the rifle with the muzzle brake, bipod rail adapter, and Vortex scope. Note the three spacers to the left of the recoil pad and the adjustable cheek piece is raised up just a tad.A tad closer view of the scope.Here’s the rifle laying in the other direction. I find the brake design intriguing with it’s big ports and the ability to fine tune.
Summary
The base Bergara B14 HMR is a solid rifle to then do the final touches on. I added the things I like – the brake, bipod adapter and scope. With that done, it was ready for the range.
I hope this helps you out.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
In a recent post, I gave some background on Bergara and as mentioned, after learning more, I did go back to Michigan Gun Exchange and buy the Bergara B14 HMR.
The B14 HMR is made in Spain in a modern factory with CNC machines and careful quality control. This results in consistent parts with fairly tight tolerances – certainly better than years ago when parts still required a great deal of hand fitting.
With the Bergara B14, you are getting a receiver that has the same footprint as Remington 700 short action receivers. Bergara makes their own by the way plus one of their high quality button rifled barrels.
Bergara’s Performance Trigger is quite nice. It is set at 2.8 pounds at the factory and is adjustable from 2.8-4.4 pounds via an adjustment screw. I have run really light triggers in the past but 2.8 pounds is in my sweet spot and it breaks nicely when pulled.
The HMR stock has an aluminum chassis that stock is then formed around. This means the receiver has a solid platform that is not going to flex or warp.
One of the things I like about the stock is that it can be adjusted to fit the shooter and the “bottom metal” meaning the floor plate area, supports the use of an AICS-style magazine. This magazine design started with Accuracy International in their Chassis System ( hence “AICS”) and now a number of makers produce that pattern inclduing Magpul.
The base rifle comes in at 9.5 pounds and is 40 inches overall – bear in mind there are spacers in the recoil pad so between that and if you install a muzzle device, that overall length can vary.
What does it look like out of the box?
Not to be funny but what you get is a base bolt action platform that you then customize. Now you are getting a jump start in terms of having a really good stock and pretty decent trigger right out of the box.
Let’s look at some photos:
It comes in a box with a nice secure molded liner that protects everything. It looks like many other bolt action rifles albeit with a cool stock.The stock design is very well thought out and fit me very well.This is an interesting view of the bolt face. You can see the big ejector and the extractor claw off to the left plus the firing pin hole. What you also ought to notice are the wear marks on the bolt lugs. This bolt has two lugs – the protrusions on the left and the right. When you push the bolt in and then bring the bolt handle down, these lugs are travelling in the receiver into a locked position that then withstands the enormous pressure of the cartridge when it is fired. The wear marks are showing the contact points where the bolt is rubbing on the receiver as it goes into the locked position and also when it is unlocked. How well the receiver, lugs and bolt body “fit” each other contribute to how smooth the action feels. Also, the more consistent the lock up, the better the repeatable accuracy is.This is the back underside of the bolt assembly. We are looking at the firing pin to the left and the Bergara is designed to cock on open, meaning that as you open the bolt, the firing pin is pulled back and spring compressed. You’ll note there is some debris here that needs to be cleaned up. Even so, it was pretty smooth right out of the box. Scott had the rifle on display so there’s no guessing how many times the action was cycled – at least a hundred of times probably – before I bought it. Also, note the oversized bolt knob. The larger size makes manipulating the bolt easier.The receiver comes drilled and tapped for whatever Remington short action scope mount you want to use. The bolt release is sticking out at the rear, closest to us. The left close to the “B-14” in the photo is the safety lever.It comes with a very decent thick recoil pad on the far right. The black “discs” are spacers that you can add or remove to adjust the scope to your desired length of pull.Protected by a muzzle cap are the 5/8″-24 TPI threads. This is a very common thread size for .308 muzzle devices and gives you a ton of options.
Summary
I’m going to wrap this post up at this point. The base Bergara B14 HMR is a very nice rifle – sub MOA guarantee, good barrel, action was pretty smooth, decent trigger and a very slick stock. It definitely gave me a starting platform to build on and a rifle I wholeheartedly recommend. In the next post, I’ll tell you about what I added.
I hope this helps you out.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
We visited a family member in Alfonso, Cavite, in the Philippines. Her home has a small garden in the back filled with various fruit trees and she insisted we take some fruit with us. Part of what caught my eye was the machete being used. That you can see above.
I turned out that her husband enjoyed making knives before he passed away. He shaped the steel, made the handles and the wood sheaths. I wish I could have taked to him.
The handle was about 8″ long and the blade is about 12″ long. This side of the handle still has the ferrule to keep the wood from splitting. The blade does have a sickel shape and the cutting edge was facing me (downwards in this photo). Any steel surface wants to rust in the Philippes. It’s due to humidity and salt in the air.On this side, the ferrule is gone. The handle didn’t have a forward taper but he did have a slight bulge at the front to help with gripping the blade and not sliding forward onto the blade.The handle had cracked and been glued at some point. The blade thickness is a tad under an 1/8th inch.
That is the knife they use for everyday tasks. When they heard I am interested in knives and used to make them, they brought out two the husband made that they keep indoors.
This knife immediately caught my eye.He ahd braided string to make a neck strap when climing trees and the overall color was very nice. It would fully seat in the sheath – I didn’t realize it was partly out when I was snapping photos.The handle was about 6″ and he would taper the handle down slightly as he went forward. This knife was in much better shape than the first and you can just see the silver ferrule where the handle transitions to the blade.My best guess is that he differentially tempered the blade by first tempering the blade and then pouring hot water on the edge. The greyish discoloring is the telltale sign. It’s not consistent but clearly it has held up over time. The blade shows marks from plenty of sharpening.This blade is right arond an 1/8th inch or maybe a tad thicker. The handle had cracked a bit.His work on the sheaths was exemplery. He cut the two halves, carved the channel he needed to hold the blade, glued and then clamped them together. I wish I had a good photo of the side – you have to really look for the seam where the two haves come together to find it.
This third knife, I didn’t think we’d get to see it. The blade had rusted into the sheath. My older relative went into her house and came back with it separated. She’d used a small hammer to tap it out – she’s in her 70s and knows how to fix things “old school”. She wanted me to be able to see it.
I’m glad we could see this one, The handle is about 6″ long and the blade is about 8-9″. He had clearly upped his game both in terms of the handle and the sheath. The blade had a bit of a recurve grind also. My guess is that someone else made the ad hoc sling.. Odds are they put it away wet too and it rusted.This side of the blade did show some forging marks. I did recommend to the relative to brush off the rust as best she could and apply a little bit of oil to preserve the blade. We weren’t there long enough or I would have done it.This bade was also about an 1/8th inch thick. Note the slight crack in the handle. The ferrule is still there.
Summary
We were only able to stay for about an hour and really appreciated their sharing the blades with me. I truly wish I could have met their maker but in many respects he lives on with them and his family.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
To be honest, Bergara wasn’t even on my radar until the Summer of 2023. I was talking to my good friend, Scott Igert, who, along with his wife Alicia, own Michigan Gun Exchange, about a slick looking bolt rifle he bought for inventory to sell – it was a Bergara B14 HMR. I’d not heard of the brand before and he told me they were known for their barrels. If I had heard of Bergara before then, I really hadn’t paid attention and what was in front of me was a very nicely done bolt gun with a sub-Minute of Angle (MOA) guarantee.
The Bergara B14 HMR looked and felt good – nice trigger, smooth action and shouldered well. My only problem was that I knew nothing about them so I didn’t buy it and decided I better do some digging. What I found out was impressive and want to share it – by the way, I did go back and buy the rifle a few weeks later.
Corporate and Brand Structure
Like many arms companies these days, understanding the organizational and brand structure around Bergara took some research. Bergara is basically a brand owned by Dikar S Coop of Spain who is owned by Mondragon. Let me show you a chart to better explain this – click on the diagram to see a full size copy:
That diagram is the best I can come up with after reading Mondragon, Dikar S Coop and BPI Outdoor websites, 3rd party stories, etc. If anyone from BPI or Dikar want to email me some corrections, I’d very much welcome them.
Let’s Look At Each
Mondragon Corporation – Books could be written about this firm and their cooperative business model – I can only summarize a tiny bit. Mondragon was founded in 1956 in Mondragon, Spain. Today, Mondragon is the seventh largest corporation in Spain (based on asset turnover) and is a worker cooperative [Click here for a ton of webpages that cover their “co-op” model in more detail]. In 2024, it had over 70,000 workers, 30,660 in the Basque Country, 29,340 in the rest of Spain and around 10,000 abroad. It has four broad categories of business – finance, industrial/equipment (I’ve seen this group mentioned three different ways – industrial, equipment and manufacturing), retail, and knowledge. To me, I think of them as a holding company with a very interesting set of management principles.
Dikar S Coop – Is a cooperative owned by Mondragon Corporation. It’s part of the industrial/equipment group. Dikar S Coop focuses on sporting goods. It was formed by the merger of two Spanish gunmakers in 1969 Mendi S Coop (shotguns) and Jukar (muzzle loaders). Jukar was looking for access to the US market and Mendi mainly sold there. It joined Mondragon in 1991. In 2003, Dikar bought BPI Outdoors who was their largest barrel customer at that time. Today, Dikar it has over 300 people and markets in 45 countries. Note, their website links to online stores for Quake and Bergara direcly.
Dikar Portugal – Launched in 2003 initially to produce products for Quake Industries. There are current references to them making products for Bergara, CVA and Quake.
Bergara – the brand was launched in 2010 initially focused on barrels and introduced rifles and accessories to the US market in 2015. Within five years, Bergara sales exceeded the other brands. Note, the Dikar website is ambiguous but I think they mean within five years after the introduction to the US market. What I find interesting is their early emphasis on producing high quality barrels. They actually retained Ed Shilen, the brains behind Shilen custom barrels, to help them understand the process and methods behind quality barrels. While you may know Bergara for their rifles, they make a ton of different barrels for other big name companies.
Quake Industries – while focused on the American market, Quake products are sold in 45 countries. They make various accessories for shooters including bags, belts, optics covers, staps/slings and more.
BPI Outdoors – Black Powder Inc (BPI)was founded in 1999 and bought Connecticut Valley Arms (CVA) that same year. BPI Outdoors is directly owned by Dikar S Coop and isn’t surprising given Dikar’s history of muzzleloaders. As of September 2024, they employee about 75 people in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
CVA – is the #1 brand of muzzle loader rifles in the US. In 2020, they entered the centerfire market. They did get a black eye with a barrel quality problem in 1995 and 1996 model years but that was before BPI bought them in 1999. My understanding is that Bergara makes the CVA barrels now.
PowerBelt – is a leading brand of muzzle loader ammunition launched in 2002.
Durasight – is a brand of sights, scope bases and rings for CVA firearms launched in 2005.
Bergara Custom Rifles – In 2012 BPI hired retired USMC Msgt Dan Hanus. Mr. Hanus was schooled and then led the USMC’s Precision Rifle Section in Quantico, VA. He then brought in a few more builders he knew plus BPI invested in CNC machines for them to use. Their custom rifles were almost immediately adopted by a number of Georgia SWAT teams. If I had $5-6,000 + money for a comparable optic, I’d sure get in line for one of their BCR19 Heavy Tactical rifles.
Bergara Academy – they offer long-range shooting classes in Montana and Wyoming. Small class sizes and all-inclusive pricing makes their offerings very interesting. [Read that as “I would go in a heartbeat if I could afford it!”]
Summary
You’d think “Who is Bergara?” would get a simple answer. I guess it depends on where you stop but I learned quite a bit. For example, I had no idea that Bergara started with barrels and that partly explains why my B14 HMR was so accurate. I also didn’t know about the business model set forth by Mondragon.
In short, there is a lot of experience behind Bergara not to mention capital for innovation and expansion. I also think there is a lot of good momentum pushing them forward and we will see more and more from them.
I hope this helps you out.
References
This post took some digging so I want to provide the source pages in case you are interested:
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
In my last post, I mentioned my disappointment that the Kinetic Research Group (KRG) Bravo chassis that Aero Precision sells with some of their Solus bolt rifle offerings is not truly bipod ready. In my opinion, Aero should either have discosed that the stock isn’t bipod ready and/or given an option during the purchase of the Solus to buy one of the models of spigots that KRG offers. Okay, that’s water under the bridge. I want to make this post about adding a spigot to a Bravo.
It’s time for me to explain what I am talking about – a spigot is an attachment point that extends forward past the front end of the stock where a bipod, and sometimes other accessories, can be attached.
In the case of the Bravo, a spigot will connect to the aluminum chassis and both move the bipod mounting point forward and provide an extremely secure mount directly to the chassis.
Nostalgia Time
The first time I encountered a spigot was with Versa-Pod bipods. It’s been so long, I can’t recall if I found out about Versa-Pods and then bought an Accuracy International Chassis System (AICS) for my Remington 700 XCR LR or it was the other way arround.
You can see the spigot sticking out of the front of the AICS – in this case it is an adapter to use a Versa-pod bipod.
I don’t really recall when but at some point I moved away from the Versa-Pods mainly because I didn’t like the rotation around the spigot unless you really cranked down the locking knob. These days, my go-to bipods are Atlas models.
Back to KRG Spigots
KRG literally has a whole page of different spigots. There really are three factors that distinguish them – whether it is an ARCA pattern, how far forward you want the mounting point and what all you want to attach.
I’ll be honest – I actually had to call KRG to figure out what I needed. The customer service person I talked to was great and patiently explained the pros and cons of each based on what I needed:
I did not need to connect an ARCA device, such as a tripod. Since I did not need ARCA this also ruled out their really long spigot.
I only needed a bipod mount. Their normal spigot provides all kinds of attachments for rails, QD studs, night vision, etc.
Ok, no ARCA and just a bipod. That pointed me to the Minimalist spigot. The Minimalist moves the mount closer to the bore – which means you can get lower all things being equal. It also moves the attachment about five inches forward.
One thing with the Minimalist – it does not come with a rail section. You can either use the polymer one that came with your stock or buy an aluminum section from them. There rails sit flat as they not have the typical M-Lok boss on the back. This also means you can’t use a common M-Lok rail.
Your other option is to bolt an Atlas bipod or a Harris bipod they sell directly to the spigot. I like using a rail because I can pair it with an American Defense Manufacturing (ADM) quick release lever and have the ability to quickly take the bipod off if I don’t need it. For example, if I am shooting from a bench rest.
How to install the Minimalist spigot
If you can turn a screwdriver, you can install the spigot has there are just a few steps:
Remove the bottom chassis cover by removing eight bolts
Screw the spigot into place – use blue/medium thread locker on the bolts
Apple blue/medium strength threadlocker to each bolt and screw the rail segment onto the spigot – assuming you go that route
Apply blue/medium strenth thread locker to each bolt and screw the bottom cover back on
It’s nice when something literally is that easy.
Remove the 8 screws that hold the cover on the chassis’ backbone. Note, the rear two are longer than the others.The spigot will screw on in the front.This is the Minimalist spigot that bolts right into place.The machining is very well done. The holes all line up and it’s just a matter of screwing it together.Apply medium strength thread locker to the screws they provide. Note the holes used above. The forward outermost holes in this photo are used to secure the cover.In my case, I screwed in the rail section after applying medium strength thread locker to the screws.Apply blue/medium strength threadlocker to the screws and install them. This is a polymer cover you are installing and do not need a lot of torque.. Bring it down snug/firm and let the threadlocker do its job.This is an Atlas BT65-LS17 bipod. The BT65s are great rigid bipods that don’t pan left and right. It uses an ADM LS17 quick release clamp to secure quickly to rails. If I had wanted it, I could have ordered the BT65 without the clamp and installed it directly to the spigot. Due to all of the counterfiet Atlas bipods that are out there, I buy mine directly from AccuShot. I’d recommend you do that or buy them from a reputable dealer. Avoid buying an Atlas model from eBay like the plague.The result is incredibly solid. If I had known how nice this setup was, I would have paid for it from the start.The ADM LS-17 quick release clamp does a great job holding the Atlas BT65 solidly in place.Here’s a view of the whole Solus Bravo .308 with the spigot and Atlas BT65-LS17 bipod.
Summary
Okay, I was starting to like the Bravo chasis more and more. The Minimalist spigot is absolutely worth it. You can then either mount your bipod directly or via a Picatinny rail section like I did.
Dear Aero – hint, hint – I would have paid for the spigot in a heartbeat had I known how solid it is and what a stable platform it can enable.
To anyone reading this who has a Bravo chasis – adding a spigot is very much worth it. I’m honestly glad I did.
I hope this helps you out.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
Most of my time is spent working on ARs, AKs, and various Pistol Caliber Carbines (PCCs). Once in a while, I get a hankering for a precision rifle and take the plunge … in this case two plunges, an Aero Solus .308 with a 20″ M24 profiled barrel plus a Bergara B14 HMR also in .308. This post will focus on the Solus.
I was customizing a Zastava M77 designated marksman’s rifle (DMR) and then a sales email showed up from Aero Precision with a really good sale on the Aero Solus Bravo. Well, I decided to do some more digging to learn about the features:
You can get it in .308, 6mm or 6.5 Creedmor – I opted for .308 as I have plenty of match ammo for that caliber. Everything below is about the .308 20″ Bravo just to be clear. The Creedmor chamberings have a few differences such as barrel length.
Aero Precision makes the receiver and bolt
The receiver is patterned after a Remington 700 short action and is made from 416 stainless
The bolt is a 3-locking lug design, has a 60 degree throw and dual ejectors. It also cocks on open.
A 20 MOA 1913 Picatinny scope rail is integral with the receiver – no need to buy something there
Ballistic Advantage, a sister company to Aero, makes the barrel
The barrel is a 20 inch heavy M24 profile with a 1:10 twist, honed and lapped
The barrel is threaded 5/8-24 and comes with a protective muzzle nut
The trigger is made by TriggerTech, who I really like
And the unit on sale that I bought has a stock is the Bravo chassis system from Kinetic Research Group (KRG). It looks like a stock but an aluminum chasis is under the skin.
The stock has M-Lok slots in it for accessores – but I do have an issue and will mention it below – it is honestly not bipod ready as delivered.
The stock accomodates AICS-pattern magazines and comes with a 5-round Magpul P-Mag.
The base weight is around 9.6-10 pounds depending on the specification sheet you read – there is a lot of substance to the rifle – especially given the M24 barrel profile
Each rifle has a sub-MOA guarantee
The Solus was designed to give the common man an affordable entry-level precision rifle. I’m just fine with that because the only Accuracy International product I could ever afford was a chasis system that I dropped a Remington .300 Win Mag LR XCR barreled action in.
In 2011, I dropped a .300 Win Mag Remington XCR LR barreled action in an AICS chassis. That’s the closest I ever got to an expensive precision rifle. I must say, I’ve had some great rifles since that did not break the bank from Bergara, Ruger, Sabatti and Savage. That is a Storm Case iM3300 before Pelican bought them.
At any rate, I read good reviews plus I’ve owned a few Aero Precision M4 and M5 rifles over the years and decided to give it a try. I certainly couldn’t buy the parts and assemble it myself for the price.
The Solus arrived in the fall of 2023 and only for a quick once over, I had to put it on hold while clearing other projects off the deck. In January 2024, I finally had time to work on it – although the temperature outside was in the teens and my unheated shop wasn’t much warmer. After careful negotiation with my wife – sounds better than I begged her – I set up lights, a table and my Tipton Ultra Standing Gun Vise.
In many respects, the Solus comes ready to go other than an optic plus needing the bore cleaned and then everything properly lubricated. A user manual is included with the rifle but click here if you need to get an online copy.
I did find four things I want to share with you that made a big difference for me:
Added a Precision Armament Hypertap Muzzle Brake
My L1-L5 vertabrae and I are no longer on speaking terms so recoil mitigation means a great deal to me now. On one hand the Solus weighs quite a bit by itself – let’s say 10# ballpark and then about about 2 pounds for the scope and rings — 12 pounds can absorb a fair amount of energy. The KRG Bravo recoil pad was decent but I still wanted more and knew a muzzle brake was the answer.
I did some reading and ordered in a Precision Armament Hypertap. It can cut felt recoil by up to 88% with little to no impacts on accuracy. Click here to visit their site.
The Solus Bravo M24 is threaded. The size is 5/8-24 – meaning 5/8ths” diameter and 24 threads per inch (TPI).The Hypertap is a very interesting brake and reflects Precision Armament’s experience gathered over the years. If nothing else, visit their site to learn more. It uses two wrenches they include to get the timing right on the brake while tightening down the rear integral locking nut.On their site, read the installation instructions – there is a ton of flexibility if you want to use the identified divots to drill other holes to adjust lateral compensation. I left mine alone.
Added a Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25x56mm FFP Scope
I called up my friends at Vortex and talked about what I wanted to do with the Solus and they recommended I buy a Vortex Strike Eagle 5-25x56mm FFP scope and 34mm precision rings to go with it. With a 34mm tube and 56mm objective, a ton of light can be gathered No to mention this scope has their latest optics technology in it.
The Solus receiver has an integral 20 MOA Picatinny Rail scope mount. Look at that chunky pistol grip.A few key things for the scope – the Vortex medium height 34mm precission rings, my Wheeler scope level kit and a Wheeler green laser bore sight. The Dewalt bit screw driver set reflects my old Wheeler bits are starting to show their age and rounding over. What you don’t see is my Vortex torquing bit driver I use for optics work.I first use the Wheeler scope level set to level the rifle and barrel level. Once the barrel level is set, I can remove the level on the receiver and install the rings.I started installing the ring caps on the scope and realized I better get thee length of pull that I wanted before finalizing the scope position and level. The KRG Bravo comes with three recoil pad spacers of different thicknesses to get the length of pull I wanted.I then finalized my scope position and leveled the scope by putting a small level on the top turret and trued it to the level on the barrel. After that, I used the Wheeler green laser boresight outdoors to approximately zero the scope.Vortex recommended torque spects were set using a Vortex torquing screw driver. I always take care to reset it to zero when I am done so there isn’t a load on the limiting spring causing it to lose accuracy over time. Note the use of Torx screws. I so wish the industry would stop using hex heads that round over and move to Torx instead.
Not surprisingly the scope is incredibly bright and clear. Vortex ups their game on quality with each new generation of scope and they are all backed by their no-hassle warranty.
Added a Spigot To Run a Bipod
To be honest, the one thing that really surprised me is that the KRG Bravo is not truly hard-use bipod ready. Sure, there is a sling stud there or M-Lok slots where you can install a piece of rail section they provide. The problem is that the bottom of the rail system is just polymer and not even very thick. You’d be connecting a bipod to a polymer rail sitting on a polymer handguard that would be absorbing recoil, getting hit wen moving around, etc. It just didn’t sit well with me.
You’d think you could just mount a bipod using an M-Lok slot – right? I wouldn’t recommend it.The issue is that the polymer is a relatively thin skin that covers the actual aluminum chassis. Look at all of the holes in the chassis – they must be there for a reason.
What piqued my curiosity was seeing all of the extra holes in the bottom front of the chassis. Why were they there? Playing a hunch that there might be some kind of reinforcedd bipod connection, I visited the KRG website. Sure enough, there is.
KRG refers to them as “spigots” and they have four different types. They vary in length, what can be attached to them, etc. I bought the “minamalist” model because all I wanted was basically an aluminum bar where I could mount a Picatinny rail section.
I also had to buy a piece of aluminum rail from them. I’m sorry, but I’m just not cool with attaching a bipod to a rifle with some recoil via polymer. I’m a die-hard Atlas bipod user at this point and I buy them with the American Defense Manufacturing (ADM) clamps on them.
This is the KRG “Minimalist” spigon with an aluminum rail section attached. It is absolutely rock solid. My opinion is that this should have been included with the stock at the time of the Solus Bravo purchase or at least be given an option to purchase it. It took digging on my part to question the bipod attachment method and then to find out about the Spigot. I had to call and find out that the Minamilist didn’t include a aluminum rail section – although I could have used the polymer rail that came with the rifle, I wanted aluminum. I actually place the responsibility with Aero Precision – KRG just gave them what they asked for.
I’ll write up another post on the actual installation of the spigot. It’s pretty straight forward and the result is a rock solid bipod mount.
Last comment on the matter – I really did not expect to need to buy more accessories for a solid bipod mount – it came to about $120. Granted plenty of guys don’t use bipods but also, a lot do – including myself. I think Aero should have disclosed that a spigot was recommended for bipod use if nothing else – an option to buy one would have been even better. This is no fault of KRG’s just to be clear. They sold Aero what they asked for.
If I had known this bipod issue, I would have moved to Aero’s full blown chassis system as it wasn’t much more at the time of purchase (about $200-300 more at the time). Buying the chassis by itself now though is prohibitively expensive – at least for me – at $729-ish list. In general though, that is a pretty good price for a chassis of that type.
Call me paranoid but whenever I build something where I care about the accuracy, I want it protected in a hard case. I used to spend the money on Pelican and Storm cases (now owned by Pelican) but those things can get expensive.
I’ve been a fan of Plano All Weather cases for years now. I kid you not, I looked up in my Amazon purchase history and I bought my first one in 2014 (they were “AW2” cases back then and Plano has improved them since and now refers to them as the “All Weather Gun Cases”. I have bought quite a variety of sizes since. Why? I honestly don’t think you can buy a better case at their price. I’m not jumping out of planes but I do want my firearms protected from life’s drops, hits and whatnots. I had an overhead pipe start leaking one year and the rifles in Plano All Weather cases stayed dry.
Seriously heavy polypropylene case construction – I did receive one busted once. Amazon managed to put a fork truck tine completely throught the cardboard box, the case and out the other side. Their drivers still delivered it!! Amazon customer service sent a replacement after I showed them photos but still… Over the years, I have dropped my cases from cars, SUVs and pickups after loads shifted and then a door was opened — they held up just fine. No damage every to contents, loss of zero, etc.
The cases are water tight / dust tight with a full o-ring seal all the way around the cover
Really nice solid handes and latches
The latches are keyed and can be locked
Wheels on one end for easier transportation
Pluckable foam for fitting
Pressure valve to compensate for altitude and temperature changes – you really ought to care about this. Try taking a case from a hot range and opening it in a cold basement once it has cooled off and the air volume has shrunk – it is a bear to open without a valve. That exact example is why I always look for valves on watertight hard cases now.
TSA approved if you plan to travel with one.
Internal dimensions are 51.5″ long x 14″ wide. Depth of the top is 1.75″ and depth of the bottom is 3.25″.
This is a 52″ Plano All Weather Gun Case. In general, I really like these cases and have used them for years. Their pluckable foam allows you to quickly and easily custom fit firearms and accessories. Once fitting is done, I will spray the back of the pluckable foam layer with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, push it down on the bottom layer and then let it set up to keep everything in place.
Summary
The Solus arrived in great shape – fit, finish, etc. were all superb. There were no surprises in terms of adding the muzzle brake and optic. Adding a bipod, which should have been a no-brainer exercise in adding a rail section to an M-Lok slot, turned into more expense but it is really nice mount – I’ll give them that.
I’d recommend the Solus barreled action and Triggertech trigger – no reservations there at all. I need to spend some time shooting the Bravo chassis at this point. The fit of a stock or chassis is a very individual fit item.
I need more time behind the rifle at the range to make a final decision about the Bravo chassis. I may decide to go hunting for a more adjustable chassis with a bit less “chunky” pistol grip.
I hope this helps you out.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
A fellow emailed me wanting to upgrade his from the generic OEM Glock sights that I don’t think really excite anyone to something that would be more visible in general and also work in the dark. My answer was immediate – go with the TRUGLO TFX Pro Tritium and Fiber Optic Xtreme sights.
The featured photo above shows how bright they are on my G17 slide on it. I bought these sights by the way – so you are getting my honest opinion.
Folks, these are my hands down favorite sights for a number of reasons:
They are CNC machined from steel and have a durable black nitride finish — they are not soft plastic.
They do not need batteries – the lit dots are via fiber optics when there is light and sealed tritium when it is dark so you are covered regardless of the light available. The tritium ought to fluoresce (emit light) for about 10-20 years and I’ll worry about replacing them then.
I really like the three green dot configuration – two on the rear sight and one on the front. The front also has an orange ring that you can see when there is light but is green when operating off the tritium only.
The rear sight goes into the slide’s groove very easily and is then secured with a set screw. Some sights can be a bear to install but not these.
The rear sight is big enough that it can help you rack the slide one handed in a one-handed emergency.
They have a 12 year warranty.
They are assembled in the USA – the tritium capsules are made in Switzerland.
What Glock models are supported?
Because these are so popular TRUGLO is making a variety of models to support the different Glock configurations that are out there. I assembled the following table and you can also check their webpage if you want:
This gives you a better view of the sights overall. This is the TFX Pro TG13GL1PC with the fixed rear sight. I really like the sight picture these give day or night.
Here’s the rear sight and you can just barely see the set screw that secures the sight between the two “ears”. The slot at the top of each fiber optic is where it collects light to illuminate the dot. If there isn’t any light then that is where the tritium capsules take over.
Here’s the front sight. The orange ring is nice during the day and you only see the green tritium dot in the dark.
Well, trying to take a photo in the dark of three green dots with a cell phone camera was an experience. I went in a basement room and shut the door to cut off light. It’s fuzzy but you get the idea – all three dots are nicely lit in any lighting condition.
Do they have lower cost models also?
Yes, they do. The Tritium series just has the tritium for illumination in the dark and show as bright white dots during the day.
They also make a Tritium Pro series that builds on the Tritium base model and adds an orange ring to the front sight plus the back sight is bigger and that makes it easier if you need to rack the slide with one hand.
I find these sights to be an incredible improvement over the plain Glock sights – they are easy to see and aid with rapid aiming. I really do like these sights and use them personally. I strongly recommend them.
I hope this helps you out.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
