Bergara Premier MgMicro Lite, Examined and Reviewed

The Bergara Premier MgMicro Lite is among the newest within the arms race of manufacturing mountain looking rifles. It sports activities carbon-fiber parts, a brief and foldable chassis, and different options meant to assist the excessive nation hunter. As we proceed to lift our expectations for precision looking rifles, it’s not sufficient for a backcountry rifle to only be mild. We’ve come to acknowledge the significance of shootability and the worth of a compact package deal. Due to this, a few of our standards for grading the subsequent sheep or mountain goat rifle has advanced. The Bergara MgMicro Lite checks plenty of the bins for an interesting trendy mountain gun, so we put two of them to the check.

Bergara MgMicro Lite Specs

See It

• Motion: Two-lug bolt motion, with floating bolt head
• Inventory: XLR Atom Mg chassis with carbon folding inventory, carbon grip
• Cartridge: 6.5 Creedmoor (examined), .308 Win., 6.5 PRC
• Capability: 5+1
• Weight: 6 kilos, 4 ounces (measured)
• Set off: Triggertech, adjustable, 3 kilos 5 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: Treatment carbon fiber, 18 inches; 1:8 twist, threaded 5/8-24
• Size: 38 inches,  (28.5 inches folded)
• Worth: $3,000

Key Options

• Magnesium chassis with light-weight folding inventory
• Adjustable carbon-fiber comb
• Bubble degree behind bolt shroud
• Carbon-wrapped barrel
• Integral ARCA rail
• Adjustable Triggertech set off

Overview Highlights

• Light-weight and compact
• Ultimate for taking pictures with ARCA tripod help
• Knurled bolt deal with is simple to govern and motion is easy
• Nice accuracy for a light-weight rifle
• Not best to be used with most bipods

Bergara Premier MgMicro Lite Accuracy

I had the chance to make use of and shoot two of those rifles. The primary was at Out of doors Life’s 2024 Gun Take a look at, and the second was at my dwelling in Alaska. The rifle we had in our gun check delivered spectacular accuracy. The second pattern was much less astounding, however correct sufficient for any hunter who would area it.

Since we have now begun using bigger pattern sizes and plotting combination teams, Capturing Editor John Snow and I’ve noticed many fascinating issues about looking rifle accuracy. As demonstrated right here, you can’t normally count on uniform sub-MOA efficiency from a rifle that averages sub-MOA group sizes. The truth is, a light-weight looking rifle that may group an combination of 20 pictures beneath 1.5 inches is an effective shooter. Extra significant, a imply radius (which takes each shot into consideration) of lower than .5 inches at 100 yards signifies that your common shot is just lacking the common level of affect by lower than half an inch.

Each check rifles had been completely correct sufficient to sort out any taking pictures situation for which an 18-inch-barreled 6.5 Creedmoor could be applicable.

Bergara MgMicro Lite: A New Reduce on the Manufacturing Mountain Rifle

Lately, drop-in chassis, along side CNC and different precision manufacturing strategies, have created a shooter’s market. By that, I imply that hunters and shooters are not bottlenecked by a gunsmith or customized store to improve their looking rifle. It’s now extra possible to order a brand new inventory, chassis, or pre-fit barrel in your favourite taking pictures iron. Exact manufacturing of those parts makes it real looking for anybody with a number of instruments to assemble an correct rifle system.

Rifle corporations acknowledge the client’s urge for food for a few of these upgrades and are making it simpler by including them into the manufacturing lineup. Quite than making an attempt to develop a proprietary chassis, many gun makers are merely placing their fashionable manufacturing actions and barrels into aftermarket shares and chassis. Three of the most well-liked third-party folding-stock looking chassis are the MDT HNT 26, XLR Component, and Atom Mg. We see manufacturing unit rifles just like the Savage M110 Ultralite Elite and Weatherby 307 Alpine MDT come dressed within the HNT 26, however the Bergara MgMicro Lite sits within the Atom Mg.

Mixed with a shorter 18-inch barrel (6.5 Creedmoor model), the package deal is ready as much as be mild, straightforward to strap right into a backpack, and compact — even when used with a suppressor. It boasts some adjustability you gained’t discover in a traditional rifle inventory, in addition to compatibility with trendy taking pictures help techniques.

Motion and Barrel

The core of the Bergara Premier MgMicro Lite is, after all, the two-lug M700-pattern Bergara Premier motion. The rifle has a floating bolt head much like a Savage M110 and makes use of a sliding claw extractor. The bolt face makes use of two plunger ejectors, which flip brass effortlessly from the motion — even when drawing the bolt to the rear slowly. The bolt physique is fluted and polished, and the nicely-sized bolt knob is knurled on the perimeters however easily rounded on the outer edges. This enables your index finger to slip round it as you raise and decrease the bolt, however supplies certain traction when shifting it rearward or ahead. 

The bolt launch is barely exaggerated, protruding previous the outer fringe of the chassis, which makes it straightforward to take away the bolt. Nonetheless, for the reason that bolt doesn’t lock closed when on protected, it may fall free if it had been by chance pulled open (by brush) when strapped to a pack.That is considerably negated although, as a result of within the folded place, the inventory typically blocks it from being pushed.

The Treatment carbon barrel delivered good accuracy and the muzzle finish has a metal collar much like these on the BSF barrels utilized by Springfield — although Bergara doesn’t specify if the carbon wrap is held beneath compression. Quite than a easy machined shoulder, the entrance of this collar seems to be threaded onto the muzzle and has grooves that are presumably for a tightening device to interact.

The Bergara Premier MgMicro Lite Fills A Particular Position

The MgMicro Lite isn’t a rifle that’s going to suit everybody’s wants. Quite, the particular design parts of its chassis are targeted for a hunter who needs a light-weight, compact rifle to hold of their backpack and use primarily an ARCA-topped tripod for help. 

The Buttstock

The XLR Atom Mg chassis is fabricated from light-weight magnesium, and certainly one of its most outstanding options is the carbon-fiber buttstock. The buttstock is minimalist in nature, with a carbon-fiber plate and rubber recoil pad capping off a carbon-fiber tube. The entrance portion of the buttstock has two M-Lok slots for putting in a QD sling cup or different accent. There’s a carbon-fiber shell comb piece that straddles the inventory and is secured with 4 screws. I like that the shooter can modify comb angle with this design, and I set it with a slight reverse comb to assist preserve a sight image by way of recoil.

The buttstock folds simply when unlocked by the discharge button on the suitable facet of the chassis, however is kind of secure when within the locked place. There’s nothing that locks the inventory within the folded place, so it may be a bit floppy. Additionally, as a result of the folding mechanism is sized for an AR buffer tube, the chassis is fairly thick when folded — almost 5 inches on the bolt deal with. In comparison with different folders we had within the gun check, this inventory was most tough to strap onto a backpack. Moreover, the fort nut — which seems to be a normal parkerized metal AR buffer tube nut — is exhibiting some rust the place it butts towards the hinge.

Magnesium Chassis

A very good portion of the burden financial savings of the MgMicro Lite is in its magnesium chassis — magnesium is round 33 % lighter than aluminum, and 75 % lighter than metal. The Atom Mg chassis itself is pretty blocky and, as a result of it’s actually a generic M700-pattern drop-in chassis, there may be some extreme house across the tang, the security, and with this mannequin, the bolt doesn’t sit within the heart of the outsized bolt-handle cutout. The underside of the set off guard has a gap — presumably for set off adjustment — however the Triggertech adjustment screw is simply too far ahead to apply it to this rifle. On the gun check, our crew didn’t look after the thrown-together look and, from a sensible standpoint, mud and particles usually tend to accumulate within the chassis across the set off whereas dragging this rifle by way of the comb.

The MgMicro Lite comes with an AICS-pattern polymer five-round journal that extends to the underside of the set off guard. It’s additionally appropriate with flush-fitting MDT three-round magazines. The journal launch paddle isn’t as straightforward to govern as on a contest chassis, but it surely is protected against unintentional launch.

One other notable characteristic of the chassis on the MgMicro Lite versus the Component chassis on the Mg Lite is the a lot shorter fore-end. This rectangular fore-end is 6.25 inches lengthy, and incorporates a built-in Swiss ARCA rail on the underside. Either side have two M-LOK slots, and the underside has two slots plus a gap that’s tapped for a sling swivel stud. The chassis itself has no sling mounting {hardware} — maybe assuming that the majority hunters who purchase this can be both carrying the rifle in-hand or have it strapped to a backpack.

Capturing the MgMicro Lite

The brief little fore-end cuts weight, but it surely makes the rifle difficult to shoot precisely in some positions. It’s good for mounting into an ARCA taking pictures tripod, and it really works nicely with each heavy-duty and light-weight looking tripods. The entrance of the stubby fore-end simply slides into the ARCA mount with out having to loosen it sufficient to drop in from the highest. It’s eliminated simply as merely.

With a big, huge bipod just like the MDT CKYE Pod, the rifle could be very secure within the susceptible place. With fashionable light-weight bipods just like the Spartan Precision Javelin mounted on the brief fore-end, nevertheless, it’s more difficult. Due to the shorter distance between entrance and rear help, the system is mostly extra shaky and the rifle jumps much more beneath recoil. Additionally, with adapters for different bipods put in, it’s not as straightforward to get the rifle into an ARCA tripod. The MgMicro Lite is very nice to shoot utilizing a small Recreation Changer bag from a tripod, rock, and many others, however turns into a bit of problematic when making an attempt to make use of a backpack as a relaxation as a result of it’s straightforward to by chance permit your barrel to contact the backpack itself. 

One addition that I might advocate is a thumb relaxation from XLR, which bolts to the facet of the receiver, to assist in a modern-style grip. The carbon-fiber grip is ergonomically snug, but it surely’s robust to run the bolt shortly whereas taking pictures in a extra conventional model together with your thumb wrapped across the pistol grip. I rested my thumb atop the sting of the chassis, behind the bolt shroud whereas taking pictures. However by the way, I might frequently press the hinge lock button with my palm whereas in place to shoot, unlocking the inventory.

The place the Bergara Premier MgMicro Lite Shines

When inspecting the MgMicro Lite, most will consider excessive alpine valleys and lengthy hikes with heavy packs. This rifle is well-suited for that, however you’ll get probably the most out of it through the use of your glassing tripod for help when it comes time to shoot. For those who want a bipod or to relaxation in your backpack, one other inventory choice might be the only option for you. A aware backpack hunter who already has a tripod will be capable to ditch their bipod and do extra with much less gear. 

As a result of this doesn’t match the mildew for a basic strolling rifle doesn’t imply that backpack looking is all it’s good for, although. Any hunter, actually, who prefers to make use of tripod help will discover the shorter fore-end useful for clipping in. A nimble little rifle like that is additionally a superb choice for looking from a blind the place you may arrange a tripod or a bag for help.

Remaining Ideas

What all of the testing and evaluation boils all the way down to for any rifle is a worth judgement. Are you getting a superb gun in your cash? The reply to that is all the time two components — goal and subjective. We should study a rifle’s parts, the efficiency it’s objectively able to, and the market. Second, we have now to outline and think about our private priorities and expectations for a rifle. The costlier the rifle, the extra exact our scrutiny should be.

At $3,000, the Bergara Premier MgMicro Lite is a premium-priced rifle. Objectively, the sum of the parts is fairly priced, and it competed nicely with different costly rifles in the identical class that we have now examined. Subjectively, I’d prefer to see a bit of extra refinement and flexibility out of a rifle that prices three grand. However for the hunter who needs a light-weight, packable rifle to shoot off a tripod, the Mg Micro Lite is a stable selection.