Hoosier_Hunter1963

I am curious if these barrels are really any good. What's the advantage of these over a "standard" barrel that comes with the gun?

Help me understand these barrels!

Grouse45

Obviously a big upgrade for CVA over barrels in the past. The Accura is okay the apex is on it's way. So far nothing even close to a Triumph or Knight in my opinion. I do think the Apex will be an upgrade over the Encore but not sure yet.

Breechplug

Bergara Barrels are made with a (5) step process
Step 1 (Barrel Straightening)
The barrel is to begin with a straight bar of cylindrical steel. Bergarra inspects and straightens every barrel amnufactured to a deveation of less than 4/1,000 or (.004") of an inch. Many barrel manufactures never even evaluate this aspect of a barrel and consequently hinder the barrel's accuracy potential.
Step 2 ( Deep Hole Drilling)
Once the barrel is straightened, the bar moves onto the deep hole drilling machine where a four spindle machine precisley drills the correct diameter hole.
Step 3 (Barrel Polishing)
While most other barrel manufactures move directly from deep hole drilling to the rifling process, all Bergara Barrels pass through three seperate honing spindles. The honing spindles utilize diamond tipped bits that polish the barrel's interior surface to a mirror like finish with a groove diameter deviation of less than 8/1,000 or (.008mm) of a millimeter. It is the same result that many gunsmiths accomplish by hand-lapping a barrel.
Step 4 (Button Rifling)
The next step to producing a Bergara Barrel is the Button Rifling Process. A carbide rifling button is drawn through the barrel to produce rifling grooves at the appropriate twist rate for each caliber.
Step 5 (Stress Relieving)
The final step to producing a Bergara Barrel is the stress relieving process. This process ensures that the steel is free from any stress after the button rifling process.
The result of this five step process is a precision barrel so accurate that you'll never go back to your original factory barrel.
And in my own words I personally have never had a ML that shot as tight of groups as My ACCURA with the Bergara Barrel. It is everything Bergara said it would be. Plus unlike most other stainless steel barrels on MLers, a Bergara Stainless Steel Barrel is made from (Solid Stainless Steel) most others are just coated in stainless steel.
(BP)

Breechplug

Grouse, dont be so fast to Knock down the ACCURA, have you personally shot one for yourself? My Buddies own a TC Oncore and Triumph, and when we shoot they cant even come close to my groups with my ACCURA.
(BP)

Grouse45

I have 150 rounds thru an Accura as we speak. The Gun is great compared to other CVA models though very ugly. knight Vision, Knight Elite, T/C triumph and Omega are much better choices in Muzzleloaders in my opinion. The Accura is gone now and the Apex is on it's way.

Grouse45

Breechplug,
Did they legalize CF rifles now in NY? I havent hunted in salamanca for a few years now and i heard they made them legal. Do you know the answer to that???

Breechplug

In our County (Chautauqua) no rifles are not legal. We voted NO, but as far as (Cattaraugus, Allegany, Steuben ) the counties closest to Chautauqua (Yes) they have.
So I would have to say Yes to your answer as Salamanca is in Allegany County, or is it in Cattaraugus County, either way there legal in both those Counties.
(BP)

lemoyne

Berraga Barrels
Are great and while they have made great improvements in other areas such as service I keep remembering when I had the shop and spent a lot of time case hardening the part or making new ones until I finally refused to work on them.
The barrels were usually the best part of the gun except when they failed catastrophically. I guess the point at which I really got upset with them was when a a barrel failed on the firing line while I was on it. I think they make a much better safer gun know but I have no desire to test that theory. Lee

Breechplug

Im not trying to sway anyone to what they dont like, we all have our likes and dislikes. Whatever you like is fine and for me also. Like I personally Own and Drive only FORDS, I think My Ford Mustang (07) is the Sharpest sweetest car on the road, others like Dodge and Chevy. So have fun and shoot what you like, it's all a matter of preferance.
My Best to you!
(BP)

MLKeith

The Bergara barrel is obviously the highest quality and has more care involved in manufacture than most other muzzleloading barrels. As far as comparison to my Omega the stainless barrel on my Optima Elite (Bergara barrel) came a lot more finished and a lot smoother inside than the extremely rough interior of the Omega. I had to lap it with 400 passes of JB Bore paste just to get any sabot down the bore. It is still rougher looking in the bore than what the Bergara barrel looked like when delivered. I know there are old time horror stories of CVA barrel problems but personally I think a lot of them are rumors that never happened. Any problems CVA had in the past are long gone. I think my Optima Elite is every bit as well made as my Omega which not only has a very rough barrel but has a crooked hammer as well plus the trigger is no where as nice on the Omega. Again this is my experience and all will vary.