I'm going to lead off this conversation with a bit of a confession. Like many shooting sports enthusiasts in the United States, if you utter the words 'rimfire rifle' to me, I have a fairly specific image come to mind. It's a .22 LR with either a bolt or semi-automatic action, that is commonly in stock at most sporting goods stores for roughly $250 or less. These are the rimfires that populate the fond memories of many youthful outings and casual family shooting events.
However, it would be a mistake in today's diverse rimfire market to limit one's options to just the budget-priced .22s. Just as we've watch centerfire hunting rifle related technologies contribute to reducing platform weights and improved accuracy, the rimfires have been evolving right alongside them. As a result, today's varmint and small game hunters have some impressive options to work with.
The carbon wrapped barrel is both ridged and lightweight.
One company that has done a top-notch job of incorporating the advanced features of their centerfire bolt-actions into their rimfire offerings is the Spanish manufacturer Bergara. For 2025, the company launched the BMR-X. This bolt-action series, featuring their improved barrels and stocks, represents a step up from the original BMR line-up but without having to move into the higher price range of the B-14R models. Available chambered in .22 LR, .17 HMR and .22 WMR with a choice of solid steel or carbon-fiber wrapped barrels, this is an evaluation of the .17 HMR version outfitted with the lighter carbon-fiber barrel.
The external controls include an adjustable Bergara Performance Trigger (BPT) trigger group.
The BMR-X bolt-action rifle is purpose-built for small-game hunters using Bergara's scaled down, proprietary Micro Rimfire action. The short receiver is machined from high-carbon steel for added durability and precision. It is treated with a matte blued finish for the steel-barrel model, or, a black Cerakote finish for the carbon fiber barrel version we are discussing here. The top of the drilled and tapped receiver ships with a factory installed removable aluminum 30 MOA optics rail. The bolt release lever is set into the receiver on the left side above the trigger guard.
The shoulder stock is adjustable for length of pull.
The rimfire bolt assembly features dual extractors and a cocking handle capped with a more tactically styled knurled aluminum knob. A bright-red indicator protrudes from the rear of the cocking assembly when the firing pin is cocked and ready to fire. The serrated two-position safety is located on the right side of the receiver, just behind the bolt handle. It is thumbed back into the SAFE position, which blocks the trigger from cycling, and then pressed forward into the FIRE position when the shooter is ready to get to work. The bolt release lever is found on the left side of the receiver.
The 2-postion safety is pressed forward to fire.
In recent years, Bergara rifles have rapidly gained deserved notoriety because of their consistent top-notch levels of downrange accuracy. While I found the whole rifle to be well made and tightly fitted, the carbon-fiber-wrapped barrel plays a key role in the gun's performance. Manufactured in Bergara’s factory in northern Spain, the barrel's steel core is carefully straightened, drilled, honed, button rifled and then stress relieved. The carbon-fiber barrels are turned to a more slender profile and then wrapped in layers of carbon fiber and resin resulting in a barrel that is both light weight and stiff. The final touch is the match-grade chamber. This multi-step process produces highly accurate barrels that several other gun makers choose to outsource from Bergara for their own platforms.
The bolt features dual extractors for more reliable operations.
The BMR-X series barrels are 18-inches long with a 0.910-inch (No. 6) bull-barrel profile. The muzzle is threaded at 1/2x28 TPI to support a variety of popular rimfire muzzle accessories, including compensators and sound suppressors. A knurled aluminum thread protector is provided. This barrel's mixed materials composition contributes to this rifle's unloaded weight of 5-pounds 7.3-ounces, which makes it just over a pound lighter than the all-steel barrel configuration.
Another weight-reducing feature is the one-piece polymer bottom plate which incorporates the magazine well, magazine release and the rounded trigger guard. This rifle uses Bergara's straight-feed 5-round and 10-round magazines with one of each included with the gun. The ambidextrous magazine release lever, which is pressed forward to drop the magazine, is located at the front of the trigger guard.
This affordable Bushnell optic is among the author’s favorites for rimfire carbines.
On par with the BMR-X rifle's excellent barrel is the Bergara Performance Trigger (BPT). This single-stage trigger group is adjustable for a pull weight range of 1-pound 8-ounces to 4-pounds. The screw is readily accessible for easy adjustment, just in front of the trigger inside of the trigger guard. The gun sent for this evaluation arrived with the trigger set to an impressively light 1-pound 9-ounces. It was smooth, creep free and exhibited an exceptionally clean break. I don't recall working with a factory trigger set to a pull weight much lighter than around 2-pounds 8-ounces. I left it at the light factory setting to see how this light of a trigger would affect the group sizes.
The lightweight synthetic stock is over molded with an OD green rubber material, with a black drizzle, that is textured at key touch points. It's comfortable to hold with a non-abrasive, grippy feel. It's a stock finish I really like for rifles in this class. The fore-end features a flattened bottom surface, for greater stability with sand bags, along with one sling swivel stud and a pair of QD sling mount ports.
The muzzle is threaded for a variety of accessories including compensators and sound suppressors.
The stock's rounded grip has a more vertical, competition-style angle which proved to be a good fit for my hand on and off of a bench rest. The cheek riser is slightly canted and ends just above another pair of QD sling mount ports and the rear sling swivel stud. A set of three 0.4-inch thick removable black polymer inserts are installed in between the stock and the recoil pad. These plates can be removed to adjust the factory length-of pull (LOP) from 13.25-inch down to 12.05-inches, depending on the hunter's preferences. The stock is capped off with a thick, soft, black rubber recoil pad designed to grab onto the fabric of a shirt or jacket for added stability.
For the range evaluation, this rifle was topped off with a - Rimfire 3-9x40 mm Rifle Scope (RR3940BS4; $99.99) mounted using an AR style Weaver One-Piece SPR scope mount (48377; $70). This is an affordably priced scope that has proven to be a great fit for a variety of rimfire long guns that I've worked with over the last few years. It simply works well and is easy to install and use, so I keep coming back to it even when the gun, like this one, would justify the use of a more expensive scope.
The BMR-X was handy and enjoyable to use on and off of the bench.
The BMR-X made a good impression as it came out of the box and it only improved with handling the carbine. The fit and finish was excellent throughout with a bolt assembly that exhibited a buttery smooth feel even before it was properly lubricated. The trigger's feel was as clean as it was light weight. Overall, it was the definition of enjoyable to shoot at the range. Off the bench, this carbine was impressively handy and well balanced. It cycled through all of the .17 HMR loads tested smoothly and reliably. But once it was couched in a bench rest, it shot more like a competitive bolt-action than a hunting gun with some loads.
A Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph was used to track bullet velocities.
Formal performance and accuracy testing consisted of firing three 3-shot groups for three loads into paper targets posted at a distance of 50-yards. A Garmin Xero C1 Pro Chronograph was used to average the bullet velocities for 10-shot strings. The loads used included Hornady's 15.5-grain NTX (Non-Traditional Expanding) polymer tip, Remington's Premier Magnum Rimfire 17-grain Accutip-V boat tail polymer tip and one more Hornady round topped with a 20-grain XTP (eXtreme Terminal Performance) jacketed hollow point. Here are the results:
Usually, when wrapping up an evaluation of a rimfire rifle like the Bergara BMR-X, I'll touch on a few different features or points of interest. But in this case, the accuracy results are the conclusion. Like most high-performance rimfire rifle enthusiasts, I'm a big fan of sub 1-inch groups but half inch groups are even better. Groups that fit under a dime have to be chalked up to the quality of the rifle and ammunition doing the talking, not the gunwriter who's pulling the trigger.
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The best individual group of 0.32-inches was produced using the Hornady NXT load.
The best group of the test, a 0.32-inch group punched out using the Hornady NTX load, was measured side-to-side because the shots were so close together. Although a group like that is quite satisfying, what's more impressive is the consistency across the loads used. All of the groups fired were sub 0.5-inches. And quite frankly, I'm just not that good of a shot. In this case, the Bergara rifle has to get the credit for the performance potential. Although this rifle costs more than some options, the results say it's worth the investment.
- Manufacturer: Bergara
- Model: BMR-X
- Action Type: bolt-action, repeating, rimfire rifle
- Chambering: .17 HMR
- Barrel: 18-inch carbon fiber wrapped, No. 6 round profile, 1/2x28 TPI muzzle
- Receiver: milled carbon steel alloy, flat-black Cerakote finish
- Magazine: 5-round or 10-round proprietary polymer removable box
- Sights: none
- Furniture: rubber over-molded synthetic shoulder stock
- Trigger: adjustable single-stage; 1-pound 9-ounces pull (as tested)
- Overall Length: 38-inches
- Weight: 6-lbs. 14-oz. with empty magazine and optics rail
- Accessories: two magazines, knurled thread protector, lock, owner's manual
- MSRP: $899
