New short range BR setup - Opinions wanted

B

bama6ppc

New member
I am new to short range benchrest within the past year. I bought a used Bat 3L and Scoville stock and am ready to think about the next rig. Any opinions on actions would be helpful given what I already have and I would prefer to buy once/cry once :)

At this point I am leaning toward a Terry Leonard Stock. As for the action, I am considering:

1. Bat 2L - DS
2. Borden
3. Marsh
4. Kelblys

Thanks!
 
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wby224 said:
I am new to short range benchrest within the past year. I bought a used Bat 3L and Scoville stock and am ready to think about the next rig. Any opinions on actions would be helpful given what I already have and I would prefer to buy once/cry once :)

At this point I am leaning toward a Terry Leonard Stock. As for the action, I am considering:

1. Bat 2L - DS
2. Borden
3. Marsh

Thanks!
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Why isn't a Kelbley Panda on your list?

I don't actually own one, but everybody I know that does loves them. Might be the best short range Benchrest action made right out of the box.
 
I cant remember the last borden i seen at a br match. I see em used in long range a bit i think hes catering to that crowd. Jim builds some nice actions ive used alot here lately on f open and f/tr guns
 
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Dusty Stevens said:
I cant remember the last borden i seen at a br match. I see em used in long range a bit i think hes catering to that crowd. Jim builds some nice actions ive used alot here lately on f open and f/tr guns
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Milt Craven did well with one at last year's SS
 
Whichever action you get, I suggest you get one that will accommodate both a PPC and a BR cartridge. You might want to shoot IBS score targets occasionally without giving up the .30 caliber advantage. To the extent you might want a "back-up" gun in case your PPC goes south during a match, you could use a 30BR to finish the match -- or put a PPC barrel on the back-up action.

If you're worried about having to "gear-up" for an extra cartridge, don't worry about that -- "gearing-up" is part of the fun.
 
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My recommendation...DON'T build a new rifle. Your Bat 3L/Scoville combo should be top shelf.

If you have money to burn, chamber a few new barrels, buy lots of bullets/primers/powder and shoot as many matches as you can get to.

Work on technique, both reloading and shooting. Learn to interpret what your windflags are telling you. Practice.

If you've only been playing this game for a year, there's still a lot to learn. Put your money towards the expendable items and concern yourself with placing higher at the matches you attend.

After you have some more practical experience you'll be able to decide for yourself what kind of rifle to build.

Jerry
 
Matt P said:
Why not the Borden ?? Any reason other than equipment lists ??
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Matt. If you look on the equipment list for short range IBS score shoots, there are some good shooter's that use Bordon Rimrock actions. Roy "SUPERMAN" Hunter is one of them, Allie Euber uses one sometimes, Wayne Lewis, Randy Jarvais from Maine uses 2 of them, one for VFS rifle and one for his 6 power rifle. He won SSOY in the 6 power class, and 2nd in SSOY in VFS. I own 3 Farleys, a Viper, a Bat B, a Panda, and a Marsh. Pick any one of those and put a Dean Breeden or Randy Jarvais behind any one of those rifles with a good tune and I don't care what anybody says, any of those actions will win at any given time. Breeden's kicked ass with Farley actions as well as his current actions which are Bats. He could kick ass with a slingshot. IMO there is no best action, no best brand of barrel, no best anything. Lets face it, you can get a real good barrel from all the top barrel makers, maybe even those scarce hummer barrels, but you can also get duds from any of those barrel makers also. This whole rifle building thing is a crap game. Buy all the different brands of components that you like and have you or your gunsmith put it together as a unit and take it from there. This game that we play is like drag racing. I use to be a crewmember on a funny car team in the mid 70's. There were a bunch of chassis builders, 4 different alum block makers, a half dozen blower makers, 2 different tire makers. ect. You had to buy what you felt was the best chassis, the best engine components, ect put it all together and get it to the strip, make runs, make changes on this and that. Same thing with these rifles. Always making small changes and adjustments. WBY 224. If you have the money and want another rifle built, GO AHEAD AND DO IT. You only live once. I know nobody needs a dozen bench rifles, but so what, if it makes you happy GO FOR IT. You can't take it with you when your 6 feet under, so do what you enjoy while your still above ground.
 
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This has all been very helpful advice. I'm probably leaning towards opening up to the flexibility of a PPC/BR action for the opportunity to shoot IBS targets with a 30BR.

Do these actions offer that flexibility? I know that BAT does. I'm not sure that Marsh does.
 
wby224 said:
This has all been very helpful advice. I'm probably leaning towards opening up to the flexibility of a PPC/BR action for the opportunity to shoot IBS targets with a 30BR.

Do these actions offer that flexibility? I know that BAT does. I'm not sure that Marsh does.
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All a Marsh action is a shortened Panda. If u can do it with a Panda, you can do it with a Marsh. There are 3 state IBS score shooting matches at the Georgia Mountain shooters Association, in Eastanollee, GA this year. One in April, one in May and one in October. Ronnie Milford runs it. He's a great guy to deal with. If your thinking about having a stock built by Terry Leonard, Terry is tops in my book. I have 4 of his stocks. Also you might want to call Roy Hunter in PA. Roy is another top notch stock maker. More and more guy's are using Roy's stocks and his stocks are setting records. Dean Breeden set 2 world records in the LV class and also won IBS score shooter of the year with one of Roy's stocks. Randy Jarvais from Maine won IBS 6 power score shooter of the year with one of Roy's stocks. So don't overlook him.
 
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wby224 said:
This has all been very helpful advice. I'm probably leaning towards opening up to the flexibility of a PPC/BR action for the opportunity to shoot IBS targets with a 30BR.

Do these actions offer that flexibility? I know that BAT does. I'm not sure that Marsh does.
Click to expand...

You've been given some very good advice and I'll add a couple of things. Back when I shot a 30BR, I had the same problem of the bag moving with each shot. At one match I shot a .089 group and the next group was near .3 because I did not realize that the rear bag had moved so far to the right it was dragging my forend. Along with seating the stock deeply and firmly into the bag, be sure that the forend is square with the front of your rest. With a 30BR an Edgewood Gator or similar bag will resist movement. The 30 has a helluvalotta torque. Having made the mistake of trying to shoot too many rifles, I'd agree with the others and suggest that you learn to drive one rifle very well before adding another. You will do better spending $$ on barrels and bullets. Another rifle can really complicate the learning cure.

One other thing, although Farley has a well deserved reputation for not keeping up with promised deadlines, they do occasionally come through. A couple of years ago I talked with Mike and sent my top in for a rebuild (bearing replacement). No it didn't get back when it was promised, but it wasn't all that late either. Seems like it was sent it in November, promised in January and returned in early March. I had acquired an extra rest, so it wasn't much of a problem. They are almost always late, but if you know that going in you can sometimes allow for it.

If you are considering score shooting, you may also want to try a UBR match. I didn't catch what part of Georgia you are in, but there are 6 UBR matches this season at River Bend, near Dawsonville, the first this Saturday. There are matches at the Gallatin Gun Club every month at Gallatin TN (near Nashville), monthly near Birmingham AL and a 100/200 meter match at the Ashe County Club in North Carolina in October. With a growing list of IBS matches and the UBR you should have opportunities to give it all a try. I would add that UBR will allow the 6PPC to be used as well.

Rick
 
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Matt,

Just my two cents worth. I would take Jerry Wicks' advice completely. I would only add that you should get a few things checked out on the rifle by a good gunsmith. Thinks like firing pin protrusion (seen them from .048 to .063), spring force (seen them from 15 to 26 pounds), firing pin straight, drag of the cocking piece on the shroud, etc., etc., etc., and that's just a few of the things on the bolt.... it keeps on.
There is no guarantee that a new rifle would be better or that at the stage you're at you could even tell. So listen to Jerry, practice, learn, read and then go for it.
Good luck!
Larry
 
I've decided to stick with a similar setup so I am in search of a BAT 3L with a PPC bolt face.

A few questions:

1. What is the significance of the "body shape" listed on the BAT spec sheet? Is the 1.350 Round the one I want for short range bench rest with the PPC?
2. Do the BAT 3 Ls come with the roller cocking piece?
3. Any other specification that I should consider?

---> Right Bolt, Left load, right eject, stainless steel, 1.350” round, PPC boltface, with ejector.

thanks
 
You can use bat barrels on a variety of other bat actions with the same boltface. The 3l and ds both come with a roller but it can be added to any of em- i have em on b's and sb's. Shape and dia is personal preference and makes a big difference in weight
 
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