Purchasing used barrels for BAT actioned rifles

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xxper

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I recently purchased a used PPC BAT S actioned rifle and have seen used barrels PPC barrels from BAT actioned rifles for sale.I have thougth about buying a used barrel to use for fireforming the ppc brass.My question is are barrels from different BAT actions safe to use? I have been told the the BAT actions are all machined to the same specs. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Jim
 
While many BAT actions will interchange, very few chambers will. Different 'smiths, different chambers and most often different headspace. I can't imagine how they could possibly be be unsafe unless you jammed a round in against resistance, crimping the neck, but IMO the chance of getting someone else's chamber set up just like yours is vanishingly slim.
 
Why don't you buy a new barrel and have your smith chamber your old barrel to match the new one. Larry Baggett chambered two barrels in 6PPC for two different Bat actions for me and comparing the brass from the two shows less than .0003 difference in headspace. Larry set back and chambered one of the take-off barrels for a fireform barrel. I haven't tried that one yet but based on results so far I have no reason to believe it won't be as good. :D
 
The rifle I purchase has two barrels one with 150 rds and the second chanbered and not fired. I was thinking about buying a used barrel to fireform.

Thank you for your replies
Jim
 
xxper said:
I recently purchased a used PPC BAT S actioned rifle and have seen used barrels PPC barrels from BAT actioned rifles for sale.I have thougth about buying a used barrel to use for fireforming the ppc brass.My question is are barrels from different BAT actions safe to use? I have been told the the BAT actions are all machined to the same specs. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you, Jim
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As long as the same reamer that was used on your chamber is the EXACT one used on all the other used barrels you intend to purchase you're safe.

The chances of that are slim to none.

It's not the action, it's the chamber's reamed dimensions that have to match up perfectly in order to produce formed brass that's identical. Not all PPC reamers are cut to the same dimensions. There's quite a variety.

Purchase your own reamer and have it used on a new and all subsequent barrels. When the first one wears out, use it for fire forming.
 
There are also dimensional differences in the thread diameter of some BAT actions, I have a SV that is slightly larger in thread diameter than my B or my DS.......Ian
 
Ian_Owen said:
I have a SV that is slightly larger in thread diameter than my B or my DS.......Ian
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And I had one bat that was different from three subsequent actions in the bolt nose to barrel dimension, I had to shave a few thousandths off the later barrels to fit the older action. Then headspace was actually same.
 
Jim just fireform what ya got. Fill powder to the bottom of the neck. Shoot them as sighters/foulers at your next tournament. Trim them Sat. night.
Sunday morning you got a set of 20 ready to go. And no more wear on the barrel than normal. You are going to blast around 200 rounds in a 2 day tournament. Barrel won't even know it.
This better than showing up at the range with a fire form barrel. And forgetting the good/new barrel........Just sayin'.......
 
I recommend a FF barrel if you want to form brass in batches. Most smiths will set a FF barrel up .001 short on the chamber so that you can size your unformed brass to a crunch fit. It's up to you how you want it.

Many FF form as Tim states, just don't get the brass mixed up. When I do this, I take a marker and color the head of the brass so I don't make any mistakes.

Normally, I will FF in a FF barrel that is set back, with pistol powder in the winter, then I'll fire the brass during matches or pratice for foulers. I never use brass in comp until it has the two firings on it.

Hovis
 
xxper,

forgot to answer one of your main questions. Most often, BAT barrels will fit similiar BATs. There are a few exceptions (90's BATs that were hand made, larger BATs with different tenons and BATs that were special ordered with Panda tenons) but these are not common. What will cause the most problem is the cone, if the barrel was cut for a ppc boltface cone, then most often, it will not fit a .308 boltface cone. If the cones are cut for a .308, then it will fit either and should be safe. You normally can't close a .308 bolt on a ppc barrel cone on a BAT.

Hovis
 
Kevin is on it.
The Joe Krupa way. Sight in your gun match day. And fireform as you go.
Just joking......:)
Remembering to mark them is the hard part......2 firings and good to go.
Remember to trim Sat. night. So they will all be the same.....

The really hard part is seeing your fouler and sighter go the same hole(or close there abouts.....), Then Start your record group.......and go W T F...
 
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