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BAT Vampire action

Carson Lilja has been shooting at Deep Creek with us for a few years. I have been watching his barrels, since he now has pretty much taken over the company as far as I know. They have been in the top tier. I built Tom a 4lb 12oz ultralight with a #1 Lilja that shot back to back 1s at 1k. Plus the only reason I build something for myself is to gain experience and maybe find something better for customers. I didnt really need a rifle, but I did need to get to know this aluminum Bat. @MTlager also has a 300 PRC he used a 3 groove Lilja on. Maybe he has an opinion on it.
 
Alex Wheeler said:
Carson Lilja has been shooting at Deep Creek with us for a few years. I have been watching his barrels, since he now has pretty much taken over the company as far as I know. They have been in the top tier. I built Tom a 4lb 12oz ultralight with a #1 Lilja that shot back to back 1s at 1k. Plus the only reason I build something for myself is to gain experience and maybe find something better for customers. I didnt really need a rifle, but I did need to get to know this aluminum Bat. @MTlager also has a 300 PRC he used a 3 groove Lilja on. Maybe he has an opinion on it.
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Good to know that their barrels are getting better with Carson running the show. Didn’t know Dan stepped down or at least is turning it over. I haven’t owned a Lilja barrel since 2006 due to the multiple issues we had with them back then, especially on the customer service side from Dan. With Carson at the helm I may consider giving them another look in the future.
 
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I've got a 3 groove Lilja 6 BRA from @Hoodoo chambered by @Northridge thats been very competitive at the last two 600 yard Nationals.

It was chambered early fall 2019 and after minimal tuning shot a .865" group at 600 yards in the first match it shot along with a 1"er and a couple of 2s winning group, score and overall first time out. 6th smallest regular season IBS 600 yard group in 2019 and the agg (1.778) was the 9th smallest winning regular season agg.

I had a very good (for me anyway) 2019 600 yard Nationals with it then put it away and decided not to shoot it out in the 2020 regular season. I put it back on late July and shot the 2020 600 Nats and finished 9th overall Two Gun with it.

Round count is still low enough I expect similar results next season and have Shawn chambering another Lilja this winter.

Happy customer here!
 
DHuffman said:
I've got a 3 groove Lilja 6 BRA from @Hoodoo chambered by @Northridge thats been very competitive at the last two 600 yard Nationals.

It was chambered early fall 2019 and after minimal tuning shot a .865" group at 600 yards in the first match it shot along with a 1"er and a couple of 2s winning group, score and overall first time out. 6th smallest regular season IBS 600 yard group in 2019 and the agg (1.778) was the 9th smallest winning regular season agg.

I had a very good (for me anyway) 2019 600 yard Nationals with it then put it away and decided not to shoot it out in the 2020 regular season. I put it back on late July and shot the 2020 600 Nats and finished 9th overall Two Gun with it.

Round count is still low enough I expect similar results next season and have Shawn chambering another Lilja this winter.

Happy customer here!
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That’s sounds like a hummer ;)

But I was only curious why Alex chose a Lilja barrel to test this new premier BAT action because he doesn’t put Lilja on many rifles that I’ve seen him build and he fully answered my question. I don’t want to turn this thread into a list of Lilja barrel reviews when it’s intended to teach us about this great new Vampire action from BAT so I rest my case.

Cant wait to see how the 300 PRC rifle shoots because I may use the Vampire to re-build my 338-375 Ruger in the future. With the heavy 33 cal Berger bullets, a CFE-9 mag option is very nice to have since I seat them a long ways out to maximize case capacity.
 
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@Alex Wheeler
If you get a chance between hunting season outings and work...could you load a 300 PRC round with the bullet seated to the same OAL as my 338-375R in the photo, put it in the bolt face and partially into the chamber then see if the Vampire will eject the loaded round thru the port reliably?
CFE-9 mag cut is really long and just wondering if the port is big enough to eject a loaded round at my OAL. I had to open up the rear of my Rem 700 ejection port quite a bit on the mill to work with this OAL. Thanks

3F5CECD7-8426-4B28-B163-0D759883F099.jpeg
 
I think Hornady messed up on the min saami drawings for the PRC case. Virgin brass is .529 and min chamber at .200 line is .533, fired is .531. That isn’t enough. Many reports of clickers and dies not sizing enough for this case. With spring back on sizing, you can make a die small enough to properly size the web.
 
Ledd Slinger said:
@Alex Wheeler
If you get a chance between hunting season outings and work...could you load a 300 PRC round with the bullet seated to the same OAL as my 338-375R in the photo, put it in the bolt face and partially into the chamber then see if the Vampire will eject the loaded round thru the port reliably?
CFE-9 mag cut is really long and just wondering if the port is big enough to eject a loaded round at my OAL. I had to open up the rear of my Rem 700 ejection port quite a bit on the mill to work with this OAL. Thanks

View attachment 1209963
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lead slinger I called bat to order a couple of Vampires. They told me to load port is 3.622 if that helps you
 
This was the first target, zeroing the scope and running one shot each in .5 grain increments to find pressure. Just 100yds but 80,81,81.5 went into .267". Id say this 3 groove Lilja has a lot of potential, but what really surprised me was the speed. Never really did get any pressure sign. Id guess this things going to end up pushing a 215 mid 3000s in a 24" barrel with H1000. I didnt expect that from this case. I am aware of the destructive testing done on this action so its no surprise the bolt never showed any heavy lift, this action will mask pressure. I do not expect to see this in just any 300 PRC. I have been experimenting with bore and groove dimensions and have learned a bit about those effects on velocity pressure and accuracy. When I looked at the throat after I chambered this barrel I knew it was going to be fast. Id say Lilja has a real good button for these big 30s if your looking for speed.
 
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3Ackleys said:
That is very impressive! Also not much wind west of Dillon it looks like? Bottom line 300 PRC., 30 Nos. or something else for that kind of velocity w/215 Berg. and that case head size in your opinion.
Thank you for ALL of the info you provide!
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If the 215 is the bullet choice Id go with a 30 Nosler, 30-28 Nosler or 300 PRC. The performance between them all is very close. ADG is making brass for them all and I put it the same level as Lapua, maybe better but I couldnt make that call unless they start making br brass then we'd know. Lapua is going to make 300 PRC. I like them all, the PRC will end up the most popular though. I do love the 300 Norma Imp, but for 230s and up, its not needed for the 215. And with that case theres only a couple actions I'll use to build on that I feel are really designed to handle it. The others open up the door to a lot more action choices for me.
 
20201205_143902.jpgLilja showed no copper clue with Montana extreme copper killer. These are first patches pushed through after 14 rounds.
 
Ledd Slinger said:
Curious why you went with a Lilja barrel?

The couple Lilja barrels I owned and others friends and family have owned were very finicky and tough to find accurate loads. Eventually all shot well, but took a ton of work. Lilja has been at the bottom of my list for a long time now just because other barrels seem to find multiple accurate loads very quickly and tune better.
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I have owned 3 lilja three grove 30 caliber barrels. All shot well, so have all 3 6.5mm three grove 8 twist barrels I have shot. In fact, I have another 6.5 on order right now.

Dave.
 
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