BAT VR

The History of BAT Machine

BAT Machine is an American company that produces precision rifle actions and custom bolt action rifles. It was founded by Bruce Thom in 1991 and became an incorporated entity by 1996.

In the beginning, the company operated using manual machines, however, by the latter half of the 1990s, there was a transition to CNC machinery. The product line initially consisted of bolt action rifles but over time, the focus shifted to falling block rifles. Bruce Thom's formal education in this field comes from Spokane Community College where he studied machine shop courses. After college, he worked at Fleck Co. in Auburn, WA. Here, he worked on precision machining and produced several falling block rifles.

Identifying a need among bench rest shooters, the company resumed production of bolt action rifles. By 1996, due to increasing demand, Thom transitioned to working on rifle actions full-time. This period also saw the introduction of model B and model M receivers. Soon after, with the installation of the first machining center, the SB and MB models were brought to market.

In 2000, BAT Machine underwent expansion, adding a second CNC machining center. The following year, the 3L model was introduced. Subsequent years saw the introduction of the RS, RL, DS, and EX models. By 2004, the RS and RL models were succeeded by the VR and HR repeater models that followed a Remington 700 footprint.

Over the years, there were more additions to the product lineup, including the Neuvo, Bumblebee, Vampire aluminum body actions, and the lightweight Chromoly action. 2021 marked the 25th year of BAT Machine's full-time activity, and as of 2023, the company continues to operate.

BAT VR Action Review

The BAT VR Action is manufactured by BAT Machine and represents one of the many models introduced over the years. Contrary to the larger HR model, the VR action is designed based on the Remington 700 SA action footprint, allowing compatibility with Remington 700 stocks, however, the holes spacings and BHU do not match between the two rifles therefore the scope mounts between them will not be interchangeable.

The total weight of the action is approximately 946 grams. It features a magazine port with a standard size of 78.1 mm with the overall length of the action being approximately 203 mm. BAT makes both the HR and VR models in different configurations, available with or without an integral Picatinny rail. The bolt is characterized by two large locking lugs that lock up safely with the action’s housing.

Material options for the actions are stainless and chromoly. Additionally, like HR, the VR action can be purchased as a single shot or repeating shot. The modular bolt design incorporates spiral fluting and a flat face, enabling bolt faces to be changed for various calibers, ranging from .223 Remington for the VR model up to .338 Lapua for the VR.

Multiple stock options are available for the "VR" action, including the Thumbhole Varmint Pattern, Signature Thumbhole Varmint Pattern, and Monte Carlo Varmint. There are also configurations for both left and right-handed bolt and ejection ports.

BAT VR action without integral Picatinny rail

Figure 1: BAT VR action without integral Picatinny rail (Source: https://www.rpsinternational.com/Actions-JAN%202019.pdf)

BAT VR action with Picatinny rail

Figure 2: BAT VR action with Picatinny rail (Source: https://www.batmachine.com/actions/model-vr/)

BAT VR Calibers

The caliber group selection directly depends on the chosen bolt face configuration, whether .385 (.223 Rem.), .48 (Standard), .55 (Magnum). The manufacturer, however, does not provide a definitive list of specific calibers for each configuration.

Scope Mounts Interchangeable With BAT VR Action

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With BAT VR Action

For one-piece mounts to fit on a rifle, mounting surfaces on these rifles must match in every dimension.

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With BAT VR Action

To meet interchangeability conditions, two-piece mounts must match in all dimensions except the B distance. B distance can vary because two-piece mounts can be installed and adjusted closer or further apart.

While the BAT VR action is designed based on the Remington 700 footprint, the holes spacings and BHU do not match between the two rifles therefore the scope mounts between them will not be interchangeable.

Should you happen to own this rifle and would be willing to share with us more information regarding interchangeability, we kindly ask you to contact us at [email protected]

Thank you for your help!

Scope Mounts Interchangeable With BAT VR Action

Picatinny Rails for BAT VR Action

If you are looking for a scope mounting solution for your BAT VR action, you might want to consider this Picatinny rail manufactured by the UK company Tier-One. It is made of high-quality aluminum and comes with a 10-year warranty.

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the scope mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: [email protected]

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VIDEO

Introduction

In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.

These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.

The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.

Picatinny/Weaver Rail

Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile

Design

The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.

Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.

It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.

The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.

Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail

The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.

Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.

Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.

Advantages of Picatinny design

A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.

The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.

In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.

The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.

Manufacturers of Popular Models

A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.

No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive.

Weaver and Picatinny Rings

Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.

Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.

Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.

BAT VR

The History of BAT Machine