Have a few rear bag questions

[Kevin1990]

Looking for a rear bag. I have a competition machine f class chassis coming in a couple months, I also have a couple other rifles that I like to shoot off of front rests. Currently using a protector rabbit ear bag, and it's not doing it for me. (Sits too high and hard to get it to recoil freely.)

Checked out edgewood, protecktor, Dima etc.

I like the protecktor DR bag, however I have a couple questions.

What material do you fellas use for your rear bag and front bag? (I know this might differ depending on stock material.)

what ear length do you like, and what discipline do you shoot?

lastly, if my bag rider is 1inch thick, should I get ear spacing at 3/4? Thoughts?


thanks!

 

[LHSmith]

For SR BR competition I finally settled on (after 15 years of trying different types) an Edgewood Softie rear bag (all leather-mid ears) and an Edgewood front bag with 3M material. Rear bag is filled with zircon, ears with Black Diamond blasting media. Front bag filled with same blasting media. I routinely "exercise" the front bag so it doesn't get packed hard from use. I also wax the stock riding surfaces before a match. My rear bag spacing is such that the butt rides on the ears and not bottomed on the bag.

 

[Kevin1990]

For SR BR competition I finally settled on (after 15 years of trying different types) an Edgewood Softie rear bag (all leather-mid ears) and an Edgewood front bag with 3M material. Rear bag is filled with zircon, ears with Black Diamond blasting media. Front bag filled with same blasting media. I routinely "exercise" the front bag so it doesn't get packed hard from use. I also wax the stock riding surfaces before a match. My rear bag spacing is such that the butt rides on the ears and not bottomed on the bag.

I have to "exercise" the rear bag I have now or the whole thing gets packed down really good. Thanks for the info!

 

[Dave M.]

3M material on the ears. Rear bags all from Protektor. All filled with heavy sand in the body and play sand in the ears. If you have a 1” flat bottom get the tall ears with the 1” spacing. I ALWAYS want my buttstock to ride on the bag flat and not the ears themselves. Front bags never filled with heavy sand, makes the rifle bounce in my opinion (will effect rifles differently based on weight, balance point, and center of gravity).
Dave

 

[Kevin1990]

3M material on the ears. Rear bags all from Protektor. All filled with heavy sand in the body and play sand in the ears. If you have a 1” flat bottom get the tall ears with the 1” spacing. I ALWAYS want my buttstock to ride on the bag flat and not the ears themselves. Front bags never filled with heavy sand, makes the rifle bounce in my opinion (will effect rifles differently based on weight, balance point, and center of gravity).
Dave

This is the info I was looking for! Thank you! I have an elisio F1 chassis on order. I believe the bag rider is a v shape. what do you do in instances like that? Do you use the smaller measurement or the largest on the V?

 

[Dave M.]

This is the info I was looking for! Thank you! I have an elisio F1 chassis on order. I believe the bag rider is a v shape. what do you do in instances like that? Do you use the smaller measurement or the largest on the V?

At the end of the day, in my opinion, you still want the rifle to ride on the seam and not hover above it. With a tapered stock it’s difficult to tell what width the distance between the ears are without seeing a true cross section of the bag rider. My suggestion would be to measure the max width of the bag rider and get either that width or 1/8” less than than that between the ears. Protektor will make custom sizes between ears for virtually no additional cost. Call Josh at Protektor and tell him I sent you his way. We have 12 of his bags for various rifles. He is awesome to work with.
Dave M.

 

[Dave M.]

Also, make sure to get a rear bag with the cutout in the center of the bottom (donut or ring bottom). This prevents the rocking that you see when using a leather flat bottom bag when all the weight settles in the center. Also, order it filled because you will never be able to get as much sand in it as they do at the manufacturer. Finally, I’d suggest heavy sand in the base of the bag and regular “play” sand in the ears.
Dave