New SEB Smallbore Rest

[seb]

Let me add a few more things here gentlemen:
As this rest is originally designed for benchrest shooting, with very minimal recoil/twist of the rifle, etc, both set screws shown with red and white arrow were (or should be) set in very minimum tension. This to allow more smoother and extra light joystick operation.
It needs a Very Fine adjustment to make it work ideally/properly.
Just a little tweak off (imagine as one or two clicks on your rifle scope) and it will make a noticeable difference on the smoothness / operation of the joystick.
The one in the middle with red arrow is only to keep the second bearing in place, and only to allow the inner ball to move "almost freely".
The one in the front center with white arrow is to give a rotational resistance on the front inner ball bearing and the center shaft, to not rotate freely on its axis (because the joystick is bent, not straight) it must give enough rotational resistance, to not twist by the weight of the rifle when you move the joystick up&down, with the counterweight in place. Or just a little bit more tension.

Only teflon spray recommended to lube the front bearing and the post regularly (say per season). No grease.
We use this: https://www.soft99.co.jp/en/products/detail/03113/
Good stuff.

We use this teflon lube for the sliding parts and the teflon sheet inside, too.
We use a mix of this lube and Lucas red&tacky #2 grease (1:1) to lube the pins and grooves inside and some other parts.
Only for info. Most likely you don't have to lube the internal if you always keep your rest clean anytime.

 

[seb]

Tuned properly/ideally, this AR250 rest is as smooth as the Neo Ratigan BR and almost as smooth as the Neo-X.
I will also make sure that Chris does it better from now on.

 

[gkgeiger]

Looking forward to Chris’s video, when available.

 

[ptboat]

I just ordered one.already have a seb neo special edition.thanks for great rests.cant wait to try it out for my grandson.im sure he will be surprised.he loves the neo.so he can have his own now for his rim fire rifles.

 

[ptboat]

There's a vid on ytube a guy made a couple legs for front of rest .gives it a wider foot print.said it stop rest from wanting to rock side to side when rest was extended all the way up.just two pieces of flat stock.with a hole at each end.one end bolts in the screw adjustment hole.then move adjuster bolt out to other hole.when I get my rest I'll post pics.but there's only a few vids on ytube.just watch them you'll see the video.

 

[boltman13]

Just my opinion as a Smallbore F-Class and BR shooter but, strapping on extra weight and footprint seems like you would be better off just buying a Mini-X. My AR250 even run up fairly high is stable and a joy to carry. My heaviest rifle, about 18# works great on it.

 

[Grey Kiwi]

Just my opinion as a Smallbore F-Class and BR shooter but, strapping on extra weight and footprint seems like you would be better off just buying a Mini-X. My AR250 even run up fairly high is stable and a joy to carry. My heaviest rifle, about 18# works great on it.

Yep, my one worked just fine as it was, supporting a CZ457 in an Oryx chassis. Nowhere near to the weight of your rifle though.
I did add a steel weight plate to mine but my thought was that my new rifle for indoor BR is my just arrived Anschutz 9015 (PCP air rifle)...and I figured it's so light that maybe it wouldn't have the same downwards pressure on to the 3 feet of the rest. I wanted the rest to feel more 'planted' and I think the wee bit of extra weight (although only 3lb) might help.
On another matter...I followed the instructions re the wee screws to adjust, and my rest is now better to operate. The Up/Down was a tad too stiff before and with the wonky joystick having a bit of 'wobble' built in I did have the odd spot of bother.
On my rest the 'red arrow' screw was just sitting there, touching nothing. Absolutely no tension at all on it. I just twirled it up with my finger tips. So that is now very lightly just touching the centre bearing (I hope I did that bit right? Should it be firmer to actually hold the bearing?).
The 'white arrow' screw was too tight. A very slight reduction in the setting and all is well now.
Nice smooth operation and I've sprung for the new Mk2 joystick handle as well. I'm sure I will be happy with everything then.

 

[kerjo]

The knurled knob that I got with the joystick had 4 holes drilled in it to the center each at 90 degrees. I tapped each with a 10-32 tap and bought a package of black knurled round head screws.
Finger tighten the knurled knob that tightens joystick to the shaft. Then screw the knurled head screw into the hole that's easiest for you to tighten it. The joystick won't move on the shaft.

 

[Grey Kiwi]

The knurled knob that I got with the joystick had 4 holes drilled in it to the center each at 90 degrees. I tapped each with a 10-32 tap and bought a package of black knurled round head screws.
Finger tighten the knurled knob that tightens joystick to the shaft. Then screw the knurled head screw into the hole that's easiest for you to tighten it. The joystick won't move on the shaft.

Funnily enough, I tried that way back...not long after I bought the rest.
I figured which hole would be in the 'right' place when the lock ring was tightened and tapped only that one.
I used a hex head grub screw and it did help but I was a tad worried that maybe I could be wrecking the handle after long term use so I stopped using the grub screw.
But yes...good call...that does help.
Although I have now ordered the new improved handle. The current handle I will keep as a spare and will go back to a grub screw in that threaded hole if I ever need to use this old handle again.
Thanks.

 

[kerjo]

Funnily enough, I tried that way back...not long after I bought the rest.
I figured which hole would be in the 'right' place when the lock ring was tightened and tapped only that one.
I used a hex head grub screw and it did help but I was a tad worried that maybe I could be wrecking the handle after long term use so I stopped using the grub screw.
But yes...good call...that does help.
Although I have now ordered the new improved handle. The current handle I will keep as a spare and will go back to a grub screw in that threaded hole if I ever need to use this old handle again.
Thanks.

Grey,
The package of 10-32 knurled head screws has 4 screws in it. You can always add another screw. And I don't need an allen wrench to tighten them. The screws are pushing on one or more (depending on how many you use) of the 4 plates that are inside the knurled knob of the handle. Once I find the target with the rest adjustments, the handle is free to move 360 degrees. I'm not putting any torque on the handle so I'm not sure how the handle will get 'wrecked'. But I can always buy a new handle.
Regards

 

[Grey Kiwi]

I will try your idea @kerjo of threading all the holes, and I like the idea of the knurled knobs too.
I only used what I had sitting in a tin in my shed...and that was 1 grub screw!
When the rest first arrived I thought the lock ring was plastic as it is so light, and then I worried that maybe the 4 wee 'fingers' that grip the shaft might be plastic too.
I sort of 'fixed' the sloppy fit by eventually lightly greasing a 10mm drill shank and dropping a wee blob of JB Weld down into the base of the 4 fingers. Then inserted the greased drill shank and lightly pressed it down after the JBW had 1/2 set. Twirled the drill gently and removed it.
When the JB Weld had fully set I had formed a nice socket down in there that was now a nice fit on the 10mm joystick shaft.
That did remove the slop, but I was still not happy (although the JBW epoxy should last for years).
So I have ordered the new version handle and this one will be a 'spare'.
Regards to you too. Always a pleasure to meet nice folks on this forum.

 

[USMCDOC]

 

[MrG52D]

Looks like there should have been a factory recall on the handle, instead of the end user having to purchase the upgrade. To be clear, I do not own one of these, but if I did, I would not have a great feeling about the product, seeming how I would have to pay to correct a defect. JMO

 

[seb]

Looks like there should have been a factory recall on the handle, instead of the end user having to purchase the upgrade. To be clear, I do not own one of these, but if I did, I would not have a great feeling about the product, seeming how I would have to pay to correct a defect. JMO

Thank you for yours, very much appreciated.
I have talked with Chris and asked him this evening the best thing to do is to replace the ones that has a wobble joystick head. I do not know the detail, how many, etc, but basically we will replace the joystick head at no cost, and asap.
Meanwhile Chris and his team are doing their best with the second batch.
Cheers,
seb

 

[Roeton]

That's great customer service and standing behind your product. Thanks

 

[tlbgto]

Mine is due to arrive Thursday and I had to pay $65 shipped to get it here. I would hope to be reimbursed for that. I had to send it back for repair as soon as it was received, as the Teflon sheet started to come out of the rest causing it to bind. That was repaired and taken care of. I put tape on the shaft and it stopped the spinning problem. The collet simply would not tighten down enough. My wife uses this and wanted the new handle. We have not taken the other handle off and don't know if the tape will continue to work. She does like the rest and it covers the entire target. Occasionally depending on how you rotate the handle the counter weight will hit the bump stop. It's a new product and probably more field testing should have been done. At this point, I doubt I would purchase another one.

 

[wildcat3d]

I've been waiting awhile now to find out the cost to have one shipped to me, now I know, been over a week since I last heard from the young man. But hey I was in the service....I'll wait
By The Way I love my Neo-X and my AR250, every good thing in life has a little pain.. lol

 

[Grey Kiwi]

Thank you for yours, very much appreciated.
I have talked with Chris and asked him this evening the best thing to do is to replace the ones that has a wobble joystick head. I do not know the detail, how many, etc, but basically we will replace the joystick head at no cost, and asap.
Meanwhile Chris and his team are doing their best with the second batch.
Cheers,
seb

That's great service...but where does that leave those of us who have already paid for the new handle?
Mine is already on it's way to me (tracking shows it has currently reached Singapore sorting centre).
I am well happy with my rest apart from the handle issue. After I used SEB's instruction about the tension on the bearings I did a tiny adjustment and what a difference it made. Before it was smooth but firm to adjust Up/Down. Now it just flows smoothly in any direction, but still retains the ability to line up on the target, let go of the handle, take the shot.
It's a new product, new design so sure to be the odd wee thing that needs sorted. But overall it's a great wee rest.

 

[tlbgto]

That's great service...but where does that leave those of us who have already paid for the new handle?
Mine is already on it's way to me (tracking shows it has currently reached Singapore sorting centre).
I am well happy with my rest apart from the handle issue. After I used SEB's instruction about the tension on the bearings I did a tiny adjustment and what a difference it made. Before it was smooth but firm to adjust Up/Down. Now it just flows smoothly in any direction, but still retains the ability to line up on the target, let go of the handle, take the shot.
It's a new product, new design so sure to be the odd wee thing that needs sorted. But overall it's a great wee rest.

Mine is scheduled for Thursday delivery. Like you mine was never correct. Hopefully the new handle will be better. I’ll take a look at the adjustment you made because mine is tight.

 

[Grey Kiwi]

Mine is scheduled for Thursday delivery. Like you mine was never correct. Hopefully the new handle will be better. I’ll take a look at the adjustment you made because mine is tight.

Yes, it's the little grub screw that sits under the front bag. Remove the bag and you will see a grub screw that actually covers the real grub screw (2.5mm hex key).
Mine was so tight I was worried about breaking the hex key. It broke free with a 'crack' and the hex key moved just the slightest amount. I tried the movement at that and it was right on the money. Made a big difference for such a tiny amount of adjustment.
It's the white arrow grub screw you want to play with. You don't need to remove the entire top plate as in the pic though.