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Bald Eagle Rest and Bag Question

radford56

I'm looking to pick up a decent front rest and I don't want to spend a great deal of money. I see that the cast iron Bald Eagle Rests get generally good reviews and they fit my price range ($200-300 including the front bag). Are the Bald Eagle Rests still the best bet in a "budget" rest? And considering the anticipated use - see below - which version would you recommend?

Primary use will be for accuracy testing rifles and loads. I've been using the crappy rests that my club range has available for use, but they're basically junk and I've decided I want something better.

Secondary use - I just might shoot an occasional F-Open match at our local club. We shoot at 600 yards and I'd be doing it for fun, not expecting to be competitive in class. I'd probably use my Accuracy Intl AT in 6.5 Creedmoor, which certainly isn't a real F-Open rifle. F-Open would just be a change of pace from F-TR, which I normally compete in.

I also see that the Bald Eagle bags provide the best fit for the rests. There are three different sizes - which would be the best all around fit for my rifles? I'm not shooting BR or F Class rifles with ultra wide fore ends, I'm mostly shooting hunting/varmint rifles and tactical style rifles like the AI.

Thanks - appreciate any input.
 
The BE rest is a good rest, I use one for shooting from the bench during load development, etc. I would inventory the different rifles/stocks that will be riding the rest and get a better quality bag that could possibly be used on all or the majority of your rifles. I use Protektor brand on my BE, they will make anything you want or need at a reasonable price, and work well on Savage BVSS stocks, a Boyd's AT1 and Pro Varmint as well. I use their rear bags as well. The windage top is good, pretty smooth, but if you get the cable version, just delete the cable and go from there. The cable adds some unneeded slop. I used a slingshot model in RF BR until middle of last year, went to a 1pc.
 
The original Bald Eagle Rests as manufactured in Lock Haven, PA are the real deal-much better quality. The original Bald Eagle bags were top quality also as they were made by Protektor in nearby Galeton. The new Protektor rests appear to be the old BE slingshot and don't have the problematic windage cable that Grizzly sells.
I would spend the extra $ for the Protektor rest (non-windage) due to the quality issues with Grizzly- you can see the difference in the sales pics.
For a multi-purpose bag I use a Protektor # 19 called a "squeeze bag" which allows you to adjust fore-end width up to a 2-1/4" Hunter class BR stock.
The bags are easily interchanged and I would get the proper fitting bag for use in competition- they are not expensive.
 
LHSmith said:
The original Bald Eagle Rests as manufactured in Lock Haven, PA are the real deal-much better quality. The original Bald Eagle bags were top quality also as they were made by Protektor in nearby Galeton. The new Protektor rests appear to be the old BE slingshot and don't have the problematic windage cable that Grizzly sells.
I would spend the extra $ for the Protektor rest (non-windage) due to the quality issues with Grizzly- you can see the difference in the sales pics.
For a multi-purpose bag I use a Protektor # 19 called a "squeeze bag" which allows you to adjust fore-end width up to a 2-1/4" Hunter class BR stock.
The bags are easily interchanged and I would get the proper fitting bag for use in competition- they are not expensive.
Click to expand...
Thanks - I took a look at the Protektor and it does look like a very nice rest. I'm definitely considering it.
 
I have a BE Slingshot w/the BE front bag (which is OK), I bought 7-8 years ago. I hated the "cable" windage adjustment system so I reversed everything, removed the cable and moved the knob on the left-side of windage top. I think the base of rest is a really good value, but you are just buying a big chunk of cast iron. The top, again is a good value, but it has lots of issues. There is a lot of "lash", I don't like the use of springs and there is nothing precise about the way the slide works. But again, they only cost 25% of a SEB Mini.

I just purchased a Shadetree Rest Top for mine, in fact it just came by FedEx this afternoon. I am really excited about trying it. Unfortunately, this time of year in the UP of MI is not very conducive for accuracy work off a bench.
 
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Being in the rest top business for about 16 years I get a lot of feedback on the various bases. The Bald Eagle bases-old and new- are good quality. The Protector was mentioned and it is an aluminum Caldwell that has different screws and mariner wheel. It is better to have a heavy base. An advantage to the Bald Eagle is the rack and pinion quick vertical adjustment.
 
Get the bald eagle aluminum slingshot and you can upgrade to a shadetree top later. You wont be “out-rested” going that route. The cast iron isnt necessary and just makes it harder to deal with. The slingshot stores alot easier
 
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The Shadetree top is popular and works well. A gentleman on Youtube was experimenting with 3d printing a coaxial top. He provided the files for free to anyone wanting to try it and I made changes to it and have a working version on my BE rest. See it on my Youtube channel. This is NOT a quality piece of machinery like the Shadetree or SEB, but I printed mine and purchased the hardware for less than $40. It works good for what it is.
 

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