Bipod for F Class Open?

[TriumphAthletics]

I am looking for advice on what kind of front/rear rests to use for F Class Open competition. I am competing for the first time in June. My rifle is a 300WM. I have been shooting it with a brake. Now that I am preparing for competition, I have removed the brake. This has caused the recoil to significantly increase. Right now I am shooting off a Rock BR and a rear sand bag. The increased recoil is causing the rifle to move a good bit more, which is obviously causing me more time to to get back on target. Should I stay with the current rest system I have? Can you please point me to sources on how to improve my shooting technique to better handle the recoil and get back on target faster?

I appreciate any advice.

 

[DBailey]

Unless you're Superman (like Mr Biggs) you'll be better off staying with a conventional rest.
How much does the rifle weigh? If it's less than 21.5 pounds add weight.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Reducing bullet weight will help also. Might try a lighter bullet and not a full power load until you get comfortable and then go up from there.

What bullet weight are you shooting and how fast? Tell us about your rifle.

 

[TriumphAthletics]

I'm shooting a 200g Berger Hybrid with 73g of 4000-MR. 2975 fps MV. Rifle is a 5R with 26 in barrel. I had Charlie Robertson blue print and bed the action and install a brake. At the time I did not consider competition. So recently I removed the brake to prepare for F Class. Two observations so far: 1. the gun is much more precise without the brake, and 2. the recoil is much more.

I have shot before with Harris bi-pods on various 308s. Then I would load the bi-pod which allowed me to return to target quickly. I have never used a bi-pod on a gun with this much recoil. Also, most here on the forums seem to be using something other than a bi-pod for F Class. I am inexperienced and wanted good advice before I spent any money on a rest.

 

[Erik Cortina]

If you want to cry once get a SEB NEO, however, there is about a 12 month wait for one of those.

 

[joejo]

i bought a nice rest off of a member on here. he made it, and i would think he still makes them. his last name was davis. i have shot f-open off of several different bipods and have found my best performance from a standard style rest.

 

[medic727]

Look at any of the wide profile F-Class bipod, i.e., Sinclair, Censhot, Duplin. Properly set up they track well and friction with the ground spreads out the recoil impulse. Plus, with the anti-cant locked down there is no torque to recover from. I shoot 60-80 rounds a day of 7SAUM, 175gr SMK's at almost 3000 fps during matches without any recoil fatigue. Also, look into replacing your recoil pad with one made with Sorbothane, Kick-Eez at sorbothane.com.

 

[dannyjbiggs]

TA...no doubt about it, you've got a "lot of gun" on a bipod (and a lot of courage)!! There is a good chance that even with the bipod weight included, you are not any where near the 22 pound limit?

Until you can get your rifle into a good F-Open stock and get a SEB front rest, I'd say get some weight on your rig! Things to consider are adding lead shot to the butt stock, or even investing in one or two Mercury Recoil Suppressors by C&H Research (from Brownels)...the 7/8"x 5" sized ones weigh one pound, so there's weight and a slight relief by the mercury.

Other things to keep the tears out of your eyes is to add a 1 3/8" KICK-EEZ recoil pad (Brownels) to the butt.

I do all of the above; plus wear a shorty, Creedmore shooting jacket with another recoil pad under the outer pad...so far, I have only ventured to shoot the Win .284 on the Sinclair bipod in competition. Did shoot the 7mm RSAUM a couple of times off the bipod at my local range and decided to just stick to the SEB with the RSAUM. (Really, I just use the jacket because of its elbow pads.)

Now for the bad news, if the WSM is kicking around side-to-side on you, it could be that you are holding it too tightly...push the rig out further from your shoulder, but still touching so as not to be accused of using "free recoil", and maybe it will track back rearward much better. But, yep, you guessed it...more tears in the eye. But you've got to to what you've got to do until the SEB gets in.

Danny Biggs

 

[Steve Blair]

Unless you're Superman (like Mr Biggs) you'll be better off staying with a conventional rest.
How much does the rifle weigh? If it's less than 21.5 pounds add weight.

↑ True statement, good advice. [br]
I have a .300 WSM shooting 230 Hybrids at ~2950. It weighs 21.75 lbs. and moves a lot.

 

[TriumphAthletics]

Thanks to all for the advice. My rifle is well under 20 lbs. I guess my next move is add weight. Thanks again for the help.