Front bag sand??

[600-60x]

For LV short range benchrest 10.5 lbs
And f open 20 lbs rifles
What do you like

 

[ELR LVR]

Ideally, Garnet
(As a heads up, do not use "black sand", it is angular and does not manipulate well
Garnet is heavy but rounded so conforms to your stock better)

 

[butchlambert]

Regardless of fill, do not make it too hard,. It encourages vertical.

 

[dthomas]

Paver sand

 

[M-61]

Doesn’t answer your question but after a long time with bags, I just buy filled Protecktor. No clue what they’re filled with but work perfectly and great people to deal with.

 

[600-60x]

Paver sand

Thanks

 

[Fire Dog]

I found some “Kiln Dried” sand that is used for filling in astro turf surfaces such as a tennis court. It gives a more solid surface.
Pours really well and fairly fine consistency making pushing the bag around to custom fit easy if as mentioned before, you don’t over fill the bag.
That advice is true for any type of fill…
Fixed the “Typo” 19/09/2025.

 

[memilanuk]

Ideally, Garnet

What grit?

 

[JFrank]

I once tried Black Diamond media blast from Tractor supply and found it to be quite nasty to deal with, it will break down over time and the dust will be even worse. You will certainly be wise to wear a mask.
Paver sand is very find while playground sand a bit courser, protekor reg sand is somewhere in between and my personal choice, I keep the bag soft at first as it will pack down in short order.

Jim

 

[memilanuk]

Interesting. Years ago I had heard that the black zircon heavy sand was what you wanted, *because* it interlocked and stacked up better than the rounded granules of 'washed' playground sand. The idea was the rounded granules were akin to stacking ball bearings; the lack of stacking was attributed to the stretching/pooching out of rear bags.

 

[JFrank]

I use heavy sand in the rear bag, it might be Zircon , IDK for positive but it’s not the same as media blast from TS. that I do know.

 

[SmittyJon]

I use heavy sand in the rear bag, it might be Zircon , IDK for positive but it’s not the same as media blast from TS. that I do know.

I use "river washed" sand in both of my bags. Not to far from where I live a small stream flows into a branch of a river. Every spring when the water goes down it exposes a sand bar comprised of table salt sized sand grains. Absolutely uniform and no dust what-so-ever.

Now, Maine's known for it's white sand beaches, so when I first started using sand bags I got the bright idea of using some of Bar Harbor's "Sand Beach," sand. So I brought a small pail of it home. Knowing it would have to screened, I put a piece of window screening over another pail, and had at it.

Most of the sand zipped right through, but a lot junk was left behind like: pieces of dried seaweed, sea shell bits, a snail shell, a corroded penny, a bracelet charm, a couple of beer can tabs, part of an ear ring, and more.

It worked well in the bags, although it tended to pack. But, the worse part is when the bags were used on a damp or rainy day, they smelled like fish(!).

SJ

 

[AlNyhus]

I like the fine reptile sand in my front bags. Fills nicely and stays pliable. Any front bag should be given a fluff up occasionally.

 

[rlporter507]

I have posted this place before, they have all kinds of sand. Its where i got my zircon sand.

UniWest - Denver's Best Sandblasting Supplies & Blast Media

UniWest is Denver's largest distributor of sandblasting supplies, blast media, sandblasting equipment, and anything else you could need for finishing

unitedwesterndenver.com

also do a search here, this has come up several times.

 

[M-61]

“Kilm Dried”

KILN

 

[M-61]

Now, Maine's known for it's white sand beaches, so when I first started using sand bags I got the bright idea of using some of Bar Harbor's "Sand Beach," sand. So I brought a small pail of it home. Knowing it would have to screened, I put a piece of window screening over another pail, and had at it.

My experience with using sand from the ocean beaches is I never really felt the SALT was gone.
Really scientific test : Washed and rinsed it endlessly. When dry I tasted it. Definitely salty.

 

[ELR LVR]

Interesting. Years ago I had heard that the black zircon heavy sand was what you wanted, *because* it interlocked and stacked up better than the rounded granules of 'washed' playground sand. The idea was the rounded granules were akin to stacking ball bearings; the lack of stacking was attributed to the stretching/pooching out of rear bags.

My experience was:
I have a few small buckets of sand from gold panning
Black sand from the stream is magnetite a form of iron / not Zircon
it took more manipulation and reconforming by hand if I wanted to switch rifles
the bag wanted to retain its shape stiffly in such a way it was more like resting the rifle on a rock instead of something forgiving like a human hand holding the rifle
We could fill a water balloon and use that, but if we freeze it what do we have for a rest then?
it was kinda like that
if that makes sense
this is "ESPECIALLY" true for a rear bag where we want it to conform around the stock
if it fights conforming, then we're now fighting the bag
perhaps it could be "Made to work" by mixing other sand in with it?
Black Zircon may behave totally different than a bag of fine iron
Anyway, I had a lot of useless black sand so figured it might be a good use for it
After my first experimentation
I dumped it out and refilled with blonde river sand instead and had better luck

 

[ELR LVR]

What grit?

I would have to double check, if I were to guess it's probably between 20 to 50 mesh
I don't think I would go finer than 50 as the particles are so fine its like dust
if we can use river sand as many have in the past then 20 mesh would be good
Zircon is a great alternative being slightly heavier than Garnet