How hard (packed) should the rear bag be?

[DngBat7]

I recently revamped my bags and had custom ones made. I had an all leather bag made for my front rest and a rear all leather bag made specific for my SR BR rifle after watching Barts recent videos from tack driver. I took some of the sand out of the front bag because protektor packed it in there. How about the rear bag? Bag and ears came pretty packed with regular sand. Should some be removed so the bag/ears not so hard? I did read Speedy’s article, but looking for some further input.

TIA

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Err toward soft on the base of the bag, then adjust tighter from there. I'd rather haved too soft than too hard and I never want my butt stock to bottom out. You'll hear different opinions on this so I'm only telling you what I want, not that other setups can't or don't work for them. I want the butt on the ears with as much support as possible. I start by looking for just a little bit of light under the butt after pounding it down pretty hard into the rear bag.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I shoot lr br and let the stock ride the bag, ears just steer it. My bags are soft. Not even full to the top of the ears.

 

[DngBat7]

Thank you Mike and Alex. Appreciate the response. Will soften it up.

 

[LRPV]

I reckon I’m a little different. I pack the crap out of the body and the ears of both of the Gators I use. My front bags are packed pretty hard too BUT the ears are not all the way full. I use 3M slick ears too. Turns out there’s more than one way to shoot LR BR.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Im a softer bag guy as long as it doesnt rock and shift. I also do not want my stock touching the stitches. I have found if a bag is too hard or hitting the hard stitches it induces vertical. I have a very large collection of bags that do not work for one reason or another