lawman29
Gold $$ Contributor
What is the range of movement for joystick - will it cover a short range score target top to bottom?
Old Age, New Trident Rest
- Thread starter ReedG
- Start date
Tim, keep in mind that I've only been to the range twice with it and most of the time was getting used to setting the rest up, getting used to the adjusting system, etc. The joystick itself moves 5" from center to both the left and right. On the range, that movement is, literally, about two target positions wide. I personally have not used a rest with the amount of movement the Trident has. And the feel and touch of the rest glides so smoothly it is amazing. Our weather has not been conducive to bench shooting, but as soon as I can I will go again and try to get some better info.
Trigger-Jerker
Silver $$ Contributor
Your rifle bounces in the rest a couple times, (~16 & 45 seconds in the video). Is that common with the Mini or Neo?
F Class John
NRA Life Member
Yeah I didn't really catch that but there's probably two things at play.
First is that I was shooting at one of my ranges that doesn't let me easily shoot prone and there's no stools or place to sit at the bench I was using and I didn't bring a stool so I'm standing behind it which wasn't ideal.
Second is I don't think I totally had the ears adjusted correctly so It's possible that's also part of what you're seeing.
It's a learning curve with any new rest, it happens, and while it really wasn't a big deal but I can see people being critical of it.
I'm human, my apologies, but don't blame the rest, it was just doing what I told it to.
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Wasn't being critical. I just noticed the bounce where I haven't seen it before in your other videos. It does look like a nice rest. I do see how a less than ideal position could cause an issue.
Trident is a rest that I designed with portability in mind. The base can be disassembled for travel mode like in the picture below by unscrewing the stainless bolt that connect the two base together.
I have watched the video dozens of times and in my humble opinion, the stainless bolt that hold the two base together wasn't tightened enough or became loose due to vibrations. This causes the front part where the body rests to be able to shift due to recoil. I too still have much to learn and in this case I think there needs to be a way to prevent this from ever happening even unintentionally.
The two base parts use a wedge shape to self lock so having the bolt tight enough is key in having the two parts become a single solid part. I will add a Nord lock vibration proof washer to ensure that the two remain securely locked together throughout your shooting session.
But, there's a catch. The current stainless bolt is too short for this improvement and I will need to remake them. I'm still new to this industry, and I truly want to give the best I can. As this is a crucial feature to the rest, I will have to postpone all shipments for Trident and fix this issue first before I ship out any more Trident. I much rather ship a good product late than ship a flawed product that you wouldn't enjoy using.
To sweeten the deal, based on the input I received not just from F-class John but also other shooters, I will add adjustable lever to the side plates and also an improved version of the forend stopper. For those who have already received their Trident, I will ship out replacement bolts plus adjustable lever and stopper free of charge.
Due to the huge demand that John's video created, I now have equally huge problem in trying to keep up with my production. I ask for a month wait time to do all of these and give my poor team a bit of a breathing room to catch up. I will inform my other existing customers who are not in this thread about these changes as well.
This is a new product and I welcome all input and critique that can improve the rest even further as I truly believe that there's no such thing as a perfect product and there's always improvements that can be made.
Thank you all very much for your trust, patience, and understanding. I hope these improvements will allow you all to really enjoy shooting with this rest once you get to try it yourself.
Sincerely,
Chris
Attachments
I ordered a Trident last night after watching the videos John posted. I contacted them and got an instant response. That sold it for me. I’ve contacted two other rest companies over the last several weeks to no avail. I believe it’ll pack better and setup easier than what I have. I believe John could have tweaked his setup just a bit and it would have been rock solid as he stated. I’m only shooting club matches and I’ve been doing it off of a Shade Tree Rest top on Caldwell bottom. I am still pleased with the shade tree. Mr. Butch has an amazing product for the money. I ordered a Trident and I am beyond excited about trying it out.
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timeout
Silver $$ Contributor
F Class John
NRA Life Member
Yeah, already sent him an email just haven't heard back. Thought someone here might know. Thanks.
F Class John
NRA Life Member
F Class John, Thank You!
Apologies for the late reply it's been a hectic couple of days.
Thank you John for being so helpful!
Here are the dimensions with everything attached if still needed.
Hi everyone, I'm Javier, a Spanish Fclass shooter. I ordered a Trident from Chris yesterday because I'm in a similar situation to ReedG. As soon as I receive it and after testing it for a while, I'll give my opinion, which so far is very positive based on your comments and feedback.
Greetings from Spain to all!
Greetings from Spain to all!
I am no F-Class shooter, but I do a sizable amount of .22 benchrest shooting. I bought one of Chris's AR-250's when they first came out and I like it a lot. I didn't need a "new" rest, but I wanted a lighter one in my elder years to save some wear and tear on my back. I have used the AR-250 with centerfire rifles up to .308 and it actually works quite well as it is. Now this has only been out to 200 yards so take that with a grain of salt. I have yet to come to the point of collapsing the AR-250 due to too much weight on it from any of my rifles. I think the heaviest one is about 18 pounds. That said I also run the AR-250 turned around so the point of the base faces the target to avoid lifting the base. I may add a heavier base plate at some point, but then I defeat the purpose of why I bought this rest.
The new Trident rest kind of caught me off guard as I didn't know Chris was working on this. It certainly looks like a fine rest and it carries more weight for guys that need or want that, but I am in a weight saving mode right now. My heaviest benchrest .22 is about 15 pounds and the AR-250 easily handles that. I even used my National Match M1-A in the AR-250 just for grins and the rest worked well with that rifle.
Regarding the video posted by F-Class John. I watched it and also saw on a couple of his shots where his rifle "lifted" a bit from the rest due to recoil of the round going off. I could be wrong, but the fore end on John's rifle appears to be a tapered design on the sides. If this is true wouldn't it make it extremely difficult for a rest to hold the rifle in place? In a sense the fore end is already being squeezed upwards before a shot is taken. Again, I could be wrong on this or maybe the "look" of his fore end is a bit deceiving. You could put what I know about F-class rifles in a thimble.
Rick H.
The new Trident rest kind of caught me off guard as I didn't know Chris was working on this. It certainly looks like a fine rest and it carries more weight for guys that need or want that, but I am in a weight saving mode right now. My heaviest benchrest .22 is about 15 pounds and the AR-250 easily handles that. I even used my National Match M1-A in the AR-250 just for grins and the rest worked well with that rifle.
Regarding the video posted by F-Class John. I watched it and also saw on a couple of his shots where his rifle "lifted" a bit from the rest due to recoil of the round going off. I could be wrong, but the fore end on John's rifle appears to be a tapered design on the sides. If this is true wouldn't it make it extremely difficult for a rest to hold the rifle in place? In a sense the fore end is already being squeezed upwards before a shot is taken. Again, I could be wrong on this or maybe the "look" of his fore end is a bit deceiving. You could put what I know about F-class rifles in a thimble.
Rick H.
Thank you Rick for sharing your thoughts. Lately it has become a bit of a worry to me about sharing too much of future products I plan to launch with people copying my products.
Trident is also meant to be a lightweight and portable version of the AR250 meant for centerfire. It weighs roughly 12lbs but with a much bigger overall foot print for stability.
But for those who already own an AR250, I do have a leg extension kit coming out soon. It'll allow the AR250 to have similar width as the Trident base with the added heavy counternuts to add weight only at the very edges of the rest for even more stability. The legs are foldable so the rest is still portable.
These heavy counternuts will also be an option for the Trident later on for people who want extra stability. The heavy counternuts will only add about 3lbs in weight but are really effective in adding stability.
I know my products can always be improved so hopefully this accessory addition will allow you who have put your trust in my product a better shooting experience.
Will the Trident work for a 22 to 25 lb rifle?
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