Rear bag slipping on bench.

[Tozguy]

The last competition I attended was shot from cement benches. My Protector DR bag slips very easily on the epoxy coating used on these benches. It took a while to realise that it was moving ever so slightly but it was enough to eventually cause me to run out of windage adjustment during a match. I intend to rub some wax on the bench next time, much like the stuff surfers use on surf boards to prevent slipping with wet feet. Has anyone else experienced this problem and come up with a good trick to solve it?

 

[alf]

Get a small plastic spray bottle from Wally World, fill it with water, and spray the bench top before you put the bag down.

 

[Tozguy]

Thanks Alf, much simpler than having to remove wax from a bench!
Going to give it a try.

 

[dogdude]

shelf liner, cheap and easy work's great on everything but ICE. can cut it to any size you want. i highly recommend it, be sure it's legal in your type of shooting(it will be!) all best dogdude

 

[Tozguy]

Did try the anti-slip shelf liner cut to size. It helped a bit but the bag still moved some. The bench surface is very smooth and hard at this particular range. Some of the other fellas were using a piece of car mat under the rear rest but I thought that it was to adjust the height of their set-up. Now I wonder.

 

[bozo699]

Tozguy,
We use rubber mats cut to fit the top of the bench, works great.
Wayne.

 

[fdshuster]

I carry a piece of the rubber roofing material to cover smooth concrete bench tops. Available from any roofer, as scrap cut-off pieces. Rear bag does not move.

 

[Cigarcop]

I always carry two rubber jar openers with me, they are about 6"x6" and very thin but don't let anything slide. I get them at the super market for about 69Ct

 

[Tozguy]

Good stuff, thanks folks, looks easy to afford, going to try all your suggestions.

 

[in2deep]

If that big heavy 18 + - pound Doctor bag is moving around on the bench there is a serious problem and if your running out of windage I suspect your leaning or pushing on the rifle or bag and moving it away from your body which in turn is probably moving point of aim off to the left side of the target (if your a righty) possibly even inducing some phantom left-right bullet movement which could be taken for a bad windage call.
Next time you shoot see if your hogging up on the gun too much or pushing the bag inadvertently with your body since normal recoil shouldn't move the bag sideways too much. Doesn't sound like you shoot free recoil but if you do teflon stock tape under the buttstock helps it slide easier in the bag and disrupts it less.

 

[Tozguy]

2deep, thats pretty well the way it was. My DR rear bag weighs 9 lbs and the first reaction I had was to double and triple check that I was not touching the bag.
The rifle does slide smoothly in the bags but it seems that I was shifting the bag despite my best efforts not to. When I finally had to move the bag back to where I had windage adjustment again it was just too easy to slide it on the table.
Today I started with Frank's tip about using a piece of roofing membrane that has one tacky side and a gravel covered side (like coarse sandpaper). The gravel side was down and the bag was on the tacky side. It probably works the other way too. Today was at the same range but this time with no more bag slip. When the gun was pushed back up to the forend stop, the crosshairs would be right back to where they started. It took only the slightest elevation and windage adjustments to shoot groups and this was for the whole 2.5 hours of shooting. What fun !
The other shooters were only slightly bothered by the slippery table. They must have a better technique than I do. Anyway, now it feels like I can trust the bag to stay put and its a great feeling!

 

[Tozguy]

Just a follow up on the roofing membrane trick. The type that I used had an adhesive side that forms a bond with time. It may form enough of a bond that it will be difficult to remove either from the table or the bag. When it does come off it may leave a black residue. All roofing products are not created equal so a word of caution about roofing membrane then is to test it first on something safe to determine how the adhesive side (if any) works. It may just feel tacky at first but with time and pressure it may form a strong enough bond to create a problem.

 

[bozo699]

Tozguy,
If that is the case and you already said it works well grit down or up then glue two pieces of roofing material back to back, no more sticking issues and no more bag slippage
Wayne.

 

[fdshuster]

Tozguy: My roofing material does not have any coating on it, either side. Just plain, black rubber that measures .060" thick. So handy to have I use it for many other purposes also.

 

[bozo699]

Frank,
I guess I misunderstood what you were using as well, I think of roofing material as tar paper or tar paper with rock granules embedded in it, I have never heard of rubber roofing, where do you get it at? Tar paper is probably .060 thick but three tab roofing is probably double that.
Wayne.

 

[jonbearman]

Bozo its bitchuthane,I cant spell it correctly but in the north and other areas we call it ice shield that goes on the edge of a roof ,then you paper overlap and shingle. It prevents water from working up under the shingles.It is sticky and tough to pull off.

 

[bozo699]

Bozo its bitchuthane,I cant spell it correctly but in the north and other areas we call it ice shield that goes on the edge of a roof ,then you paper overlap and shingle. It prevents water from working up under the shingles.It is sticky and tough to pull off.

10-4 on that Jon I guess we don't use it out hear in the n/w with our milder winters. I need to give you a call or p.m you haven't spoke in a while, thanks for the info.
Wayne.

 

[Tozguy]

As of now, grit covered roofing membrane will be avoided. it works for the purpose intended but the grit comes off easily and gets everywhere. Will look for some of the stuff that doesn't have grit nor excessive stickiness to it.

Next on my list of stuff to try is a thin rubber mouse pad that was retired from our computer desk a few years ago. It is not a spongy material and would seem to provide a firm base for the bag.

 

[fdshuster]

Wayne: When a roofer does a flat roof here in SW Pa. they use the plain rubber I'm talking about. Like the old rubber inner tubes for tires (remember those?), but thicker. I got mine from an air conditioning guy who picked it up when installing the units, and these were left-over cutoff pieces. I use it for lining cabinet shelves, a quick wrap around when needing to open a tight jar lid, hold the brass case while using the KM inside taper neck reamer, etc. Just one of those everyday things that make a lot of jobs easier. As a non slip cover for most concrete benchtops I find it the best solution, for me.

 

[lmorrison17]

On my bag, I got a bit thick stiff leather. Traced around the bottom of my bag and cut it to fit, then i cut the center out of it leaving a 1" wide ring the shape of the bottom of my bag. A doughnut so to speak ,glued it to the bottom of my bag in the hole I put a thin piece of foam rubber that you can get a walmart in the craft or school supply section. Then i went to the hardware store and get some self sticking "grip tape" it's like sand paper tape used for stair treads or that kids put on skate boards. Put this stuff on the bottom of my bag. It hasn't come apart in 5 or 6 years and filled with heavy sand MY BAG DONT MOVE!
Larry