Return to battery.

[Ghansen]

I have been having difficulty setting up my rest and rear bag so that after a shot it will return within reason to the general aiming point. It is always returning 2 o'clock well away from the aim point. The rest is a basic bald eagle style with windage adjustment, protector ultra front bag and cordura bunny ears rear bag. I can't be certain (until proven) but I am pondering that my setup is giving me erratic groups. On the occasions when the gun returns close to aim, my groups tend to be small, without drift. What rest and bag setup routine might I try?

 

[Terry]

Set your gun up as you would shoot. Push it back and forth.
Does it stay on target?

 

[Ghansen]

pre fire, yes

 

[Terry]

What caliber and weight of rifle?

 

[dragman]

Buy a plate or put a bag of shot on the rest. With heavier recoiling guns I like to make sure my rest is HEAVY (that's why I have a SEBMAX) also your form could be moving your rear bag during the shot depending on how your body position is.

 

[/VH]

Just some thoughts, you may already have them covered:

After setting up on target, do you look straight down on the rifle to verify that your rest is square to the barrel?
Is the rear bag parallel to the stock and not rocking under recoil?
Any sling swivel studs, rails, etc. contacting the bags prior to firing or during recoil?

 

[mr45man]

+ 1 for shot bags.

 

[BoydAllen]

One thing that I have recently discovered is that a rear bag can slide a very small amount on the bench without the shooter realizing that it has happened. The best thing that I have come up with to add the needed traction to prevent this is a sheet of sanding screen under the rear bag. I use 150 grit. I like the screen because it has absolutely no bounce. I believe that Home Depot carries full sheets, but I am not sure of the grit. I got mine from a large local hardware store. A friend had built a concrete bench on a friend's farm and because the initial finish was rougher than he liked, he took a grinder to the top and made it smooth. This was not a problem until he took up benchrest, and decided that he wanted to shoot free recoil. Previously his shooting had been entirely with field rifles that he shot squeezing the rear bag, which had secured its position. His benchrest consists of a well stocked and balanced rifle (two actually), a Farley front rest, and an Edgewood Gator rear bag, that is a perfect fit for his Meredith stock. Even with the weight of the gator bag filled with heavy sand, the smooth bench allowed movement. Because of its length, I got him two sheets of the sanding screen, and that promptly fixed his problem.

Another issue is that shooters put there rear bags so far back on the stock that they unknowingly bump it. Bags need to be far enough forward that this cannot happen. You might try repositioning the rear bag forward just to see if it makes a difference.

If you cannot find any sanding screen from a source that is handy, you can simply glue two sheets of coarse sandpaper back to back and use that.

 

[Immike]

Rear bag is the most likely culprit. I used some self adhesive marine traction tread on a small bag that really grabs a smooth bench top, like glue. It didn't take long for the rest of my roll to disappear once a few guys saw how well it worked.

 

[memo43]

All good responces, but here is a shot in the dark.
Are you right handed and possibly pulling with your rear hand (right hand shooters will pull 1:30-2 oclock position)
You might be induceing the movement and the recoil is masking the movement.
Next time you go out shooting have a friend load the rifle for you simmilar to a ball and dummy round drill. Not knowing if its a live round or dumie round.
you mentioned that dry fire shots have no movement, but those are shots you know are dry fire shots.

 

[tenring]

I went to Lowes and bought a roll of black quilted rubber normally used to line mechanics tool boxes. I cut it to nearly cover the entire cement bench top at our club. With very heavy pressure, the rear bag will not move. I keep padded round grippers under the front rest points.

 

[BoydAllen]

Been there, done that, have the T shirt. The bag sticks but there is some bounce and roll. That is why I recommended the sanding screen. It has great traction without the bounce and roll. This only matters if your hand is not on the rear bag. If you are holding the rifle and or the bag, it is a lot less important.

 

[Ghansen]

Sure are some great thoughts guy's, thanks for your attention and idea's.

In answer to Terry, My gun is a LV 6PPC, and memo43 I am right handed, so that is a possible technique error I can work on.
The rest is heavy with base made from cast iron and outweighs the gun. Bag fill's are packed a bit less than tight.

Load wise the best groups over the weekend in comp were .125 & .189 @100, lot's of .2's so when things align it works well, but the kicker is always return to battery, and for the best groups it always returns close to the aiming point. The other groups all required extra sighting work, and with consistent poor return, my shots tended to string out.

If I can find the most likely cause be it me or the immovable I'll post it. I would love to find and eliminate that one variable. I also have done flag reading practice and load testing using an "unlimited style" technique, so if the rear bag suggestions work I can then work on my positional technique. That style is easy to do in practice compared to often brief conditions in a match relay, in matches and general practice I shoot free recoil least body movement.

 

[Lapua40X]

I have found that when I place the bag too far back on the stock and squeeze for height adjustment I sometimes put lateral pressure on the stock, through the mass of the bag, without realizing it. Careful not to do that.

 

[LHSmith]

The front bag must be level. The reticle must then be adjusted level. As was mentioned earlier the front and rear rest must be precisely lined up with the target. Some use a string while others use a rod ( i.e old gulf club) to align. Mark the rest's footprint on the bench top after setting-up. Rear bag fill is extremely important. A good explanation on what to look for is in Ratigan's book "Extreme Rifle Accuracy". Here he describes how most rear bags have a tendency to fail to maintain a consistent return to battery platform due to design or improper fill.
A proper set-up should yield tracking with virtually no side to side shift, only up and down. (Short range BR due to the buttstock angle rule).

 

[RAFII]

I am having the same problem when shooting also.

SEB NEO 2nd Gen front rest, with rubber o-rings on fore end stop...
Edgewood rear bag...
Hall B action, in a McMillan Edge stock, in 30 BR...

Can see slight left to right movement without even taking a shot when sliding the rifle back and forth.
Rest is level (per bubble on it)...
Rear bag IS sitting flat and is square...

I set up cross hairs to lines on target. (NBRSA or IBS "Hunter")
Slid the rifle forward and back multiple times and cross hairs "crawl" progressively to the right.

I had thought it might be a problem with the rest and the fore arm stop set up.
Could also use some advise, please.

Thank you.

 

[LHSmith]

^^^^^ More important than the rest being level is that the bottom of the stock is level throughout its range of travel. Lastly, it may be that the stock was not manufactured straight or inletted properly ( barreled action is offset in relation to where the stock is pointing). Fiberglass stocks can be noted for this if they were pulled from the mold too soon.

 

[savagedasher]

I have the same problem when I shoot a gun with too long of pull. Wrong chair height will do it also.
Larry

 

[kvd]

I too am having problems with the rifle being significantly off target after each shot and the comments here have been enlightening. I'm using a SEB Bigfoot rear bag filled with heavy sand but I set it on top of a 2x6 piece of wood to give me more height off the ground when shooting prone. It is definitely sliding around on the mat during strings of fire. Affixing sandpaper to both sides of the piece of wood seems like an option but is there something better out there?

Ken

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Pull your gun back 2" in the bags, where is the cross hair pointing? If the crosshair leaves the x it has to find its way back. Shoulder position is critical, if the butt is not hitting your shoulder square it will veer off to one side of the other, same as when shooing off a bi pod. If your stock is straight, most of the time its how the stock is hitting your shoulder.