Jay Christopherson
Not An Admin
I thought I'd collate some thoughts here after taking my SEB Mini out to the range for the first time. I've been using the NEO for the past 5 years (in fact, I have one of the early first gen NEO's).
Random Thoughts:
Setup is a little different - I'm so used to my NEO, that I actually had to think about setting up the MINI. Loosening up the center post so that I could dial it up, adjusting the legs, etc... but, it only took a few minutes to get the hang of it. Once I figured it out, it went pretty smoothly. This first time out, I situated it with one leg to the rear. My NEO sets up with the leg to the front. Doesn't really mean anything except that the orientation was a bit different.
Thumbs Up:
Overall, I really like this rest - I was able to easily shoot to the level I routinely do off my NEO. This was off a concrete firing point. As it stands right now, I don't think I could shoot this off an unimproved firing point, but with a few updates, I think it'll be great.
EDIT: I also found the standard joystick to be a bit short for my T-Rex reach... however, luckily Seb is smart and used the same dimension center post as the NEO so I easily slipped on my self-modified extended joystick.
Random Thoughts:
Setup is a little different - I'm so used to my NEO, that I actually had to think about setting up the MINI. Loosening up the center post so that I could dial it up, adjusting the legs, etc... but, it only took a few minutes to get the hang of it. Once I figured it out, it went pretty smoothly. This first time out, I situated it with one leg to the rear. My NEO sets up with the leg to the front. Doesn't really mean anything except that the orientation was a bit different.
Thumbs Up:
- the center post adjustment wheel is really smooth, once you loosen the center post dogs.
- like how the bag adjusts to your rifle orientation once you loosen the dogs; it "auto-centers" if you will, unlike my NEO where I spend time specifically centering the rest to the target as much as possible. You can really set down this rest in any position and easily center it to the target without having to "aim" it precisely.
- it's very solid; once the rifle was setup, I could detect no play in the system at all
- once I started shooting, the rifle tracked extremely well; I felt like my stock preferred the MINI bag setup to the NEO bag setup just based on recoil tracking, but it's a very small sample size so far.
- typical SEB quality; for a "basic" rest, it still tops most of the others I've used
- if you use the leg adjustments in the "downward" direction (i.e., to lower the rest), you must push down on the rest before use; I cannot stress this enough. The fitting, right now, is so tight/precise, that the screw will move without moving the leg. It's almost like the old Leupold elevation adjustment issue. It's possible this may resolve itself as the rest sees use. If you do not push down to remove backlash/play, it will move on you during recoil.
- the leveling posts are too short, particularly on one leg. It seems like this rest was designed for F-Class and 4" - 6" adjustment screws should be the minimum. The leveling screws that come with it are too short for F-Class feet and too short to adjust for unimproved firing points. Make sure you ask for long screws. I feel like this should be the default though.
- The shortest leveling screw is so short that there is no jam nut on it. Make sure you ask for one when you ask for longer legs.
Overall, I really like this rest - I was able to easily shoot to the level I routinely do off my NEO. This was off a concrete firing point. As it stands right now, I don't think I could shoot this off an unimproved firing point, but with a few updates, I think it'll be great.
EDIT: I also found the standard joystick to be a bit short for my T-Rex reach... however, luckily Seb is smart and used the same dimension center post as the NEO so I easily slipped on my self-modified extended joystick.
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