Shooting technique

[bench]

Fellas,
I use a Caldwell Rock BR Competition front rest and rear bag for load development at my range.
The question is after getting set up and on target do I lock the the adjustment knobs for the vertical and horizontal adjustment.
And then just use the rear bag to get back on target after each shot the reason I ask is there is just so much slop (movement) in the front rest I always wonder if that effects my groups.

Bench

 

[ND shooter]

Yes it does. As to technique I will leave that to others to advise. Everybody has a different way and I imagine you will get many opinions. Out of all of them you will have to decide which works better for you. And it will show on paper.

 

[Cold Bore]

....there is just so much slop (movement) in the front rest I always wonder if that effects my groups.

It certainly doesn't help.

 

[Joe Salt]

Oh ya big time! I've forgotten to tighten things on the front rest, and at 1000 yards you will be wondering, What did I do now.

joe Salt

 

[Shynloco]

Oh ya big time! I've forgotten to tighten things on the front rest, and at 1000 yards you will be wondering, What did I do now.

joe Salt

Bench,
I believe that you MUST lock everything on your rest, INCLUDING making sure the "feet" are solidly in place so the base of the rest is sturdy, let alone the upper adjustments of the rest. The idea is to make sure that each time you send a round, that the recoil of the rifle comes back to battery (the same position) as your fired before. If you don't "lock" the vertical and horizontal adjusters, it becomes impossible to rely on any of the settings for future accuracy. Even when you lock everything as stated, if your read bag has moved, all your efforts have become willy nilly. So try and pay attention to make sure your sight picture hasn't changed dramatically and that any adjustments to the rest are minor so "repeatability" is the same each time you shoot. Good luck because it takes some practice to actually know when you need to make adjustment to the rest. And make sure you "approach" your setup the same each time to prepare to shoot (seating/laying position, cheek position, hand position, breathing, etc).

Alex

 

[LHSmith]

Replace the front Caldwell bag with a Protektor Model....call them and tell them what rest and what type of stocks will be used on the rest. Next, If that does not fix the problem, get a Protektor 14B rear bag and an Otto Bag stabilizer from Sinclair. The Caldwell BR Comp rest is suitable for what you want to do, but Caldwell's bags leave a lot to be desired. I'd suggest leather bags and fill with regular sand, for the ears I would sift the sand and only use the larger aggregate to keep them from packing hard.

 

[jdh47]

You have not said what stock you are using and if you are inquiring about benchrest technique or just hunting gun technique. Ideally the gun needs to ride the bags straight back during recoil and be as repetitive as possible.

on my hunting guns I use a protector bag with a saddle as close to the contour of my stocks forend as possible. I take off my sling swivles in the hopes of getting the thing to behave as repetitive as possible. I return the gun to battery in the same position each time. hold pray squeeze swear...etc.

My front rest is home built but I lock it and it stays put. It's the nut behind the rest that is my problem. Although I think I would look so much more refined if I had one of Butch Lambert's Shade Tree rest tops.

Joe

 

[bench]

You have not said what stock you are using and if you are inquiring about benchrest technique or just hunting gun technique. Ideally the gun needs to ride the bags straight back during recoil and be as repetitive as possible.

on my hunting guns I use a protector bag with a saddle as close to the contour of my stocks forend as possible. I take off my sling swivles in the hopes of getting the thing to behave as repetitive as possible. I return the gun to battery in the same position each time. hold pray squeeze swear...etc.

My front rest is home built but I lock it and it stays put. It's the nut behind the rest that is my problem. Although I think I would look so much more refined if I had one of Butch Lambert's Shade Tree rest tops.

Joe

jd
you are correct I missed on posting that the rest is being used for hunting style stocks and used for load development.
The rear bag is a protector,all swivels have been removed or are placed so they do not contact the rest or bag.

 

[timeout]

jd
you are correct I missed on posting that the rest is being used for hunting style stocks and used for load development.
The rear bag is a protector,all swivels have been removed or are placed so they do not contact the rest or bag.

I like to use a Sinclair gen 2 bipod when load testing hunting style stocks. I don't claim to be the world's best shot but I can shoot about as well off that bipod as a rest. I just don't care to work with hunting style stocks in a rest.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Get some railgun superfeet. Those rests need a bigger footprint to be steady and the superfeet help