Sinclair Competition rest spring tension upgrade
- Thread starter baredog
- Start date
tac284
Gold $$ Contributor
@X-Caveman might be able to answer this the best.
Might want to see if @jepp2 still makes or has any...
Last edited:
Alex Wheeler
Site $$ Sponsor
Before they came out guys tapped a hole for a bolt and used coils springs to pull more tension. Easy to do.
X-Caveman
Gold $$ Contributor
Yep. I saw this "screen door approach" at Deep Creek in 2018 and decided to try to replicate the functionality with a cleaner, bolt-on unit. We were semi-successful with them. I think we sold about 160 total over 7-ish years. That was originally thru our store, then thru @jepp2 staring late in 2023 after we closed shop.
This hobby business isn't easy. For any economy of scale, we need runs of 30-ish +. So, you have someone sitting on a few thousand $ inventory selling them off slowly, one at a time. All the while, we have no control over forward compatibility. For example, if Sinclair were to move or eliminate a hole, it wouldn't fit. Hell, they had a hard enough time holding hole locations on models of the same vintage. That's why one hole in our units has large clearance and a washer/ nut set-up vs. two simple tapped holes.
I don't have any desire to do retail, but if someone else does, reach out. We can still make them. Or, I'll even send you the drawings. Anyone with a Bridgeport and a McMaster-Carr account can make one.
WSnyder
Silver $$ Contributor
@baredog @X-Caveman
I might help a guy out and make onsies or twosies of them. My time comes and goes but could possibly slip one or two in here or there as one might want one. Might make more sense to do at least two at a time if done manually.
I might help a guy out and make onsies or twosies of them. My time comes and goes but could possibly slip one or two in here or there as one might want one. Might make more sense to do at least two at a time if done manually.
baredog
Silver $$ Contributor
Thanks guys, I have been thinking of making one myself and found some of the parts i need and the rest just came in mail and there is no play at all....Is this possible? Maybe newer units have improved .My buddy has same rest and uses the windage pre loader so ill take it over there and compare our units(sinclair rests)lol thanks again Barry
X-Caveman
Gold $$ Contributor
We made several upgrades for the Sinclair Comp rest. It really depends on what you’re doing, experience, expectations, etc to determine which (if any) were most important. I no longer have the rest, but for me, the order of importance was…
knob wrench - very important to snug nobs, prevent unwanted/ untimely collapses. it’ll happen to you without one or another way to snug them beyond hand tight.
precision elevation screw - awesome for vertical precision but at the expense of making it slower target to target. great for heavy guns.
windage tensioner- peace of mind. Take yours apart and look at the spring mechanism. Or grab the bag and push it left/ right. it’s pretty easy to move off the screw. Also helps with responsiveness to minute inputs and movement/ vibrations at ignition/ recoil impulse. Better return to battery, but we’re talking teeny tiny margins here. However, in the benchrest game a few “tenths” make measurable differences.
Stop plate and bobbin - a lot more solid than the factory round rod gizmo. if yo shoot fast and bang the factory stop, its gonna move on you eventually.
base plate - great for stability- running groups fast, banging the stop, etc., but that’s not the kind of shooting i normally did.
In other words, go shoot it as is and see if it meets your needs for the games you play. It may be just fine. They are nice/ heavy, ergonomic rests at a good price point. Our upgrades were real & meaningful, but may or may not be needed/ applicable for what you do.
By the way, none of these upgrades were my ideas. They were all recommendations from this community. i just had the capability to make them.
knob wrench - very important to snug nobs, prevent unwanted/ untimely collapses. it’ll happen to you without one or another way to snug them beyond hand tight.
precision elevation screw - awesome for vertical precision but at the expense of making it slower target to target. great for heavy guns.
windage tensioner- peace of mind. Take yours apart and look at the spring mechanism. Or grab the bag and push it left/ right. it’s pretty easy to move off the screw. Also helps with responsiveness to minute inputs and movement/ vibrations at ignition/ recoil impulse. Better return to battery, but we’re talking teeny tiny margins here. However, in the benchrest game a few “tenths” make measurable differences.
Stop plate and bobbin - a lot more solid than the factory round rod gizmo. if yo shoot fast and bang the factory stop, its gonna move on you eventually.
base plate - great for stability- running groups fast, banging the stop, etc., but that’s not the kind of shooting i normally did.
In other words, go shoot it as is and see if it meets your needs for the games you play. It may be just fine. They are nice/ heavy, ergonomic rests at a good price point. Our upgrades were real & meaningful, but may or may not be needed/ applicable for what you do.
By the way, none of these upgrades were my ideas. They were all recommendations from this community. i just had the capability to make them.
Similar threads
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.