Slick Material Shooting Rest Bags

[timeout]

Decided to move this to the main message board: I'm interested in differences between the slick bag coverings. Grizzly has a micro fiber and Protektor has a 3M product. In your experience with these products, does one perform better than the other? While on the subject of bags, how do you determine the stitching width for the rear bag? I have read that the stitching should be approximately 1/8" narrower than the stock so that the stock rides up on the ears and not the bottom of the bag. There is a current discussion going on about SEB rear bags and I read where they suggested same width stitching as the bottom of the stock. I would especially appreciate hearing from competition shooters that need their rifles to track the very best possible. Thanks for your input.

 

[Raythemanroe]

I don't know if everyone's equipment will ride a bag equally, I really doubt everyone has the same feel for what they want either..Can't give feed back on micro fiber but Protektor 3M materiel in my opinion is excellent..Again this all based on my opinion

 

[dkhunt14]

I wouldn't want my stock to ride up on the ears of the bag. I shoot a WSM a lot and the recoil would drive it down. When you go back to target it would not be where you want it. I believe it has to go to bottom but be against the sides. Matt

 

[butchlambert]

I have been using the 3M slick cloth for years. Glad to see a bag manf. using it. I want my rifle to ride on the ears of the bags and not the bottom.

 

[Jay Christopherson]

My rifles ride on the ears, just above bottoming out. But, I've seen a lot of setups that ride on the bottom too. It seems to work for people both ways and either has it's own idiosyncrasies that you'll need to deal with.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Butch and Jay + Matt, I am interested in your styles of shooting. Do you guys tend to run, shoot a fast string with the conditions? I wonder if your set ups tend to lean to your way of shooting.

 

[Jay Christopherson]

For my part, my "style" is still evolving. At mid-range, I tend to shoot fairly slowly, maybe 10 - 15 minutes for record shots. At long range, I tend to shoot much faster (now), trying to stay in my condition as much as possible. Probably still not nearly as fast as Matt does it, since I think he is IBS, if I'm remembering correctly. I shoot F-Class (Open) so "fast" for me is still a lot slower than benchrest'ers can shoot since we have to wait for target service between each shot. I had a really great puller on one relay and was able to put all 20 record shots on in about 5 minutes. Target service time is a fairly big limitation in F-Class, if you like to run them out quickly.

I have not had any issues with my bag setup, shooting this way. The rifle has always returned to POA after firing. I take a lot of time during prep to get my bags aligned correctly.

 

[butchlambert]

For me it depends on the conditions. If I need to hurry because conditions are changing, I will run them. With a joystick rest I can get back on target swiftly. If the conditions are light and not changing, I will pick at it slowly.

The 3M slick cloth that I use came directly from 3M about 10 or more years ago. Frank Wilson had some of it that came from 3M that were small pieces with adhesive on the back. He gave me enough to cover both my front bag and the inside of the ears. I did call 3M and they wanted to sell, maybe, a couple hundred yards minimum. I guess the Lady felt sorry for me and sent me a 12" wide roll about 10' long at no charge. I have very little left as I shared it with other shooters. It works best when cleaned with ArmorAll.

 

[Raythemanroe]

Jay, your pic in the bulletin has the appearance of sitting down in the ears pretty good..I think off the ground using the ears would be good

 

[jonbearman]

What is this product actually called if someone wanted to look it up.

 

[Raythemanroe]

What is this product actually called if someone wanted to look it up.

Protektor calls it Slick Silver from 3M

 

[timeout]

"I guess the Lady felt sorry for me and sent me a 12" wide roll about 10' long at no charge."

Butch, you don't happen to recall that Lady's name by any chance? I'm hoping that she would feel sorry for me! ;D

 

[butchlambert]

"I guess the Lady felt sorry for me and sent me a 12" wide roll about 10' long at no charge."

Butch, you don't happen to recall that Lady's name by any chance? I'm hoping that she would feel sorry for me! ;D

Wow, After 10 years? Heck no.

 

[Jay Christopherson]

Jay, your pic in the bulletin has the appearance of sitting down in the ears pretty good..I think off the ground using the ears would be good

Yep, there is just enough clearance from the bottom that you can see through it. Maybe about half a pencils worth. Enough that it doesn't bottom out at any point during recoil or return to battery.

 

[WayneShaw]

I tried to find this stuff online, the only thing I could find was strips, about and inch or inch and a half wide, like they sew on jackets and such. I would like to find some that is wider, maybe 3" or 4" . anyone know where?

 

[butchlambert]

Wayne, you have a PM.

 

[timeout]

"I guess the Lady felt sorry for me and sent me a 12" wide roll about 10' long at no charge."

Butch, you don't happen to recall that Lady's name by any chance? I'm hoping that she would feel sorry for me! ;D

Wow, After 10 years? Heck no.

I was joking. But seriously I would like to buy some.

 

[snakepit]

When I ordered my Custom Rear Bag from Protektor with the Super Slick 3M material for the ears I asked them to cut me a strip of the same 3M material about 2 inches longer than the ears to set on top of the stitching between the ears and they did. I ordered spacing for the ears so the rifle rides on the stitching between the ears. I am not sure if this extra strip helps but it does not seem to hurt anything. I thought about using 2 sided tape to hold it in place but so far I have had no problems with it by laying it on top of the stitching with a inch of overhang on each end in case it would want to move but the slick side of the material is so friction free that the material seems to stay in place.

 

[Joe Maisto]

I agree. To the bottom and against the sides as well.

 

[Barlow]

I sprayed Armour All on my snowmobile seat once and it took a week before I could stay on it. I'm going to try it if spring ever gets here. Barlow