Shooting rests?

dozerboy · Post by **dozerboy** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:28 pm

So what do ya'll use? I want more then a bunch of sand bags, and would like it to work good for rifle and pistol shooting, but don't want to spend and arm and a leg.

papabear · Post by **papabear** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:50 pm

I have several small pillows made of foam stuffed in old towels.

Post by **Skiprr** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:09 am

Actually, unless you go with a fixed rest like a Ransom, for sighting-in purposes I think you're just about as well off as you can be with that bunch of sandbags. Any non-fixed rest leaves other moving parts unstabilized, i.e., your wrists, elbows, shoulders, head, etc. Getting as flat as you can on the bench or ground with all those points supported by sandbags should be about as accurate as any non-fixed rest can be.

hoss4570 · Post by **hoss4570** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:45 pm

I bought me a Lead Sled. I like it.

dozerboy · Post by **dozerboy** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:26 pm

Ok I'll just make my own then other then sand or foam any other suggestion on what to use for filling?

Thanks

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:40 pm

Sand is the best to fill your shooting rest bags. It is heavy enough to be stable without being too heavy to convieniently transport. Sand also will tend to hold the shaping of the bags better than other mediums. It's also very cheap.

Post by **Skiprr** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:34 pm

I was tryin' to say that, short of buying a fixed-platform, bolt-it-down, expensive shooter's rest, the best option is the ground, or a nice, sturdy bench with a table area that comes no higher than a few inches above your navel. And a lot of small sandbags.

My point was that a lockdown rest, like a Ransom, is the only way to absolutely assure the bullet travels where the sights point. When you put a gun into your hands, you have all the travails of flesh to worry about: your wrist may not be stable; your head may shift two millimeters; your elbow may move. And so on.

Get a whole bunch of small sandbags. Lean over the shooter station at your range, and start doing the wiggle: adjusting the placement of those umpteen sandbags to support ALL the moving parts: barrel, frame, wrists, forearms, elbows, shoulders...and perhaps most imprtantly: your head--that all-important appendage that weighs about 11 pounds--the piece of your anatomy that dictates what all the rest of your anatomy does.

Unless you lock your firearm into a fixed device that will not permit movement on trigger-pull, if you want accurate sighting-in, forget lesser bench-rest products. You're better off hunckering yourself down into a mass of those small sandbags, supporting every part that might move...even twitch.