What Rest When Shooting From A Bench?

I have a Protektor rear "bunny ear" bag and 6 or 7 home made bags of different sizes. 3 big ones, 2 small ones, and a couple others. I haven't found a bipod height yet that I can't get real close with different combinations of bags.

If I'm doing a type of shooting where I don't have time for rear bags, I'm probably having a lot of fun anyway.

I am nervous with sand filled bags, so I called around to plastic companies until I found one that dealt with poly (plastic) beads that are about 1/8'' in diameter. Then I took a couple old pairs of jeans to the local sewing shop and had her make up these bags, just square and flat, not packed super full so I can mash them or fluff them back up to adjust height. They work great, and I don't get any sand working through the fabric and also working on my wood rifle stocks.
 
Originally Posted By: esmithI have a Protektor rear "bunny ear" bag and 6 or 7 home made bags of different sizes. 3 big ones, 2 small ones, and a couple others. I haven't found a bipod height yet that I can't get real close with different combinations of bags.

If I'm doing a type of shooting where I don't have time for rear bags, I'm probably having a lot of fun anyway.

I am nervous with sand filled bags, so I called around to plastic companies until I found one that dealt with poly (plastic) beads that are about 1/8'' in diameter. Then I took a couple old pairs of jeans to the local sewing shop and had her make up these bags, just square and flat, not packed super full so I can mash them or fluff them back up to adjust height. They work great, and I don't get any sand working through the fabric and also working on my wood rifle stocks.



The easiest gettin' place for those beads is a craft shop like JoAnn's or Michaels. I've even seen them at Wally.

Greg
 
I use 2 12" 4x4 or landscape timber pieces laying side by side & set bulls bag on top. Gives me good elevation & if need be, a Caldwell jr. front rest for rear.
Mite be too cheap for sum but works for me.
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterOriginally Posted By: esmithI have a Protektor rear "bunny ear" bag and 6 or 7 home made bags of different sizes. 3 big ones, 2 small ones, and a couple others. I haven't found a bipod height yet that I can't get real close with different combinations of bags.

If I'm doing a type of shooting where I don't have time for rear bags, I'm probably having a lot of fun anyway.

I am nervous with sand filled bags, so I called around to plastic companies until I found one that dealt with poly (plastic) beads that are about 1/8'' in diameter. Then I took a couple old pairs of jeans to the local sewing shop and had her make up these bags, just square and flat, not packed super full so I can mash them or fluff them back up to adjust height. They work great, and I don't get any sand working through the fabric and also working on my wood rifle stocks.



The easiest gettin' place for those beads is a craft shop like JoAnn's or Michaels. I've even seen them at Wally.

Greg

Yep. I actually finally determined a highschool friend of mine worked at such a company, and she filled the biggest USPS flat rate box she could find and shipped them to me. Small world sometimes.

Definitely the way to go for bag fill. If they get wet no problem. They don't rot or have any other drawbacks really. There is still a nice weight/heft to the bags as well.
 
I'm still using a Caldwell's bag set (front & back). It's old enough to have duct tape repairs on it and still going strong.

Sometimes I use a short bipod and the rear bag (when I'm using one of my ARs with a pic rail up front for the bipod).

Either of these are more than adequate. I've looked at the sleds a few times, but just couldn't justify the cost (this coming from someone who LIKES to buy gear). The largest round I run is a 6.8, so the sleds just aren't worth it for me.

Sendit
 
I've been using these lately:





You can stack a couple under the front and use a single under the rear, or they work great as rear bags with a bipod on the front.
The "wedge" bag is especially handy with a bipod.
 
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Originally Posted By: Bob TobergteI use 2 12" 4x4 or landscape timber pieces laying side by side & set bulls bag on top. Gives me good elevation & if need be, a Caldwell jr. front rest for rear.
Mite be too cheap for sum but works for me.

Yep, that too. As a field expedient, I always have a couple of old zippered bank bags lined w/bread bag full of tumbling media in my jeep should a rifle need checking while hunting. Coupled with the two short 4x4's I carry for wheel chocks and a short 2x4 for fine elevation adjustments, pretty well covers all bases.
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Regards,
hm
 
Originally Posted By: hm1996

Coupled with the two short 4x4's I carry for wheel chocks and a short 2x4 for fine elevation adjustments, pretty well covers all bases.
smile.gif


Regards,
hm

Dang man! You're just the total equipment package out there, huh?
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Originally Posted By: sendit223Originally Posted By: fw707I've been using these lately:




Home made?

Nope, a friend of mine by the name of Cris Rensi makes them.
First-class Cordura and poly fill, reasonably priced, and a lifetime warranty.
I'll get some contact info and post it up later.
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sendit223 said:
I'm still using a Caldwell's bag set (front & back). It's old enough to have duct tape repairs on it and still going strong.

ha I recently purchased a small rear bag to use with my Caldwell Tac Driver bags. The first time I stuck it in the box with my Caldwell Dual Frame Technology Lead Sled and drove up to the range I noticed some material that looked like saw dust all over the back end of the lead sled and could not figure out what that was. Later when I got home I was putting the small rear Caldwell bag back in the house and noticed it had a hole in the bag outer materal and the saw dust was leaking out from inside the bag. I patched the hole with some duct tape. I plan on taking it back to Gander Mountain as soon as I can find the receipt. I've got about two or three months of Visa receipts that have to be sifted though to find the receipt. It was not that expensive but I hate to buy some thing that I can't even use one time before it's breaks. I'm not sure how the bag got torn. Perhaps the lead sled shifted around inside the box in the back of my truck. I got a big pastic box with a lid on it. It's the hard plastic type of storage container that's made by Rubber Maid. The lids already cracked in two or there places. I got the box to keep my lead sled in and to keep it from getting rained on when I'm hauling it in the back of my pick up truck to the range and back. So much for that idea with the cracked lid. They don't make stuff like they used to.

Nothing made out of plastic last anymore IMHO. Although I have two rubber maid plastic/rubber trash cans that have lasted me for 20 years now. I was hoping that the rubber maid containers would last as long and not crack on me. but I have three or four of the bigger rubber maid type containers and all the lids have cracked.

The Caldwell Tack Driver Bag is filled with a material that's used to soak up oil on a concrete driveway. I found it makes a good filler for the shooting bag. It's not that heavy and it works pretty good. I try not to get the bag wet and keep it inside the boxed with lids on them so it won't get wet if it rains. So far it's been working for me.

The only problem with using the Tack Driver Bag is I can't use the 30 round magazines with the AR15 when shooting off the tack driver bag. I don't have enough clearance. So I use a couple of 10 round metal magazines when I go to the range to shoot the AR15. That way I'm not tempted to shoot too many rounds at one time. Three shots and then I go and police up my spent brass.

I'm going to try to find some type of rest for my pistol now. The Lead Sled DFT rest is great for getting a real steady rest. I used that to test the accuracy of my AR15 with new optics on it. I use two 25 lb bags of #8 lead shot to fill up the Caldwell Weight bags. I also use a couple of ratchet straps to hold the lead sled onto the bench. But even then when I shoot my AR15 the Caldwell Lead Sled moves after the shot. No problem it's easy to get the sights back onto the target for the next shot. And the Precision is great when using the lead sled and my Ambush Firearms AR15. It's also great when shooting my Remington Model 660 in 222 cal with factory Remington ammo. I use Remington Accutip 50 gr bullets in the 222 cal.

I found that the AR15 Ambush Firearms Rifle shoots the American Eagle 5.56 ball ammo 55 gr FMJ shells with the best accuracy and precision. I just learned yesterday by reading the FAQ on the Ambush Firearms Webs site that my rifle shoot the 5.56 cal better than the 223 ammo. I didn't know that or remember that fact until yesterday. So that explains why my gun shot the Federal American Eagle 5.56 55 gr FMJ bullets so well. I knew that my AR15 was chambered to shoot 5.56 and 223 but I never knew it would be more accurate and consistent (precise) with the 5.56 ammo. So I'm going to be shooting at the range with the surplus 5.56 ammo. Not sure what I'm going to hunt with. But I also read that the 64 or 63 grain bullets should be more accurate down my 1:7 twist rate 18" barrel. The fast twist rate is suppose to shoot the heavier (longer) bullets better. I've not shot too many of those heavy shells though this gun yet. Just a half a box and they did shoot with precision but I had the gun's optics setup for a faster lighter bullet so at 200 and 100 yard the heavier bullet were shooting lower than the lighter faster bullets. But I think that the heavier bullets grouped better together. I'll have to buy some more of the heavier bullets and test the gun out with them some more at the range.

As for taking the gun out hunting in the field well I'll have to use a tree or something to hold the rifle steady if I don't take the Primos Trigger Stick or the Caldwell Magnum Field Pod in the field with me.

I've had my two eye operations now and have my vision in my right eye restored back to 20/20 now without eye glasses or contacts. I still need some more work on my left eye to get it right. I can now see the red dots (1 MOA sized) in the EOTech EXPS3-4 Holographic Weapons System using the G33 magnifier Flip to the side type with quick attack device. Before my eye operation for removing my cataract in my right eye and removing the astigmatism in that eye with a laser surgery I was seeing double rows of vertical red dots when using the EOTech HWS system. So my eye sight has been improved now. I'm only 5 or 6 days post op with my right eye right now and it's healing up nicely. I still will have to wear reading glasses for up close work which I guess I'll have to learn to live with. Before my eye operation I could take off my eye glasses and see everything up close with my right eye. Now I need to either use a magnifying glass or reading glasses. In two weeks I go back to the eye surgeon and hopefully get fitted with some glasses for reading up close stuff. I'm thinking of maybe getting some contacts that are clear at the top and bifocal for the lower section of the soft contact lens so that I won't need to wear reading glasses. Not sure how that might work out but I'd like to give it a try. I was able to see pretty good out of my right eye before the operation using an Mltifocal Toric type soft contact. That contact lens corrected for my near sightedness and my astigmatism and sort fo allowed me to see at a distance and up close too. But it was not that good for up close work. It worked pretty good for distance vision before my operation but at times the contact would not orientate properly and I would get double vision. I don't have that double vision problem with the right eye anymore now. The surgeon used a laser beam to reshape the cornea on my right eye to get rid of the double vision (astigmatism).
 
I don't think I've ever seen an F class AR, with that said as nice and expensive as they are a little overkill to me. I just got a Tack driver just the other day, haven't even used it yet I set my tank of an AR on it and it looks to be GTG.
 
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