Firing with gun on wood. ???

That isn't consistent with what I would call best practices, unless the shooter was in a situation where there was no better alternative due to circumstances.

My FIL and I hunted in Pennsylvania near Titusville for over 20 years staying in a home built camper on a boat trailer base parked in a campground that was mainly a hunting camp during deer season. Several groups of hunters returned to the camp each year. One group of 3 or 4 young gentlemen always sighted in their rifles on a makeshift about 50 yard range on the grounds using a table. On the table they placed a rest made with a 6" wide horizontal board with a vertical board at each end to support the rifle. The barrel - not the forearm - rested in a V notch on the front board. They would shoot a shot, adjust the scope, shoot another shot and adjust the scope again. Probably 20 rounds or more with much discussions between rounds. They appeared to us as a group who were not interested in advice from others on how to shoot. It was fun to watch.

NRA Benefactor

With rifles, I have found that bracing them against an unyielding surface often produces a different POI than does shooting from a padded surface, or a field position. It still can work for group shooting, but your "real world" zero may well end up being different.

With handguns, in general, any theoretical loss is overwhelmed by the practical increase in support. "Back in my day", the long-range stages of Bianchi Cup competition were shot from prone, with the butt resting on the ground. Truly accurate handguns - things capable of approaching MOA - tend to behave like rifles, though, and generally prefer softer rests.

Consistency is the key. If the firearm is zeroed that way, and if the hard surface is the same every time, you'll get consistent accuracy. But I prefer some padding between the firearm and rest. If nothing but my hand.

I have always used a pad, usually just my hand, when hunting. Any gun will recoil differently from a hard surface than a softer one

As I recall, the show provided guns and setups for novelty, not best form.

Some put more care into preserving the finish of their firearms than others. Also, some put more care into their form and efficiency than others.

Any modern show, I take the presentation with a grain of salt and assume greater focus on the entertainment - production wants to get views as easily as they can. That said, I wish more attention would be put to emphasizing 'best practice,' especially with firearms in media.

I like to brace my off hand arm on a tree if one is available. Otherwise I use sandbags off the bench or my elbows when shooting from the prone position.

I see a lot guys resting rifle forearms on barriers when shooting around them.

I have shot over some weird rests at three gun matches, PRS matches, and while hunting. It's not a bad plan to learn to shoot in weird positions with a large variety of support structures. The real world rarely gives you a shooting bench and bags.

I've done this a lot, on everything from plastic barricades to wooden vtac walls to concrete cinderblocks. It works best if you're shooting a rifle with a free-floated barrel.

If the barrel isn't free-floated, it's very easy to significantly change the POI just by how much pressure you're putting on the rifle.

mcb said:

I have shot over some weird rests at three gun matches, PRS matches, and while hunting. It's not a bad plan to learn to shoot in weird positions with a large variety of support structures. The real world rarely gives you a shooting bench and bags.

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This is exactly why I consider a free-floated barrel to be practically mandatory on a rifle.

Top Shot is not what I would call presion shooting to start with. Guns are tools they will get scratches & dings, so if you are shooting museum pieces maybe you need to carry a pad.
If you are a sniper you should know better.

Landgroove said:

I was watching Top Shot on the Roku channel.
The contestants were shooting various guns and..... resting them on solid wood. Tables and rails.
I have never shot from a rest with the gun itself resting on NO padding of any sort. I even avoid sticking it against a tree.

Has the procedure changed?
They even shot the Colt SAA with the butt flat on the table!

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Are you asking about this more from a precision shooting perspective or from a protecting the finish on the gun perspective? Most of the world isn't padded. I've used plenty of logs, rocks, trees, concrete, wood barricades, vehicles etc. etc as shooting rests. As has been pointed out, with a rifle, it's best if the barrel is free floated. If you're asking about this more from a protecting the finish perspective, I can't really speak to that. I'm not a collector. My guns are tools.

As mentioned, if you are going to take every shot, ever, from exactly the same rest, even in defensive shooting or hunting, it shouldn't matter.

But lots of things are going on even before the bullet leaves the barrel. Between pre-bullet exit recoil (yes, Virginia, there are recoil forces at work while the bullet is still in the barrel) and barrel vibrations, any variation in support will influence shot placement.

When I was prairie rat shooting, I used the same two-legged rest as when I was sighting in and was careful that the butt was in the same position on my shoulder... shooting while sitting at the bench is different from shooting from prone in the field, even with light-recoiling rifles like my .223 Rem varmint rifle.

This bipod was amusing since the springs went "BLONG" at each shot. But the amusement was greater than the annoyance.

Terry, 230RN

bearcreek said:

Most of the world isn't padded. I've used plenty of logs, rocks, trees, concrete, wood barricades, vehicles etc. etc as shooting rests.

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My wife - the ground squirrel exterminator.
I use a monopod myself for ground squirrel shooting. It's not as solid of a rest as a fence post, but it's a lot easier to pick up and carry around.

Ummm in that handgun picture, was the gun actually resting on the fence post? Or on your hand, which was resting on the fence post? Does she have her fingers between the rifle and the fence post? In both cases, I think that would constitute "padding." Tee hee heeee gigglesnort.

Dayam, that looks like the Grasslands in northern Colorado. 'Cept our Colorado fence posts are more steady-looking.

Don't mind me, I'm sertifiably cenile.

Me go now.

Not a good idea in any way. Great way to crack your grips. No way to be consistent.

230RN said:

Ummm in that handgun picture, was the gun actually resting on the fence post? Or on your hand, which was resting on the fence post? Does she have her fingers between the rifle and the fence post? In both cases, I think that would constitute "padding." Tee hee heeee gigglesnort.

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In the handgun picture, I think her hand was between the gun and the fence post. In the rifle picture, I think the stock was actually against the fence post.
Both guns are .22LRs - a Ruger Bearcat and a Ruger American Rimfire. I can't remember when she bought the Bearcat, but I think I bought the American Rimfire for her for her birthday 3 years ago. She only uses the Bearcat for close-up (20 yards or less) ground squirrels. I do the same with my Glock G44, and I use my Kimber bolt (I don't know the model number) for ground squirrels out to 80 yards or so.

230RN said:

Dayam, that looks like the Grasslands in northern Colorado. 'Cept our Colorado fence posts are more steady-looking.

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The pictures were actually taken on our friend's ranch (about 10 miles west of here), and that part of it is cleared ground. Most of the country over there is sagebrush and juniper covered. Here's a picture I took of it last fall while we were deer (mule deer) hunting:

And another of my wife shooting ground squirrels without a rest:

BTW, my wife and I both have 22-250s and tripods, and sandbags, and we could use the hood of our truck to rest our rifles on for really long-distance ground squirrel shooting. But why bother? In the spring, there are usually thousands of ground squirrels over on our friend's ranch, and just killing the ones that pop up within a hundred yards of us makes us feel kind of "bloody" (if you know what I mean) after a couple of hours of pretty steady shooting.

One shouldn't rest a rifle barrel on anything when shooting. As a bullet travels out of a barrel there is created a deformation wave following the bullet. When this "wave" hits the barrel's point of rest, the entire barrel is microscopically moved. This changes the point of impact.

Free-floating the barrel has already been recommended. Great for accuracy. If one rests the stock on some object, or if sling tension is applied to the stock's forend, it doesn't change point of impact because the wood is not touching the barrel.

The primary purpose of a rifle sling is not to carry the rifle. The sling is to increase accuracy. Competition rifle shooting requires a tight sling position to steady the rifle. If one is making a close-in shot on a deer, using the sling to steady the rifle might not matter at all.

Laminated stocks, polymer stocks, ... all rigid stocks are not likely to suffer from warpage. Wooden stocks will vary in shape as their moisture content varies, i.e. wet vs dry weather conditions. The latter also speaks to free-floating the barrel.

Keep that sling tight. During shooting competition, one must occasionally loosen
the sling because cutting off blood flow can cause nerve damage. The sling is
acting like a tourniquet, so watch out! I have ulnar nerve damage in my
left arm ("weak arm") due to leaving my rifle sling too tight for too long during
rifle practice and competition.

Old Hobo said:

One shouldn't rest a rifle barrel on anything when shooting.

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There are exceptions to that rule. I've watched a lot of BPCR shooters tip over 400- and 500-yard steel targets while prone and resting their rifle barrels in the "X" on a pair of cross sticks. Generally though, I agree with you - I try to never let my rifle barrel rest on anything when I'm shooting. And that includes the rifle stock - most of my rifle barrels are free-floated.

For what its worth, my .223 will still hit an 8” steel gong consistently if I brace the barrel against a piece of 1” rebar which helps support the roof over my range. I was practicing shooting from improvised rests but was not quite tall enough to get the forearm onto the rebar.

When using the bench’s seat as a rest, I put my fist under the forearm to get the correct position.

I try to get something soft between the rest and the forearm in general but it is not always possible in the field.

That part of recoil which occurs from ignition to bullet exit is termed "jump". The bullet doesn't care what the gun does after it exits. Those of us who shoot double rifles live and die by jump since there is the issue of getting both barrels to shoot in the same direction. We use a standing bench, a sitting bench results in a different jump. Body weight and build affects it. Fence posts, car hoods, etc., all different.