Sand Bags or Dedicated Front Rest?

[greg788]

I own Caldwell front- and rear shooting bags now for 100 yards bench shooting.

Will a good front rest like a Caldwell Rock, Sinclair or Hart be a worthwhile improvement over bags as far as precision, repeatability, etc. ?

I shoot well over bags now but I've been pondering this for a while now.

 

[dakotasin]

a dedicated front rest will certainly make it easier to get set up faster, but is not likely to offer a significant improvement in the gun's accuracy.

 

[Bill B.]

Sand Bags or Dedicated Front Rest?

Depends mainly if the front rest width matches the forend width of your rifle. If it's not a sug fit you will be better off with sand bags. Same holds true if your rifle is a ight weight sporter; they generally seem to group just as well from the bags. Heavy bench guns and the wide forearm shine with the front rest.

 

[Horsemany]

I agree with Bill. Sandbags are better than a poor front rest. You really need a quality piece to be more stable than bags. Sinclair's are excellent front rests.

 

[husker]

Horsemany do you belong to a rang or rifle club around omaha-lincoln area?

 

[ArmedBear]

Are you just shooting off the bench for fun, or to sight in rifles, develop loads, etc?

If it's for sighting in and load development, I have really liked the full rests that clamp the rifle in. Helps with recoil and isolates the rifle from the shooter.

For fun, I'd just use bags. The more fancy stuff you get, the less interesting the shooting becomes -- unless you're doing one of the crazy competitions that requires said equipment to even be in the game.

 

[Horsemany]

Horsemany do you belong to a rang or rifle club around omaha-lincoln area?

Yes sir. Lincoln Izaak Walton League. I shoot trap and 300yd Benchrest there. Most of my time is spent on the 100yd range doing load development.

And you?

 

[halfded]

I use both.I like the folding bipod when I'm plinking, or shooting spinners or something like that, quick to setup and take down and I can use it anywhere. Plus nothing extra to carry.

When I shoot benchrest (groups), I use the sandbags big front bag with rabbit ear rear bag. Takes a while to setup and get on target, but when the rifle is set up properly on them, they're unbeatable for stability, just use the rear bag to aim. Only downside is it's one more thing to cart outside with me when I shoot. Maybe one day the wife will get tired of the fumes and metal shavings on the kitchen table and let me have my "man-cave" in the basement. It's cold and damp, but it's sparsely populated and quiet!

 

[REDMASTA]

Usually the most simple solution is the answer...sand bags!

 

[Fat_46]

My accuracy improved dramatically once I bit the bullet and purchased a good windage adjustable front rest and a heavy rear rabbit ear bag.