Resources experiment-with-rifle-position-on-rest

[Loufish]

A good daily stop at accurateshooter.

Experiment with Rifle Position on Rest and Bags for Best Accuracy « Daily Bulletin

To get the best accuracy out of any benchrest rifle, you need to find the optimal position of front rest and rear bag. The important point to remember is that each rig is different.

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

And more...

 

[igolfat8]

Thanks for the link to that article Lou.

 

[dgeesaman]

Interesting. It seems they're judging a good 'balance' of the rifle in the rests by how well the crosshairs stay on POA after the shot.

Considering how little an air rifle moves in the rest, it might require a different assessment of the best bag balance. But I think that's not really a big problem, since we don't tune loads in the same way as centerfire SR benchrest shooters, we can go right to group size or score.

 

[Solo1]

Has anyone else noticed that some types of rests are better than others @100 ? I was surprised how easy it was to shoot off a bag front and my rear lab jack with my 177 ghost and my 25 ghost really doesn’t like my Caldwell clamp it prefers the small tripod clamped to the stock pic location

 

[Centercut]

Good article Lou. Thanks...

 

[Loufish]

But I think that's not really a big problem, since we don't tune loads in the same way as centerfire SR benchrest shooters

Hey D. Most serious real benchrest competitors mark the best stock/rest location for best performance. We do not have too many AG 'knobs' to turn so we use what we have. We do tune our rifles in the same way but we look for different indicators; some may not have experienced the methods described yet.
The link was provided so new-to-benchrest can expand their own thinking box and also most realize CF and AG are different animals and learn accordingly.
Most competitors allow various degrees of recoil, even locked, so some of the article points are valid.
The important take-away is shoot a lot and try anything that will improve your game

 

[Troy Bakel]

There are two games in Benchrest: shooting for smallest 5 round group, or shooting multiple 1 shot bulls for points.

When shooting groups via IBS format, I use a Targetshooting.com one piece rest. Gross elevation and fine windage are controlled at the front, fine elevation at the rear. Once I set my POA I lift and drop the butt to release torque on the rifle and fire. Return to battery with this rest is spot on in regards to POA for the next 4 shots.

This rest is adjustable in length. Gross length is based on the rifle, fine length is based on finding the lowest vibration per shot.

For point shooting in the N50 format, I use a PQP Lite 1-piece pendulum style rest. With this rest the entire rifle swings as you move from bull to bull and therefore no torque is applied to the rifle.

I adjust the forearm stop to position the rifle for the lowest vibration.

Having some recoil is important. If I set up the top so my .177 < 12FPE Thomas BR does not freely recoil backwards, the whole system vibrates during each shot. However some forearm side to side movement occurs if the top is loose enough to allow recoil.

I found using a bag top instead of my roller bearing or Delrin tops consistently produces higher points with nearly no vibration and no side to side movement at the forearm during each shot/recoil.

 

[igolfat8]

Excellent tips @Troy Bakel . Are you using a front leather sand bag or the slippery top front bag?

 

[Troy Bakel]

Excellent tips @Troy Bakel . Are you using a front leather sand bag or the slippery top front bag?

I use a Protektor bag with the slick silver material.

 

[igolfat8]

That is what I suspected. I have the same bag too.