Bench Rest Or Shooting Bag?

[Sumack]

If you had to choose one to sight in your rifle,either a bench rest or shooting bag which one would be a better choice.Would like to hear people's opinion.

 

[SuperCub]

Bags are cheap and easily made from the legs of a pair of jeans. A shooting rest is easier to adjust at the bench, but is far more expensive.

Both work well. Why not make 2 or 3 bags and try them out? Nothing lost if you want to upgrade to a shooting rest later.

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[caramel]

My set up 4 sand bags on the bench rest, i does for perfect adjustements and stability... JP.

 

[looch]

I use a Stoney Pont rest for the front and a "jean" bag for the rear.

 

[dead meat]

Bags are readily made out of jeans or inner tubes, cheap just make sure the sand you use is dry. I leave my stuff in a water proof box at my range, in late fall the bags can get a little stiff if you need to site in a rifle in late deer season. Sure is nice to have your own range 30 yards from the house.

 

[Boomer]

Ha, when I sighted in the new scope on my M-70 last weekend I shot slung up from sitting. Whatever system you use to remove human error when you sight in your rifle, be sure to shoot it from field positions to ensure there is no significant change to your POI before you trust that zero. Often thin barreled sporter rifles shift the POI unless you shoot with your hand intervening between the bag and the forend, and most often better groups are observed when a sporter is not allowed to free recoil.

 

[Eagleye]

Since I want to eliminate as much human error as possible during initial sight-in/load development, I use an adjustable rest with sandbags.
Once I am satisfied with the rifle/load's ability, then I shift to field positions to check if any differences are evident.
This also gives me a chance to decide how long a shot I feel confident with when actually hunting.
Since I always carry with a sling, and do not use a bipod, the "tight sling" position is important to me.
Lots of practice is always a good idea.
When practicing, I determine my maximum range as the distance that I can no longer keep all my shots in an 8 inch circle.
Obviously, the range varies, depending on the position used.
Regards, Eagleye.

 

[b72471]

Accuracy

2X for Eagleye, you want to be sure the rifle is properly sighted in before you start the position dance. Eagleye, we are going back, no moose the first time so we'll give it another try>
Bill