Sled ? Bags ? Bipod? What do you get your best results with?

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Russell13

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6D96DC27-573C-4690-BFB4-01E13469BD1B.jpeg I picked up a $30 Caldwell plastic shooting rest and let me just say, I HATED IT! It never felt steady, jumped all over while shooting, and wasnt the easiest thing to use.

what is everyone using?
Bags?
A sled of some kind?
Bipod with a bag in the back?

I will be shooting from a bench and want a consistent accurate platform to shoot from.

the rifle is a 6.5 creedmoor hunting style rifle (fairly light ).
 
Caldwell Rock, rear bag with AR 15 and bolt action rifles, Bipod with my 15-22 S&W .22. I have used the Caldwell LeadSled and liked it.
 
I've never been able to get consistent groups from sled type setups. I used to use bags front and back at my old range, but at my new range, the lower height and different ergos throw me off, and hurt consistency, so I switched to bipod and rear bags for most load work.
 
Any time I've shot from a bench for groups or testing it has been from sand bags. It's all I ever knew. I got a new Caldwell Rock BR rest as a gift a year ago but it sits somewhere under one of my benches. Can't tell you if it is better or worse. Maybe I'll drag it out soon.

-Jeff
 
I use a little bit of everything.

The bipod equipped rifles; target & varmint I usually do load development and shoot off their respective bipods. I use Harris, Atlas and Magpul.

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The non-bipod rifles I shoot off an old Hoppes rest that I've had forever:

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I've also got a Led Sled that was given to me and I can't stand the freakin thing. Always feels like I'm fighting it to get sighted on a target.

BPCRs are shot off cross sticks:

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I recently started using homemade bags fill with plastic pellets. Matter of fact, I just last night topped them off with more pellets, because I ran out. I can't say that they help or hurt my shooting yet, because I purchased a new Leupold scope for my favorite .22 last year and my shooting groups have gone to pot. It's probably me since I sometimes shake when I shoot.

Have a blessed day,

Leon
 
Front/ rear bags; not that it is a better method for bench shooting but because that is all I have known since the sixties - bags are an old idea that is simple and that works (for me at least).
 
I use a homemade sled a lot and it works quite well, it’s adjustable for width and side angle on the ears and can be used with a rear bag or UHMW “V” block, bi pods often as they work OK too but F/R bags are hard to beat and a tripod with clamp is useful too sometimes but not as steady as any of the above.
 
Shooters that reload micro-adjust bullet seating, test different primers not to mention various powders in incremental weights. But all this prep assumes you can shoot perfectly off your rest using a consistent technique. I use a Bald Eagle rest with various leather bags front & rear. I also use a Bull-Bag sometimes. I do get some stares sometimes when I'm shooting some old beat-up rifle nested neatly in my polished metal-flake rest that has um-teen adjustment knobs!

Here is a trick I learned from an accomplished benchrester that was in a competition slump. Set up a white target with just a small dot to aim at. Depending on your scope, set the target at a range where you can see the dot & crosshairs clearly. Now dry-fire from your ideal rest set-up using your best technique. Watch where the crosshairs end up after the firing pin falls. If all is perfect, the crosshairs will still be on the dot. That's the goal. (BTW: this helps reinforce non-flinching too). This allows you to refine to your rest, the way you sit, how you hold the back of the rifle, the front of the rifle, the trigger pull, etc. You can experiment & evaluate. Sounds easy & often is very surprising. It's no surprise why many benchrester's shoot "free-recoil"!

Just FWIW.....
 
I’m not a bench shooter. I’m not a competition shooter. I’m a hunter. But I want my rifles to be as accurate/consistent as I can make them with the resources I have. Being a handloader affords me the ability to tailor loads to my rifles. I have a LeadSled, Harris BiPod, carbon fiber DeathGrip BOG pod, and a pair of Hunters Specialties wooden shooting sticks. I admit I have not practiced with the BOG at all. Barring that, I have shot my absolute best groups with those $15 HS shooting sticks.
 
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