Tried out my Caldwell rock rest today,

Walkalong said:

Might need a bag for it that fits your forend better

Click to expand...

This.

A machine rest is heavier and less flexible than a bipod - all good things which improve stability and repeatability in rifle support. So shooting smaller on the less stable support is always a matter of fit and/or familiarity. When both are at their best, the most support wins.

I gave Caldwell a shot when buying a front bag and found several faults including that sucker sticking like glue. My decades old Protektor adds some drag but not nearly as much. I finally took a bit of talc to it to ease things. My other issue was the amount of fill or overfill as it were. When my tax check clears tomorrow I plan to finally replace it for good, even though it resides on my back up rest.

If you do a search I believe one of the members here did a tear down of the Rock along with DIY improvements. Otherwise the Google should help track down some tips. Keep using it, you’ll see improvement in your groups.

I have shot some amazing groups with a rock rest and caldwell rear bag filled with play sand. I agree with Walkalong that you may need a new front bag. I switched to a tighter one to better hold the stock and it works well.

I have a Rock and a variety of front and rear bags....I generally shoot better groups using a good bipod and good rear bag.

ColtPythonElite said:

I have a Rock and a variety of front and rear bags....I generally shoot better groups using a good bipod and good rear bag.

Click to expand...

I've gravitated to that too. My front rest is more like a Rock Jr. and I certainly don't do better with it than a bipod. The foreend stop on the on the Rock Delux looks interesting.

If you shoot better with a bipod / rear bag than you do with a front rest / rear bag, you either are using the wrong front bag on the rest or you just need to improve your shooting technique.

OK, you talked me into it! I'm shooting in an club .22 benchrest league. I know that my rifle (H&R Model 12) can shoot better than we have in the first 2 matches. I've been using a bipod and plan to try my Caldwell front rest again. I have a wide bag that will fit the M12's flat stock well.

Question: what's the optimal location to place the rest under the forearm? Any wisdom will be appreciated.

The Model 12 is a beast. H&R's civilian model was the 5200 which I assume was intended to compete with the Winchester 52. We shot 52's in high school rifle and I don't remember them being as heavy as this sucker. The stock is flat and has a aluminum rail for the hand stop so I'd say it is as rigid as humanly possible.


So I'm going to try pretty much up front. I have a sling swivel stud that fits in the rail that I'm going to adjust to sit at the back of the front rest as a guide. Thanks for the advice.

I had one of the little orange Hoppes front rest and an expensive custom Benchrest quality rest and wanted something in-between for everyday use. I looked at the Caldwell and finally went with a mid level model from Sinclair. It just felt better to me.

I agree with the others, your Caldwell will probably work better with a different front bag.

Someone ask about where to place the stock on the rest. I usually remove the front sling swivel stud and thats where I place the stock on the front bag.

I also have one of those older orange Hoppe's front rest. For my purposes, it works fine. Same as lightman, I'll remove the front sling swivel. I re-purposed one of my wife's terri cloth kitchen towels to put between fore end and front bag. Helps a lot with having the rifle come back smoother. Still use that set up in the desert. Sand bags and rear rabbit eared rest are filled with NEW kitty litter for flexability.

I am disappointed in my Rock Rest. Too much play and adjustments are not smooth and are too stiff. Also it's so heavy it isn't getting much use. I wish I'd gone smaller or better.

Not for nothin’, but a guy can mount these (even bedded with epoxy, or hand fit to a forend contour) to rifle stocks to better ride on machine rest bags. This one is an EGW. Made for round tube AR forends, they work exactly the same on bolt gun stocks - the mount screw matches with sling swivel screws, so these mount directly to the embedded T nuts/ferrules.