Benchresting a SAR-1 or other AK--technique?

[benEzra]

I know, I know, you guys are going to give me grief for benchresting a SAR-1. But I'm trying to get my QD scope sighted in "just right" and some benchrest-induced inconsistencies are making it a little tough.

I have a SAR-1 with a siderail-mount POSP 4x24 scope--fantastic optics, by the way, especially considering the small objective lens. Anyway, the POI changes dramatically depending on how the rifle is benchrested, and I suspect vibrations from the initial op-rod acceleration are the culprit. I know that with my mini-14, resting the gas block (rather than the stock) on the sandbag cuts group size nearly in half, so I was wondering where the analogous "sweet spot" is on an AK-pattern rifle.

First, it HATES plastic clip-on-style bipods, bouncing at least 3" off the bench during every shot; groups are way worse than even offhand (shots scattered high). It does better with sandbags (Hoppes benchrest with front bag and rear bag under rear of stock), but some days a lot better than others, and slight differences in grip tension and cheek weld seem to make for a large POI shift. Sometimes, I actually get better groups shooting offhand than off the benchrest; is this common? Is prone any better? (I haven't tried it, but I do have some shorty magazines that would allow it.)

My sandbags are filled with corncob instead of sand, for lighter weight. Is this a problem?

 

[Moparmike]

Depending on how low the seat is in relation to the table, a jackstand with a towel on top (folded) with the channel looking just like this: \_/ instead of like | . It works ok for me, but I am not trying to sight in a scope and just trying to learn to shoot right.

 

[boing]

If you sight in from the bench and then shoot from an offhand position, the POI will probably be different anyway. I got my best results shooting prone, with my support hand grabbing the magazine. This seemed to keep the gun recoiling in a predictable way.

 

[RevDisk]

Could use a bore sight to get a generalized zero, and fine tune from the prone. Tis what I did to get a rough zero. Need to toss one of those recoil absorbers on my rifle maybe...

 

[Sunray]

"...to give me grief for benchresting a SAR-1..." Nope, just for putting a scope on it. I'd dump the corn cobs. You need a solid rest that won't move. Sand or cat litter is better for this. Plastic bi-pods are useless. Use the sand bag under the stock just forward of the mag.
Consistency is the key. Shoot exactly the same way every time. Don't change the way you rest the rifle between shots. The idea is to take out as much of the shooter as a variable as possible. Ideally, you touch the trigger and nothing else.

 

[cslinger]

Buy a 5 or 10 round magazine. I am not being sarcastic. This is what I used.

Chris

 

[AK103K]

I would sight it in firing from the prone position off a comfy mat. No other crutches. Unless of course, all your shooting will be from a bench off a sandbag, then thats how you should sight it. Sight it how you plan to shoot it, or you will just be doing it some more later.

 

[benEzra]

Sunray, thanks for the advice; that makes sense. BTW, does kitty litter absorb moisture in humid environments? Eastern NC in the summer is better than northwest Florida, but 95 degrees/95 percent relative humidity is not unheard of around here.

The reason I got the scope to start with is that I wear fairly thick glasses (>5.5 diopters, IIRC), and looking at iron sights through the upper corner of the glasses makes the black target and black front sight run together into one shapeless blob, especially under less-than-ideal lighting. (I may get some contact lenses again, since that REALLY simplifies shooting, or just take some light-colored paper plates to the range to shoot instead.) Besides, all the markings on the scope are in Russian, which looks cool. (Although it's not necessarily cool if you can't remember which Russian word means "UP" or "LEFT.")

I've gotten 2.5 MOA on a good day (0.5" wide by 1.25" high at 50 yards using Norinco FMJ, 5-shot group), and the individual groups with the scope are often pretty good, but I'm not very consistent from string to string and keep putting groups in different places.

cslinger, I have a 10-rounder that came with the rifle, as well as a couple of 20's (Hungarian tanker mags) that are short enough to allow prone, I think (haven't tried it yet). You'd need to have really long forearms to shoot prone with the standard 30-rounders!