Best surface to surface contact for front rest.

[AJC1]

I plan on adding a bag rider to the front of my rifle and was curious what the optimum materials for surface contact on a competition gun. I was considering using nylon for rest and bag rider to provide low consistant friction. Any ideas???

 

[Nature Boy]

You can get some 100% carnauba wax and slick up your bag.

If you’re looking for a low friction material to make a bag rider I would look for a block of Delrin. It’s durable, machines well and slicker than snot. Might find some on Amazon. If not, look at McMaster-Carr

 

[AJC1]

You can get some 100% carnauba wax and slick up your bag.

If you’re looking for a low friction material to make a bag rider I would look for a block of Delrin. It’s durable, machines well and slicker than snot. Might find some on Amazon. If not, look at McMaster-Carr

Did you see when Eric greased his front rest and lost nationals. I found his investigation quite intresting. Seeing that even weird things made that difference was eye opening. I'll look for some darlin.

 

[JFrank]

Did you see when Eric greased his front rest and lost nationals. I found his investigation quite intresting. Seeing that even weird things made that difference was eye opening. I'll look for some darlin.

What happened to EK ?
If you have a 3 D printer you can make a bag rider

 

[AJC1]

What happened to EK ?
If you have a 3 D printer you can make a bag rider

He rubbed some bolt lug grease on his stock to smooth the travel and it opened up on him at nationals. I dont know if that was the singular reason for the loss but he was pissed. He has a video on his YouTube channel discussing it.

 

[Dale Alan]

I use Delrin for bag riders . If you don't want to make one you can find them that attach to Pic rails and Anschutz style rails . Slick material , no worries of too much friction .

 

[AJC1]

Sounds a lot like a consensus. Do I use the same material in the rest?

 

[jmorris]

You can get all sorts of different films from these guys.

Delrin, Teflon, UHMW, HDPE, ….

https://catalog.cshyde.com/category/films

Delrin 500 af is a Teflon fiber filled acetal resin that is both slick and durable.

Tivar is another that can take incredible loads and is very slick. I once put a sheet of it on a smooth concrete floor then placed a lathe on it with a fork lift (4 contact points) and could slide it around by myself. I have also seen them use it between the plate and trailer instead of grease on semi-tractor-trailer trucks because of it is low friction and durability.

Not a lot of load for rifle stuff though.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

He rubbed some bolt lug grease on his stock to smooth the travel and it opened up on him at nationals. I dont know if that was the singular reason for the loss but he was pissed. He has a video on his YouTube channel discussing it.

My guess is it wasn't the easier travel but inconsistency that caused it. As the grease rubbed around on the surfaces it probably made it slide slightly different each time

 

[JFrank]

Sinclair makes a universal bag rider.
Urbanrifleman makes bag riders for most any rifle, he made one for me once.

 

[AJC1]

Sinclair makes a universal bag rider.
Urbanrifleman makes bag riders for most any rifle, he made one for me once.

I will be building my own. I enjoy projects and digging through the scrap bin at elastics is an adventure all on it's own. I will need to build several so figuring it out now is the plan. The rear rider that the Australian elr guy makes is very good and that may be next.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have a Protektor bag with a material they call Super Slick on it. The idea is so the stock will slide easily when shooting a .22 benchrest rifle free recoil.

 

[AJC1]

I have a Protektor bag with a material they call Super Slick on it. The idea is so the stock will slide easily when shooting a .22 benchrest rifle free recoil.

As with anything the best answer depends. I have never attempted or practiced free recoil. That's not to doubt its value, just has never been on the to do list. My belief is that there is a correct bench rest style stock with flat foreend and no drop on the rear. To date my stocks have always had a steep drop on the rear and I'm working to change that on a few.

 

[Dale Alan]

As with anything the best answer depends. I have never attempted or practiced free recoil. That's not to doubt its value, just has never been on the to do list. My belief is that there is a correct bench rest style stock with flat foreend and no drop on the rear. To date my stocks have always had a steep drop on the rear and I'm working to change that on a few.

You are correct, free-recoil needs a stock designed for it . With a steep drop as you have it will be very tricky to be consistent . I try it all the time with my non-bench guns and it usually ends in frustration . I am stubborn so it takes me a few groups and then I latch onto it and the groups are what I expect .

 

[jmorris]

As with anything the best answer depends. I have never attempted or practiced free recoil. That's not to doubt its value, just has never been on the to do list. My belief is that there is a correct bench rest style stock with flat foreend and no drop on the rear. To date my stocks have always had a steep drop on the rear and I'm working to change that on a few.

+1, what works is simply what works. Kind of like “springer” air rifles like the “artillery hold” that is in essence “free recoil”. On the other hand Walther PPK’s seem to like white knuckles..

Rules often dictate the shape of the bottom of the stock, and often it is something that is not parallel with the barrel.

Different games and divisions but stuff like this.



Keeps you from competing against things like this.



With your “regular” rifle.

Benchrest shooting is commonly about not imparting human contact, like that unlimited gun above, that’s why you have things like a 2oz trigger being the only thing you touch on the rifle between loading it and unloading it.

Like this rifle that’s as free as it gets during recoil but still meets the rules for the class.

 

[AJC1]

+1, what works is simply what works. Kind of like “springer” air rifles like the “artillery hold” that is in essence “free recoil”. On the other hand Walther PPK’s seem to like white knuckles..

Rules often dictate the shape of the bottom of the stock, and often it is something that is not parallel with the barrel.

Different games and divisions but stuff like this.

View attachment 1019869

Keeps you from competing against things like this.

View attachment 1019870

With your “regular” rifle.

Benchrest shooting is commonly about not imparting human contact, like that unlimited gun above, that’s why you have things like a 2oz trigger being the only thing you touch on the rifle between loading it and unloading it.

Like this rifle that’s as free as it gets during recoil but still meets the rules for the class.

I had not seen that diagram before but will now design my front bag rider to be less than 5". Not that I'm currently competing but should I find a place where I now live to compete having a compliant rifle is a good start.