Caldwell Shooting Sled

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MistWolf

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A friend of mine asked me about the Caldwell Shooting Sled. Will it work with an AR?
 
I bought some five round mags specifically because I have a Caldwell Full Length Fire Control Rest. 30 round mags don't work. I ordered five round mags because I wasn't sure if 10 or 20 round mags would work.
 
Yes. Caldwell makes one model of the Lead Sled with duel frame tubes rather than one so there will be a space between the frame for AR's with 30rd mag's. Its called the DFT. It has a better adjustment setup too imho.

I still have the original Lead Sled and when shooting my AR i just use 10rd mags. Works fine for me.
 
I've been using Lead Sleds for my bench testing for about 12yrs now. For AR's I just use shorter mags, which I prefer the 20's anyway.
 
O/P, the question is what does your friend want to do with it.

For casual sighting in, the lead sled is probably not needed--an adjustable front rest and a shooting bag might be sufficient. An AR in .223 or 5.56 doesn't kick hard enough to require placing heavy weights and as some note, you have to use shorter mags.

If your friend wants a serious target shooting rest, then the lead sled is not that. The ability to add weight to the leadsled allows one to fire hard kicking rounds with less impact on the shoulder or for long periods of fire without tiring.
 
He wants something to shoot an AR from the bench with, something that's easy to set up and use
 
MistWolf said:
He wants something to shoot an AR from the bench with, something that's easy to set up and use
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Shooting bags and a good adjustable front shooting rest. Sinclair (sold by Brownells) and Bald Eagle (bullets.com) sell the premium type front rests but you can find Caldwell and others that serve quite nicely for quite a bit less.

Heck, I have used a MTM K-Zone shooting rest with an AR which is molded out of plastic. It does pretty well and its pretty indestructible as well for about $40. I wouldn't use for serious target shooting but for testing a rifle or load at the range, it serves the purpose.
 
Depends upon the handguard. Some of my fat handguards don't fit in the Caldwell DFT front cradle.
It is definitely worth checking your handguard first, make sure you aren't disappointed at the range.


I like full size and full length rests like led sled because they are rather heavy and bulky.
Bulkier is harder to transport and set up but I use it for lots of different rifles (large and small).
If you will only own one rifle all your life and it's an AR, a smaller simpler setup is all you need.
 
boom boom said:
Shooting bags and a good adjustable front shooting rest. Sinclair (sold by Brownells) and Bald Eagle (bullets.com) sell the premium type front rests but you can find Caldwell and others that serve quite nicely for quite a bit less.

Heck, I have used a MTM K-Zone shooting rest with an AR which is molded out of plastic. It does pretty well and its pretty indestructible as well for about $40. I wouldn't use for serious target shooting but for testing a rifle or load at the range, it serves the purpose.
Click to expand...
Right now the Bald Eagle, normally 425.00 is on sale at bullets.com for 165.00. I just got one. This thing is nice, fine height adjustment and lock knob, quick height adjustor and lock knob and fine windage adjustment. Aluminum or cast iron. Super well made. Protektor 1" extra height rabbit ear rear bag finishes the set up. Very solid.

Russellc
 
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There is a jack rest thread on castboolits where I got the idea from for the one I built. This is it before I made it so it could be used with a rear bag or like above where it is taking the recoil of the rifle.



Makes things much easier.

 
I just bought one of these... http://www.dog-gone-good.com/ .... IMHO, much better then the Cadwell...

The lead sled sits the rifle up much higher then I could ever make comfortable on the bench, I was always contorting my neck and body to "make" the lead sled work... that does nothing to help you shoot an AR accurately.
 
bfoosh006 said:
I just bought one of these... http://www.dog-gone-good.com/ .... IMHO, much better then the Cadwell...

The lead sled sits the rifle up much higher then I could ever make comfortable on the bench, I was always contorting my neck and body to "make" the lead sled work... that does nothing to help you shoot an AR accurately.
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Cool. Thanks a lot for the link. I like that they have different bags for different uses. I may just send them an order soon.
 
boom boom said:
Cool. Thanks a lot for the link. I like that they have different bags for different uses. I may just send them an order soon.
Click to expand...

You'll like it. By design, That bag will "lock / clamp" onto your rifle with amazing ease. Making for a rock steady bag.

Btw... Caldwell makes a version of it as well... by all reports I have read, the Caldwell is no where near as durable.
 
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