Gun Vice and Rest/Bags you like?

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Wrage

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I have a birthday coming up and I would like to get a gun vise and a shooting rest/bags and wonder what vises and rests you have used that you really like that might help me in making a decision on what to beg...I mean ask for ;)

For the vise I will be doing mostly maintenance type stuff (no major gunsmith work) on my bench primarily on hunting rifles and shotguns. I just want something that will hold my firearms solid and a place to keep all the pieces, cleaning stuff, etc...in one orderly location.

For the rest/bags, I just want a solid rest to shoot off mostly for plinking (non-competition), sighting in, testing different reloads, etc...once again for anything from .22 rimfire to higher powered hunting rifles. Do you have a rest or bag system you like - what are the advantages of bags vs. rest and vice-versa?

In both situations money IS a factor so cheaper the better - but not junk :) Any information and experience would be appreciated! Thanks!
 
Mostly just a couple of very small generic sandbags (essentially a pair of fronts off the usual small set of front/rear bags), and a piece of old carpet to lay on the bench
I fooled around a while with various other fancier setups, and found myself fooling around with all that more than just shooting and focusing on shooting technique

the fancier rifle rest I still have is used only for cleaning the rifle at home; it is handy for that
 
Make it all yourself. Two or three 2x4's, some carpet remnants and a few saw cuts and you've got your shooting rest and a set up for cleaning, etc in your shop or garage. Maybe 6 bucks all total.
 
I just like simple leather bags I can fill with sand/ironoxide/airsoft pellets/cat litter/corncob media.

Don't use rice. Nothings funnier than coming out of the classroom at a precision rifle class to notice that it had rained while we were indoors and someones rests soaked up the water and exploded. You'd never expect to be cleaning rice chunks of the lense of your Trijicon scope I bet.

Otherwise go big and get a SEB rest. If they are even available.
 
gun vise

GOOGLE gun vise and get the one for around thirty bucks,name esapes me but NSS has them,maybe even AMAZON.otiac
 
Post # 7 is my set up also found it the most consistent although heavy to transport but that is the key, solid....Buy the good set up and it will last.
 
+1K on the Protektor rear bags - they don't slide around like the store brand nylon bags tend to do.

I bought an old Hoppes front rest off of ebay - it works well. Someday, I might spend a little more on the Sinclair rest, or the Caldwell BR version, but the old 70's orange beater works well for me. Those Protektor leather bags though... I see so many old beat up Protektor bags at my local gun club... They seem to last forever, they stay put where you put them, and they have a great shape to them. You can damn near fall asleep over your rifle using them...
 
My gun vice, you ask?
That is a very personal question.
However, since we are all friends,
My gun vice is that I spend too much time and money on guns.

On the other hand, I can truthfully say that I have no vises.
 
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A 4x4 block under the front sandbag, and just plain old sandbags as needed to set the rifle so almost no effort is needed to keep the crosshairs on target. Sub-MOA for some sixty years or so...
 
Buddy of mine just bought a Caldwell Handy Rest for $20. It's solid, sturdy and worked well for us the other day. It even has an extension you can attach to the base when shooting a pistol off it so your hand has something to rest on.
 
Until last year I had been "making do" with home-made rigs. Then my wife and daughters got together and bought me a Tipton Gun Vise (there are 2, one at ~ $50 and the other at ~99) and a Caldwell Rock BR (several versions of this rest). I have some "Protector" bunny ears bags for the back rest. Good stuff.

The Caldwell JR Rest is on sale at Midway ... $20, that's a good price, but I'm not sure about the quality ..?
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=682659

The bunny ear rear bags run from $27-37
http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/BrowseProducts.aspx?pageNum=1&tabId=4&categoryId=15821&categoryString=655***689***
 
Caldwell lead sled. I mount a lot of scopes for people and sight in a lot of rifles. This isn't cheap but is on sale frequently at Cabela's. It makes working up loads and shooting magnum rifles much more comfortable.
 
Awesome! Thanks for the replies everyone! Some great advice here - in some ways makes the decision easier, in some ways harder :) I am certainly no handyman and I envy those of you who can just put something together...my putting something together would resemble a pile of scrap in the landfill :)

I was already leaning toward the Tipton gun vise ($50 model) and after hearing your reviews I think I will go that way on the bench vice.

It's good to hear the bags work well - I think I would love the lead sled or the sinclair rest, those things look absolutely solid (and brainonsigs that setup looks so fun to just slide into that pic and start firing! :)) - I think perhaps for money and portability the bags may be the way to go for me. Now just the struggle with which ones...Protektor looks really nice, I like the non-skid setup but the Caldwell is quite a bit cheaper...ah decisions decisions!

Thanks again for all of your posts, I really appreciate it!
 
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