Lead Sled makes you a recoil woosie???

[AKElroy]

I admit it. I bought a used Lead Sled on Ebay, and plan on using it extensively to site in my rifles from the bench. I like my coffee, and I have a bit of a shake & can benefit from a steady adjustable rest for sighting in.

Anyone else own one for this purpose? Should I expect to get trash talked when I bolt my .22 LR into this thing?

 

[Damon555]

I can't blame you. I despise recoil. I'd rather be a good shot than rely on horsepower.

In my opinion it makes it a lot harder to shoot accurately. Shooting any weapon in my arsenal is pretty easy on the shoulder. That lead sled should work like a charm. Enjoy.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I don't really mind recoil, but lead sleads are great.
If you handload, and are constantly testing new loads, looking for that perfect one, you want to take human error out ot the equation. If you're flinching anticipating recoil, there's no way you can shoot groups as accurately as possible. You really need something like that to make sure your rifle is grouping like it should IMO.
I don't own one yet, but I need to get one.

 

[AKElroy]

I don't really mind recoil, but lead sleads are great.

+1. I do not mind recoil, and I have pretty good form from the bench to avoid the flinch. I just have an easier time sighting in with a steady adjustable rest.

 

[RyanM]

Many guns, especially the hard-kicking lightweight ones, will print a different point of impact when you take them out of the sled. So they aren't too useful for sighting-in purposes, more for load development, and determining the theoretical accuracy of your gun and ammo.

 

[bobelk99]

Do what you need to do to avoid flinch.

If in some instance you need help and a sled is not available, two of the PAST recoil shield will tame 375 and below. I don't shoot anything bigger except from a standing position.

 

[AKElroy]

Many guns, especially the hard-kicking lightweight ones, will print a different point of impact when you take them out of the sled. So they aren't too useful for sighting-in purposes

Same can be said for shooting off bags from the bench.

 

[AKElroy]

Do what you need to do to avoid flinch.

Never said I have a flinch, I just like the utility of getting & staying on target with a steady rest, which is defferent from buying the sled for recoil avoidance. My question was whether others use it for the same reason.

 

[NWCP]

Other shooters might get a chuckle if you mount your .22LR on a Lead Sled, but hey, it's your gun. Actually using a Lead Sled doesn't make you a wuss, crying like a little girl after firing your rifle from the shoulder makes one a wuss.

 

[eagle24]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. If you flinch off the bench you will never shoot well. If you can't hold steady off the bench you will never shoot well. I use the bench when I am flinching off-hand and for finding the best load. If you are recoil sensative, then shoot something lighter. If you love coffee, that's OK, but know that it will affect your shooting. All boils down to your priorities and how important shooting is to you. BTW, I love coffee too.

 

[AKElroy]

If you flinch off the bench you will never shoot well.

Here we go again. Never said I had a flinch. Never said I don't shoot well from the bench. I am asking if others used a lead sled as a cheat for having a steady adjustable rest, and not for recoil avoidance. If so, what has been their experience with it?

 

[Art Eatman]

In several years of reading comments about the Lead Sled, I've seen many favorable comments, and hardly any unfavorable comments. SFAIK they do what the manufacturer says they will.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. If you flinch off the bench you will never shoot well. If you can't hold steady off the bench you will never shoot well

This may be true if you're only firing two or three shots to confirm zero before going out into the field, but there are times that I've got five rounds loaded up in five or six different loadings that I need to try out. Even with a .30-06, after twenty or so shots, it's not so comfortable anymore. So where you wouldn't flinch in anticipation at first, you may start to do after that many rounds.
(I know the OP doesn't have the flinching problem, just saying)

 

[wleoff]

In 2008, I had major shoulder surgery on both shoulders and was leery of initially shooting more than a .22. Lane Pearce, a friend and Shooting Times Reloading Editor, recommended the Lead Sled. This worked great. One thing, don't overload the sled with weight or you'll split a stock. there has to be some recoil give or it will be like shooting the rifle with the stock against a concrete wall. I use lead shot in bags and load about 20-30 lbs on the sled. That way there is some give in the sled to protect the stock.

 

[eagle24]

Quote:
If you flinch off the bench you will never shoot well.

Here we go again. Never said I had a flinch. Never said I don't shoot well from the bench. I am asking if others used a lead sled as a cheat for having a steady adjustable rest, and not for recoil avoidance. If so, what has been their experience with it?

Sorry AKElroy, I didn't read the thread as well as I should have and you are right you didn't say you were flinching. To answer your question, I don't use one and have never had an opportunity to. I can shoot plenty good off bags for developing loads and determining accuracy of a rifle (maybe you can too). Currently I am shooting flintlocks most of the time. Any flinch is bad with a flintlock. I use the bench sometimes to reinforce squeezing the trigger and being completely "dead" to the shot. It helps my offhand shooting to fire a few from the bench from time to time.

 

[Flatbush Harry]

I have, and use often, a lead sled to zero scopes (all my .30s are zeroed at 200 yds), test loads, learn the performance of my ballistic reticles and, generally, to do anything that requires real steadiness. I mostly shoot either M1 Garands or M1As with irons...after zeroing them on the lead sled with my match loads, I shoot those from standard positions. Typical practice sessions involve 48-96 rounds with my M1s and 60 rounds with the M1As. Practice with my bolt action .30s are 20-30 rounds per rifle in positions. I keep it down with the bolts to avoid flinching.

FH

 

[AKElroy]

One thing, don't overload the sled with weight or you'll split a stock.

I don't plan on loading it at all. It will see the most use w/ medium power cartriges. It is heavy unladen, and dead steady without additional weight. The heaviest use would be a 7mm mag, hardly a masher.

I picked this up on ebay after sighting in a new Savage .308. From bags, it is shooting right at MOA w/ low cost 150g winchester power points, which I was thrilled about. When I tried 165g Federal premiums, they were even tighter, but my groups shifted high by an inch or so (expected, they are harder thumpers), and left an inch, which was not expected. Something varied in my stance creating a different POI, and I think the Lead Sled will help remove some of the variables.

I have moved scopes around on three other rifles, and I need to spend a day getting them back to zero. If I figure 20 rounds each from two different .30-30's, a .270, a .243 and this .308 Savage, that is over 100 center fire rounds in the same afternoon. No way I could stay on target from bags after that much action.

 

[TenDriver]

+1 on the recoil absorption. I lost the rear lens out of my scope a while back after putting my 270 in one. Won't use a sled again until I get higher quality optics.

 

[ArmedBear]

Won't use a sled again until I get higher quality optics

LOL

Rule #58: Never use any sort of machine rest that costs more than the scope on the rifle.

Seriously, why slam your shoulder to do load testing and sighting in? What does that prove? The lead sled leads to the best possible testing and sight-in, anyway.

Certain guns recoil horribly on the bench, too. I sighted in a buffalo rifle (.45-70 black powder, 520 grain bullet) and my shoulder was literally bruised. That seldom happens. I can shoot the thing all day long offhand, or in field positions, though (it has a steel crescent buttplate). The nature of that low-velocity, high-momentum round is that recoil is mild when your body can roll with it, but brutal on the bench.

 

[Float Pilot]

I use an un-weighted lead sled for hand-load development. Plus it hold the rifle up-right and pointed down range. when you are all changing targets.

However, you need to be careful when using a lead sled with some of the light weight mountain rifles and their graphite stocks. You can actually damage a light weight rifle stock using a lead sled.

 

[HerrWolfe]

Yeah, a real candy arse. Best sell to me so you will not be called names. BTW I am looking for one to hold rifles just so, while I do the sighting thing.

 

[3:00hold]

If you bolt a .22 into a lead sled, people will probably think you're nuts, not a woosie. If you bolt a .270 into a lead sled, people will think you're a woosie.

These days, guys buy medium to light caliber rifles with muzzle breaks because they figure that it is better to have deaf friends than slightly (very slightly) sore shoulders.

I would worry about what works for you and not what other people think. Except if you're planning on buying a .270 with a break - don't do that.

I've never used one of those things, but a standard front/rear bag arrangement is pretty steady when used properly. You should have no movement of the crosshairs if you're using your bags right. That may be a better option for the .22.

 

[ArmedBear]

You should have no movement of the crosshairs if you're using your bags right. That may be a better option for the .22.

First off, that's BS. It depends on what you mean by "no". If you've never used a machine rest, maybe you don't know.

Second, the machine rest allows you to throw a level on the whole mess. If you really want to know what your load is doing, and exactly what the drop is at, say, 400 yards, a machine rest is the only way to take out as many variables as possible.

Is this rifle shooting? No. It's equipment testing.

Shooting off bags so there's no movement isn't rifle shooting, either, in any but a very limited sense. But it, too, has its purpose.

Dyno testing a car isn't racing, either. But it has its purpose.

 

[AKElroy]

I've never used one of those things, but a standard front/rear bag arrangement is pretty steady when used properly. You should have no movement of the crosshairs if you're using your bags right. That may be a better option for the .22.

I have fired thousands of rounds off bags, and this is simply not true. I single feed when sighting in, and there is no way to get EXACTLY the same hold twice off bags. Second, bag placement for and aft effects POI, and the Sled takes that variable away.

Maybe I should explain that the .22 is a Magnum Research w/ a carbon fiber / graphite barrel & a 5X15 AO Bushnell elite. The barrel weighs a whispy 13oz, and it is difficult to keep it steady. It will drill 3/4 moa all day, but I will not be able to get to its absolute potential without a rest, and I am curious to see what it will do. Like Barry said, this is about testing the equipment, not the shooter.

 

[ArmedBear]

WRT .22s, sure there are .22s that put 10 rounds into a fist-sized group at 50 yards, but there are also .22s that put 10 rounds into one hole at 50 yards. The "no" movement of bags actually has an effect on the latter.