Tips on grip postion and setting up behind rifle for shooting benched

[chromebonez]

Hi guys, I'm looking for different tips on how everyone likes to setup behind a rifle and how to position their hand on the grip before breaking the shot.

I like to get behind the rifle seated nice and firm with both feet flat on the floor, shoulder width apart, making sure my core is stable along with my whole body. Grip wise, I've had people tell me to barely grip the rifle only putting pressure with the finger tips along the front of the grip to bring it into my shoulder, I've also had people tell me to hold it firm like a pistol grip, I haven't really found a way that works best for me yet.

Another problem I run into is, when I load the bipod on a bench, it will slip causing me to lose the load, If I position the sandbag correctly, it seems I can load into the sandbag keeping the bipod from slipping, this doesn't seem like a proper solution as I feel the bipod should be the one getting the full load. I always prefer to prone so I don't have this problem but that's not possible at the range I usually go to, so I mostly shoot benched with a bipod and a sandbag in the rear.

If you have any tips on the main things you guys focus on before pressing that trigger I would love to hear it and get some insight to improve. Also any good youtube vids would be nice, as this is my first bolt action rifle and I'm still new to this type of shooting. Thanks guys!

My Setup
Bergara HMR B-14 20'' .308win 1/10 Twist
Seekins Base and Rings
Burris XTR II 3-15x50mm
Atlas Bipod
Timney Calvin Elite Trigger.

100 Yard Target. Ammo - Federal Gold Medal Match .308 SMK BTHP

 

[vh20]

I'll let others address your other questions, but since you also like to shoot prone, make sure that you have your shoulders well forward of your hips when you get into firing position on the bench. This will minimize any impact shift you may experience between shooting bench and prone (actually eliminate it if you practice it consistently). As for the grip, I try and follow Frank's advice - grip strength is firm but not tight - "like you'd shake hands with a lady" is how he has described it. Then to pull the rifle back into the shoulder, he recommends a force about equal to the rifle's weight, so however much strength it takes to lift the rifle with one hand - apply a similar amount of force to pull it into the shoulder pocket. To apply this force, I try to have the fingers in front of the grip applying the force perfectly perpendicular to the rifle's axis, the thumb wrapped lightly around the grip applying the previous "handshake" grip, and I try to have no contact with the web of my hand on the side of the grip. Trigger finger has the first pad centered on the trigger shoe, and it is kept perpendicular as the squeeze is applied to fire. In short, all forces are to be applied in a purely longitudinal direction, with careful attention paid to keeping any sources of side forces eliminated.

Oh, I do have one tip about loading the bipod on the bench. You don't want to really lean into it, just take up the slack. I have Harris instead of Atlas, but I found that my problems with the bipod slipping on the bench with even light loading went away when I started putting my shooting mat on the bench itself.

 

[chromebonez]

Thanks a bunch VH20 for your post, a lot of good info for sure and it's much appreciated. I've been dry firing with the tips you've given me and it is feeling a lot better with the grip method that you're describing. I also had a fellow shooter give me the same tip on loading the bipod on a different forum so I will definitely give that a try also.

 

[brianf]

good advise so far...
stay away from that finger tip stuff, that only works for rail guns that are shooting little benchrest rounds not 308 in a tac/hunting set up.
if you are having a hard time with the bipod grab a old piece of carpet of go buy a cheap rubber floor mat and drop it on the bench top. that should give enough grip to load the bipod.
also watch out when squeezing the rear bag on a bench. you would be surprised how many people squeeze it until the trigger breaks and they loosen the grip screwing everything up.