DIY Shooting bags

TB10

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Minuteman
May 2, 2012
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Ohio
Here is our best attempt to recreate something similar to the pump pillow and the str8 laced bag with a few differences. The main difference being the adjustable velcro straps that go around the bag. The fill is a micro poly fill purchased from amazon that seems to be just a little more fine than what Wiebad is using. 1000 cordura and other materials purchased off eBay at a reasonable price. A local seamstress hooked us up on the sewing! Very happy with how these bags turned out. Any questions feel free to ask. Check us out on instagram at kingpin_precision_shooting for other shooting content and DIY projects. image_49431.jpg
 

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Last edited:
Its been a
Here is our best attempt to recreate something similar to the pump pillow and the str8 laced bag with a few differences. The main difference being the adjustable velcro straps that go around the bag. The fill is a micro poly fill purchased from amazon that seems to be just a little more fine than what Wiebad is using. 1000 cordura and other materials purchased off eBay at a reasonable price. A local seamstress hooked us up on the sewing! Very happy with how these bags turned out. Any questions feel free to ask. Check us out on instagram at kingpin_precision_shooting for other shooting content and DIY projects. View attachment 6296873

It has been a while since your post, but did you make the bungee too?
 
Its been a

It has been a while since your post, but did you make the bungee too?

Doubt it.
I make a lot of my own "DIY Budget" stuff too with some basic materials(cordura, hook/loop, webbing, etc) and hardware.
But when it comes to some of the lanyards, for my purposes/uses it is hard to beat some of the dirt cheap options on Amazon/Ebay.

This is not a great example (for cost):
https://www.amazon.com/Ezyoutdoor-T...464&sr=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=camo+bungee+lanyard
But looks very similar.

There are many other options out there with some searching.
 
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I have made some shooting bags, too. Base material is multicam cordura 1000 and I experimented a bit with a bunch of accessory cords.
The big one and one of the medium ones are filled with super light styrofoam balls of about 0,05".
The others are filled with PE granules of about 0,15". The weight difference is nearly 1:10 for the same size of bag.
I made 2 medium bags of the same size to compare weight and handling.
Personally I prefer the heavy fill for front support a lot and even as rear bag.
Only with very big bags the light filling is better. For hunting, I prefer the light ones for obvious reasons.
The "gamechanger" is much much more stable with heavy fill.
 

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I have made some shooting bags, too. Base material is multicam cordura 1000 and I experimented a bit with a bunch of accessory cords.
The big one and one of the medium ones are filled with super light styrofoam balls of about 0,05".
The others are filled with PE granules of about 0,15". The weight difference is nearly 1:10 for the same size of bag.
I made 2 medium bags of the same size to compare weight and handling.
Personally I prefer the heavy fill for front support a lot and even as rear bag.
Only with very big bags the light filling is better. For hunting, I prefer the light ones for obvious reasons.
The "gamechanger" is much much more stable with heavy fill.

Damn I'd like to have one of those big bags. That looks awesome!
 
Curious to those making thier own bags, does a “standard” sewing machine sew the 1000d cordura? Curious as mother inlaw has one I am able to borrow, just not wanting to order everything to find fabric is to thick to sew. Any good sites to order fabric from?
 
Curious to those making thier own bags, does a “standard” sewing machine sew the 1000d cordura? Curious as mother inlaw has one I am able to borrow, just not wanting to order everything to find fabric is to thick to sew. Any good sites to order fabric from?
A lot of variables there... depending on the size of the machine it may sew 1000 with the proper needle (heavier, like denim needle) the problems start when you start adding multiple layers or adding webbing. When it gets too thick, you’ll start breaking needles or knock the machine out of timing.
Some “home” machines don’t have physical clearance under the presser foot to sew very thick material to begin with.

Supplies http://www.rockywoods.com/
 
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I have an old German Pfaff machine but nothing extaordinarily strong. When sewing cordura 1000 in 2-3 layers I can easily work it. For more layers, velcro and thick straps I work slowly and with a bit of feeling for the right speed. But in general, working slowly generates nicer lines and as we are doing that for our pleasure, slow is always good. For tight corners or going up on a thick webbing i turn the macine manually to have a good feeling and not breake needles or get stuck.
Strong needles, thread and proper adjustment of the thread tension are important.
 
Hi Guys,
did a little experiment today and will try it in the match this weekend.
Medium sized front bag with non slip (silicone) on one side and an arca rail adapter on the other.
Lets see how good it works. It is medium heavy fill but I could imagine that a super light fill could be good for a bag that is attached to the rifle.

Has anyopne of you experience with arcarail bags?
 

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Hi GuNinja,
I was not using the bag very much as the gamechanger is still a more versatile bag. A fixed bag is not so well for threading through holes.
During training, though I found the bag too wobbly. So either one needs to have a longer arca attachment with 2 rivets or the bag needs substentially more filling material. Maybe I will experiment with both...

PS: The arca rail for the bipod is awsome enough to get one;-) I am running it on my 6.5 and 22lr trainer and with different bipods.
 
Funny, I STILL have the green army sock filled with dry rice... That I made for SDM school over 15 years ago! I kept it dry and it's still holding up.

A member on here years ago sent me a bag of plastic pellets, they're the ones used to make milk jugs I think. They're about the consistency of rice and "lock up" when squeezed kinda like rice does. I'd like some nicer bags to put those in though.
 
Here is our best attempt to recreate something similar to the pump pillow and the str8 laced bag with a few differences. The main difference being the adjustable velcro straps that go around the bag. The fill is a micro poly fill purchased from amazon that seems to be just a little more fine than what Wiebad is using. 1000 cordura and other materials purchased off eBay at a reasonable price. A local seamstress hooked us up on the sewing! Very happy with how these bags turned out. Any questions feel free to ask. Check us out on instagram at kingpin_precision_shooting for other shooting content and DIY projects. View attachment 6296873


Where did you find the camo velcro? Or did you Rite dye it yourself? I find the hardest part of making your own bags is finding the preferred material colors.
 
Doubt it.
I make a lot of my own "DIY Budget" stuff too with some basic materials(cordura, hook/loop, webbing, etc) and hardware.
But when it comes to some of the lanyards, for my purposes/uses it is hard to beat some of the dirt cheap options on Amazon/Ebay.

This is not a great example (for cost):
https://www.amazon.com/Ezyoutdoor-T...464&sr=8-4-fkmr0&keywords=camo+bungee+lanyard
But looks very similar.

There are many other options out there with some searching.

Thanks for that tip.
 
A lot of variables there... depending on the size of the machine it may sew 1000 with the proper needle (heavier, like denim needle) the problems start when you start adding multiple layers or adding webbing. When it gets too thick, you’ll start breaking needles or knock the machine out of timing.
Some “home” machines don’t have physical clearance under the presser foot to sew very thick material to begin with.

Supplies http://www.rockywoods.com/

I upgraded to a Singer Heavy Duty 4423 for DIY projects. My previous Singer model could barely handle blue jean repairs. I sew up to 4 layers of 1,000 Cordura and feel this is max capability. I have only sewn up to 3 layers of 1" webbing as well without issue. I use heavy duty jean or upholstery thread. Stitch pattern can hinder your machine's efficiency, i try to stay with straight line patterns. My skills with a machine are limited to what I learned in "Home Ec"and what I can learn from Youtube. Below is a bag I recently made. I used poly fill beads I purchased from Amazon. All the components were originally purchased off Amazon come to think of it.
 

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