Is my rock hard Caldwel shooting bags making my AR10 jump?

[little_scrapper]

I bought a set of Caldwel shooting bags. Both seem to be fairly hard (full). The rear bag is kind of a check mark shape. A squeeze bag it is NOT. I am wondering how much sand I should dump out? I have recently been learning about hard front bags causing jump and I am terribly inconsistent. Thinking the hard bags are not my friend.

I know, its fairly rhetorical. I need to just dump some and feel. Wash rinse repeat until I like it. Im asking "basically" how firm/soft should a front bag be? Also, rear bag squeezeability.

I don't have access to a prone position. Shooting range just has stone benches and I'm 6'4" so I tend to put my front bag on a short section of 6x8 railroad tie. Otherwise its just too damn short for confort.

 

[Dthomas3523]

I think you’ll find most on here using a bipod in front.

Also, typically as long as the bag isn’t stopping the rifle from recoiling straight back, it’s not the front rest/bag causing the rifle hop. It’s usually the shooter or the rear bag.

The rifle wants to recoil straight back, something is preventing it from moving straight back and it’s hopping in reaction to that stoppage.

Typically this is a recoil management issue with the shooter.

 

[Alabusa]

I dumped a pint size ziplock bag out of my front bag and it is now perfect for what I want. I did dump a bit out of the rear bag but not enough to keep.

 

[little_scrapper]

I dumped a bunch out of both. Will try again this weekend. Also, I am reading a lot about recoil management or the lack there of's effect on shot placement. Still working on it!

 

[Rocketmandb]

I am in the final stages of creating the first video in a 3-part series called "The Science of Recoil" where I go into at the mechanics and dynamics of the recoil forces exhibited on a rifle during a shot.

A hard front bag will exhibit no additional forces on your rifle over what a soft bag will. With no other forces acting on the rifle, both just have the weight of the rifle sitting on them, and recoil pulls the barrel up and away from the bags. However, a soft bag will allow you to load it a little bit (similar to a bipod) which will counteract some recoil due to a combination of opposing linear forces and moment.

About lack of recoil management affecting a shot, depending on what part of management is lacking, it can definitely impact accuracy. For example, a stiff shoulder will impart recoil-reaction force back into the rifle in a shorter amount of time than a more spring-like shoulder will. Since it's happening over a shorter amount of time, it means more momentum is going back into the rifle during the time while the bullet is in the barrel. - which, if you're not set up correctly, means a bigger impact on accuracy.