Full disclosure Im a total LRS novice and want to ensure my rifle is true. Apart from having someone much more seasoned than myself shoot my rifle to ensure that it's up to par, are there devices that will allow me to lock the gun to the benchrest to eliminate movement so I can get true consistency measurements?
Removing the human element...shooting vises?
- Thread starter 98cwitr
- Start date
generally not recommended. the recoil needs to go somewhere. locking your gun in a vise is a good way to damage your scope
depending what caliber you are shooting, however I still wouldn't recommend it.
almost everyone here is evaluating their loads/accuracy by shooting off a bipod/front rest and a rear bag/rest. no need to lock in the gun down.
good fundamentals and being consistent in your set up and trigger squeeze
depending what caliber you are shooting, however I still wouldn't recommend it.
almost everyone here is evaluating their loads/accuracy by shooting off a bipod/front rest and a rear bag/rest. no need to lock in the gun down.
good fundamentals and being consistent in your set up and trigger squeeze
Not sure if this is solid advice, but do not over think this, or get overwhelmed. There is not a single steel plate that is ever going to shoot back at you. Never reason for an elevated heart beat if shooting casually, never a reason to be upset if you miss a shot. Learn from what you observe, take good shots, and see what happens.
Do not lock your rifle down.
In my experience, a lead sled or rifle vise is a good way to ruin a shooter and equipment early. The best way to grow in marksmanship is practice, and learn to manage recoil rather than take that aspect out of it. An accurate rifle will do you no good if you do not know how to use it, and manage it.
98,
I had this same question. Last year I bought a new custom rifle and wanted to totally take out all human error for quick load development. I borrowed a gun "vise" from a neighbor that has every toy available and never uses any of them. Great guy! This model had all sorts of leveling knobs, clamps, straps, pistons to absorb recoil, and a syringe to push the trigger. I found that it was worse than shooting the rifle myself. It took a long time to set up, the adjustments were tedious to make, hard to get behind the scope, more time lining back up for your next shot, ect.
I used a front rest instead of my bipod and a good rear bag. I thought this gave ME the best results.
I would still like to find the ultimate device to take out my error specifically for load development, but have not found it.
Steve
experiment with how you can get consistently comfortable behind the rifle.
experiment with rear bags if you have a bipod
experiment with various bags for the front and rear if no bipod is used.
dry fire 3 times for every live fire shot when shooting for groups.
take 2-4 shots, then get up and walk around. not to let your barrel cool, but to let your brain, eyes and body relax
practice, stay positive and don't try to compare yourself to the groups you see on the internet. yes I have picture of a target with two 5 shot groups that are .3" center to center, but the same target has a 1.5" group because I let my body get lazy behind the gun. it is ok to be human and to screw it up.
With a little practice you’ll easily be able to shoot good enough to the point that multiple other factors will dictate your POI at distance, the biggest being wind. Literally the difference between hitting a 10” plate at 700 yards with a rifle that shoots 0.5 MOA vs 0.1 MOA is 2.4%, and 5% between a 1 MOA rifle and 0.1 MOA rifle when trying to hit a 20” plate at 1000 yards, all else being equal.
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/04/15/how-much-does-group-size-matter/
If you can get to the point where you can call the wind within +/-2mph versus +/- 5mph you’ll improve your hit rate percentage on those same targets by ~40%.
It’s a wayyyyyyyy better bang for your buck to learn to read the wind then to perseverate over group size.
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/05/14/how-much-does-wind-reading-ability-matter/
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/04/15/how-much-does-group-size-matter/
If you can get to the point where you can call the wind within +/-2mph versus +/- 5mph you’ll improve your hit rate percentage on those same targets by ~40%.
It’s a wayyyyyyyy better bang for your buck to learn to read the wind then to perseverate over group size.
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2015/05/14/how-much-does-wind-reading-ability-matter/
Research SEB benchrests if $ is no concern.
Or practice form with the equipment you have, heck dry fire if need be.
IMO, buy a good quality PCP air rifle and go crazy sending lead down range!
Or practice form with the equipment you have, heck dry fire if need be.
IMO, buy a good quality PCP air rifle and go crazy sending lead down range!
I have a friend that has one of theses front rests. It is a work of art. Not for what I'm doing, my budget, or patience waiting on one, If you can still order one...
I have a Sinclair Heavy Varmint front rest and protector rabbit ear bag I use sometimes.
They are nice but alot of extra weight and hassle for frequent range trips and if they do improve my accuracy over a bipod then I'm not a good enough marksman to tell.
You can pull a shot just as easily from a good front rest and rear bag as a bipod if your not paying attention to what your doing.
With a full custom bench rest rifle that you are only touching the trigger and letting it recoil the difference would be much more noticeable I'm sure but I don't have any BR rifles or shoot that way.
They are nice but alot of extra weight and hassle for frequent range trips and if they do improve my accuracy over a bipod then I'm not a good enough marksman to tell.
You can pull a shot just as easily from a good front rest and rear bag as a bipod if your not paying attention to what your doing.
With a full custom bench rest rifle that you are only touching the trigger and letting it recoil the difference would be much more noticeable I'm sure but I don't have any BR rifles or shoot that way.
A front rest and rear bag is a very good set-up if they fit your rifle.
I see lots of guys using bags that are too wide or don't conform to the forend and that doesn't help.
If your on a budget and shoot prone a bag of Milo or Rice works well as a front rest because it conforms well to the gun.
A rear bag can be a sock full of beans tied off.
A solid rest that doesn't allow recoil doesn't seem to work as well as a rest that allows it to return to battery like on a railgun.
You want to take as much of the shooter out of the testing so you know what the rifle is capable of.
After that if you can't repeat the results it's either the gear or the shooter.
I see lots of guys using bags that are too wide or don't conform to the forend and that doesn't help.
If your on a budget and shoot prone a bag of Milo or Rice works well as a front rest because it conforms well to the gun.
A rear bag can be a sock full of beans tied off.
A solid rest that doesn't allow recoil doesn't seem to work as well as a rest that allows it to return to battery like on a railgun.
You want to take as much of the shooter out of the testing so you know what the rifle is capable of.
After that if you can't repeat the results it's either the gear or the shooter.
Bipod, and a rear bag and you are good to go. All that lead sled, gunvise nonsense is for the birds just get out there put your dick in the dirt and shoot the piss out of it.
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