Sighting In -- Bench rests? Sand bags?

G

Guyon

New member
I'm new to rifles, and I'm wondering what kind of rest I'll need for sighting in. I don't want to spend a fortune on a Sinclair rest, or even the $50 or so that a Hoppes Expert Bench Rest costs. I'd like to know if sandbag rests are sufficient for what I need. I looked today at Bass Pro, and they had some nice leather, Protektor bags, but even they were pretty expensive.

Do I need a bench rest? Or will bags do the trick just fine? Can I get by with just the front sand bag, since the rifle butt will be seated against my shoulder?
 
I have found that these little zippered bank bags work adequately well. Fill with sand and zip. Maybe use an old pillow case for a sorta fat bag under the bank bag, under the forearm of the rifle.

The key to a shooting bench is weight; the heavier the better. I took a bunch of old lumber and made a table. I put braces underneath, with a small platform so I could just lay rocks on it. W/O rocks, it's portable. W/rocks, it weighs around 200 pounds. Pretty steady. Of course, where I live, rocks are a renewable resource...

FWIW, Art
 
Guyon, I've never used anything but sand bags. Like you, I never wanted to spend the money. But my guns have shot some great groups (even under 1/4") off of bags. It helps to have something a bit more stable under the barrel, such as a block of wood, with a bag on top. Then use a bag under the end of the buttstock. Grip that rear bag with your non-trigger hand, and get a firm rest on the table with that elbow. Likewise, firmly plant your trigger arm elbow on the table. "Squeeze" the rear bag to make your last minute elevation adjustments. I forget where I learned this, but it works. And it's cheap ;) .

Dick
 
I would add to Monkeyleg's post, that you can use the rear bag for gross adjustment, too. Since the stocks of most rifles angle away from the vertical, you can adjust the point of impact by sliding the rear bag forward or backward as needed. Slide it toward the target, the muzzle points up: slide it away from the target, the muzzle points down. Pretty simple, really.

jbgood
 
Guyon,
I posted on your other thread regarding the Benchmark rests.
I know that Protektor bags are a bit pricey, but if you take care of them they will last a long, long time. I have a variety of them - 9 in all - and some of them are well over 10 years old. Let me tell you they get used 3 or 4 times a week too and are still in great shape.
 
Do It Yourself Sandbags

What you need is:
1. A pattern and scisors.
2. About a yard of DUCKCLOTH
3. Sewing machine
4. Hand needle and thread [for sewing up the loose end]
5. Sip-Lock bag of the desired size.
 
I purchased a rest for the front some years ago but still use sand bags in the rear. To be honest, you can get by with sand bags both front and rear and do just fine. I use old buck shot bags. Fill them with sand and take some stiff wire and seal them off. I have some that I still use and they are at least 7 years old if not older and still going strong.
 
A poor man's set of sand bags can be made by cutting off the legs of an old pare of jeans. Just be sure there are no holes in them. tie one end up with twisted wire or string, fill up with sand and tie other end.Hint don't fill too full,they work better that way. Also I don't have a shooting bench. I usually shoot off the hood of my old farm truck.I have even sighted in guns with nothing more than a rolled up jacket over the hood of a truck or jeep.Be careful not to powder burn the hood if you care about the paintjob. I don't know about 1/4" groups but it is not hard to shoot 1" groups this way assuming your gun and ammo is up to it. Still not as good as a solid bench but quite workable.Also I always hold my rifles like I intend to shoot them under field conditions. My hand is always under the forarm just like in a hunting siduation.I do this because I have notice a substancial difference in point of impact between doing it this way and just resting the forend of the rifle on the sandbags.I have done it this way for years and it always works for me.
 
You can use plastic pellets from a mold injection shop. I asked the guy at the shop down the road from me and he gave me a bag at no cost. We shoot in the rain alot. The plastic dose not hold water like sand. It is a lot lighter to cary with you.
 
Bullseye, as long as the wood of the stock does not touch the barrel, it would be six of one, a half-dozen of the other, as far as the rifle's inherent accuracy. The variable would be how steady you can hold the rifle. It seems to me that the sandbags would be a bit steadier, since the bipod allows you to cant the rifle when setting up on uneven ground. With that sort of setup, you might wobble it about a bit.

Art
 
Another good medium to use in your bags is popcorn. Also the little pellets for pellet stoves works fine. The legs from old jeans cut and sewn have lasted for years for me.
 
Note that a rifle will shoot to a somewhat different point of impact form a rest than it will when held by a hunter. Final sighting-in should be done from hunting positions. It may not make much difference, but, then again, it may, particularly if you use a shooting sling.

KLN
 
Bipod vs. sandbag vs. benchrest

Having used all three, I'm still partial to the sandbag. My recommendation on the do-it-yourself sandbag is to use the old jeans legs as some others have suggested, but put the DRY sand inside a fairly heavy mil, cut-down plastic trash bag first and seal it off good. Then put the sand-filled trash bag inside the old jeans leg and sew both ends closed. That will keep the sand dry when you happen to be outside shooting when it starts to rain. It will also keep the sand from picking up moisture just from high humidity.

MADISON recommended the same basic set-up except using zip-lok bags, which would work well also.

I also use an Outer's benchrest which I like a lot. I have bipods on three of my rifles and they're OK in the field, but the sand bag is the bottomline best - IMHO. ;)
 
My brother in law owns a pool construction company, so we use 50 pounds bags of filter element. Just go to a pool supply store and tell them you need some sand for a pool filter. Cant be more than a couple of bucks a piece. Very sturdy and will last a few years of sighting in.
 
I make sandbags out of empty shot bags. One thing i do is put the sand in a "ziplock" bag then put the "ziplock" bag of sand in the shot bag then get the "boss" to sew it shut on her sewing machine. That keeps the sand from "sneaking out" and getting all over things such as auto rifle actions etc. What Art said about rocks for weight is fine, but here in the swamps I have not found any rocks lately, and do not think that I ever will, so I kind of substitute 25 pound bags of shot for that. It works.
 
Hey thanks for all the posts everybody. Lots of good tips and info in this thread.

I wound up buying a Protektor front rest and am going to get by with sandbags in the rear for a while. I'll probably break down and get the rear rest in a month or two. The leather Protektors look like they're made to last.

I wonder if I should oil the leather. I usually use mink oil on my boots to make them water resistant and to make them last longer. Can't see how it would hurt the rest since it's supposed to be pliable anyway.
 
one last suggestion to look at

Going to the range with a rifle and all the "stuff" you have to carry, I'm sure you all have luggage carriers to haul your stuff. I'm trying to get it all down to a managable weight and didn't want to haul 20 pounds of sand on top of everything.

I found that Millett makes a set of rifle rests from a polymer material which is pretty pliant. It is formed in two pieces that fit into eachother for easy transport but only weigh a fraction of sandbags but do a great job. Check them out at the http://www.millettsites.com and click on shooting rests. They cost around $25 and work great!

Rome
 
Another "poor man's sandbag" idea is

to go Safeway and buy a 1-lb bag of the cheapest bag of dried beans you can see (eg, pinto beans). Duct tape it, then sew it into an old sweatsock. Very light, very malleable.

And if you get caught in an apocalyptic event, you can always cook yourself one last meal of beans ;)
 
Yep, like Navajo said: Beans. I made myself a pair, with heavy suede-like car upholstery fabric and a couple of pounds of dried Navy beans about 20 years ago. I meant them to be a temporary expedient, but I'm still using them for both rifle and pistol testing.
A rifle will shoot differently off a bench than it does from hunting positions, as another poster said. To minimize this effect, I've found the best way to shoot is by resting my hand and forearm on the bag, and supporting the buttstock naturally with a good pull into my shoulder. I hunker down pretty close to the bench to minimize body tremor, but the rifle touches nothing but me. You can't shoot such tiny groups this way, but it gives you a more accurate notion of how your rifle will perform 'for real'.
 
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