Why Do People Benchrest Shoot?

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Not necessarily true that the most expensive equipment wins every time.

You forgot to take the wind into account.
Do THAT at a benchrest shoot or even misjudge a wind gust marginally and you'll go from first to middle of the pack no matter the cost of your rig.

Like a poker player plays his opponent not the cards, the really good shots know how to read conditions like wind and temperature.
It's all about knowing WHEN to pull the trigger.

My .02 , JT
 
are convinced that the rifle/ammo combo is the weak link in their setup.
Like thinking that they can purchase the skills.
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I concur.

Shooting from a bench/benchrest has a practical application- that of proving the consistancy of a rifle/load/sighting system. After that, while it may be fun to play around, it does not really have any practical value ...... If somebody wants to do it, hey, go right on ahead- it has more practical value than juggling geese!

It kills me to think that guys believe they need a $1,200 rifle topped with $1,500 glas to hunt with, when they don't have the skills to appreciate either. They'd be much better served spending 1/2 that on practice ammo, and learning to shoot from positions they will shoot from when they are actually in the field.

For the record, I think practical skills can be paid for- there are courses at gunsite, etc. where practical shooting is taught........ you just can't swing by a any ol' box store and purchase them the way you can a Swarovski or Nightforce ......
 
AlBundy said:
I can see how it would be cool to try to be really accurate and precise, but it just doesn't seem practical. If you really need to use the rifle to hunt or for whatever reason, I doubt people will be using vice grips. I've never seen a sniper using one of those. I just don't really see what the point is and it seems really boring. How can someone even say they shot really good if they're not even really shooting. They just clamp the rifle down, aim for the bulls eye and pull the trigger ...
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You've piqued my curiosity. What do you shoot, and how?
 
There is still an elephant in the thread ... The handicapped. With out a rest or something else my wife would only be able to shoot on her good days. With the assistance of a rest she is able to go on more days than not. So for me I think they're great they allow us to go to the range together more often.:D
 
"vice grips"

No such thing being used. You need to do some studying up on bench rest shooting. Then we can talk.

Some bench rest shooters hunt and some even served in the military. Some shoot handguns and some shoot trap, skeet and/or sporting clays. You see where I'm going with this?

As was said, 1/2 moa isn't bench rest shooting, it's just good plinking.

John
 
People shoot benchrest for competition just as people shoot 3 gun, practical LR matches etc. Thats the extent of it really. Sure shooting good groups and load development comes with it but the motive behind it is winning. I mean don't get me wrong it's to have fun also, but in reality i would think that person is concerned about holding a tight group at 1000yds which falls in to competition with yourself or another. I'll be shooting my first F class comp the last week in February if school doesn't get in the way. Should be pretty interesting.

I'm not sure i would classify 1/2 Moa as plinking, 1/2 Moa is still very accurate, though maybe not up to benchrest standards.
 
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It does have it's purpose but I think if someone is using anything more then a bipod then they aren't even shooting anymore. It will just come done to who has the better equipment. I think that competitions should be judging skill, not the size of peoples wallets.
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I smell troll.
 
This thread seems to be turning into a you-know-what measuring contest...

Different strokes, for different folks...just be glad for the 2nd Amendment that let's it all happen.

While we like to occasionally try different shooting positions, my sons and I don't hunt. Nor do we aspire to be some tacti-cool wannabe operators.

We shoot long range from a bench, or prone, with bipods and rear bags.

Sorry if that means we're not real marksmen to some who like to shoot offhand.

Try to hit an 8" gong at 600 yards like that.
 
trg42wraglefragle said:
Its a heck of a lot easier than off hand!
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No it's not.

After many years of winning or placing very high in offhand matches, I decided to try benchrest. I thought benchrest was going to be easy. Was I ever mistaken! Benchrest shooters are very good at their game.

Is pistol harder than rifle?
Is skeet/trap/sporting clays harder than rifle?
Is archery harder than rifle?
Is Formula One harder than NASCAR?
Is a violin harder to play than a guitar?

These are all moot questions, no matter how good you become, there is someone out there who can do it better than you and that is what makes it hard.
 
What a crock, I could care less what the TROLL thinks about my benchrest shooting. Now if he has an extra apple, I would be happy to shoot it off his head.

Does he want me to do it free hand or benchrest??

Jim
 
I have straps holding my head onto my neck, pins holding my shoulders on, a store bought knee, and 7 blown discs in my back. But I still love to shoot guns. I just can't do some of the offhand, kneeling, sitting etc anymore. I hunt but know my limitations as to what I have to have to make a good shot. If it's not there the critter wins. I hunt deer from a box stand so I have a stable rest. I hunt hogs from whatever I'm riding on and use whatever is available for a rest. The rest of my shooting is targets from a bench so I can sit there and shoot from a relatively (for me) comfortable position. I hand load and compete against myself and try to create a more accurate load and shoot it a little better than I did the last time. This game will work whether the rife is 1/2 moa or 2moa because the challenge is just getting better. Of course sooner or later I need better toys and better reloading equipment and better components and the household budget is shot to hell along with the paper targets. Yep, it's a disease all right. :D
 
There is still an elephant in the thread ... The handicapped.
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Yes.

My grandfather has Parkinson's and he couldn't hold a rifle steady enough to hit the broad side of his barn, but he still enjoys using his guns and without a sled he can't get too much out of them.
 
It seems this debate has been going on for well over 100 years. in the late 1800's, when rest shooting was introduced at the famous Walnut Hill range in Mass...the home of Pope, Neidner, Mann, etc.... This was the era of 200yd. off-hand shooting.
Alot of the off-hand shooters poo-pooed the rest shooters, "why anyone can put them in the same hole from rest!"...Their eyes were soon opened..and I believe this was the beginning of the quest for real rifle accuracy.
 
I was under the impression that there are severals forms of benchrest, from Unlimited Classes to ones where the rifle has to be (more or less) in "sporting" configuration. I am strictly a paper puncher and shoot for group size so I can see where those small groups would have appeal. Also it seems to be me bench rest shooters develop techniques-reloading, etc., that the rest of us can use.
 
I don't really care for punching holes in paper myself, but grouping multiple shots in a 5 inch circle at over 1/2 mile is beyond fascinating to me...
 
Benchrest shooting is fun. It is, in many ways, very challenging. It also has real world applications, especially in learning to dope the wind.
 
BLE,
I have to kind of disagree with what your saying, in the respect that you have done offhand competitively, so of course it'd be easier for you.

It also depends if your talking off hand at 50yards and benchrest at 1000yards, then of course the offhand will be easier.
But in general I've witnessed shooting prone off a rest a lot easier than offhand.

NASCAR vs Formula one, I think NASCAR would be far easier of the two, it seems as though NASCAR is just about as much as the fine tuning of the car as it is of the driver, theres only so much skill involved with going around an oval track.
I'm sure some people will not share this opinion.
 
Practical

it just doesn't seem practical.
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Since when does shooting have to be practical?
What it should be is fun.
Why does what other people do with their time and money make any difference to you at all? In a very real sense, their behavior and motives are none of your business.

Benching for me is a way - as it has been said by others in this thread - of testing the gun/load/sight combination. Once that is done, I try to shoot from expedient positions. I shoot prone a lot (with rifles that don't kick me to death). I shoot from sitting position almost as much (and that's where the heavier guns get used), off hand, some.
But the start is always the bench.

About boredom....very subjective.... for example, as popular as it is for many. many hunters, deer hunting bores me almost to sleep. Sit in a stand for hours, don't move.....maybe you'll get a shot...if not today, then maybe tomorrow. I get antsy after 20 minutes. (the two best parts are that magical time when the dawn comes and the forest wakes up ever so gradually. That...and the moment of the shot.)
Pete
 
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