Why Do People Benchrest Shoot?

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I am not sure what your talking about 1st there are many people like my self who shoot off a bench all the time. I use sand bags not a cradle or vise as you refer to. I do this for accuracy, testing loads, sighting in rifles, etc. Most every one at our club does this for what ever reason they have. I do this 3 or 4 times a week always to try to find the best load for a given rifle.
There are many who use bipods etc with there ARs etc for what ever reaso they have most for accuracy testing and sight in.
I am not qualifed to speak about shooters who shoot bench rest rifles, what they use or the equipment they have. However I do know one reason they do this it is to strive to shoot the perfect group which if I am correct has been done very few times. I know one guy who quite benchrest shooting for several years, he told me it was drining him crazy and he had to get away from it. He is back at it again with a better attitude and once again enjoying the sport of shooting.
If you ever have a problem loading find a benchrest shooter from my experience most of them have forgot more about loading then I will ever know.
IMO there are 3 classes of reloading
1 the reloader one who just refills cases to go shoot more
2 the hand loader who strives to get the most accuracy out of each rifle
3 benchrest loaders
 
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.
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The problem is, you have to go around that oval track better than people like Tony Stewart and Kyle Bush, who are very, very good at this game. I believe more than one F1 and Indy car driver have been humbled when they tried stock car racing in NASCAR.

Of course I can shoot smaller groups off a bench than I can offhand, but, in order to win, I have to shoot better than people who are very, very good at this game, people who know when not to shoot because the wind is wrong.

Competitive bench rest has humbled more than one offhand shooter who thought this game would be easy, and most of the competitve bench rest shooters also compete in offhand matches.
 
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2011/01/history-beginnings-of-international.html

"THE BEGINNINGS OF INTERNATIONAL RIFLE MATCH SHOOTING
By General George W. Wingate
Captain of the First International Team"

Check out the prone positions they used back in the 1800s when target shooting was the most popular sport; back before baseball hit the scene. The drawings are down the page. There's the Fulton and the Yale, etc.

Sort of like benchrest, except no rests, only 'any position' - on the ground using your thigh or crossed legs to steady the barrel.

"Major Leach published in the New York Herald a challenge, on behalf of the Irish Rifle Association, to the riflemen of America to shoot a match in the autumn of 1874"
 
Bench Rest shooting

Bench Rest shooting is part:
Ego trip, if you are good at it.
A way to see how the gun shoots [from a bench].
To see how good you are at trigger control and aiming.
 
This is'nt particularly controversial or complicated. I happen to shoot both centerfire and rimfire formal benchrest, those guns have nothing really in common with my other guns. Most of my other guns, however, are not commercial calibers so all my reloading ends up being tested at the range usually on my BR rests for accuracy & load development. As often as not once everything is finalized there I usually shoot with a rear bag and Harris bipod to check final sight settings and to insure I get nothing funky going on since I usually hunt with the bipod.

I would say, however, that if you enjoy accuracy reloading that shooting over a solid setup, incorporating flags and often a chronograph is great fun and you learn a lot about load development.
 
You aren't starting anything.
Each to his own.
Benchrest competition is a discipline all it's own. There are many factors that go into winning at bench shooting.
For hunting rifles, bench shooting is where you zero in and test ammo. Standing or other rest position are preparation for hunting.
 
I've mostly been a hunter. The benchrest for me, then, is to test rifles and ammo. I tweak and meddle with a rifle, using the benchrest as a means to find out if I've made improvements. The same for my handloads in the ammo department.

Other than that, I shoot from field positions, using a rest of some sort whenever it's possible to do so.

Even when doing casual plinking in field positions, I pay strict attention to the sight picture and trigger control. It is extremely rare that I'd ever do the bangitty-bangitty thing, turning money into noise.

.22 plinking? Sitting in a chair, seated at the benchrest, offhand: No telling. It's a function of mood, more than anything else...

Oh: The term "plinking" allegedly came from Ad Toepperwein's wife, who was nick-named "Plinky" for her habit of saying, "Plink!" when she pulled the trigger.
 
I can understand it using it for people who can't shoot without it, beginners, and using it to sight guns in and testing the gun and ammo. But I can't stand it when there's a group of guys at the range hitting close to center at 100 yards and think it's something. I can do that free handed, many people can. And the comment someone mentioned earlier about using shooting sticks are good when hunting. I don't agree. At a great distance they are great I suppose but otherwise they are useless. They get in the way more than anything. I hate them. Shooting free handed when your adrenaline is going works for me great. I'd only ever use any kind of rest when testing and I haven't had a chance to buy one yet.
 
I shoot far more bullets at live animals from prone positions with a bipod and maybe even a rear bag than I do any other position. "Benchrest" is how I hunt woodchucks. I kill more woodchucks than any other animal, by a wide, wide margin.

Even for deer hunting, whatever random shooting I do off-hand or from similar positions is plenty enough to maintain deer hunting accuracy. I'm not trying to make off-hand shots at 500 yards. I kill deer at 100 yards or less 99% of the time.

Shooting tiny groups is fun. It makes reloading even more fun. It's also not easy.
 
"I can do that free handed, many people can. "

So can a lot of benchrest shooters. Benchrest is more about reading the wind and trying to shoot 1/10th MOA groups. Or the elusive 0.00" group.

The thing I find the most difficult about benchrest - other than reading the wind - is shooting one shot at each of the 25 bulls on the target with a .22 rimfire. The simple act of moving from one target to the next one throws everything off. And that dern little dot in the center is almost invisible.

I'm sorry you have so much hate in you that you can't understand what other people are working on. Maybe you should try talking to them and listening.

John

P.S. - Here's one of those cursed 25-bull rimfire targets.

http://alcotarget.com/osb/itemdetails.cfm?ID=868
 
One afternoon we were at the club range with the Remington 700 Varnent in 22-250, one of the members lassed my son's target. He explaned he was a club officer and just wanted to know what we were shooting at. At the same time my son let his last shot go and the target paper fell to the ground. I told the guy, staples.
 
Let see since I started reloading 1965 I've enjoy everything I tried even BR
with the 6ppc and the HBR rifles for score shooting.

It's funny seeing post like this one and it's always about the other guy that doesn't do this or that like me and I just can't understand why.
 
I just don't see the point of shooting from a rest for fun and competition. Not my thing, that's all. A lot of people do it because it's the only way they are decent, around here anyways. I've seen way to many guys with rests at the local 100 yard range with a group of people thinking they are good shots. It's not something I'm into. I'm entitled to my opinion just as everyone else.
 
A lot of people do it because it's the only way they are decent
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I've seen way to many guys with rests at the local 100 yard range with a group of people thinking they are good shots.
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I'm entitled to my opinion just as everyone else.
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You are certainly entitled your opinion. It's just that when you state it in a deragatory manner you tend to ruffle some feathers.
 
I've seen way to many guys with rests at the local 100 yard range with a group of people thinking they are good shots
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Well, if they're putting their handloaded ammo into a 1/4" , one-hole group at that distance, they ARE a good shot. Can you do that?

We (my sons and I) started out at 100 yards, like everyone else. Shortly moved to 219 yards (200M) when 100 was not a challenge.
200M soon did not challenge us, so we've begun making the two hour drive to shoot long-range (600-1000 yards).

Shooting well offhand doesn't make you a better shot, it just means you may be a good shot offhand.

Since you think you have the skills, try hitting a 5" plate at 1/3 of a mile (600 yards) off the bench.

Doping the wind, and understanding the science of long range shooting and external ballistics is head and shoulders above being able to hit a deer from a kneeling position at 200 yards...
 
WV_Gunner said:
I just don't see the point of shooting from a rest for fun and competition. Not my thing, that's all. A lot of people do it because it's the only way they are decent, around here anyways. I've seen way to many guys with rests at the local 100 yard range with a group of people thinking they are good shots. It's not something I'm into. I'm entitled to my opinion just as everyone else.
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The point is accuracy, the military and everyone else credible teaches using a rest when possible. All the best riflemen I know and have ever heard of recommend using a rest for shooting game too, if at all possible.

Also, there is no good way to sight a rifle in with out using a rest.

How do you do it off hand?
 
I just don't see the point of shooting from a rest for fun and competition. Not my thing, that's all. A lot of people do it because it's the only way they are decent, around here anyways. I've seen way to many guys with rests at the local 100 yard range with a group of people thinking they are good shots. It's not something I'm into. I'm entitled to my opinion just as everyone else.
The point is accuracy, the military and everyone else credible teaches using a rest when possible. All the best riflemen I know and have ever heard of recommend using a rest for shooting game too, if at all possible.

Also, there is no good way to sight a rifle in with out using a rest.

How do you do it off hand?
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(>_<)

If you read my previous post, you'd see that I agree with using a rest when sighting a scope in. I've never used one though, and I wish I had one for doing just that. Since I dont have a rest, I bore sight it, and then shoot at 100 yards till I get it perfect. Once I think I have it, I put a few more rounds through it. The process kinda sucks, but works.
Once I get rid of the Kmart special scope my 110 has and get something of higher quality, I'm gonna try to shoot 200 yards without a rest and try my luck. At 100 yards, I'm pretty good at the range. And while hunting on a nice clear day, 200 yards is a bit normal at times and I've shot further and killed them. What makes me want to start distance shooting is last season I shot a deer at around 500 yards at a farm. It was a windy day and it wasn't a kill shot. But regardless, I hit it and the deer dropped. And I'm proud of that shot, along with a few others. But I was surprised I pulled it off, and I don't want to be surprised. I want to know I can hit it. And I really like the scope my 110 currently has, it's now messed up now and the crosshairs are moving around slightly after every shot. And I'm also gonna try shooting with open sights with my 45-70 so I have a better suited rifle for the rainy, foggy days. I'd love to own some property to shoot on, I'd be trying to shoot anything at a few hundred yards away everyday free handed.
 
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