BENCH REST SHOOTING

You are better of posting this in the Target Shooting section. also check out this link for the rules: https://www.usairriflebenchrest.com/

Not a lot out there in terms of instructional video's at least specific to airguns. More so with benchrest in general. 

First thing you will have to figure out is what is available for you to compete in, in your local area. 25m and 50y are governed and most places that have airgun benchrest will offer these. Longer distances are ungovered at this point, so if you are mostly interested in competing at 75y, 100m or further it will be club/event specific.

For the 25m/50y game you can use 0.177cal to 0.22cal rifles. There are two manufactures that make dedicated benchrest guns that consistently show up at the top of the results, ThomasAir and RAW. While any air rifle that will sit still on a rest will get you started, sooner or later you will just looking for more precise tools.

My best advice would be to find a nearby club and go to their matches. See if someone will let you shoot their rig for a match or two before you start investing money. IMHO you will save money in the long run if you buy high quality gear to start with and frankly you want to be sure this is something you want to do before you drop thousands and thousands of dollars on gear.

Here is a fun video on air rifle benchrest competition:


There are others if you search the web. I agree it would be good to attend some matches, ask questions, and try different guns. Most shooters would be happy to let you try their rig after a match.

The USARB has a list of clubs here:

https://www.usairriflebenchrest.com/clubs/

Kim

what part of Calif are you in Dennis ?
there are 2 places in So Calif to shoot benchrest
and in No Calif i have a place
and around the Bay area not sure if they shoot benchrest anymore
but we know who to ask

Dick

I would underscore two things:

One is the benefit of going to a match. As others have mentioned, you can see and try various equipment, and also get some great shooting tips. 

The other is that if you decide this is something you really want to get in to, go for the best equipment right away. You'll save money in the end. Ask me how I know!!

You're lucky to be living in CA. Probably can shoot outside most of the year. I'm in MA and once Nov. rolls around, it's in the basement till April. 

Hope to see you on the line some day.

Chas

Go to the Extreme Benchrest match in Phoenix in October and see what this is all about. I'm sure you can glean tons of info.

Here's their website:

http://www.extremebenchrest.com/

"2D1C"I shot registered trap for a while, did pretty well. This game is similar? but more complicated. Top shots are not going to share secrets, I didn't either. It does shrink the sport in the end. The old 10% wins 90%. What is different in this game from newbies to the top guns? for one The air supply

Click to expand...

Nah trap shooting is dominated by old men with lots of money. You'll find a much wider spread in age groups, 20'somethings to 80'somethings, and a lot more of the "common" man shooting. The money isn't in airgun sports either, well there is one competition with a small prize pool, the EBR in Phoenix. No options to play, no national tracking of everyone's scores, no classifications of shooters.

You'll find people are pretty open about BR shooting. If there is a "secret" it's not one for long. At the end of the day there are no "tricks" that are going to put you above another shooter. 

Once you more or less equalize the equipment variables what it comes down to is skill in reading the wind, correctly adjusting for it and having pellets that will shoot straight and consistently. Equipment isn't a huge factor, just like in trap the guy with the custom K gun that cost $250K can get his ass kicked by the Browning 725 that cost 10% of the K gun. For 25m/50y you need a gun that will shoot 1/4 MOA to be at the top and for 75/100 you need one that will shoot 1/2 MOA.

Something to mention regarding equipment... some of the nicer gear is in demand and supply doesn't keep up too well. You want a ThomasAir rifle, be prepared to wait months. Want a SEB rest, be prepared to wait 6+ months. You might get lucky if you want a RAW and find what you want in stock, otherwise more waiting.