Shooting bags or fixtures
- Thread starter rocknemo
- Start date
The "best" is what works best for each individual's shooting discipline, abilities & equipment. It helps to know just WHAT yours is. No such thing as overall BEST! Btw, what's a "fixture"?
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depends.
bipod and bags are more portable for field use (i actually prefer a tripod when possible) while serious target shooters may prefer a rifle rest if they are shooting groups or competitions from a bench.
bipod and bags are more portable for field use (i actually prefer a tripod when possible) while serious target shooters may prefer a rifle rest if they are shooting groups or competitions from a bench.
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This really depends on what level of precision you are after. Some of the benchrest shooting rests are really custom, precise and expensive.
For play, the majority of the local shooters in our group have purchased the Caldwell Stinger after having tried the multiple 'standard' shooting rests I own. It is easy to use and transport, and provides a nice and stable rest for accuracy, and adjusts to fit many different guns.
I will most often shoot off a front bipod and a rear bag, just because it is convenient and gives me the accuracy I need at my normal 25-50 yard distances. Using the 'buy once, cry once' theory, I really like the Accu-Tac BR-4 G2. Expensive, but solid. I have multiple height rear bags to use depending on the gun and the height setting of the Accu-Tac I am using.
Being able to get comfortable when shooting your gun on your rest/bipod/bags is paramount! I remember, when I was first starting out, having terrible pain between my shoulder blades after a shooting session of any length. If you have a shooting bench with some seat height adjustability that is great. But even better is having height adjustment available on your rest/bipod/bag set up so that you can truly get comfortable on your rifle - which also means stable on your rifle.
The final thing which I use is the Caldwell Tack Driver big bag for the front, and whichever small bag I need for the rear. I use this for rifles which don't have a lower Pic rail on the front for bipod attachment, and where I either don't want to drill the stock for one, or add one of the DFL bottle or cylinder mount rails. Depending on the gun and the day, I sometimes find that this provides the most stable solution out of my little collection of rests.
I recently tried out the Deben Pro Benchrest after having seen so many of them being used by European shooters (and after having found that they are now more readily available in the U.S. under the Hawke brand and others). I got mine through PyramydAir. I haven't used this one much, but I don't yet find it to be as stable a platform as the Caldwell Stinger.
Hope this helps.
EDIT - with a few more thoughts. I really appreciate a bipod where you can adjust not only the height, but the positioning of the legs. This allows one to cant the legs to a forward (or back, in the case of a smaller shooting bench surface) to get lower on the bench. "Laying" on both my gun and the bench can improve stability for me. Also note that any of the 'standard' shooting rests available may well have been designed to accommodate AR-15's, or other rifles which may have long, detachable mags which stick out the bottom of the gun. As such, standard shooting rests will result in a pretty tall airgun on the shooting table. Hopefully you have an adjustable height seat at the table, or you will possibly need a cushion to sit on for comfortable shooting. There are such cushions available for FT shooters which work well, but can be expensive. I also keep thick, firm pieces of dense packing foam (4-6" thick) as light, convenient seat cushions. And although not as robust as FT cushions, 'yoga pillows' which you can get on Amazon are good - the ones filled with barley husks are light and easy to transport, and they are less expensive than the FT cushions.
For play, the majority of the local shooters in our group have purchased the Caldwell Stinger after having tried the multiple 'standard' shooting rests I own. It is easy to use and transport, and provides a nice and stable rest for accuracy, and adjusts to fit many different guns.
I will most often shoot off a front bipod and a rear bag, just because it is convenient and gives me the accuracy I need at my normal 25-50 yard distances. Using the 'buy once, cry once' theory, I really like the Accu-Tac BR-4 G2. Expensive, but solid. I have multiple height rear bags to use depending on the gun and the height setting of the Accu-Tac I am using.
Being able to get comfortable when shooting your gun on your rest/bipod/bags is paramount! I remember, when I was first starting out, having terrible pain between my shoulder blades after a shooting session of any length. If you have a shooting bench with some seat height adjustability that is great. But even better is having height adjustment available on your rest/bipod/bag set up so that you can truly get comfortable on your rifle - which also means stable on your rifle.
The final thing which I use is the Caldwell Tack Driver big bag for the front, and whichever small bag I need for the rear. I use this for rifles which don't have a lower Pic rail on the front for bipod attachment, and where I either don't want to drill the stock for one, or add one of the DFL bottle or cylinder mount rails. Depending on the gun and the day, I sometimes find that this provides the most stable solution out of my little collection of rests.
I recently tried out the Deben Pro Benchrest after having seen so many of them being used by European shooters (and after having found that they are now more readily available in the U.S. under the Hawke brand and others). I got mine through PyramydAir. I haven't used this one much, but I don't yet find it to be as stable a platform as the Caldwell Stinger.
Hope this helps.
EDIT - with a few more thoughts. I really appreciate a bipod where you can adjust not only the height, but the positioning of the legs. This allows one to cant the legs to a forward (or back, in the case of a smaller shooting bench surface) to get lower on the bench. "Laying" on both my gun and the bench can improve stability for me. Also note that any of the 'standard' shooting rests available may well have been designed to accommodate AR-15's, or other rifles which may have long, detachable mags which stick out the bottom of the gun. As such, standard shooting rests will result in a pretty tall airgun on the shooting table. Hopefully you have an adjustable height seat at the table, or you will possibly need a cushion to sit on for comfortable shooting. There are such cushions available for FT shooters which work well, but can be expensive. I also keep thick, firm pieces of dense packing foam (4-6" thick) as light, convenient seat cushions. And although not as robust as FT cushions, 'yoga pillows' which you can get on Amazon are good - the ones filled with barley husks are light and easy to transport, and they are less expensive than the FT cushions.
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you sure got it going on at your place Tom. love layout great fun with all your buddies im sure. how often you guys shoot
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Hi Douger,
We've had weekly shooting sessions for almost the past year (since I've introduced a bunch of fellow Cowboy Action Shooters to the joy of airguns). I've tried to keep it interesting for them with new and different reactive targets, including holiday themed targets for the different times of the year. And now most of them have started designing and making targets on their own for the group to shoot. These include things like dressmaker's pins mounted on a wine cork - drilled out and mounted on a rod so that the cork spins to a new pin when you hit one), and target boards which are hung so that they move in the wind and spin when hit, or are mounted on old rotisserie motors and spin. Even one placed on an upright motor, which spun like a carnival ride - a large "T" shaped bracket with strings attached to each arm, and on each string were glued Necco wafers to shoot.
We've got some pretty creative folks in our little shooting group.
The 'Pin Wheel' in its first iteration:
The penny dispenser in its first iteration:
We've had weekly shooting sessions for almost the past year (since I've introduced a bunch of fellow Cowboy Action Shooters to the joy of airguns). I've tried to keep it interesting for them with new and different reactive targets, including holiday themed targets for the different times of the year. And now most of them have started designing and making targets on their own for the group to shoot. These include things like dressmaker's pins mounted on a wine cork - drilled out and mounted on a rod so that the cork spins to a new pin when you hit one), and target boards which are hung so that they move in the wind and spin when hit, or are mounted on old rotisserie motors and spin. Even one placed on an upright motor, which spun like a carnival ride - a large "T" shaped bracket with strings attached to each arm, and on each string were glued Necco wafers to shoot.
We've got some pretty creative folks in our little shooting group.
The 'Pin Wheel' in its first iteration:
The penny dispenser in its first iteration:
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good points.
one thing i started doing with my newer bipods is running then forward at the 45deg angle. this eliminates the back and forth "play" that you have when they are run vertical or "normally". being able to run them pointing backwards also allows you to use them on short shelves, like you might find at an indoor range.
i have run harris bipods for decades, but also own an atlas cal and an accu-tac sr-5 g2. the accu-tac is by far my favorite, but they are on the pricey side.
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penny dispenser and the others i sure love. always really nice to see what others are playing with. i think thats so cool bunch guys get together weeks out to shoot, proabable great snacks great summer drinks and most of all great friends. dont get any better than that. looks like they are all shooting fine made pcp guns also.
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i have bags and a turret rest ... bags are solid enough i can set up on a target at ~60y and come back in several hours in pitch black dark and nail a gong repeatedly .. a turret rest etc is pretty solid to but really requires a bit of input its more action oriented ... as far as other types of rests ive found no need really ..
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