play sand vs heavy sand triva

[rwnoel]

I figured heavy sand was, well, heavier than regular sand but didn't know how much heavier. Well, it seems to be almost twice as heavy.

I replaced play sand in a protektor rear bag with heavy sand (source: Sinclair). I used almost the entire 15lb bag in the rear bag so that the bag now weighs in at about 15lbs. The play sand I removed weighs about 7.5lbs.

 

[Lager]

So does the heavy sand seem more solid ?Might not conform as well to your stock.
I dont know, you tell us.

 

[Rayhill]

Heavy sand

The heavy sand we use is called chromite, its black, coarse and heave as you know. It's great if you want a heavy bag
but it may be to coarse to conform to you're stock. The trick I used was to fill my bag with chromite and top it off with
Zircon sand which is smooth and fine like baby powder. You can get both of these sands at most any iron foundry. I'm
sure they would give you a bucket of both (if you can carry them ) for almost nothing. Double 00 Albany sand is a good
second choice for a top off.

 

[rkcal22]

I had the same thoughts as you did about heavy sand but now I really like it. I had a Protektor Dr. bag setup with heavy sand by the makers of Protektor and it hasn't changed shape in 2 years . That's the difference. Regular sand grinds together and becomes mushy and has to be cleaned out and redone. Trying to put sand in the little opening that the bags have is close to root canal work. Do it right the first and enjoy shooting not playing with equipment. Richard

 

[rwnoel]

So does the heavy sand seem more solid ?Might not conform as well to your stock.
I dont know, you tell us.

I haven't been able to shoot off the bag yet (recovering from a broken collarbone).

Note that Mike Ratigan's "Extreme Rifle Accuracy" recommends using heavy sand to make the rear bag solid, etc etc. It's all about making the rear bag less likely to move around on the bench, to avoid the bag being "alive" when shooting (especially with centerfire), to be more consistent.