CONFUSED: Zircon, Play Sand, Parkeet Grave, Black Beauty, Kitty Litter etc?????????

S

shinny

Shinny
I have read/heard a myriad of opinions on this subject but felt any additional feed back couldn't hurt.

One opinion suggested using different media in the Base and Ears of the rear bag. Also, something about Parakeet Gravel in the Front Bag.

I have a Edgewood Mini Gator Rear Bag and a Front Bag that came with the newest incarnation of the Farley.

I currently have Zircon in the Base of the Rear and a 50/50 mixture of Zircon & Black Beauty Blasting media in the ears. I have that same 50/50 mixture in the front bag.

Any suggestions on what media to use & where. Also, any installation tips will be appreciated.

One last thought. I must admit, I don't truly know what RIDING THE BAGS GOOD means and I'm not to proud to admit it. Up until this point I have assume it is after breaking a shot and returning the rifle to battery, the cross hairs return to the same spot on the target, or some where close. But I'm not sure and don't want to continue with my assumptionas as we all know what ASSUME means. . :confused:

Never fails to amaze me at the knowledge that passes through these posts.
 
Don't get caught up in the designer sand products. What you are using is fine. Practice, reading wind flags, load development, and good repeatable bench manners will do you more good. Most of all HAVE FUN!
 
shinny said:
I have read/heard a myriad of opinions on this subject but felt any additional feed back couldn't hurt.

One opinion suggested using different media in the Base and Ears of the rear bag. Also, something about Parakeet Gravel in the Front Bag.

I have a Edgewood Mini Gator Rear Bag and a Front Bag that came with the newest incarnation of the Farley.

I currently have Zircon in the Base of the Rear and a 50/50 mixture of Zircon & Black Beauty Blasting media in the ears. I have that same 50/50 mixture in the front bag.

Any suggestions on what media to use & where. Also, any installation tips will be appreciated.

One last thought. I must admit, I don't truly know what RIDING THE BAGS GOOD means and I'm not to proud to admit it. Up until this point I have assume it is after breaking a shot and returning the rifle to battery, the cross hairs return to the same spot on the target, or some where close. But I'm not sure and don't want to continue with my assumptions as we all know what ASSUME means. . :confused:

Never fails to amaze me at the knowledge that passes through these posts.
Click to expand...

This should cover most of your question(s).

1. Here's your choices for sand: http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/bag-sand-comparison-test/

2. Here's how to fill the bags: http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/09/tuning-your-sandbag-hardness-tech-tip-by-speedy/

And

3. Here's how to distribute the rifle's weight between them: http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2012/10/benchrest-tip-optimize-your-rifle-position-on-the-rests/

Personally, I use heavy sand in the front bag, heavy sand in the rear bag's base and strained parakeet gravel in its ears, packing them firmly, but never like a rock. Hope this helps.
 
Sooner or later

Perhaps I am interpreting the rule book incorrectly. But it looks like the bags have to be filled with a finely divided non metallic particles and silicone based sand definitely fits that bill. A specific reference is made to the use of lead shot which cannot be used.

Sooner or later some BR bureaucrat is going to wake up and realize that mineral zircon sand is a combination of non metallic silicone and the metal zircon. Non ferric it may be just like lead but if you look at its position on the periodic table you will see it is metallic. If they wake up to this fact then I guess one of two things will happen. The rule will have to be changed or we'll have to take out the zircon. If that were to happen would any records that were shot on zircon remain valid.

Interested to hear any one elses thoughts on this ?

Andy
 
I wouldn't loose any sleep over getting disqualified over the metallic nature of the various heavy sands. I use garnet for the bases of my back bags, because it is available semi-locally.

When I was ordering it, I asked if they had any broken bags, and they did, so I got a real deal on a lifetime supply that they loaded into a five gallon plastic pail and shipped from Sacramento to Fresno.

What is funny is that the IBS rules are so specific as to the only heavy sand allowed being zircon, which if you do a Google image search, you may notice that what they show does not look like the most common jet black heavy sand that has been sold to competitors for years... as zircon.

Some years back, I believe that there was a post from someone in Russia that indicated that zircon my have some radioactivity issues, so if you start setting off Geiger counters you may want to start lining your flight cases with lead foil ;-) if you are shipping equipment for distant matches, and if, in the middle of the night, you can see your way to the bathroom by a faint glow that you are not sure of the origin of, you might take a look in the mirror.
 
Glow sand

Yep there is a fragment of truth to zircon being radioactive. Rest assured it doesn't spray off ionizing radiation. At best it emits some alpha particles. But even then not all deposits of zircon are active this way. Un-purified rutile sand is often a mixture of titanium,zircon, tungsten and manganese. The washed but un-purified material I have in a couple of bags have quite a bit more mass than the stuff that is supposed to be just zircon. So I hope I am not breaking the rules.
Andy.
 
I fill my bags with a special type of a silica by product. A few blocks from my old place of business there is a concrete company and the stored sand sometimes flows over their fence and onto the sidewalk of the street. I drive by a couple of times then I stop and scoop some up in a bucket and drive off.

It should be noted that I know these people well and we are even friends. I have bought thousands of yards of concrete from them and they would gladly give me the sand. Regardless, I find stolen sand shoots best.:)

Just another note on the subject: A friend of mine made some bags on his wife's sewing machine and filled them with some left over deer corn. It works.

Concho Bill
 
Just so there is no confusion ... here is the definition of sand. Take your pick.

Sand Terminology

Technically, sand is merely a size category. Sand is particulate matter that's larger than silt and smaller than gravel. Different specialists set different limits for sand:

Engineers call sand anything between 0.074 and 2 millimeter, or between a U.S. standard #200 sieve and a #10 sieve.

Soil scientists classify grains between 0.05 and 2 mm as sand, or between sieves #270 and #10.

Sedimentologists put sand between 0.062 mm (1/16 mm) and 2 mm on the Wentworth scale, or 4 to –1 units on the phi scale, or between seives #230 and #10. In some other nations a metric definition is used instead, between 0.1 and 1 mm. :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
abintx said:
Just so there is no confusion ... here is the definition of sand. Take your pick.

Sand Terminology

Technically, sand is merely a size category. Sand is particulate matter that's larger than silt and smaller than gravel. Different specialists set different limits for sand:

Engineers call sand anything between 0.074 and 2 millimeter, or between a U.S. standard #200 sieve and a #10 sieve.

Soil scientists classify grains between 0.05 and 2 mm as sand, or between sieves #270 and #10.

Sedimentologists put sand between 0.062 mm (1/16 mm) and 2 mm on the Wentworth scale, or 4 to –1 units on the phi scale, or between seives #230 and #10. In some other nations a metric definition is used instead, between 0.1 and 1 mm. :)
Click to expand...

Whatever! Stolen sand still shoots best.
Ask any engineer who also shoots.:)

Concho Bill
"Sandoligist"
 
FBecigneul said:
There is a rule in the books about using stolen sand.
"How do I know? The Bible tells me so."
Click to expand...
But it was just laying there on the curb calling, "Take me, take me".


Oh well, I have more trouble with the wind anyway. You will have to get your own sand.

Concho Bill
 
Bill,
As you probably know, in the construction business, building projects of any size are required to have a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan, and one of the issues of these plans is keeping vehicle traffic and runoff from the site from silting up storm water drain lines. These sorts of plans also encompass control of run off so that water will not be polluted. If there is a storm drain system on the street where you "find" you sand, you may actually have been doing the local government a favor by keeping the sand that you remove from silting up their storm water drain system. I tell you this so that you may look at your collection practices in a more positive light. Be well. Shoot small.
Boyd
 
I went by a realtors sign last week .
There was a broken sand bag leaking all over the side walk .
So I cleaned up the mess by taking that bag home.

Works for me.;)

Glenn:D
 
Thanks Boyd and Stonewall,

FB had me almost feeling guilty over the way I obtain my sand but you gentlemen demonstrated that I was just doing my part to save the environment. The mighty Concho River would clog up with sand, carelessly handled by thoughtless people if I had not of removed it.

Here's the way I see it. There is a finite amount of sand in the universe. Sand cannot be created or destroyed. It can mearly be stored in different places. It might be stored in a great concrete dam or the foundation of a building. I am just storing some of it in my shooting bags.

Concho Bill
 
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