Farley Coaxial Compact

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bluhandluke

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Does anyone out there have any experience with Farley's Coaxial Compact? I'm looking for a way to upgrade my Caldwell BR on a budget. Or should I just fork out the cash for a SEB?
 
I have both the original Farley and the compact. I love the original except for the base...... the baseplate sucks. I like Seb's baseplate better, it has a handle, but it's still shaped wrong IMO. I've never actually swung the handle on a Seb.

If you buy a Farley make absolutely SURE that it has the latest cast top piece (bag holder) or at least a welded one. The original top piece is a flimsy POS. It literally breaks within a week. They'll send a new one but it'll break too. Get the cast one. This aside, the original Farley is a fine piece. Mine will not settle. You can put your weight on it and it stays put. If you buy a 1st Gen Farley like mine you'll find that it has teeeensy-weeensy hardened pegs for the points. Tell Davey Dohrmann thrice about them when you order your Superfeet or you'll get too big a hole in the feet. Or you'll hafta' grind your points off. Or both!

The compact is not as fine IMO:

#1, The stroke is reversed. This is easy to adapt to.

#2, The top easily settles when you're shooting...... this SUCKS! You MUST hold the handle on the Compact. I believe this to be due to a simplified toggle mechanism but I've never cared enough to look.

#3, The thing is TALL..... I mounted mine on a Hart pedestal and it's just wicked tall. It need a heap of spacers under the rear bag to make it flat. This is poor geometry. I'm going to make custom baseplates for both of mine to solve both problems at once.


Farley's need to be modified to work best but the techniques are easy and already explored. Mike Ratigan's books shows some of the typical mod's. All of them have been or will be discussed here on the board as well as some Mike's book doesn't speak of.


Once you move to a coaxial rest you'll NEVER GO BACK!!! There is no replacement.


al
 
Seb or Nothing?

When you say "the stroke is reversed", the movement of the coaxial: up is down and right is left? This was actually a natural tendency for me when I first started to use one (Farley II) as I reckoned it to a sailboat's tiller. I don't think I would like the creep on the elevation with the Farley Compact. That would drive me nuts!

I know what you mean when you say "Once you move to a coaxial rest you'll NEVER GO BACK!!!" I have used a friends Farley a couple of times and there is no comparison.
 
bluhandluke said:
When you say "the stroke is reversed", the movement of the coaxial: up is down and right is left? This was actually a natural tendency for me when I first started to use one (Farley II) as I reckoned it to a sailboat's tiller. I don't think I would like the creep on the elevation with the Farley Compact. That would drive me nuts!

I know what you mean when you say "Once you move to a coaxial rest you'll NEVER GO BACK!!!" I have used a friends Farley a couple of times and there is no comparison.
Click to expand...

No I won't say "Seb or nothing," I just wasn't clear. I HAVE both Farleys, I've never touched a Seb or any of the others. I'm completely satisfied with my old full-sized one, not so impressed with the compact. I'm excited that the original Farley can be modified to accept a Heavy Rifle. I'm going to upgrade mine soon. I need a rest that'll swing 30-40lb easy. My gut is that the new Compact won't do this well. I really don't know about the other brands.

Yes, the handle action is reversed on the two models.

al
 
Farley Compact and the LG's?

Al-

On the Farley Compact model: Can it handle an LG or would it settle out with a less than 17 pounder rested on it? I don't think I would have a problem with any of the other quirks you mentioned.

Brian
 
Why would one use a coaxial type rest and not keep your hand on the joy stick during the shot? I think this would be asking for trouble. If you don't want to hold the joy stick I would suggest a different front rest. IMO if you have it so tight it will hold securely then it will not be easy to make quick adjustments. I use one of the Farley compacts for my short range gun and I wouldn't think of touching the trigger without my hand on the joy stick. The coaxial mechanism works fine but the top IMO was insufficient and I replaced it with my own homemade top with a normal sized bag.
 
J. Pendergraft said:
Why would one use a coaxial type rest and not keep your hand on the joy stick during the shot? I think this would be asking for trouble. If you don't want to hold the joy stick I would suggest a different front rest. IMO if you have it so tight it will hold securely then it will not be easy to make quick adjustments. I use one of the Farley compacts for my short range gun and I wouldn't think of touching the trigger without my hand on the joy stick. The coaxial mechanism works fine but the top IMO was insufficient and I replaced it with my own homemade top with a normal sized bag.
Click to expand...



Well, because ain't nuttin' saying that if the rest is MOVING that it won't move WITH ME HOLDING IT..... Yes I do hold onto it. but I have to be satisfied that the impact of the rifle isn't still jarring it off some. Right now I'm shooting a 17lb 6X47L on an original Farley and my bro-in-law is using my compact for his .243AI and I'm fairly convinced that some of his dispersion is jump-related. He simply cannot return to battery with his shoulder. I can.


Plus, I can reach out and lean my weight on the old one. If you so much as drag down a little on the gun with the compact the handle takes off... It's like the difference between power steering and manual steering in regards to road feedback.

With my original Farley I used to shoot it both ways using a PPC. I was a bag squeezer for 10-15yrs so I'd set up and do both...... using the Farley and NOT touching the handle. I quit experimenting when I realized that I hadn't squeezed the bag for months! But the point is, the Farley worked for squeezing, it was just another rest.

al
 
bluhandluke said:
Al-

On the Farley Compact model: Can it handle an LG or would it settle out with a less than 17 pounder rested on it? I don't think I would have a problem with any of the other quirks you mentioned.

Brian
Click to expand...


Brian,

Yes it'll handle a 17 pounder just fine :)

And it's adjustable.....

al
 
I have just been looking at these myself and also Butch Lambert's top. I called and talked to Butch. Be aware that the post on a Caldwell is a 1" post and will require turning down to 3/4" for the Lambert rest to fit. I would assume that the same is true of the Farley. For some reason the Caldwell's went with a 1" post and also the threads on the BR model are 12/" and the threads on their cheaper model are 8/". Butch said that he used to modify the posts of the Caldwell but had ceased doing so because of the variable quality of the steel causing some problems with tooling. I think I'm going to make a replacement post turned down to fit these rests on top and use my Caldwell base with it.
 
WhelenMan

Thanks for the info. Let me know how it "turns" out.:D
 
I've not worked Farley's compact but I have butch's and it is nice...very nice. I do have two farley II's and had a SEB that was heavily modified (got for a friend) and it was nice. If I was buying new...get Butch's compact or a Farley II....buy american from great people.

Hovis
 
Butch

Butch- this is great; a drop in top for my Caldwell. Exactly what I am looking for. I've got some buddies who will be interested as well. We'll start looking Shadetree's way in about a month.

Thanks!

Brian C.
 
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