Front Rest - Slick or not - What is Tracking

T

TnTom

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Should the front rest allow the rifle to slide meaning should it be slick without resistance but minimal left / right freedom? Should the rear bag also be slick? I'm thinking about putting some baby powder or talcum on the bottom side of the fore end.
I haven't shot a lot on bags and never realized what an impact it has on the groups. I didnt have my nut tight and it was rotating just a little and drove my crazy. Tightened it up and it really was like night and day.

Also what is meant by good or bad "tracking". Yesterday I was shooting and had some excellent groups but I had some difficulty get back on my poa.
thanks
Tom
 
Everyone who shoots leather bags should probably have a "shaker" style bottle of baby powder in his shooting kit. Powder the bags, lightly, and then cycle the rifle a few times. Slick front and back is better. Tracking is mostly about target style stocks and bags. With all types of stocks, one can forget to push the rifle back to the position that it started from after each shot. What are you shooting?
 
Thanks Boyd,

Its a Savage BVSS .223 Rem. I am using an old front rest. No name on it seems to me maybe a Lyman (Orange) leather bag front and rear. I made a front stop for it today and did go ahead and lightly powder the leather, it stopped squeaking and moves much better.

Getting .5's to .3's at 100 yd. I think the loads are consistent enough to see what I can do at 200 yd.

I have a Weaver T-24 mounted with some eye strain going on if I wait too long to shoot. Realizing now why 36X and 45X is going to make a difference at 200. May try and optical 3X booster. If I understand it correctly that would be about a 30% increase to 31X.

Again thanks for your help.
 
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Tom ...

TnTom said:
Should the front rest allow the rifle to slide meaning should it be slick without resistance but minimal left / right freedom? Should the rear bag also be slick? I'm thinking about putting some baby powder or talcum on the bottom side of the fore end.
I haven't shot a lot on bags and never realized what an impact it has on the groups. I didnt have my nut tight and it was rotating just a little and drove my crazy. Tightened it up and it really was like night and day.

Also what is meant by good or bad "tracking". Yesterday I was shooting and had some excellent groups but I had some difficulty get back on my poa.
thanks Tom
Click to expand...

This, from "FAQ", on the Benchrest Home Page: http://www.benchrest.com/FAQ/6.5.shtml, should answer a lot of your questions and give you a pretty good rundown on how many good shooters, many of whom frequent these forums, set up their bags. You might want to read Bart Sauter's [of Bart's Bullets] method a few times. It's very detailed, and good for future reference. Hope this helps. Art :)
 
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If your rest is an aluminum Outers, it is not as stable as it needs to be for serious work. If you watch someone shooting with one, you will usually see some of the legs come off of the table and/or the whole thing moving during recoil. I do think that you are getting good groups, all things considered, and if you are having fun and learning as you go, it doesn't get any better.
 
Thanks again. I'll read the link for sure.

Im sure its an Outers and it does bounce. My bench at home is wood and I have a plan to install some threaded bushings on the underside and run my adjuster screw into them to keep it down and still give me adjustment. That'll work for home until I can build a concrete bench.

I have been watching the Classified for some things as I go along.

It is so much more challenging that I ever imagined. Makes it twice as much fun.
 
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abintx said:
This, from "FAQ", on the Benchrest Home Page: http://www.benchrest.com/FAQ/6.5.shtml, should answer a lot of your questions and give you a pretty good rundown on how many good shooters, many of whom frequent these forums, set up their bags. You might want to read Bart Sauter's [of Bart's Bullets] method a few times. It's very detailed, and good for future reference. Hope this helps. Art :)
Click to expand...

That was an education plus, thanks.
 
TnTom- Re: eyestrain-----make sure your eyepiece is properly focused...the crosshair should appear sharp the instant it is brought to your eye. Also learn to shoot both eyes open.
I believe you may see your crosshair jump from muzzle blast from the next bench due to such a lightweight rest. This won't matter until you double with your neighbor.
Remember IBS rules dictate that the stock must be allowed to be lifted from the front bag.
 
Also, I believe the optical boosters also increase crosshair size.....may not necessarily help with target resolution.
 
LHSmith said:
TnTom- Re: eyestrain-----make sure your eyepiece is properly focused...the crosshair should appear sharp the instant it is brought to your eye. Also learn to shoot both eyes open.
I believe you may see your crosshair jump from muzzle blast from the next bench due to such a lightweight rest. This won't matter until you double with your neighbor.
Remember IBS rules dictate that the stock must be allowed to be lifted from the front bag.
Click to expand...
The cross hairs were not in good focus, not as sharp as they could be. When I checked it out I was actually able to improve the crispness noticeably. I don't know how I missed that. Anyway thanks.
 
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