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Hey everyone, I found this forum by Googling and looks like you guys have a very active community, so hello from Tennessee!!
I do have a couple of questions though. I am very new to long range shooting in general, and recently obtained my first bolt gun. (Reloading equipment is coming for Christmas)
I have been primarily shooting from a bench, but using a bipod. Just learning the ropes, shooting at 100 yards using factory match ammo. I was at the range today doing some shooting, and a kind soul took a look at me shooting my .22 Ruger American (I was letting the barrel of the .308 cool down some) and he offered me a bench rest to use along with a rear bag. According to him it was a cheapo Caldwell Jr rest, I looked it up on Amazon and it costs about $40.
Now I have used a rear bag in the past, I use a sock filled with air soft bbs to squeeze and make fine adjustments. But use the bench rest with my Ruger just felt super comfortable. I kept going back to the thing, I was able to get 5 shots touching at 50 yards during some fairly gusty wind, which is impressive for me, even at just 50 yards.
So of course, this led me here. I don't want to have to rebuild my rifle, but I do feel like my accuracy hurts a bit due to the bipod hopping on the concrete bench. I have tried front loading, putting something to push it against, and it still hops.
I am in no way looking for competition accuracy, but I would like to qualify out to the 600 yard range that my range offers as well. Like I said, not for competition, I just love shooting.
So, my question is, will a bench rest help accuracy at all? If it helps to get me out to the 600 yard range, Ill be more than happy to donate my Harris bipod to my AR and shoot my .308 from a bench rest. Do you have to have special stocks and stuff to use a bench rest that is higher quality than the caldwell $40 one? Is using a "tactical" stock considered bad form in the bench rest community? I don't do tactical stuff, it was just the name of the one that I liked and had the features/feel that I liked. If I can use a bench rest, any suggestions? My budget would be around $300 including the rear bag.
My set up:
Savage Hog Hunter in .308
Vortex Viper PST 6-24
Choate Tactical stock
Images for the curious to see if this is doable.
http://imgur.com/a/tcR8m
I do have a couple of questions though. I am very new to long range shooting in general, and recently obtained my first bolt gun. (Reloading equipment is coming for Christmas)
I have been primarily shooting from a bench, but using a bipod. Just learning the ropes, shooting at 100 yards using factory match ammo. I was at the range today doing some shooting, and a kind soul took a look at me shooting my .22 Ruger American (I was letting the barrel of the .308 cool down some) and he offered me a bench rest to use along with a rear bag. According to him it was a cheapo Caldwell Jr rest, I looked it up on Amazon and it costs about $40.
Now I have used a rear bag in the past, I use a sock filled with air soft bbs to squeeze and make fine adjustments. But use the bench rest with my Ruger just felt super comfortable. I kept going back to the thing, I was able to get 5 shots touching at 50 yards during some fairly gusty wind, which is impressive for me, even at just 50 yards.
So of course, this led me here. I don't want to have to rebuild my rifle, but I do feel like my accuracy hurts a bit due to the bipod hopping on the concrete bench. I have tried front loading, putting something to push it against, and it still hops.
I am in no way looking for competition accuracy, but I would like to qualify out to the 600 yard range that my range offers as well. Like I said, not for competition, I just love shooting.
So, my question is, will a bench rest help accuracy at all? If it helps to get me out to the 600 yard range, Ill be more than happy to donate my Harris bipod to my AR and shoot my .308 from a bench rest. Do you have to have special stocks and stuff to use a bench rest that is higher quality than the caldwell $40 one? Is using a "tactical" stock considered bad form in the bench rest community? I don't do tactical stuff, it was just the name of the one that I liked and had the features/feel that I liked. If I can use a bench rest, any suggestions? My budget would be around $300 including the rear bag.
My set up:
Savage Hog Hunter in .308
Vortex Viper PST 6-24
Choate Tactical stock
Images for the curious to see if this is doable.
http://imgur.com/a/tcR8m
