Shooting Rests/Bags - which ones?

R

Rayco1111

New member
Curious what you might be using. I've been using standard suede bags and am not that satisfied. Saw a shooting rest at the range theother day made by CCL that looked nice, and the owner liked it and let me try it, but I couldn't find it online (he got it from Midway but it's no longer in their catalog). The closest I can find to it is the Cabelas rest for 150.00. Anyone tried this rest? I was also thinking about a front rest (Caldwell maybe?) only and still using the regular bag for the rear, but am leaning towards an actual rest, as elevation for the rear seems to be a problem when using a bag only.

Thought and comments and preferences from everyone appreciated!! Thanks!!
 
It all depends on what you want out of the rest? The one piece rests work ok for general shooting and absorbing recoil but not much good for real accuracy. The best setup is the front rest and rear bag. Those can run you all the way up to $1000 or more. If I was in the market for a new setup (with my budget) I would buy this Caldwell: http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=348661
And a bunny ear rear bag for $25 or less.

You said something about elevation and the rear bag? Elevation is done with the front rest!
 
Thanks for the input. Sam, what I meant about elevation with the rear bag is that when I use my front bag on a Hoppe's cheapo front rest, I have to place shims (towels, etc.) under the rear bag to get sighted, even with the Hoppe's rest screwed all the way down. That is my conern about going with just another front rest, even by a better maker.

I am looking for a rest for sighting in and working up loads. Recoil reduction is not a priority. I will check out both of your suggestions. Everyone else, please respond also!! Thanks.
 
SamSpade is right on the money. I've shot with the Hoppes, Sinclair and own a Bald Eagle rest. The Hoppe's rest is good if tightened but the Sinclair (Hart and Witichita are about the same) and Bald Eagle rests are far superior, but for ~400.00 they should be. I got my Bald Eagle on a screamin' deal out of a trade in pile at a local gun store, but those Caldwell rests are every bit as useful if not more than the Bald Eagle and Sinclair. All for $150.00 they are very hard to beat.

So, if I were you I'd look very hard at a Caldwell front rest and a tall bunny or rabbit eared leather or cordora (I love the feel of leather) rear bag. The finest shooters in the world shoot with such a set-up. Not long ago you would be well into $500.00 for such a set-up, but now with the Caldwell rest you'd be ready for less than $200.00 and won't be a bit sorry for it.
 
I've been enjoying the use of a new Shooters Ridge rest. Before that I used a Hoppes front rest and 2 or 3 sand bags. Getting rid of the recoil is nice.
 
Just another option, but I got tired of wrestling with the rear bag, adding shims etc for different rifles, so I tried one of the monopods listed in the Sinclair catalog. It's the accu-shot monopod. It attaches to the rear sling swivel and allows you to adjust for elevation by just turning it while sighting. It works great for me and is easy to switch from rifle to rifle.

Sinclair part number....#04-160
 
I would have to agree on the Caldwell rests. I have them all and they are good. They only have a couple of quirks but for the money they can't be beat. On the std Caldwell, I have found the screw that tightens up the rest to the center pivot will work loose. You need to add something to lock it down tight. On the new Benchrest, have had trouble with the knobs coming off but that can be worked out too.

I use their rests and bags on a daily basis on the range and like them very much. Like was said, I feel they are hard to beat for the money.
 
Steve - Have they come out with the sling shot or magnum rest yet. THat thing looks so much like the Bald Eagle design I wouldn't be suprised to hear that there was a bit of legal wrangling over that one.
 
Best deal I ever had (in the cheap seat section) was a $5 flat-topped screw jack from an old car and a 6"x6" square bag (camo of course...wife fixed 'er up for me) full of uncooked rice.

I pop-rivited a piece of short-knapp carpet to the top of the jack pad and put the rice bag under my buttplate.

The screw jack handle stuck straight out the side and you could use it right or left handed.

Just set your rifle on that carpet, hand-screw the jack to get the crosshairs where ya wanted them and let'er rip.

Great outfit...gave it to my oldest son recently. Then I went and bought the MTM Predator Table and rifle/pistol rest......have not had time to evaluate that purchase yet.
 
I use the P3 from Curt over at CTK precision. It's the best Ive found for my needs. It's an easily adjustable, rock solid rest. The thing I liked the most about it was the wide 'V' shaped front rest for holding the wide forend of my PD rig. If your bench isnt square and level it has adjustable legs with thumb locks. The front rest is adjustable to shoot from close up to WAAAY out there if need be.

Another thing that is pretty cool is the gun vise attachment for it. It gives you a nice steady place to lock your rifle or pistol into while working on it.

I did a review of the shooting rest part of it over on the UVA site if you care to take a look.

P3 Review
 
Another option...go to and check out the BEST shooting bags on the market. They are made by an Oregon Varmint Hunter and his wife for Varmint Hunters. They also work well for bench rest shooting...not fancy but extremely effective. And with rubberized mats (used to hold dishes on the shelves of traveling RVers) in conjunction with the bags they will also reduce felt recoil considerably. I have a medium bag with a rear wedge which I had filled before shipping ($5 extra over the cost of the bag & wedge plus extra for shipping the additional weight). I paid $120 for the whole rig, shipping included, and use it regularly for shooting 2 benchrest competitions (1000 yd and Metallic Silhouette Prairie Dog matches). I have won in both matches against competitors using the most sofisticated rigs you can buy (micrometers in the rest legs , etc, etc, etc)...AND I can use my rig afield to shoot over a prairie dog town where my competition can't without hauling a massive flat surface afield with them. Please check the web site out before you buy anything else. I believe you will be impressed, and you won't do any better for hundreds of dollars more.
 
i like the new cadwells. they are alot cheaper than other good rests. and you don't have to worry about getting them dirty out in the feild either. good p-dog platform for top of table. sportsmans warehouse has many leather bags in stock for less than 30 bucks. i think they are the protecktor series. lenH
 
I'll second the Dog-gone-good bags as being the best shooting bags out there. I still use a front pedestal and rear bag occasionally, when I'm wanting to shoot the tiniest groups possible. But for 90% of my shooting, I use the DGG bags.

- DAA
 
I look more to the weight of the front rest I think the Caldwell weight around 6lbs if you look at Hart,Sinclair or Bald Eagle they weight around 17/20lbs and that weight is important to me. I started out with a Hart rest and over the years made some changes like speed screw,harden points and Hoehn top. I also look at how long I've had that Hart rest and with all the upgrades I'm at about $20 a year and that includes my rear bags also as I was typing this I got to thinking how many rounds I fired off that rest and I bet it's over 100K. Before the Hart I had a Wichita. Well good luck.
 
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