hi, am new to this class, was looking for some input on front rests, have seen the jj industries, the seb, sinclair, hart, and farley, would like opinions on what your favorite is, and why, thanks, chris
F open class front rest
- Thread starter ctmyers67
- Start date
Re: F open class front rest
I am having bob pastor build a rest for me. Not cheap but will deliver in 30 days and you get what you pay for. Mine is not too heavy, should weigh in at around 50 lbs. He is quite a shooter in his own right.
http://www.viperbench-rest.com/
I am having bob pastor build a rest for me. Not cheap but will deliver in 30 days and you get what you pay for. Mine is not too heavy, should weigh in at around 50 lbs. He is quite a shooter in his own right.
http://www.viperbench-rest.com/
Re: F open class front rest
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: plastikosmd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am having bob pastor build a rest for me. Not cheap but will deliver in 30 days and you get what you pay for. Mine is not too heavy, should weigh in at around 50 lbs. He is quite a shooter in his own right.
http://www.viperbench-rest.com/ </div></div>
Those look amazing, but $900 is pricey
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: plastikosmd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am having bob pastor build a rest for me. Not cheap but will deliver in 30 days and you get what you pay for. Mine is not too heavy, should weigh in at around 50 lbs. He is quite a shooter in his own right.
http://www.viperbench-rest.com/ </div></div>
Those look amazing, but $900 is pricey
Re: F open class front rest
looking around, that seems to be on par with what the jj industries model is, and some of the farleys as well, but the bob pastor does look nice
looking around, that seems to be on par with what the jj industries model is, and some of the farleys as well, but the bob pastor does look nice
Re: F open class front rest
I also did my research. I needed a rest to handle some very heavy guns. Several of my slug guns are in the 30-40 lb range, one is over 80 lbs and my BMG is around 50 lbs. A 20 lb sinclair or jj rest/farley was not in the cards. Those are great rests and a lot easier to manage but I needed a broader base rest. I didnt have the time to build my own and each rest bob builds is a 1 off custom. I went with black powdercoat and all stainless hardware/knobs etc. I went with 3 tops, 2 that he is building. A 5", a 3" with custom bags and I will make a flat top for the big guns as they ride on 'feet' and not the forearm. We are about 15 days into the build and he keeps me updated with pictures of progress. It is nearly done.
I also did my research. I needed a rest to handle some very heavy guns. Several of my slug guns are in the 30-40 lb range, one is over 80 lbs and my BMG is around 50 lbs. A 20 lb sinclair or jj rest/farley was not in the cards. Those are great rests and a lot easier to manage but I needed a broader base rest. I didnt have the time to build my own and each rest bob builds is a 1 off custom. I went with black powdercoat and all stainless hardware/knobs etc. I went with 3 tops, 2 that he is building. A 5", a 3" with custom bags and I will make a flat top for the big guns as they ride on 'feet' and not the forearm. We are about 15 days into the build and he keeps me updated with pictures of progress. It is nearly done.
Re: F open class front rest
i was lucky enought to speak to john loh today, and he had a few ultra rests in stock, was able to order one, as they had just gotten caught up on their backlog, lucky timing on my part, so anxiously waiting for it to come in now
i was lucky enought to speak to john loh today, and he had a few ultra rests in stock, was able to order one, as they had just gotten caught up on their backlog, lucky timing on my part, so anxiously waiting for it to come in now
Re: F open class front rest
Got mine, he took pics prior to shipping. He said this is the last stainless rest he wil do. I love it. Pics don't do it justice, has 3 tops also
http://www.viperbench-rest.com/customizing.htm
Got mine, he took pics prior to shipping. He said this is the last stainless rest he wil do. I love it. Pics don't do it justice, has 3 tops also
http://www.viperbench-rest.com/customizing.htm
Re: F open class front rest
Stability sure is nice when u shoot, esp for the moderate weight rifles (45 lb pictured) now spoiled, o well
Stability sure is nice when u shoot, esp for the moderate weight rifles (45 lb pictured) now spoiled, o well
Re: F open class front rest
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: plastikosmd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
</div></div>
The angle of that picture makes it look like you strapped a spotting scope to your rifle. What is that rifle?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: plastikosmd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
The angle of that picture makes it look like you strapped a spotting scope to your rifle. What is that rifle?
Re: F open class front rest
When they first came out Farley's were pretty revolutionary and a number of us who were into F Class at that time went with them. I still have and use mine and also have a mini Farley for travelling abroad with. The Mini is one which fits onto a standard benchrest simply by replacing the top saddle parts.
Using this with a Sinclair lightweight bottom metal set up I still think this is the best option for touring / flight travel where weight limits are a costly hurdle. You need to use "spikes" for the feet if possible to anchor the rig into "turf" firing points if you can. If the firing point is stone or shingle then to stop the rig moving and make up for the lack of weight ... you can add wide heavy Sinclair feet ... ideally though post these out before flying. Ultimately there is no substitute for "heavy weight" if the firing points are unable to accept the benefit of spikes ... but the sheer pleasure of only having to cart around a lightweight system cannot be underestimated when we have to trek on foot to some of the 1000 yard points.
However, on the true heavy weight designs , the Farley suffers from having a rigid incline post fitted to the base. This means you need to line up the rest carefully whilst stood up and assembling your gear on the firing point.
Get "prone" and find that you are pointing 3 targets off from the one you need and it is a ball ache to try to pick the heavy thing up and alter it once down.
Contrast this with the Seb which has the incline post on a rotating base ... so if you are "off target" on your initial line up you can undo the locking mechanism and simply rotate the "saddle" to line up better ...leaving you with only the back bag to alter ... and this is a tremendous "boon" to getting settled whilst in the prone position.
The more you are "up and down" before starting the more your "trigger pulling" is having to fight "breathing"/"tremour" issues.
So those with "deep pockets" are now usually going for the Seb rest ... those of us who have Farley's just make sure we know how to line up the rest and back bag before getting the rifle out.
One thing though with any co-axial rest ... you need to make sure all locking mechanisms are tight before shooting and you need to watch the settings for the elevation on the jockey stick so these are not too light ... otherwise when the shot releases you can get "bounce" and elevation problems.
The trick is to learn how to shoot whilst holding the jockey stick and making a fist so your supporting hand is in contact with the ground. Leave the jockey stick alone and shoot and IMO your group opens up. Then you want to go back to the traditional benchrests which cannot move. However f you set up the elevation on the post so that the jockey stick is angled down to your supporting hand at the right height to enable you to hold it steady by having that hand rested on the ground ... then the co-axial systems work great.
When they first came out Farley's were pretty revolutionary and a number of us who were into F Class at that time went with them. I still have and use mine and also have a mini Farley for travelling abroad with. The Mini is one which fits onto a standard benchrest simply by replacing the top saddle parts.
Using this with a Sinclair lightweight bottom metal set up I still think this is the best option for touring / flight travel where weight limits are a costly hurdle. You need to use "spikes" for the feet if possible to anchor the rig into "turf" firing points if you can. If the firing point is stone or shingle then to stop the rig moving and make up for the lack of weight ... you can add wide heavy Sinclair feet ... ideally though post these out before flying. Ultimately there is no substitute for "heavy weight" if the firing points are unable to accept the benefit of spikes ... but the sheer pleasure of only having to cart around a lightweight system cannot be underestimated when we have to trek on foot to some of the 1000 yard points.
However, on the true heavy weight designs , the Farley suffers from having a rigid incline post fitted to the base. This means you need to line up the rest carefully whilst stood up and assembling your gear on the firing point.
Get "prone" and find that you are pointing 3 targets off from the one you need and it is a ball ache to try to pick the heavy thing up and alter it once down.
Contrast this with the Seb which has the incline post on a rotating base ... so if you are "off target" on your initial line up you can undo the locking mechanism and simply rotate the "saddle" to line up better ...leaving you with only the back bag to alter ... and this is a tremendous "boon" to getting settled whilst in the prone position.
The more you are "up and down" before starting the more your "trigger pulling" is having to fight "breathing"/"tremour" issues.
So those with "deep pockets" are now usually going for the Seb rest ... those of us who have Farley's just make sure we know how to line up the rest and back bag before getting the rifle out.
One thing though with any co-axial rest ... you need to make sure all locking mechanisms are tight before shooting and you need to watch the settings for the elevation on the jockey stick so these are not too light ... otherwise when the shot releases you can get "bounce" and elevation problems.
The trick is to learn how to shoot whilst holding the jockey stick and making a fist so your supporting hand is in contact with the ground. Leave the jockey stick alone and shoot and IMO your group opens up. Then you want to go back to the traditional benchrests which cannot move. However f you set up the elevation on the post so that the jockey stick is angled down to your supporting hand at the right height to enable you to hold it steady by having that hand rested on the ground ... then the co-axial systems work great.
Re: F open class front rest
The rifle is a blackpowder target rifle. This paticular gun is part of a 3 barrel set with both round ball and slug barrels. This one is a 62caliber round ball, shooting a charge of 180 grains FFG. There is also a 45 caliber round ball, .485 slug (650 grain slug) and a 52 caliber flintlock.
These can be as light as 17lb civil war era gun
Or as heavy as my 69 caliber slug gun (projectile 1785 grains, 350 grains Fg blackpowder)
Roundballs are roundballs, the slugs are cast in 2 parts, a hard nose (for loading) and soft base that obturates when fired. They are cast, then swaged together and sized
Prior to swaging
These can be quite accurate. The Civil war gun was shot in the 1940's and took first at a 600 yard match at Camp Perry, then shot by Lester Cox (2 owners ago) to demonstrate what it could do with his new slug design
The rifle is a blackpowder target rifle. This paticular gun is part of a 3 barrel set with both round ball and slug barrels. This one is a 62caliber round ball, shooting a charge of 180 grains FFG. There is also a 45 caliber round ball, .485 slug (650 grain slug) and a 52 caliber flintlock.
These can be as light as 17lb civil war era gun
Or as heavy as my 69 caliber slug gun (projectile 1785 grains, 350 grains Fg blackpowder)
Roundballs are roundballs, the slugs are cast in 2 parts, a hard nose (for loading) and soft base that obturates when fired. They are cast, then swaged together and sized
Prior to swaging
These can be quite accurate. The Civil war gun was shot in the 1940's and took first at a 600 yard match at Camp Perry, then shot by Lester Cox (2 owners ago) to demonstrate what it could do with his new slug design
Re: F open class front rest
some slugs once cast next to the more typical. If you look close you can see the swage/part line
22 55grain
357/38 148g
45 250g
.485 630g
.69 1700g
.69 1755g
Slugs are fun but the round balls also shoot well. Under an inch at 100 yards (5) with redfield type sights. Here is a 6 shot group with foul at top right
Anyway, back to the rest. I have tried many others. My heavy gun is around 100lbs and the joystick type rests just do not work that well. I also have found that with some of my heavy recoil guns (BMG) etc, I had to do as stated above, hold a hand on the joystick which I did not care for. So far this is the ticket for me. YMMV and that is why many styles are made
some slugs once cast next to the more typical. If you look close you can see the swage/part line
22 55grain
357/38 148g
45 250g
.485 630g
.69 1700g
.69 1755g
Slugs are fun but the round balls also shoot well. Under an inch at 100 yards (5) with redfield type sights. Here is a 6 shot group with foul at top right
Anyway, back to the rest. I have tried many others. My heavy gun is around 100lbs and the joystick type rests just do not work that well. I also have found that with some of my heavy recoil guns (BMG) etc, I had to do as stated above, hold a hand on the joystick which I did not care for. So far this is the ticket for me. YMMV and that is why many styles are made
Re: F open class front rest
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: plastikosmd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">handy looking rests dan </div></div>
Yeah, I thought so too. I'm still assembling equipment and haven't really gotten into this yet, but I did order the little tripod from him since I could not make up my mind on a bipod (really like the LRA but awfully pricey and I hear you have to wait). He was a nice guy to deal with. Called me up telling me when and how he was going to ship, wanted to know how I found out about him. He shipped it out immediately and stuck a card in asking me to call him when I got it, cause he said he hadn't sold one to anyone shooting such a large cartridge and wanted to know how his coupling method held up to recoil. When I called him back he explained how to use it and told me where to watch his video on it. I like dealing with people that are really invested in what they're doing.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: plastikosmd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">handy looking rests dan </div></div>
Yeah, I thought so too. I'm still assembling equipment and haven't really gotten into this yet, but I did order the little tripod from him since I could not make up my mind on a bipod (really like the LRA but awfully pricey and I hear you have to wait). He was a nice guy to deal with. Called me up telling me when and how he was going to ship, wanted to know how I found out about him. He shipped it out immediately and stuck a card in asking me to call him when I got it, cause he said he hadn't sold one to anyone shooting such a large cartridge and wanted to know how his coupling method held up to recoil. When I called him back he explained how to use it and told me where to watch his video on it. I like dealing with people that are really invested in what they're doing.
Re: F open class front rest
ya pretty much the same on Mr. Pastor. Kept me updated weekly on build and did it in his 30 day timeframe. Weekly pictures of progress. I guess some still build things the old (right) way!
ya pretty much the same on Mr. Pastor. Kept me updated weekly on build and did it in his 30 day timeframe. Weekly pictures of progress. I guess some still build things the old (right) way!
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