Mechanical rest for load development??

[CanSniper]

I personally have never used one. Always employed the thought that if I can not take it with me in the field then why bother. I would never even use a bench at the range. Always went prone for precision, because you can't take a bench into the field.

As I become wiser (not older just wiser). I realize that I am not a 100* perfect group shooting machine. During my load development process, I do not let group size alone carry all the determining weight. Due to the human factor.

Lately I have been considering using a mechanical rest. In order to take as much of me out of my group size as possible. But I know very little about them and never used one.

Questions for the Hide.
#1 Is it an improvement over a bipod and rear bag?
#2 what type/kind do you recommend.

Thanks in advance for input.

 

[Potss]

#1 Yes if it is a good one. Aka, not a Cadwell.
#2 I've never seen one for anything close to a reasonable price that isn't a home brew. Closest I've found is a BR style setup, but that isn't exactly a mechanical rest. If you do find one, let me know.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Some guys can shoot as good as the rifle system allows off a bipod and rear bad. I'm unable to totally relax in that position so my shots have some additional errors because of this. So earlier this year I used a basic Hoppes front rest and a rabbit ear rear bag to do load development. I believe this helped greatly in providing more consistent shooting.

In the past I've tried a Lead Sled to do load development for a 300 Win Mag. There's something about that arrangement that isn't as consistent as you would think. So I haven't used a Lead Sled for load development since.

 

[flashhole]

I use an Uncle Bud's Bulls Bag in conjunction with a rear bag on the range bench when ringing out a load. My Bulls Bag is the large bag, I filled both bags with rice.

I discovered each rifle has its own personality and positioning the rifle in the rest the exact same way ... every time ... has a big influence on group size. With the exception of my 221 Fireball that I replaced the factory synthetic stock with a laminate wood stock all my rifles are as they were the day I pulled them out of the box.

For bottleneck cartridges I consider a load/rifle dialed in when I put 3 holes out of 5 shots in a bottle cap at 200 yards. If I miss it's not by much. This gives me confidence in the gun and ammo.

When in the field, any kind of rest, tree trunk, rock, fence post etc. is all I need to make a confident shot and I have never lost any game.

I use a bi-pod on my Ruger #1V 25-06, Kimber 223 Longmaster Classic and Rem 700 221 Fireball with great success. The bigger guns don't get a bi-pod because they're not used in the same manner.

I also outfitted my Ruger Mini 14 for use with a bi-pod. Not what I call a precision rig but it sure is fun to shoot.

A buddy of mine has a Caldwell Lead Sled, I was not impressed. He gave up on it after lots of frustrating range outings and went back to bags.

 

[Nodakplowboy]

For sporting/hunting rifles load work is done with a Sinclair BR front rest and a rabbit ear rear bag. For chassis rifles, all done with bipod and super heavy rear bag. I've tried shooting chassis guns off the front rest and they just beat me up, hard to get comfortable and far more recoil. I believe that's just the way I'm built.

The zero obtained from the front rest works well for me with rifles that will be shot off hand or from a field rest, like a tree or fence. My varmint rifle loads are obtained using the front rest, but zeros are established prone, bipod and bag. Again, it might be just me, but I've noticed a slight shift in zeros going from the front rest to the bipod.

All the chassis rifles are 12# plus, so with a good bipod, large heavy bag and solid prone, load work and zeroing works best for me.

In my mind a mechanical rest like a lead sled is just one more piece of gear to drag around with little or no gain.