Shooting 308 off a Bench

[MMH]

When shooting a 308 off a hard bench (concrete) am I better off shooting off of a bipod or sandbags. With sandbags it seams as if you have to shoot 'free recoil' which I would think on a 308 will result in larger groups.

I generally shoot w/ a bipod loading the bipod a little and firmly pull the grip back to my shoulder. Is this correct?

 

[b6graham]

either is fine

you don't have to free recoil when shooting off a bag

 

[Rob01]

And try not pulling the grip back into your shoulder. That hand should only be concerned with trigger press.

 

[MMH]

either is fine

you don't have to free recoil when shooting off a

And try not pulling the grip back into your shoulder. That hand should only be concerned with trigger press.

So if you are not pulling back w/ the shooting hand and not loading the bipod, isn't that 'free recoiling'?

 

[Rob01]

So if you are not pulling back w/ the shooting hand and not loading the bipod, isn't that 'free recoiling'?

Nope. Your head is on the stock, your offhand is on the bag and up into the stock so there are forces on the rifle and there is a slight lean into the stock. It’s not a “load” as most call it but just enough to have butt in shoulder pocket.

 

[b6graham]

Free recoil would be more like fclass/br where you're touching a 1oz trigger. The stock is flat in the front riding on a rest or a bipod with ski feet and you have a bunny ear bag in the back

Same can be done with a PRS rifle and a gamechanger on a barricade. Basically your only contact with the gun is the trigger and very very minor leveling with left hand and barely touching the buttstock with your shoulder pocket

You can put the same amount of touch/force into a rifle when shooting off sandbags as you would shooting prone. You'll have much better recoil control and spotting this way compared to free recoil

 

[wrightjr]

When shooting off my homemade solid sand bags I prep the bag (almost like fluffing a pillow), then I make an indentation in the bag with the side of my hand to frorm a channel for the stock to ride in. Also make sure that the sling swivels can freely move without snagging on the bag when the rifle recoils.

 

[Gohring65]

Test all methods and see what produces your desired results.