What Kind of Gun Vise/Sandbag Setup do you use?

[Troutslayer]

My skills seem to be outgrowing my equipment. I have been using a gun vise, not sure of the make. but it's one of the more popular ones and nothing fancy. I am finding that with a hunting trigger I just can't keep my rifle situated at greater distances, so my groups are opening up exponentially the farther I go. I have pretty much learned everything I know from reading here and other places and I don't have anyone who knows what the hell they're talking about who can teach me- except people here.

What do most people do to get an extremely good hold on the target at longer than usual distances- like 500+ yds? I am thinking about using the Harris and sanbagging the rear, but since it's the taller model Harris, I need a pretty big sandbag to bring the barrel up to level with the ground. I would love to hear what most people are doing because when I see pics of some of your groups I am very confused as to how you are getting the hold to shoot sub moa at longer ranges. I can make ragged holes at 100 so I think it's user error that is preventing moa.

Do people get a better hold off the bipod/sandbag combination? Should I be shopping around for some kind of gun vise that is superior to the one I have, if so, which one is good?

 

[royinidaho]

Off the bench I use a Hoppes cast aluminum pedestal rest with a couple of self made poly fill bags.

I have found no difference in point of impact when switching to a solid bipod.

However, just to be on the safe side for consistency I do all of my load workup, drop chart validation and hunting prone off of the bipod and the same self made bags.

There is no reason that I can think of as to why even with a heavy trigger that trigger pull should make a difference in longer range accuracy. They may well be something else going on.

Using a dummy round, to soak up firing pin energy, do some dry firing. The reticle on target should not move during pull, break, click and follow through.

Just some thoughts.......

 

[jmason]

I agree w/ Roy. I use a pedestal front rest or the Harris BR pivot bipod and a rear bag both on the bench. I like the bi-pod in front better for me. I tighten down the pivot nut so a fair amount of pressure needs to be applied to move it.

How long are you waiting between shots when you shoot farther out? How many shots in a string? Is your barrel a bull type or sporter?

 

[JARHEAD1371]

With the rolling hills here in western SD I've found that a bipod and rear bag is the way to go. I use a leather rear bag filled with fine sand (off of the beach on Camp Lejeune, NC) for practice and load development and part of an old lead shot bag filled with light weight plastic beads for hunting. If you get used to shooting this way it's easier to hunt this way, can't lug around a vice for hunting.