Bench Rest ??

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I saw some cat at the range with one of these the other day. The only part of the rifle he would touch was the trigger. Didn't look like fun to me but then again I never fully understood benchrest rifles to begin with.
 
You know how all your long hours of rocket work boils down to a launch button? Same deal.

6mm BR is a hoot at 1000yd, if someone lets you use their not-currently-winning-matches gun.
 
I wouldn't necessarily call that a bench rest rifle. BRs are typically too darn heavy, long, or unwieldy to shoot any other way. That looks like an AR being zeroed.
 
This is your typical bench rest rifle and the second picture is a type of bench rest rifle known as a railgun both are capable of extreme accuracy.
3e52413cb9bf44d0168f0025b8a5cbe7d370362b.jpg

300px-Railgun1.jpg
 
6mmBR is a great round for splashing ground grizzlies, but in a rifle, I'd rather have the 375 Anderson on a Chey-Tac platform. For nailing sentries from 2 miles away.
 
Maybe its a way to see if that particular AR is an MOA weapon, 2 MOA... I've seen a few folks really work hard to get their match AR to sub-MOA.

Never though about the launch button = trigger, but yeah, once you do either, it's about your preparation up to that point.
 
My experience with AR's so far has been that very few (1 of the 8 I have owned) shot worse than MOA from the bench, the best was a custom flattop with a 25" 1/7.7 Krieger barrel that shot .25" (1/4 MOA) five shot groups at 100yards and maintained that level of accuracy to 400 yds (after 400 it opened up a bit to just about .5 MOA), worst was my Olympic Arms Plinker at 1.1" MOA. For determining whether its the rifle or me I use a Caldwell Rock BR rest with beavertail bag and a owl ear rear bag, of course proper line up is still the shooters responsibility but using a good benchrest setup can almost totally seperate the rifles capabilities from the shooters.
 
Learn something every day. Not coming from a fire arms family, and having very limited personal experience with them in the USAF, I'd never heard of a Bench Rifle or Rail Gun. When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was a play on words for "Bed Rest" and thought I was going to see what someone was going to be working on while recovering from some kind of surgery! Lol!
 
I have a '80s vintage 6PPC bench gun. I bought it at a gun show for a steal.
Came with dies and brass but no scope.
I put a Leupold fixed 36x, loaded ammo but have not shot it, been coyote hunting all winter.
Going to use for fun target shooting.

When I hunt I prefer close, really close.

M
 
Yup. Nice. My shooting buddy's rifle weighs 70 lbs. Yes. 70lbs.

I really get the bench rest, but a rail gun? The only use for it I can see would be to test ammo- in essence how accurate can It actually be.

It is more like an artillery piece than a rifle.
 
I really get the bench rest, but a rail gun? The only use for it I can see would be to test ammo- in essence how accurate can It actually be.

It is more like an artillery piece than a rifle.
Test any technique / mod / adjustment / variable without relying on a pesky human element.
 
Normal 100 and 200 yard benchrest matches are 5 shot, with the rail they are normally 10 shot. almost everyone shoots 6PPC at 100 and 200. it is very competitive, you need to shoot very low 2's or teens.
my claim to fame was seventh at the Super Shoot in 2015
 
A rail gun...might as well be aimed by a computer sighting system. It is not a practical weapon at all- only useful as a test rig. To each their own, but in my estimation that is not shooting- can you adjust and hit a target, sure. So could anybody else that understands the rig. How long until the trigger is electronic so you do not actually touch it?
 
A rail gun...might as well be aimed by a computer sighting system. It is not a practical weapon at all- only useful as a test rig. To each their own, but in my estimation that is not shooting- can you adjust and hit a target, sure. So could anybody else that understands the rig. How long until the trigger is electronic so you do not actually touch it?

If rail guns are not your cup of tea there are many other classes.
There is skill required, wind, mirage and other things must be accounted for, especially at long rang. It is also a test of how well the rifle and components are made.
 
I would rather shoot a bag gun. I sold my Powell rail gun at NBRSA nats last year. Trust me it is not easy shooting a rail and be competitive. Ten shots, center to center of 200 thousands ain't easy.
Bill
Greene
(Trout)
 
I grew up shooting NRA 3-position and started competitive shooting with 22LR rimfire as well as competition air-rifles right around the age of 10. A few years later my coach pushed me into off-hand pistol shooting where I began firing competition in that class as well.

Having a competition background taught me some important lessons along the way. When I began shooting and for many years as I was progressing there really wasn't an online community, as the internet wouldn't hit the masses until nearly a decade or so later. One thing that I noticed after most of America came online was that bench guns would take heat quite often online as people claimed "it was not a true form of shooting" or that "all those guys were doing was pulling a trigger". People heavily involved with shooting and competition on a regular basis wouldn't dare lump those guns into such a stereotypical category of shooting, though. Anyone who fires a firearm using a magnification optic at all knows that no matter how steady or solid your rest is, you can still move a gun. Any bit of vibration or shooter input will still move crosshairs on a target, even if the gun is strapped down with 100lb weights. So it makes sense that every gun will also move when it is fired due to recoil, and as such there is still a process involved requiring some consistency to be met in order to duplicate results; such guns still require a shooting technique, before even thinking about the ammunition itself. Now realize what happens when the details are considered of such shooting--the groups are so tight at such long distances that not only the shooting technique must be incredibly consistent but the ammunition itself must be incredibly consistent. In fact, if anyone is to take a ballistic calculator and play with deviation that occurs in ammunition when shooting to 600 and 1000 yards based on velocity spread alone in the wind and while keeping in mind the group sizes those guys compete within, they will likely realize that bench rest shooting is not any easier at all from the rested setups. The benchrest shooters are by far some of the most experienced shooters in existence, because not only do they understand the variables of human input on the rifle but they understand the variables of everything going on that can possibly effect a group between trigger and target impact 1000 yards away. My hats off to some of those guys for having the patience to interpret the science of shooting down to the smallest of variables.
 
I grew up shooting NRA 3-position and started competitive shooting with 22LR rimfire as well as competition air-rifles right around the age of 10. A few years later my coach pushed me into off-hand pistol shooting where I began firing competition in that class as well.

Having a competition background taught me some important lessons along the way. When I began shooting and for many years as I was progressing there really wasn't an online community, as the internet wouldn't hit the masses until nearly a decade or so later. One thing that I noticed after most of America came online was that bench guns would take heat quite often online as people claimed "it was not a true form of shooting" or that "all those guys were doing was pulling a trigger". People heavily involved with shooting and competition on a regular basis wouldn't dare lump those guns into such a stereotypical category of shooting, though. Anyone who fires a firearm using a magnification optic at all knows that no matter how steady or solid your rest is, you can still move a gun. Any bit of vibration or shooter input will still move crosshairs on a target, even if the gun is strapped down with 100lb weights. So it makes sense that every gun will also move when it is fired due to recoil, and as such there is still a process involved requiring some consistency to be met in order to duplicate results; such guns still require a shooting technique, before even thinking about the ammunition itself. Now realize what happens when the details are considered of such shooting--the groups are so tight at such long distances that not only the shooting technique must be incredibly consistent but the ammunition itself must be incredibly consistent. In fact, if anyone is to take a ballistic calculator and play with deviation that occurs in ammunition when shooting to 600 and 1000 yards based on velocity spread alone in the wind and while keeping in mind the group sizes those guys compete within, they will likely realize that bench rest shooting is not any easier at all from the rested setups. The benchrest shooters are by far some of the most experienced shooters in existence, because not only do they understand the variables of human input on the rifle but they understand the variables of everything going on that can possibly effect a group between trigger and target impact 1000 yards away. My hats off to some of those guys for having the patience to interpret the science of shooting down to the smallest of variables.
Roger that!

In the 100 and 200 yard benchrest (group shooting) because conditions change during the day 99% of us load before each match. Usually changing the powder load to keep the gun in tune, sometimes even changing to different powder and changing the seating depth, not to mention reading flags, gun handling and so on.
 
If rail guns are not your cup of tea there are many other classes.
There is skill required, wind, mirage and other things must be accounted for, especially at long rang. It is also a test of how well the rifle and components are made.

Mark, I agree with you about how well it is made. I understand the issues with long range shooting, but If you are not holding it in you hands or putting it to shoulder I do not see the point. At that point it may as well be computer controlled

To each their own.
 
I grew up shooting NRA 3-position and started competitive shooting with 22LR rimfire as well as competition air-rifles right around the age of 10. A few years later my coach pushed me into off-hand pistol shooting where I began firing competition in that class as well.

Having a competition background taught me some important lessons along the way. When I began shooting and for many years as I was progressing there really wasn't an online community, as the internet wouldn't hit the masses until nearly a decade or so later. One thing that I noticed after most of America came online was that bench guns would take heat quite often online as people claimed "it was not a true form of shooting" or that "all those guys were doing was pulling a trigger". People heavily involved with shooting and competition on a regular basis wouldn't dare lump those guns into such a stereotypical category of shooting, though. Anyone who fires a firearm using a magnification optic at all knows that no matter how steady or solid your rest is, you can still move a gun. Any bit of vibration or shooter input will still move crosshairs on a target, even if the gun is strapped down with 100lb weights. So it makes sense that every gun will also move when it is fired due to recoil, and as such there is still a process involved requiring some consistency to be met in order to duplicate results; such guns still require a shooting technique, before even thinking about the ammunition itself. Now realize what happens when the details are considered of such shooting--the groups are so tight at such long distances that not only the shooting technique must be incredibly consistent but the ammunition itself must be incredibly consistent. In fact, if anyone is to take a ballistic calculator and play with deviation that occurs in ammunition when shooting to 600 and 1000 yards based on velocity spread alone in the wind and while keeping in mind the group sizes those guys compete within, they will likely realize that bench rest shooting is not any easier at all from the rested setups. The benchrest shooters are by far some of the most experienced shooters in existence, because not only do they understand the variables of human input on the rifle but they understand the variables of everything going on that can possibly effect a group between trigger and target impact 1000 yards away. My hats off to some of those guys for having the patience to interpret the science of shooting down to the smallest of variables.

Roger that!

In the 100 and 200 yard benchrest (group shooting) because conditions change during the day 99% of us load before each match. Usually changing the powder load to keep the gun in tune, sometimes even changing to different powder and changing the seating depth, not to mention reading flags, gun handling and so on.

Don't forget the enviromental factors like reading wind, mirage, changes in temperature, barrel heating, etc. There is so much more than people think to punching tiny groups of holes in paper, and the techniques apply to almost every type of long range shooting.
MClark did mention reading flags, which is a method of doping the wind.
 
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