Canadian Airgun Forum

i am looking to get a rifle rest for bench shooting. some of them have just the rest for the front and some have a front rest and a rear rest. any comments or recommendations?

looking at brands such as caldwell. looking for the best rest for shooting 10-40 yards with my hw97k

Although some people use those MACHINES(like the lead sled, etc), you will never see an actual bench rest shooter using one. They lack the adjustability needed, due to their construction.
By this I mean, the distance from the front rest the the butt stock is fixed, as in non-adjustable. With them, you are unable to adjust where on the forend you rest the gun, if you get my drift, as the butt is held fixed and with the front rest the distance it is, the forend rests only there. A separate adjustable rest, or one of the large stuffed V bags is good. Some of the U-tube testers use these, as-in Steve Scalali (?). For a test, I bought the large Caldwell front bag which comes with a rear bag as well. I already have 2 adjustable front rests that I use as for all my guns when bench shooting. The big Caldwell bag works well with my HW97's, both .22 and .177 when shooting indoors, but due to being non-adjustable, other means of height adjustment might be needed, depending on the gun being used. Caldwell also makes adjustable rests.
The most stable position in bench shooting is when using a rear bag. However, not all guns will shoot their best if using a rear bag. A pre-charged pneumatic rifle, or CO2
rifle will likely shoot best with a rear bag, however due to the weird double recoil of a springer, it may or may not shoot best using a rear bag. My HW97 in .22 is just such
an anomaly. It shoots best without a rear bag. You as the shooter, have to experiment to find out what methods you need to use, to shoot the best groups, in BR.
With springers such as the HW97's and 98's, well any springer, you must find what the best position for your rifle is. This also changes with which pellet you are using as where you rest
or hold the gun, changes the harmonics of the gun upon firing, which will in itself change the accuracy of the pellet.
Both of my HW97's shoot best when rested in the middle of the forend, on the front bag or rest when using Hades pellets, but with the end of the forend resting on the bag when using
the heavier JSB and H&N pellets. Neither of these rifles shoots best with what is called the Artillery Hold - but - some springers do.

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Best Wishes
Daryl

Unfortunately there's not a lot of choices available for front rests in Canada and often the most widely used rest for new benchrest shooters are one of those available from Caldwell. Mechanical front rests typically have a bag on which the rifle's forestock sits. The bag should be of a size that provides stability.

Among the least expensive Caldwell rests available is something similar to the one shown on the left below. It has course adjustment for vertical only. There are models that offer a little more weight and stability (on the right). Some models have interchangeable front bags.



Other models have windage adjustment.



With these kinds of rests the butt stock sits on a rear bag. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Below is an example.



More serious shooters often use one piece rests (not the Led Sled type).

For a little more information on air rifle benchrest shooting, see for example https://airgunshooting.co.uk/article/im ... lls-part-1

For the above mentioned reasons I built my own 0ne-piece-rest last winter.
First in mind for tuning my PCP Impact for long ranges 100 meters and up, and with some modifications along the line became my preferred rest for BR overall.
I used aluminum extrusion widely available from online 3d printer stores (diy building kits). I am adding and changing things on the fly.
I have seen lately people started diy projects @ AGN, worth to brows.





And again I am brainstorming these days what to modify.... These Canadian winters are dangerous I can get many crazy ideas quickly

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FX Impact MK2 PP - heavy modded
Edgun Leshiy2 - heavy modded
and a lot more scopes with great glass

These are my adjustable rests. The one on the right is a heavy Caldwell rest. The one on the left was made by a fellow at
one of the local mills, in the shop. Seems to me, I paid $50.00 for it 30 or 40 years ago.
Rear bags today are mostly Cordura material. The older ones are smooth leather, like the rest bag on the left. Back "in the day"
talcum powder was squirted onto the bags to make them slippery, to improve recoil slip. This in itself, was a group tightener.

_________________
Best Wishes
Daryl

These are my adjustable rests. The one on the right is a heavy Caldwell rest. The one on the left was made by a fellow at
one of the local mills, in the shop. Seems to me, I paid $50.00 for it 30 or 40 years ago.
Rear bags today are mostly Cordura material. The older ones are smooth leather, like the rest bag on the left. Back "in the day"
talcum powder was squirted onto the bags to make them slippery, to improve recoil slip. This in itself, was a group tightener.

_________________
Best Wishes
Daryl

Only use front bag with a springer A good friend told me this that would be Daryl and he was right
I added one more thing that really help a layer of silk on bag to make it slippery

The resulted

"Sliptivity" is very important for more than one use.

_________________
Best Wishes
Daryl