Sight in Rests

[CatfishKev]

Like said above. Sight in with something where you can push down on the stock with a good cheek weld.  Sight in is most important. In the field I like a triclawps for the front end and a primos trigger stick on the butt stock.  I take a beanie or what's available and put it in the cradle of the trigger stick so I can push down on it with my cheek.  You can never count on a prone shot in the field with tall grass. This method is the best I've found. If someone has a better idea I'm all ears.

[jdown]

1 hour ago, 5guyshunting said:

I have a Cabela's rear bag that had a leak. JB weld did the trick.

Good idea but even the suede part is drying out.  Might give it a go.  It doesn’t owe me much -  probably 25 years old.  I guess $100 every 25 years amortizes ok. Ha

[loboscout]

Before you disregard what I say, maybe take a minute to think about it. If you are new, there are a lot of things people will tell you and you will read, but is wisdom from the past.

If you kill everything and have the skills you need, ignore below if you like. You don’t need it. Take it or leave it, but I will explain myself because I know my advice is strange to many.

Right off the bat, I will concede that for many, it might not matter enough the difference in zero.  And, that if you use another technique it can work and for your purposes you don’t need to change. 
 

My point is 100% prepare and practice for the field. It gives me confidence knowing that I tested it. I want everything I can get, and zeroing the way I shoot in the field is one more way to do it. Moreover, the more practice I get in field shooting positions the better.

A simple rule to squeeze out the last of your performance is to zero the way you shoot in the field, and proof out your dope in the same position. This is now standard practice for many serious long range shooters.

A perfect zero on the bench means little when it moves a couple tenths or nearly one MOA because you can not support your rifle under recoil as if you were on the bench. Shooting off the bench gets more hits on steel plates, but isn’t an indicator of how you will shoot in the field. It’s like someone said above, if you don’t have wind indicators, if you are testing and controlling, your don’t know and you are ignorant. I have gone shooting with enough people to see that they can shoot awesome from the bench but can’t shoot from a field position. 
 

Technique and position need to be repeatable. Every variable matters. It’s why I exclusively practice and execute shots off a tripod. It is the one method that I can use in the most varied terrain.

Bench to field can absolutely make a difference, especially for new shooters to long range. Guys don’t like to fail, I t’s why guys love to measure and shoot tiny groups on the bench. Replicate it in the field, that’s where the test comes. Sure, zero on the bench, that’s where I do load development and other. But, you gotta end the way you will perform. Inside 500 yards it might not make a lot of difference, the margin of error gets absorbed. But, beyond that you gotta be much more careful. So the definition of long range might matter. In different conditions a 1000 yard shot can be easier than a 500 yard shot.

Gear matters. The high recoiling rifles shift the most. Light rifles shift more than heavy rifles. It doesn’t matter how well you zero at the range on a bench in well controlled restraints. It matters how your boomstick shoots in the field.
 

I break so many “rules”.  I don’t use any pressure for a cheek weld any more because it adds pressure moving the stock to my right when recoil occurs, I put my scope in rings that push it higher, I shoot at 10 to 15 magnification out to 1000 yards, I don’t put the rifle butt in my “shoulder pocket”, but right on my collarbone as close to my neck as I can get it, I shoot a thin jacketed match bullet and avoid the shoulder at all cost, I shoot as light and as small a bullet as is effective to kill (I have no problem hunting with a 223 or 6mm bullet for elk as long as the terminal velocity is high enough), I believe nearly anyone shooting more than a 7 mag for long range hunting is over gunned and increased recoil creates worse shots, and 

So much is new and and goes against long held ideas. Few people believe in it so far, but if you shoot enough long range, you start to notice trends. The first couple of years I shot thousands of rounds and watched others shoot tens of thousands of rounds at long range and in as many types of positions as you could think of. I have since watched dozens of people shoot long range for the first time with my rifles. I see what I see.

I am not the best, by far, that comes with more bullets down range. But, I have been to training with some of the best long range shooters in the world. I have talked with them and got advice from them. They have been to the best training in the world. Some are record holding in the AMU. I have shot with some of the best long range shooters in the nation.

There have been massive advances and experience from the hundreds of thousands of bullets fired in the last decade of long range and precision rifle competitions. Many of the old rules of thumbs and ideas have been superseded by better rules.

Hands down the most versatile tool is a stiff tripod and when possible a tripod or other rear support. The front support tripod and rear support sticks is a fantastic idea. I don’t use it much, but it works well for newer shooters.

I shoot all the time off a tripod and get as steady as prone, but because of recoil and other factors my zero moves from my bench zero.

Here is proof in the pudding to back up my take on it. Shooting off a tripod is nearly as good as it gets with the right gear and instruction. I don’t even bother with prone any more.

Someone showed me how to use the tripod a couple months before the two videos below. He learned it from one of the first long range mountain shooting schools to teach it.

I only repeat what the best in the business have told and right me, and everything I say I sure think I have seen.

I can repeat the shooting off a tripod at 500 yards in nearly any terrain. I actually prefer ground that slopes away because it creates a shooting position with very little tension in the body and a lot of support.

I have learned and modified my technique, my gear, and my rifle some since these videos. Just little tweaks to continue to develop.

 

[sjvcon]

I should say that I am only talking about a good solid zero.  I don't practice with a rest.  I practice a lot of ways...off a pack, off hand, off shooting sticks, etc.  I am just looking for a point of reference.