Bag vs Bipod

[Wildstreak]

Let’s hear it. At the range dialing in the scope or load development what’s your preferred front rest? Bipod or bag? I currently use my Atlas bipod and Protektor rear rest but I’m always curious if there are better options.

 

[Dmoua]

Bipod with a rear bag.

 

[RWT]

All bags.

 

[dirtytough]

Bipod with rear bag.

I don’t have a bag big enough as a stand-alone, I’m not going to stack bags, and I don’t have a block sitting there to put a bag on.

Plus since I’m going to use a bipod in the field I might as well use it at the range also.

 

[Drenalin]

I use my backpack and my bino harness. Not because I believe that's the best/most stable, but because it's what I'll have with me when I'm hunting.

 

[NSI]

Keep a rokblok in the truck and put a bag on it. Make sure the fore end can travel smoothly across it. Bag in the rear as well. This method is most tolerant of technique errors while the bullet is still in the barrel.

Once you are zero’d you can shoot with bipod or tripod or other positions and observe/note shift, if any. It’s good to know the truth first.

-J

 

[Poser]

Bags

 

[Mattyq17]

Bags

 

[sambo3006]

I have a military ammo can that holds bags, hearing protection, shooting glasses, plus other miscellaneous supplies. Once I get to the range, the can flipped on its side gets a bag on top of it and becomes my front rest.

 

[seand]

Bipod, prone. Easy/consistent. Verify the rifle POI is consistent with a bag positional shooting.

 

[TaperPin]

For the most part I don’t like being in powdery dirt and don’t care for the layer of dust on the rifle and scope lenses shooting prone - prone can be off a rest with bags or bipod.

I’ve had some stocks not like the stiff Harris bipod off a bench so I typically use a traditional front rest and rear leather bag. At least for me and the rifles I’ve shot, there’s no comparison and the target doesn’t lie. I will still use a tall bipod for sage brush country, but make sure and confirm it doesn’t mess with accuracy when shot in the dirt. I’ve talked with a number of guys over the years with accuracy problems that were related to a bipod - so many that the first thing I suggest is shooting the gun off bags to rule out the bipod.

Either way, the shooter has to understand good consistent technique or that method won’t work well. When two shooters come up with different accuracy for the same rifle, somebody has to work on their technique.

 

[Shortschaf]

practice with what you shoot with in the field
For me that's bipod and bag

 

[Tnc]

Atlas bipod and rear bag

 

[bowrunner81]

I can’t seem to get consistent on a bipod. Bags front and back for me

 

[TaperPin]

Let’s hear it. At the range dialing in the scope or load development what’s your preferred front rest? Bipod or bag? I currently use my Atlas bipod and Protektor rear rest but I’m always curious if there are better options.

If you decide to try a front rest, guys like Keith at Winning in the Wind YouTube have tested different cheap to expensive front rests with highly accurate rifles and they all shoot the same accuracy, but the more adjustable and expensive ones are simply easier to use.

A front rest heavy enough to stay put during recoil keeps you from having to constantly reposition it. It drives me nuts to watch Ron Spoomer shoot because his front rest moves all over the place. Other than that, a front leather bag that matches the forend and you can shoot 6 different rifles with only a little elevation adjustment.

For some reason many guys new to a traditional front rest see how steady the crosshairs are and assume they can put in a little side pressure to find tune the aim and take the shot, but of course that pressure opens up the group - natural point of aim is as important as it is with a bipod.

 

[SloppyJ]

Been using a bipod and a rear bag lately.

 

[Rippey715]

AG schmedium gamechanger front bag. Kneeling on the side of or from the back of the bench. Or off rocks or other things. But pretty much only ever the schmedium and never sitting at the bench. If I use the bipod I do modified prone standing behind the bench and GC for a rear bag.