Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Benching your sporter

What is YOUR method for bench shooting your sporter?

For me.... If it's a caliber that doesn't have a lot of recoil. I tend to let it ride the bags with the least amount of pressure from me as possible, squeezing the rear bag. If it kicks a little I have it buried in my shoulder and I'm holding the forearm.

Yesterday the Mtn rifle was really torqueing at the shot. It got me to wondering if some of my so so loads in the other rifle had been flyers. How do you do it?

Bipod and rear bag. Prone. Same as shooting a precision rifle. Go back to fundamentals to control recoil, maintain natural point of aim, and follow through. I have never felt the need to shoot a rifle off a "bench."

I try and sit up as straight as possible so that my upper body is like when I'm standing. I don't hold the fore end but use that hand to adjust the rifle butt in the sandbag and then hold it. Gives me the same point of impact compared when shooting standing and allows accurate shot placement of course.

My sporters aren't all bolt actions, some don't have free-floated barrels, some are pretty light too. The technique I use tends to be the same though, either zeroing or testing loads, and that is to hold the rifle in both hands, just as I would if shooting in the field, with my weak hand holding the fore end and the back of that hand on the front rest.

FWIW I've found that letting the fore end simply rest on the front rest, and even more so letting the rifle free-recoil, affects POI as compared to holding it, especially with light rifles. This should not be a surprise of course, given that a rifle starts to recoil before the bullet leaves the muzzle.

I pay particular attention to maintaining the buttplate on the same position, and fairly firmly against my shoulder (but not so firmly as to cause muscle tremor). I also pay attention to such other things as keeping my elbows in the same place, my trigger finger clear of the stock, my forward hand in the same position, and my cheek in the same position. I also watch to make sure that swivels etc aren't snagging.

FWIW I'm just as happy shooting from lying supported, using a sandbag or a daypack, as from a bench.

It's important to hold any rifle the same way if shooting at game or paper.

The primary idea is to hit the quarry with our first shot.

The specific exact way we hold or steady the rifle should be the same for hunting or testing.

I record where each of my hunting rifles hits with it's first shot from it's cold barrel.

I hold my rifles the same way unless it's just ammo testing.

You do it your way, I'll do it my way...

Says the guy that only shoots 2 shot groups...

Because your good enough, your smart enough, and dog gone it people like you.

Yep, I always shoot off-hand when I'm testing loads for accuracy.

I do much the same. I am a decent shot, but no expert, and I admit I've had some issues with some rifles from the bench. The conventional bench rest wisdom was to grip the rifle as lightly as possible (free recoil). For me and light rifles, this produced poor groups and no control. It was also not very comfortable. I then figured that this advice was best suited to rifles with light recoil or muzzle brakes. As as example, having one hand on the pistol grip and one hand at the back of the stock works fine on a typical AR rifle. But not on my 8 pound 30-06 sporter.

On those rifles, I got better groups from a firm grip on the fore end with my non trigger hand, and held the rifle firmly in my shoulder. Firm, but not excessive force, as appropriate to the recoil of the rifle.

With these steps I got reasonable accuracy groups. Some serious shooters advocate shooting from the bench with barely any grip on the rifle except to pull the trigger. I can not understand how this would work, at least on my light to average weight rifles. They probably have 12 pound plus rifles and muzzle brakes. When i tried this I had no control over the rifle and it jumped all over the place.

But that's just me. Bench shooting does seem to make the recoil feel much stronger compared to offhand shooting. From my offhand practice, I am accustomed to keeping a solid grip on the rifle, so I am comfortable shooting that way. And a light cartridge like a 223 in an AR is way different than a medium weight bolt action shooting a 30-06 type cartridge.

My hunting rifles are not tested for 'groups'.

They are tested to confirm that their first shot from it's cold barrel hits where I want it. That of course, in the field,
is a fatal shot into the game!

Sometimes more shots are fired to confirm.

Here is a shot I fired @ 200yds to check that a favorite 30-06 custom would hit the game.

Almost always a bipod and a sand bag under the rear.

Do that 20 more times or 2 more times......................

When I was a kid, I shot my rifle as much from the sitting position, with or without the sling, as I did from a bench. About forty five years ago, I got interested in BR shooting and started shooting everything off the bench but I still shot some from standard positions just to keep my hand in. When an injury forced me to switch to shooting left-handed, I shot more and more from the bench just because it was easier. I did myself no favor by doing this. Today, I generaly sight in my hunting rifles and silohuette rifles shooting from the bench off my elbows with no rest. If there is no bench available, I shoot prone or from a sitting position. I don't shoot tiny groups but I can shoot one inch groups if the rifle will and I can be pretty sure the rifle will hit the same in the field. The only rifles which are shot from a rest are the "F" class rifles, some varmint rifles, or the BR guns. GD

I like to know the most about that first shot too but here's a way to really know what you and the rifle will do on any given day. Keep that same target up and shoot one shot a day into it over 10 days.