Getting ready to order a new rear bag and wondering which do you prefer, and why. High ears, or low ears. Also slick ears or leather.
Thanks

For bench shooting Im assuming? by the way you worded the question.

I use an Armageddon Gear Game Changer bag for EVERYTHING. Everything from bench shooting to free recoil off of barricades/fences/posts, etc. Discovered them when I was shooting PRS and learned how useful they were. Doesn't weigh much, easily toted in a pack, and comes in darn handy when hunting and shooting prone with bipods. Can be flipped and flopped any height needed and there's nothing it won't conform to. I yanked all the velcro stuff off and kept the two side handles.

A little pricey but it's a do-everthing piece of kit. I don't need no other stinkin' bag.

https://armageddongear.com/product-category/game-changers/

Oh no, not this again. Everyone seems to argue about what is the best, without offering any proof. Let me grab some popcorn..

Two socks.
Daisy BB's or airsoft BB's.

Fill one sock. Zip tie it twice. Fold it over and Zip tie it again.
Put it in the other sock. Zip tie it closed.

Done.

Best
HeavyDove

Depends on the discipline, but typically medium, slick ears. But what's more important is a width that fits your stock.

I used the one in the photo for the first time yesterday, I used one previously with "ears" but it caught on my sling swivel and was not "squishy", you had to more it fore or rear to adjust. This bags squishes so you can apply the pressure you need to make adjustments.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1022680723

Too much which and why for you BSA?

Don't choke on your popcorn ol' boy......

The groups you posted recently with your new rifle is proof enough for me. Obviously that bag is working great!

After 10’s of thousands of rounds, this still seems to be the best answer. Shot bags filled with wheat and leather bags on top. The front is easily adjusted by how the bags are stacked and the leather bag filled with sand on top will give you a rock solid rest. The rear is the rear bag on a single wheat bag for proper elevation. The rifle can be slid forward or reverse to allow for elevation tuning…

I prefer these guys.
https://protektormodel.com/collections/rear-bags
I like the short bunny ears with the reflective material on ears.
These guys will make what ever you want your way.
Dave

And Protektor is the best.
dave

The Protektor leather bags are excellent and work well, but probably not "new" enough for some folks.

How true.

I do like it better than the one I was using previously!

Mike, it really depends on the stock. For example, ears that work with a cheek piece might not be the best for a non cheek piece butt. A bag with a heavy flat bottom might not work on an irregular surface the way a rounded bottom bag will. I use these (and a couple others).


For an all purpose, general use bag, this short eared Protector with a round bottom is pretty forgiving. If you need some extra height, a rubber spacer, etc. can be added under the bag.



Buy a quality bag like a Protector. Stay away from stuff like those 'suede' Hoppe's rear bags...yuk and double yuk.

Hope this helps. -Al

Al, that old soft Protektor bag and rubber base look exactly like mine, even the honest wear and tear.

For bench shooting I use Protecktors, front and rear. Rear has small ears:



Off a bipod and barricades, I normally use an original Gamechanger





I also use a min-waxed bag with Git-Lite fill when using a bag off my tripod or backpack:

What Al said

This is a progression.
More like a evolution.
We started with Tooley trackers that have a toe that's about .625 wide. Over the course of years we added delrin tow parts to the bottoms of our stocks.
These days the toes are part of the stock and are parallel to the for end.
The base on the bag on the left is actually to big.
You can't get your ribcage and arm off of it.
So we had the base of the bag made smaller.
Works much better.
What's handy is the guy from Protektor shows up at our two day championship at Ridgway each summer.
Just told him what we wanted and 5 weeks later it showed up. Filled with heavy sand ready to go.
Pic of the 2 inch toe.

Stocks with 2 inch toes.



dave

protektor rabbit ear for a do all. this would be off the bench shooting. in the field its really anything I have handy. I like leather bags like protektor for the range or bench use because they allow the gun to recoil consistently. ie the gun rides the bags. this is what helps keep your POI from moving around. gun needs to recoil back and forward in a way that is the same, the leather bags help greatly with this.

Bald Eagle rear bags with rabbit ears ,yes expensive but these bald Eagle rests are very good.

I have a couple Protektor bags, also Edgewood. they make a nice bag but is more expensive, stay away from the Caldwell stuff IMO

I agree on caldwell, I recently bought a caldwell tackdriver bag rest for shooting off a truck hood etc. Its pretty well made so far. the rest of their stuff is pretty junky

A shot bag filled with dry lentils is very stable, easy to use, and not too heavy. I'm not prone to being anal about this all.

One of my buddies that lives in Wa, fills up old crown royal bags with lentils. He shoots damn well. He's funny. He will bring out his old Stevens 200 223 rem, and old home built front rest, and that crown royal rear bag, and do some serious azz kicking. You know that old saying, "root for the underdog"? When he's on the line with that rifle, that's exactly what it reminds me of, but you can't judge a book by its cover. He'll put 10 shots into the X ring just about every time with that set up. I love shooting against that guy. If he shoots over a 5/8" 10 shot group, he's having a bad day..

Like I said, this topic gets brought up on occasion here. The main thing is find what works for you. That doesn't mean it needs to be expensive or fancy or name branded. It's got to be stable, comfortable, and allow the rifle to rest solid enough that your shots stay on target. What works for some, may not work for others.

Oh, did the guy that only shoots benchrest rifles chime in yet? ha ha. That's one that thinks you need a front rest with a gear shifter on it too. The kind that costs more than most of us spend on a rifle. To each their own. But as I always say, the proof is on the target..

You mean, like this one?



dave

nice

Dave, Dave, Dave.......dontcha' know that if you hang a picture of a rifle sitting on anything more than a $14.95 Hoppe's orange front rest you're considered an elitist?

Good shootin' -Al

Careful Al, you may make BSA photo-vomit. 😂

Burp........


Nice shooting recently with your Palma stuff, Mike....congrats, sir.

Good shootin' -Al

P.S. You can just make out the JB Weld on the sides of the rear bag bottom. It's pretty "elitist" stuff.

Got you beat Al. Mine is a black leather bag that I got from Gander Mountain in the mid ‘70s. I filled it with sand from a beach in Hawaii but years ago a swivel stud on my 7mm Wby ripped a small hole in it so I wrapped it in duct tape and it’s still going strong although it does leak a little Hawaiian sand now and then. 😁

I have several rear bags (and front t bags, and other stuff) due to manufacturers sending me samples to test for possivle reviews. But just checked my range bag and the rear bag inside is a protektor....

Depends......

I like that silver slippery stuff Protektor uses because I don't have to worry about running out/forgetting baby powder.

Do you fill up the Depends first?

I just picked up a Protektor 13b, I like it most bigly. I added some grip tape to the bottom of mine to keep it from sliding on the bench.

Al, that mechanical rear bag makes you a super-elitist. The only thing saving you from ultra-super-elitistdom is that the front rest doesn't have a Kenworth shifter handle.

Hope all is well with 'ya.

You probably oughta stick a half-dozen or so bubble-levels on that thing. In fact, you should re-do the bases so each foot could be surrounded by a gaggle of circle bubbles. Or, better yet, make the rest-tops and rifle-slides out of steel and ride the whole works on opposed magnets like a Japanese bullet train.

Doing fine buddy, back at ya....

That big bastard is/was all about tracking.......no need for a Hurst if the stars align.

After three years or so, I sent it down the road, as it was a huge PITA to haul around. I built a coffin for the ride in the truck, and needed a 4'x2' garden cart to haul everything to the line as I carried the gun. The stock was cast aluminum and stainless steel, 8" front width, 3" on the rear, with the barrel block, weighed in at 42 pounds by itself. 30" barrels were 1.45" straight, and over 13 pounds a piece. 62 pounds all in, so minimal recoil in the Dasher.

Seems most benches aren't level, so being somewhere close to level on the gun is fine, but I feel return to POA after recoil is more important. A lot of guys struggle getting bags and rests in a straight line, which gives them no chance to shoot fast when they have to fight the gun after every shot. Shifters help with that, but it doesn't address the true issues of alignment.

For BR, I use teflon tape on the stocks front & rear, keep it waxed with car wax, and spray the bags with silicon. Tall ears tend to sag, & get in the way of cheek pieces, so I prefer the longer medium sized ears, filled with heavy sand, and a thick, flat bottom keeps them from rocking, w/o resorting to a donut.

If lighter weight & portability is the main focus, my 1st pic is a Bald Eagle filled with regular sand, and I glued on a thicker piece of leather on the bottom. Sits dead flat, & easily moves around for shooting prairie dogs with a bipod on the front, giving up little in accuracy for that endeavor.

The Protektor bag in the 3rd & 4th pic is the do everything else bag, plinking, playing, and load work. Again, modified bottom & filled with heavy sand. If I were to order a new bag, I would get this one with medium ears, and angled top, not flat top like this one, which would follow the angle of most butt stocks better. Probably would fill with regular sand, as it's big enough to stay put w/o the extra weight of heavy sand.

If money was an issue, I'd rather spend it on a good front rest & a half assed bag, than a Caldwell rest & Protektor/Edgewood rear bag.

Your last paragraph is something shooters should really grasp on to. 👍

Good shootin' 😀 -Al

A 1988 Panda dual port.
12 pound bench gun.
42x Nightforce.
In 6.5 GT.
Getting to be that time of year Al.





dave

I still think suspending/floating bench rifles on magnets holds merit. Add in a couple of rheostats to tune the ride.

There are rules in place for BR that are pretty specific in regards to rests and bags that are allowed......

That seems rather short-sighted on their part, seems like removing "bag-drag" would increase accuracy.

All in jest of course. At some point while reading through the thread and seeing your rider pic the idea of magnet just popped in my head and I thought it was funny so I thought some others might as well. "Hang on there while I get my tele-handler off the trailer so I can get my rifle, rest, and 300# worth of deep-cycle batteries to the bench".