Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Lead Sled vs Sand Bags?

What's everyone's thoughts on sighting in, shooting , using a lead shed vs using sand bags?

I like my sandbags.....if the recoil bothers me a lot I put one of them between my shoulder and the butt stock.....but that's usually with my .375 H&H and I don't shoot that much anymore.

Sandbags. Under the forearm and under the buttstock. Settle it in and it doesn't move. Squeeze the one under the buttstock as needed to move it up or down a bit.

I like my lead sled for sighting in. The gun is steadier than I can hold it on sandbags and makes it a lot easier to dial it in.

Lots of talk that a lead sled breaks stocks, but I've never found this so, even with the recoil of 12 gauge slugguns. However I never use weight on the sled. The sled weighs 17 pounds without any other weight added. I always have the sled on a flat smooth surface so it can slide and I put the sled to my shoulder on the table. This literally adds 17 pounds to the weight to the rifle/sluggun and while it pushes back on your shoulder a little, you can shoot 12 gauge slugs all day in a tshirt. Never had any issues with a stock breaking using the sled in this manner.

One of the ranches I hunt on sights in with lead sleds (they have no sandbags) . I can’t get it out of my feeble mind that it seems to cause my rifle to intentionally shoot a tad higher.

I’ll sight in at home 2” high....sight in out there and I’m 7-8” high...a little more than expected. Makes me glad I have a McMillian stock on my #1 rifle, as I definitely feel they could bust a walnut stock on a “kicker” easily.

Give me sand bags.

A guy on the bench next to me had the wrist snap on his Weatherby Mark V using a lead sled. Don't know if this was cause & effect but have never seen a stock broken off bags.

It will change POI between sled and bags but so will sitting style with bags alone. I only use bags and sit as upright as possible so that my upper body is almost the same position as when standing.

Lead sled= Hell no. Sand bag= hell yes.... Nuff said.. If you value your rifle, you won't use a lead sled. If you need a lead sled, you don't need to be shooting.

A good friend ( a now retired gunsmith) bought a Lead Sled about fifteen years ago and intended to use it for testing / sighting in heavy-recoiling customer rifles. It was on top of a tall gun safe the first time I saw it. I looked at that contraption and couldn't imagine using something like that in place of a good solid heavy rest and bags. I'm pretty sure the gunsmith had the same thought. I don't believe the Lead Sled was ever moved from its position atop the safe; likely still there today.

Lead Sled for accuracy testing, working up loads. Not too much weight in the carrier, and only if recoil would bother me. Maybe something like an unbraked .338 or .375 with a wood stock.

Zero over soft-filled bags. If using hard sandbags will place a hand (or anything that buffers) between rifle and bags. More important with light rifles, tho.

Sand bags.

I use a Caldwell Rock front rest, and 2 sandbags for the rear.

Graeme Wright used a sled for a long time while messing around with loads to check the effects on double rifle regulation but these were the big kickers like the 500NE and the like. I don't think he busted any stocks. Then again he's also got a frame that holds the sandbags and you use it standing up.

I use sled with no weight to get close if it’s a new rifle. I use bags after I get it close or to check from year to year.

Never busted a stock, had sled for 20 yrs.

I was there to see a buddy crack the stock on his A-Bolt slug gun.
Until then, he too thought the lead sled (with weight on it) was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Corn bags

I only tried a Lead Sled once. I felt like a damn contortionist trying to get lined up behind it. I prefer rabbit ears or a bull bag.

Read a lot on them. Seems if you tie the gun down and use extra weight it could be an issue.

I have one in AK. I use it testing ammo in the 458 win mag. I'm not as tough as I used to be, even back then I would put a bag of lead shot between heavy recoiling guns and my shoulder.

I won't tie the guns down. I don't add weight. I"ve never had an issue with a lead sled or other things that supposedly are bad.

No big deal working around the gun to use the sled, really easy once you get used to it.

That said I use a front rest and rear bunny? bag. Easy enough to use too if I'm using a rest to check loads or zero in.

So I'm gonna guess I dont' need to be shooting at least with 458, and to be honest since the sled was out I used it on the 284 too. very nice. Guess I'll sell all my stuff now.

So much of EVERYTHING these days needs to be used with common sense, but thats not very common anymore.

Neither! I fear that with a heavy recoil, fast impulse (fast recoil speed) rifle ....would impart additional stress on the scope. Probably unwarranted worry! memtb

I have seen two stocks broke due to using a lead sled, BUT that was because the same person was using it both times and had the sled loaded down so that the gun took all the recoil. Both times tried to tell him that was not the way it is suppose to be used. I learned from him that my info was incorrect until he broke the second stock then I became a genius.