Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting Best shooting bag fill - sand, beads, kitty litter or other items

I’m adding some leather Protektor bags to my shooting bench - casual hunting sight-in or informal match most likely use I have lighter weight bags for PRS.

What besides toy sand is recommended, ideally to be fairly to very accurate shooting out to 500 yards off a reasonably steady bench?

black heavy sand you have to buy from a bench rest site works best

Salt water aquarium sand. Fine grain with a good mass. Cheaper than the specialty BR sand sold online.

Buy the salty fish sand at local pet shop.

uncooked rice, bag moves very easy with just a slight squeeze of the hand yet has good weight.

Heavy Sand is the best.

A close second is the black blasting media....Menards, etc has it.

Good shootin'. - Al

^^^^Not being argumentative, because I honestly don't know....but didn't some pretty famous benchrester, Skip Gordon or somebody back in the day, say 1 of the ten commandments of bench shooting technique was, "be not a rear bag puffer" ???

I use a mixture of sand and old tumbling media. Works great. I've tried straight kitty litter too, it works, but seems to be too light for my needs. YMMV..

You're correct. A rear bag that acts like a sack of marshmallows is not what you want for accuracy, precision or repeatability.

Good shootin' -Al

Takin' that a step further Mr Nyhus...I'm well over my head here admittedly... there is sand, and then there is sand (in the construction business anyway). If I lay a layer of sand or gravel with the end goal of leveling and supporting a load, I need to use a crushed product, which has geometric facets which lock together. If I use washed rock product then the rounded relatively smooth surfaces act as ball bearings....my stability and compaction are shot to hell. Can we apply this to bag filling material? Are we overthinking it? I don't think there is any worse material than 25# bags of lead shot on the bench is there? Yeah, probably overthinking it.

Like shooting off of a bean bag.. Ha ha..

I did mine with sand and #9 lead shot mix. Not saying it is the best but it has served me well

A well done comparison of different rear bag fillers:

https://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/bag-sand-comparison-test/



You're exactly right. The black blasting media is slag from casting processes and as such, has a lot of jagged edges that lock together to stabilize the volume of material in a bag.

The problem with that in registered Benchrest competition is that metallic materials are not permitted as bag fillers. Other than that use, the black blasting media is an excellent filler.

There might be something to different fillers in the bag bottom and the ears....

Good shootin' -Al

Thanks for all the input. First bag showed up pre-filled so the other 2 will give me some comparison vs what protektor uses normally. I’ve experimented with lighter fills for portable bags & they just aren’t great particularly for inexperienced shooters who struggle to hold rifles steady or for really precise shooting.

Specneeds: Whenever I am getting low on "sandbag sand" on my next trip west bound on I-90 near the small town of Vantage, Washington I take to the time to turn south of the interstate on the east side of the Columbia River.
I travel about a mile south and the sand dunes created by the Columbia River and the wind are right alongside the road.
The sand here is the "best" I have ever found for filling sandbags of all types!
I fill a cooler with the sand and it lasts me and my friends for 4 or 5 years
This sand is VERY fine and rather heavy - not quite as heavy as the "specialty heavy sand" used by bench resters - but maybe 85% - 90% so.
And this wonderful sand is free - I have been using it for many decades!
Good luck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I shoot Protektor bags filled as they come from Protektor.. I do not like a heavy and stiff front bag.

My rear bag is presently filled with heavy sand. But I’ve tried 71/2 lead shot and blasting sand. Hasbeen

I don't either. You might as well be laying your rifle on a fn rock. That heavy sand is bs for the birds. I like my rifles to nestle and settle into the bag, so I use a filler that allows that, yet still has weight to it. A mix of sand and even tumbling media or kitty litter works just fine and is not going to be hard as a rock. To each their own, but that's what I like. When your rifle settles in

....and the bags create a good resting place your groups will shrink. A lot of this chidt isn't rocket science. Just find what works for you and go with it... I used that picture above because it is the last time i was at the range (just a few days ago). I was flinging some bullets downrange to test bullet stability, not necessarily shoot for group size. That is my cheapest rifle I own, a stevens 200 chambered in 22-250. With the set-up shown. Cheap azzed Hoppes front rest with protector bag filled as I outlined, it shoots sub moa 10 shot groups.



Another great misconception is that your front rest has to weigh as much as your 1/2 ton truck axle. It doesn't. The Hoppes shown above is made from cast aluminum and is not that heavy, yet it gets the job done. The Wichita Arms front rest in the background is heavy, but I use that one for other rifles with wider forends. Front bag size is very important when it comes to shooting good groups. More so than the weight of the front rest IMHO. That rifle shown above is also very lightweight. If that rifle can shoot like this in the set up I have shown, a heavy rifle does much better. The key is the bags need to grip the rifle, which reduces wiggle and increases stability, which increases shot to shot consistency/precison..

Exactly. Might as well be shooting off of a bean bag..

If you want heavy then sand all day

I settled on that sand used in reptile aquariums.

You definitely don't want the front bag too hard...that's a sure fire way to get a bunch of vertical on target. -Al

...I use bird seed in both bags. Flexible enough for my needs.

bsa1917unter: IF.... as YOU say the heavy sand "is bs for the birds" why do virtually all the competitive bench rest shooters in their quest for the ultimate in accuracy/consistency use it?
I think you are wrong in your contention.
I have shot over bags filled with heavy sand and a person can easily "nestle" their Rifle into the bags filled with heavy sand - I know I done it!
You almost earned a sheesh here!
The main reasons I fill most all of my sandbags with regular very fine sand is it is somewhat lighter and I take most all of my front bags, rear bags and window bags afield, very often, Varmint Hunting - and then there is the "cost factor" ($40.00+ for 15 pounds).
Heavier sand in ones sandbags (that fit your Rifle properly) will aid in obtaining better accuracy (thats why the bench resters use it!)!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I don't recommend food type filler. Mice have plenty enough reasons to chew on stuff.

One vote for cat litter - works for me in my bags

the post above me is the corect way to fill a good shooting bag and those are the best shooting bags made. may i add this when bag is almost 3/4`s filled pound it down with your hands ,add some water in bag and pound bag down some more add more dry sand add more water pound bag more keep doing this tell bag is full and very hard . bag will dry out in a couple of days ,set bag in a dry place .once bag is dry always use some type of powder on bag like monkey butt , so your rifle sides easy back and forth . good luck,Pete53

I found it easier to use crushed limestone, also known as screening in the industry, as I have a free supply source of it here,
and it's not only slightly heavier than Zircon, but it's not from China, or India!!

It does everything that the other advertised products do, as I tend to think, maybe a little Better.
Limestone is Heavy, repels water,and moisture, (unlike most sand), with exception to silicone.
Forms well to needs in the shooting bags, and stays in place.
I simply put the Limestone in a Ziploc bag, and insert into my shooting bags,
as it makes sure of Limestone Dust confinement, (if any).

For those of you unfamiliar with the Material in subject, it's like a coarse grained sand like material,
ground down from, natural Limestone removed from the ground, which is plentiful in Ohio, here.

Total Cost;
Shooting Bags
Ziploc bags

Made in the U.S.A.!!!

On a prairie dog trip, I wanted a bag but, not a lot of shooting supply stores out there. I bought a bag of bird seed and a roll of duct tape.

Let out a bit of seed and taped up the entire bag, worked pretty good!

Great Idea in a Pinch!

The bottom shape of the bag is more important than what's in it. Convex bottom is no good. Get one that sets on the edge of the bag and it will be far more stable than one that rests on the center of the bags bottom. A little heavy sand and then you really have something. Look at the Edgewood bags.

Just to clarify, Limestone does not repel moisture, in fact it will readily absorb it when available.

Thank's for your clarification. I agree with you as I stand corrected.
I guess my point is, that I'm happy with it, and it's not mushy, or soft, as it holds it's shape well,
and when I go back to it after being on the shelf for a while, it's good, as for holding it's shape, and doesn't roll around like a smooth round bead might.

One thing I learned from my benchrest competing buddy was not to shoot off 2 hard bags, one is OK but not both. I prefer a softer rear bag than the front bag.
Phil

Learning as I read - thanks fellas

IMO I use sifted sand or aquarium gravel.
I've tried the beans and the rice and oil sorb
and the various things. I don't like stuff that
crumbles eventually. Might as well use flour
and cut to the chase. Sand or fine gravel will
be in the same shape decades from now
as it is when you put it in the bag

Over 20 years on the same fill of wheat in empty 25 pound shot bags. The wheat doesn't get hard or crush, and with the sand bags on top, you have a solid and easy to adjust set of bags that are solid and don't weigh what sand does...