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front bench rest.

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 4:41 pm
by Rich V
Got the bug for a new rest. I've been shopping around and have found a few that interest me. A guy could put alot or alittle $$ into it. Just wondering what some you guys use.

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 5:12 pm
by huntsman22
I went the ultracheap route. An old car jack...... Thing is, it works great. And faster for elevation than the factory made jobbies. For PD and skwirl shooting off a bench, I wouldn't trade it for one of the fancy-smancy ones.

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Now if a guy was competing for big money........

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:28 pm
by Va varminter
Huntsman that is very clever. I wish I had thought of that. But I'm not above stealing a good idea. :D

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 7:32 pm
by huntsman22
I don't mind. I've had lottsa good ideas, when it come to saving money and shooting/hunting.........

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:46 am
by Mike
I use the Caldwell Rock front rest. If I had it to do over again, I'd step up to something a bit better. The Rock works well, but I would prefer a bit more for times when I'm punching paper.

I noticed that Midway was running a sale on the Rock, so it's a good time to snag one if you're interested.

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:29 am
by Rick in Oregon
I've used everything for both punching paper to field "BR Varmint Shooting" for a front rest ranging from rolled up jacket, Levi leg full of sand, short Harris bipods, the crude and cheap commercial front rests, a Witchata, used a BR Rock, and ended up about five years ago biting the bullet and springing for the Sinclair All Purpose front rest, and to date, have no regrets.

The front of this model adjusts for different forend widths from light sporters all the way to wide full-blown BR rifles, and has proven to be the most versatile, dependable, and rock steady front rest I've ever used. There are other quality units out there that could possibly be better, but this unit has served me very well. All the adjustments are silky smooth and easy to operate from the shooting position.

My Sako Vixen 17 Mach IV having her way with Skippy in the field with the Sinclair:

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The base is high quality ductile cast iron, powder coated, and the entire balance of the unit is all stainless steel. I use a set of Superfeet under the rest pins to protect the top of my BR Pivot oak bench top. (MY Sako 75 Varmint 204 barely showing, and 'yes', I know the forend stop is reversed in the photo.)

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You can spend less, and you can spend more, but this is what I ended up with after years of dinking around with other front rests.

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:47 am
by Rich V
Rick
That is the rest, that got my most attention. Sinclair says they no longer have the fore end stop because their test have shown they decrease accuracy. Looks like you found that out before them. Another was the Caldwell and this one from Cabela's. Mainly because its cast iron an weighs in at 14#

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ ... hasJS=true

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:22 pm
by Rick in Oregon
Rich: No offense intended, but the one from the link provided is not even close in any way to the Sinclair, trust me. If the money is not a big issue, you want a high quality rest, and you like the looks of the Sinclair, it's the one for you.

The one shown in the link is a few grades below the Caldwell BR Rock, which gets mixed reviews for having sloppy adjustments and being a Chinese import. It's not bad for the money, but the Sinclair is very high quality and U.S. made by serious shooters, and when compared to the BR Rock, well.....there really is no comparison. A bit spendy, yes, but in this case, you really do get what you pay for.

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 5:45 pm
by majcl5
None needed


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Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:34 am
by Rich V
Rick
None taken. I know what the right thing here is to do.

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:31 am
by scootertrash
Rick in Oregon wrote:and 'yes', I know the forend stop is reversed in the photo.)
I wasn't going to say anything this time Brother Rick........honest! :wink:

Mike

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 8:50 pm
by Gube
Has anyone tried the new Caldwell fire control rest. Looks really good in theory, but can it do what they claim. Fairly pricey as well.
http://www.battenfeldtechnologies.com/c ... ength-Rest

Re: front bench rest.

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:16 am
by jo191145
Gube wrote:Has anyone tried the new Caldwell fire control rest. Looks really good in theory, but can it do what they claim. Fairly pricey as well.
http://www.battenfeldtechnologies.com/c ... ength-Rest

Caldwell also makes their fire control in a standard front rest. Just under $200.
As far as coaxial rests go thats dirt cheap. A Farley starts at $850.

I have not personally seen one of the new Caldwells. A few guys on 6BR.com tried them. Mounted new rest tops on them to utilize 3'' bags. (The factory supplied top is not big enough for most 3'' bags)
Halfway decent initial reviews. Then I noticed them up for sale in the classifieds. That speaks clearly.

Saw some reviews complaining of plastic parts breaking right out of the box.

I decided to save my money.
I use a Caldwell BR 1000 rest. Compared to the quality rests that cost twice as much its like driving a John Deere with flat tires compared to a Lamborghini.