What a mat actually has to do
A mat has three distinct jobs - and really only one of them has anything to do with your comfort.
Stop your elbows moving
Your elbows are two of the three contact points holding the rifle up. A surface that lets one slide, or that gives way under one more than the other, moves the rifle and moves your natural point of aim with it. That is why the non-slip pads are textured and extended rather than the whole mat being grippy: the grip needs to be where the load is.
Hold its thickness
Padding that packs down over the course of an hour lowers one elbow relative to the other, and it does it slowly enough that you adjust without noticing. Jute holds its loft. Cheap foam does not, which is the main reason an inexpensive mat feels fine for twenty minutes and wrong by the end of a string.
Keep the ground out
Cold and damp both reach you through a thin mat, and both cost you position over a long string long before they make you uncomfortable. A waterproof vinyl bottom and a marine finished top is actually allowing you to shoot more consistently, as well as keeping the cold and wet out.
Roll-up vs foldable mats
This is really more of a decision based on how you intend to travel with the mat rather than how it affects your shooting.
Roll-up
Roll up mats will roll up tight and strap to a range cart. You can deploy it in one movement. It is the standard choice for High Power and long range, and it is what most of our range is. If your mat rides on a cart or in the bed of your truck alongside everything else, this is the one you should go for. Available with a vinyl bottom, a Cordura top over vinyl, and in dual colour.
Fold
A folding mat is the one to pick if you carry your kit by hand rather than wheel it. The Deluxe Fold-Up has carrying handles, and your shooting equipment travels inside the fold of the mat, which a rolled mat cannot do. The Quad Fold uses two layers of half inch polyethylene foam under your elbows and a single layer under knees and hips, a style popularised by smallbore and 3-position air rifle competitors. Both sit on a waterproof vinyl bottom, and the Deluxe Fold-Up adds double thick jute padding under the elbow pads.
Long range and ELR mats
The Custom Deluxe Long Range Shooting Mat came directly out of feedback from ELR and long range shooters who needed things a conventional High Power mat does not have, while keeping the jute padding, 1000 denier Cordura upper and water-resistant vinyl bottom that were already proven.
The Long Range Double Mat is the same construction at twice the size, and it exists for a specific problem: pair firing in team competition, coaching from alongside the shooter, and a shooter and spotter working side by side. If you have ever tried to run a spotter off the edge of a single mat in wet grass - you'll know why this is a great product.
Field and bench mats
The Field Mat is heavy duty Cordura with a protective liner that pads you from rocks and wet grass, and a split liner midway down so it deploys quickly and rolls or folds again in under a minute. The Bench and Field Mat folds to 15.5 by 17 inches for bench rest and lighter range days, and there is a dedicated Bench Mat for bench work.
Kneeling rolls
The Creedmoor Deluxe Kneeling Roll is 7.5 by 7.5 inches, made from Cordura nylon with high quality non-slip material around the outside. It is supplied unfilled.
We don't include a fill because fill changes how the mat behaves. For example - cork is firm and stays where you put it. Plastic beads conform more to the ankle and settle into shape. Spex-Lite is the lightest of the three. Which is right depends on your kneeling position and your ankle flexibility.
Alongside it are the Field Target Kneeling Cone, and the Knee and Elbow Pad, made from the same rubber as our mats and filled with a quarter inch piece of felt that will not settle over the course of a session.
How thick should a shooting mat be?
A common misconception - thicker is not automatically better. Too much padding raises you off the ground and puts your elbows on a surface that moves under load, which takes away the stability that the prone position is supposed to give you in the first place.
What is important is not overall thickness, but that the padding does not compress unevenly, and that the elbow areas are supported more than the rest of the mat. That is why our mats add thickness specifically under the elbows rather than everywhere, and why the fill under those pads is jute rather than soft foam.
Frequently asked questions about shooting mats (FAQs)
What is the best material for a shooting mat?
A 1000 denier Cordura top for abrasion resistance, jute padding that holds its thickness rather than foam that packs down, and a waterproof vinyl bottom with a marine finished top. Textured non-slip material under the elbows matters more than the material of the mat as a whole.
How thick should a shooting mat be?
Thick enough under the elbows to keep you off hard ground, and no thicker. Excess padding raises you up and moves under load, which costs stability. Even, non-compressing padding beats deep, soft padding.
Should I buy a roll-up or a fold-up mat?
Roll-up if it travels on a range cart, because it straps down and deploys in one motion. Fold-up if you carry it by hand, particularly the Deluxe Fold-Up, which lets you carry equipment inside the fold.
What should I fill a kneeling roll with?
Cork for a firm roll that holds its shape, plastic beads for one that conforms more to the ankle, or Spex-Lite if you want the lightest option. Rolls are supplied unfilled so you can choose.
Do I need a kneeling roll for High Power?
If you shoot across the course, yes. The kneeling stage is the position most affected by ankle flexibility, and a roll is the standard way of making it repeatable.
Are the mats made to order?
Our mats are hand made at our Anniston, Alabama facility, so lead times vary by product and are shown on each product page. If you need more detail, feel free to get in touch either by telephone or via email.
