What to look for in a shooting rest
A good shooting rest is crucial for any serious shooter because almost anything can hold a rifle up, but very few things hold it up the same way sixty times. A shooting rest or bag that doesn't allow for consistency is a waste of money.
Most of this comes down to fit. The ear gap on a rear bag has to suit your buttstock, because too wide lets the stock roll under recoil and too narrow makes it bind, which is why Edgewood offer 3/8 and 3/4 inch ears. The surface is also very important: leather grips and holds the rifle where you put it, slick 3M lets you slide the rifle into position and lets it recoil straight.
Then, consider what you actually want to do with the bag. A bench bag needs mass so it stays put when the rifle recoils into it, while anything you carry through a positional stage needs to be as light as it can be. Work out whether you need something that holds a setting untouched between shots or something you re-establish each time, and whether it has to work only off a bench or prone and positional too.
Check the practicalities as well - whether it folds down for travel, whether it stays put on a bench or a mat under recoil, and whether the fitment is right.
Front rest or front bag
The fore-end can either be supported by a front rest or a front bag - and there are specific reasons why you might go for either one.
When to choose a front rest
A mechanical front shooting rest is a cast or machined base with a windage top and an elevation screw. You dial it rather than feel it, and it holds a setting between shots without being touched. For NBRSA and IBS benchrest, nothing made of fabric matches it. The Protektor Long Range Front Rest is the ideal product for this.
What a mechanical rest does not do is travel well, work prone off a mat, or function in a positional stage. It is a bench tool.
When to choose a front bag
A front bag conforms to the fore-end instead of clamping it, which is why the ears are shaped to cradle rather than grip. They are designed to sit on a mechanical rest or straight on the bench.
Measure your fore-end before you order. A bag chosen on its size name, small, medium or wide, instead of on its actual measurement is a good way to get a bag that doesn't fit properly.
Rear rests and elevation control
Bunny ear and owl ear bags
The important thing to consider here is again, the ear gap. Too wide and the buttstock rolls under recoil, so the rifle comes back somewhere slightly different each time. Too narrow and the stock binds, and you can feel it fighting you as you settle.
Edgewood rear bags are offered with 3/8 inch and 3/4 inch ears. The narrower suits a wide range of buttstock profiles and is the usual choice for bench rest and F-Class, where the stock is flat-bottomed and the rifle is expected to track. Protektor bunny ear bags cover the same ground in leather and Cordura.
Front bags are sized the same way. Protektor owl ear front bags run roughly one and a half to one and three quarter inches between the ears, in small, medium and wide.
Squeeze bags
A squeeze bag is a rear rest you hold. The Soup Can and Souper Can are shaped like a can of soup so they sit naturally in the hand, letting you make smooth, controlled elevation changes without breaking position or coming off the target. They are filled with Spex-Lite, and available in waxed canvas.
What to put in a shooting rest bag
Most shooting rest bags are bought unfilled. This is deliberate, because fill decides how a bag behaves and what it weighs. The bag is designed to be filled by you depending on your preference and what you intend to use the bag for. For example - a bench bag needs mass, because mass is what keeps it still when the rifle recoils into it. A bag you carry through a positional stage needs to be as light as possible while still able to hold its shape. No single bag fill media does both.
We stock Spex-Lite heavy sand in 15lb bags for bench work, and Spex-Lite 5125 where a bag needs to be able to hold shape while carrying weight. We'd thoroughly recommend either one of those two, because any other fill media that settles, crushes or absorbs moisture over time is inevitably going to change shape, and a change in shape changes your zero. What's worse - it will do it slowly enough that you will blame the load first. Fill is just as important as the bag itself.
Ear material and the recoil path
The material inside the ears decides one thing: whether your stock grips or slides.
- Leather grips. The stock stays exactly where you put it, and leather holds its shape longest.
- Cordura is lighter than leather, better in wet weather, but grip is not as good.
- Slick 3M lets the stock slide. You can nudge the rifle into position without the fabric bunching up, and under recoil the rifle slides straight back instead of catching and releasing.
- A rigid, flat base matters as much as the ears. A base that sags changes your height and your hold over a season.
Positional and field support bags
Wingman
A tapered, lightweight bag that fills the gap between your knee and your elbow, which is where most of the instability in an awkward position comes from. Velcro straps let you attach it to your arm for a whole stage, or hang it from your body so it is to hand. In many cases it also works as a rear bag.
Vintage Sniper Rest Bag
15 by 11 by 7.5 inches, stackable for extra height, with Coyote Cordura sides and grippy black rubber on the top and bottom. You mould it around the rifle to get a steady sight picture and a repeatable position, off a bench or prone.
Bear Hug, Huggie, Freezer Bag and Sandwich Bag
Bear Hug and Huggie are fore-end support bags for situations where a front bag is not practical, both also available in waxed canvas. The Freezer Bag and Sandwich Bag give positional and rifle support in shapes that suit barricades and improvised positions.
Doorstop tripod leg rest bag
Attaches to the rifle with a Velcro strap and stabilises the rear of the stock against your tripod leg, with a triangular shape matched to the angle of the leg. Because it lives on the rifle, all you carry to the line is the gun and the tripod.
Bipods, tripod and ARCA mounting
Phoenix Precision bipods, Gehmann and Crosman are target bipods. This is different from the field bipod on a hunting rifle. A field bipod is designed to be adjustable, quick, and tolerant to different surfaces. A target bipod is built for one known surface and one known position, so it is rigid and holds its setting - because on the firing line, you want the rifle to come back exactly where it was rather than to be adjustable.
For tripod-based setups, the Creedmoor ARCA mounted plate assembly and the Phoenix Precision ARCA clamp head connect the rifle to the tripod properly, instead of balancing it on something and hoping.
Frequently asked questions about shooting rests (FAQs)
What is a good shooting rest?
One matched to how you shoot. For bench rest, a mechanical front rest and a flat-bottomed rear bag with narrow ears. For prone and F-Class, a front bag and a rear bag sized to your stock. For positional and field work, support bags you can carry and mould around the rifle. There is no single best rest, only a best rest for a course of fire.
How do you use a shooting rest?
Set the height so your natural point of aim is on the target without muscling the rifle into place. The fore-end sits in the front rest, the buttstock in the rear bag, and nothing should need holding. Then check that the rifle returns to the same place after recoil. If it does not, the ear gap, the fill or the height is wrong.
What should I put in a shooting rest bag?
Heavy sand for bench bags, where mass keeps the bag still under recoil. A lighter media such as Spex-Lite for positional and field bags you have to carry. Nothing that settles or crushes.
Do shooting bags come filled?
Most Protektor and Edgewood bags ship empty, because fill decides how the bag behaves and what it weighs. Our own bags vary by product, and fill is available separately.
What is the difference between a front bag and a rear bag?
The front bag carries the weight, sets the height and has to let the rifle recoil straight. The rear bag controls elevation and is the one you adjust between shots.
What ear width should my rear bag have?
It depends on your buttstock. Narrower ears, around 3/8 inch, suit a wide range of stock profiles. Wider ears suit broader flat-bottomed target stocks. The stock should sit without rolling and without binding.
What is the best front rest for benchrest shooting?
A mechanical rest with a windage top, used with a front bag sized to your fore-end. The rest gives you a repeatable mechanical zero; the bag gives you the contact surface.
