thequintessentialman
Active Member
- Mar 19, 2015
- 400
- 26
I dunno. 5 shots in 20 seconds at 600 yards resulting in a group of 0.349" seems both fast and accurate to me. (The actual shooting demo starts at 2:28. The first part is interesting tech stuff).I also find that I shoot an autoloader faster because it is so easy. This never helps group size.
That brings up an interesting point regarding the usefulness of tensioned barrels vs. tuners to dampen vibration. Tensioned barrels are kind of a brute force approach but have worked very well for some people. I think most benchresters are using tuners, though.Here's a straight pull, bottom bolt, bottom eject gun.
What do you mean by "chassis"? In all the videos thus far posted, the rifles are just rifles. The barrels are heavy and the stocks pretty massive, but they're just well-made rifles. They're all being shot from atop well-made, well-designed sandbag rests at both front and rear.Do long range shooters really use those gun chassis? Seems that it takes the human element out of the equation.
I've never been interested in that type of shooting, but it is interesting. It seems like the rest is just as important as the gun; it's all one system.I dunno. 5 shots in 20 seconds at 600 yards resulting in a group of 0.349" seems both fast and accurate to me. (The actual shooting demo starts at 2:28. The first part is interesting tech stuff).
And then there are those highly competitive 1000-yard shooters who regularly put 10 shots into a group you can cover with your hand in under 30 seconds.
As for the OP's question, in the benchrest world the competitors will spend whatever it takes to win. They have no qualms about dumping equipment they love if something works even a little bit better. If any sort of action could be made to shoot more accurately than a bolt, the benchrest world would adopt it immediately.
That's porn for machining enthusiasts.heavy rail guns using one-piece return-to-battery rests
Yes, but they could be made along the same lines as a bolt gun. They just aren't.Lever actions have the same issues as semiautos. Plus lots of points of contact on the barrel.
Sorry my misuse of terminology. The lead sled? Or contraption that is holding the rifle in place. Why not just go full robotic like off the movie jackal?
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Oh, those. Well, I don't like those but I can see why some people use them for heavy recoiling rifles.Sorry my misuse of terminology. The lead sled?
I see the rail gun setups in the video. Not a lot of human interactions. Set it up to auto feed and remote trigger and you can stay at home and shoot remotely. Not sure how much skill in involved except with setup. I would imagine your reloading skill would mean more than any shooting experience you have. All the videos have the gun resting in a cradle for the front and a rest in the back. Is there a bipod class? Or prone class of contest? This just looks extremely expensive if your not a machinist. Thanks Ben for posting this up. As you can tell I have little to no experience with style of shooting. My comments are based on trying to learn the in and outs of the sport. I'm not trying to bash or degrade in any way. I guess I imagined people shooting the old fashion way of holding the rifle at these challenges.Oh, those. Well, I don't like those but I can see why some people use them for heavy recoiling rifles.
The fact remains, though, that all the videos posted prior to your first question were of rifles shooting off plain old front and rear sandbags. They're really nice front and rear sandbags, I admit, but they're still just sandbags.
If you're seeing the way the rifles recoil straight back and are then just pushed by the shooter back to the exact same place, then don't confuse that with any sort of mechanism. (The exception, of course, are the return-to-battery rests I previously pointed out.) When you see a rifle behave like that, recoiling straight back and easily pushed right back to the same position for the next shot, you're not seeing any sort of chassis at work. You're merely seeing good benchrest technique.
Properly set up, a front rest topped with a sandbag and a rear sandbag will allow a rifle with a properly configured stock to move on a perfectly repeatable line in recoil and be perfectly repositioned back into the starting position with almost no effort.
It amazes me how many people shoot off a benchrest for a zero or to work up a load but then sabotage their own efforts by not understanding how to use sandbags. The guys in those videos just know how to use sandbags.
Bingo. Nobody wins a benchrest match unless they know how to use sandbags.It seems like the rest is just as important as the gun; it's all one system.
I guess so. There are many long videos on YT showing a benchrest rifle being made. They're weak sauce compared to the few YT vids that show the building of a rail gun. If somebody wants "porn for machining enthusiasts", those are the vids to watch.That's porn for machining enthusiasts.
No, you've got the wrong idea.I see the rail gun setups in the video. Not a lot of human interactions. Set it up to auto feed and remote trigger and you can stay at home and shoot remotely. Not sure how much skill in involved except with setup.
You say cradle. I say sandbags. We're both right. Except in the most experimental class and in (again, iirc) rimfire BR, the rules require a sandbag so there is one between the rifle and the front rest.All the videos have the gun resting in a cradle for the front and a rest in the back.
Reloading means a lot, for sure. They do it right there at the range, sometimes tuning loads for the conditions. I don't think that means more than shooting experience though since some successful benchresters find reloading on site to be an unneeded mental distraction. So things go both ways.I would imagine your reloading skill would mean more than any shooting experience you have.
IIRC, there was an experiment with an AR-centric class that used bipods. I've been away for too long to know if it survives. I do know there are several smaller benchrest matches that use bipods but I don't know about anything with world wide participation and sanction like is shown in the videos. If anybody has info on such a thing, I'd love to hear about it.Is there a bipod class? Or prone class of contest?
I see nothing you've posted as bashing in any way. You're just asking some (very good) questions. I like that.I'm not trying to bash or degrade in any way.
Oh, that exists, too, in a hundred variations. Obviously, it doesn't fall under the classification of "benchrest" but there are off-hand and supported off-hand rifle matches of every type you can imagine.I guess I imagined people shooting the old fashion way of holding the rifle at these challenges.