Rests, Bags and Scopes
FRONT RESTS & BAGS
Front bags come in many shapes and sizes - flat - flat with raised rib or rounded to suit a 'sporter' type stock. The rest in the centre is made by Varide Cicognani of Italy and the owner of the factory class rifle has fitted an 'accuracy asset' to help the rifle ride the front-bag better. The rest on the right is a Caldwell from the USA. It represents excellent value for the newcomer.
There is an even greater choice of rear bag (below).
From left: Bald Eagle (Cordura ears), Bald Eagle leather, Protektor leather, Edgewood leather & Cordura, Cicognani Cordura. Foreground: Doughnut stabiliser bag.
SCOPES
It's false economy to try to save money by using a cheap scope. To shoot 100/200/300 yard benchrest successfully even with a Factory Sporter rifle, you need a good scope. The is no limit on magnification power and most competitors will use 36 - 45 power. 25 power would be the absolute minimum. Don't forget, if you buy a good scope you can transfer it to your next rifle. If you want to save money, go for a secondhand model.
The favoured scopes are the Leupold and Weaver in fixed 36 power. Variables can be used but you will invariably use it on the maximum magnification, so why spend the extra money? Variables are also heavier so are unsuitable for Light Class rifles.
The same advice also applies to 600/1000 yard benchrest but because the Light Gun weight limit is 17lbs. we are not too concerned with the weight of the scope. The high magnification Nightforce scopes tend to be most popular. Again, you could work with a 25 power scope but I would recommend at least 32 power. Here, variables can be useful, particularly in mirage conditions when the sight-picture can sometimes be improved by reducing the magnification.
The Leupold 36BR scope (left) weighs less than a pound and is suitable for 100 - 1000 yard benchrest competition but many 1000 yard competitors prefer the big Nightforce variable (right) in either 8-32 or 12-42 magnification.
Wind Flags
Head up, finger on the trigger, watching the flags..................
Would-be benchrest shooters will happily spend thousands of pounds on a rifle, scope and rests but fail to go the extra yard by getting a set of wind-flags. No matter how good your equipment, you will NOT consistently shoot small groups without wind-flags.
The photograph above shows just how effective a set of properly placed flags can be. Look at the tails of the orange flags and you can see quite clearly what the wind is doing. Notice how tails are showing a strong wind in the first hafl of the range but less as we get nearer the targets.
Good flags will tell you when to pull the trigger and when to hold back.
Three or four flags will do the job out to 100 yards but for 200 yards, we need at least five. Look how the large orange fins stand out compared to some of the smaller flags. The smaller flags will be almost invisible at 200 yards. The three-leg stands (from Screwfix) are ideal as it is essential that your flags do not blow over during the match. Once the match has started, you are NOT allowed to touch your flags.
Good flags are essential but any flag is better than no flag at all. A simple pole with a streamer on it is better than nothing!
Remember - ANY WIND BLOWS ANY BULLET AT ANY RANGE!