Bench rest use with No.1s

[KyGeezer]

The manual for my new 1-B states under the heading of REGARDING ACCURACY:

"4. Rest the foreend on your hand, not directly onto a rest. Never rest the barrel directly onto a rest." - page 21

What the heck is the explanation for this???

 

[El Numero Uno]

I did not even know that was in the new manuals. Guess that I need to look one over thoroughly.
Jack O'Connor always wrote that if you rest the forearm or barrel on a hard surface that accuracy would suffer. His recommendation was to have your hand between the forearm, or barrel, and what you were resting on. Even when I have a "soft" rest, I still prefer to have my hand on the forearm. Seems like I shoot better!
Maybe this is what the Instruction Manual was trying to tell the folks who did not read Jack O'Connor 40 years ago!
Try it both ways and see what works best for you.

 

[KyGeezer]

I did not even know that was in the new manuals. Guess that I need to look one over thoroughly.
Jack O'Connor always wrote that if you rest the forearm or barrel on a hard surface that accuracy would suffer. His recommendation was to have your hand between the forearm, or barrel, and what you were resting on. Even when I have a "soft" rest, I still prefer to have my hand on the forearm. Seems like I shoot better!
Maybe this is what the Instruction Manual was trying to tell the folks who did not read Jack O'Connor 40 years ago!
Try it both ways and see what works best for you.

Thanks! Even my #2 gun guru son didn't have a clue.

I'm anxious to see what he can do with my new No.1 in 6.5mm Creedmoor with a 26" barrel. Last summer he zeroed a scope for me on my M77 in 6.5mm Creedmoor. The first 3 shot group was barely off the 1" orange dot at 100 yds. and measured 0.55" edge to edge. This Ruger is a shooter!

He caught the Creedmoor bug and is currently building a tactical rifle to take on the mostly .308 guys at the tactical matches at Red Brush on the 500 yd. range.

 

[picketpin]

Silly me, I shoot mine off the bench rest with rear bags when working up loads and when shooting "target" guns.

That being said I did have to make one modification to my rest. I had to exstend the forearm stop so the rifle rested a lot closer to the action than the tip. It is much less variable that way.

What Ruger may be pointing to is that if you are working up or sighting in for hunting then YES you might want to actually hold the rifle at the point you will be shooting it from. Forearm pressure is a critical issue with accuracy and point of impact and I suspect if you take your 30-06 out and sight it in off the bench with a rest sitting near the receiver that it may well NOT shoot the same Point of Impact when you are standing out in the field and grasping the rifle 12 inches further forward with pressure.

When sighting one in for hunting I do in fact use bags at the front a rest the rifle in my left hand and grasp it in the location I normally hold the the rifle when hinting. I adjust the point of impact accordingly. I also have NEVER shot as tight a group this way as from a machine rest. But then I don't carry a machine rest in the desert or the field to big game hunting. I have however been known to kill the occasional picketpin, rockchuck or prairie dog off the hood of the truck using a machine rest.

My 22BR and 22PPC routinely shoot into the .4s for 5 shot groups, from the bench off a rest with rear bags. After a lot of work. Occasionally I can manage the .3s but not very damned often. Best ever was 5 shots into .315 with a semi custom Shilen barreled 257 Roberts "V" set up to shoot 75 gr HPs at 3000 and to be real honest THAT doesn't happen all that often. Frankly I think it's very very close to what is possible with a #1, after a lot of work with the rifle and the loads plus pretty good technique.

Ross

 

[pisgah]

Unless I know I will always be shooting a rifle off of a rest, I always place my hand under the forend. Otherwise, every rifle I own will have a different POI shooting off the rest vs. shooting off of the hand.

 

[wunbe]

I think that the barrel 'whip' on firing is more exaggerated the further out your hold goes on the foreend, so moving your hand towards the receiver -- where both the wood and barrel are more rigid-- lets that movement take place w/o as much interference. And Ross is right abiout #1s in particular shooting best from the bag and especailly offhand with the front hand on the meatier wood closer to the action.

Also, IMO even if you use shooting sticks in hunting, it is better to have a firm but still somewhat flexible cushion under the foreend. Rifles have a tendency to move --jump?-- away from more inflexible contact points and this causes the POI to shift, often in random ways. Shooting with attached bipods will give you more consistency but a different POI than with front hand or cushioned support.

wunbe

 

[mattsbox99]

Whenever I shoot my No. 1s from the bench I use a long soft rest and hold onto the sling at the rear of the stock. Both of mine are sub 1" 5 shot guns, I'm happy.