Shooting bag filler

[thedogdidit]

I just bought a set of bags and am curious about pros and cons of various fillers. I know rice is cheap, and light but does it draw in moisture and become moldy?
Sand is free, but heavy. I have never owned a cat so unsure about kitty litter. Is it dusty? What other alternatives are you experienced with?

 

[mirglip]

Rice and corn attract vermin. I use perlite. Much lighter than kitty litter.

 

[Rich/KY]

I've used airssoft pellets and also aquarium gravel in shot bags, Worked well but have not used it bags like you are using. Suspect it would work fine in them as well.

 

[thedogdidit]

I've used airssoft pellets and also aquarium gravel in shot bags, Worked well but have not used it bags like you are using. Suspect it would work fine in them as well.

hmmm. I wish airsoft pellets were cheaper. Expensive for the quantity I would need. But, aquarium gravel is a great idea. Cheap, and molds well. Thanks for the idea.

 

[themousethatroared]

I kind of thought the weight was part of the goal because it kept them more steady, so this is probably something else I am doing wrong.

I would like to point out that fifty pounds of sand, surprisingly enough...

...weighs fifty fricking pounds.

 

[Laserbait]

Stay away from traditional kitty litter. It's compacted clay, and will crumble a bit with every shot and get very dusty. Plus, if it gets wet, it'll be a huge mess.

If you reload, or know a reloader, washed spent primers seem like a good filler. That's what I'm planning on filling my bags with when I get around to buying some.

 

[planetcat]

Only sand for me, but I don't mind the extra weight given how low maintenance it is and that the bags stay solid on the bench.

 

[thedogdidit]

I kind of thought the weight was part of the goal because it kept them more steady, so this is probably something else I am doing wrong.

I would like to point out that fifty pounds of sand, surprisingly enough...

...weighs fifty fricking pounds.

Maybe weight is part of the goal. Unsure. Never used a bag before. But I can assume that carrying that extra weight, in addition to the extra ammo, targets, range bag, couple of rifles, mult revolvers and whatever else I carry would tend to become more of an unwanted chore. Parking at my range is a hike from the car to the range. And when I do finally find time to go to the range, I make the most of my day. I empty a lot of brass, and release MUCH burnt powder into our atmosphere.
50 lbs weighs how much again!?!? I don't believe you sir.

 

[thedogdidit]

Stay away from traditional kitty litter. It's compacted clay, and will crumble a bit with every shot and get very dusty. Plus, if it gets wet, it'll be a huge mess.

If you reload, or know a reloader, washed spent primers seem like a good filler. That's what I'm planning on filling my bags with when I get around to buying some.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0749LRR8P
I just bought this. supposedly dust free corn cob material. Mehh, we'll see. Plus, it is cheap. Bonus points for that. Never used a bag before, so this might be a nice upgrade for me.

 

[peachhead]

I generally use rice. I have not had issues with vermin as of yet, but possibly because I keep my sandbags inside a 50 cal ammo can.
My old sandbags were reused shot bags. My new ones I got on ebay. Sand was so heavy it ripped the handle off the bag.
I did not look for airsoft projectiles, maybe I will try that next time.

 

[peachhead]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0749LRR8P
I just bought this. supposedly dust free corn cob material. Mehh, we'll see. Plus, it is cheap. Bonus points for that. Never used a bag before, so this might be a nice upgrade for me.

I didn't think of that. I have a big bag full of finely ground walnut shells that I bought for use in the tumbler but it was so dusty, I quit using it.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

I use blasting media. I bought a bag of Black Diamond at Tractor Supply years ago and have filled several of my bags and friends bags.

 

[krw]

For my rear bag, I bought bag Hvy Sand. Prob from Sinclair's years ago. Never regretted it

 

[Blackhawk Convertable]

I'm using spent primers. They work quite well.

 

[usmc69]

I live in Florida, can you guess what most of us use? Sand and lots of it!

 

[Hertervillian]

Crushed walnut hulls. Look at a pet supply store that has lizards, or possibly hobby lobby. It’s the same stuff used for cleaning brass but won’t have any treatment on it.

 

[Teflon97116]

I have sand in my shooting bags and they're heavy.

Should that ever become an issue, I might switch to something with higher volume/less weight. A 40lb bag of animal bedding pellets runs $7.99 at the local farm store.

My shooting bags came in a set of four and I use only two at a time. I hang one of the extras under my full-height spotting scope tripod to increase image stability.

 

[Decibles2]

For a general-purpose shooting bag, use corncob blasting media or plastic airsoft BBs. If you want cheap and available, use rice but with precautions. Avoid sand unless you want a hernia.

 

[sgcardinal]

I originally filled them with sand but, not only were they very heavy, the brand I bought allowed a bit of sand so constantly leak out through the seams. Now I use rice. Works great

 

[Mobuck]

I continue to use sand. It's only 100' from shop building to shooting bench so transport isn't an issue. The stability is worth the effort.

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

Sand or aquarium gravel and an angled trap work great. Sand is better for the longevity of the bag, but gravel gives a better idea of penetration. It's a shame that ballistic gel is so expensive.

 

[gunzo]

A sand filler is present for a couple reasons, to hold bag shape & keep the bag in place when the gun that's resting on it gets fired. As mentioned, there is also a special heavy sand that helps just that much more for no movement.

For portable lighter weight bags, plastic granules or pellets used for injection molding is very hard to beat. Finding a sensible or small quantity at a reasonable price is the tricky part. Have seen some smaller amounts on Ebay.

 

[Iroc]

I originally filled them with sand but, not only were they very heavy, the brand I bought allowed a bit of sand so constantly leak out through the seams. Now I use rice. Works great

If the bag opening is big enough you can put a heavy duty ziplock in first as a liner and then fill it with a funnel and zip the small opening closed before you close the bag up.

 

[gnappi]

Another Floridian here for using sand!

 

[seasterl]

I have Caldwell bags with sand and I was unhappy with the sand seeping through the cloth, so I generously sprayed them down with the water repellent spray used on hats and boots, etc and so far it seems to help. If it didn’t, I was going to use this (see link below). I didn’t want to use anything dusty (corn or walnut media used in our brass cleaning tumblers) so I don’t get it on my rifles.

https://ebay.us/m/MlpQMg

 

[hollywood63]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5VNY5KS

Rubber pellets of sorts let me know how much you need