Bench bipod hack and creedmoor at the range

[steelfingers]

Did some work on my firefield (inexpensive) bipod. Tightened it up and eliminated play. Some shooters want that play, to allow recoil, but I wanted it stiff. Got it where I like it.
Next I did a bench hack for the bipod.
Biggest problems with bench shooting (and inexpensive bipods) is bipods feet. They twist and move on a bench and it hard to load it forward with any consistency. Thought I'd try this hack, and it worked.
Couple of clamps and a piece of wood and I could load the pod perfectly.
It worked great for me and now I'm going to use it every time I shoot with a pod from a bench.
6.5 creedmoor 40 round 200 yds. 140 grain black box hornady.
Was raining pretty good and the gun hasn't been cleaned in a while. I'd put a bunch of rounds through it Saturday so the barrels more than fouled. Not completely disappointed in results but they need to get tighter at 200. Much tighter.

 

[Jcann]

I built the bipod rest into my bench so I could load it properly. You want the bipod and rear bag to work in unison (keeping the axis of the weapon in alignment with the target) while the rifle is in recoil. You're absolutely correct in the fact that its difficult to do at most public outdoor ranges while shooting off their benches. If at all possible, I will shoot on the ground from the prone position using a bipod and rear bag.

Nice shooting by the way. I believe the 6.5 Creed and .260 Rem is the perfect chambering for Oklahoma.

 

[steelfingers]

I built the bipod rest into my bench so I could load it properly. You want the bipod and rear bag to work in unison (keeping the axis of the weapon in alignment with the target) while the rifle is in recoil. You're absolutely correct in the fact that its difficult to do at most public outdoor ranges while shooting off their benches. If at all possible, I will shoot on the ground from the prone position using a bipod and rear bag.

Nice shooting by the way. I believe the 6.5 Creed and .260 Rem is the perfect chambering for Oklahoma.


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I've got a new shooting mat on order that has the bipod catch. I made my own rear rest that keeps my hand and arm off the stock to reduce my heartbeat transfering to the rear. I've been using a sleeping bag as my prone but the moving foot pads on the pod are still a problem on grass and hard pan unless you can put some atlas addons. That's why I'm excited about the Magpul bipod. It will take any atlas pad and it looks darn solid.
The firefield I'd seen on yt and it was a good price. Didn't expect anything but it's ok. Needed to put some work in firming it up.

 

[Jcann]

I have an inexpensive shooting mat from Midway USA with the webbing for the bipod that I use while shooting prone. Although I generally don't have trouble loading my Harris bipod while shooting from the ground without the mat. I wish I had bought the 6" to 9" rather than the 9" to 13" tall bipod. I hardly ever go above 9" in height and often I would rather be lower on the bipod than higher. I think a lower bipod will generally shoot tighter groups at distance than a taller one but I don't have anything to prove it.

Other important things to watch that some don't realize are, body alignment behind the weapon, (recoil is like electricity, it will take the path of least resistance and hook/slice the shot) stock to shoulder pocket position, consistent cheek weld, natural point of aim, and naturally breathing, trigger control, and follow through. All of this should be second nature while the shooter is focused on making the shot

 

[steelfingers]

I have an inexpensive shooting mat from Midway USA with the webbing for the bipod that I use while shooting prone. Although I generally don't have trouble loading my Harris bipod while shooting from the ground without the mat. I wish I had bought the 6" to 9" rather than the 9" to 13" tall bipod. I hardly ever go above 9" in height and often I would rather be lower on the bipod than higher. I think a lower bipod will generally shoot tighter groups at distance than a taller one but I don't have anything to prove it.

Other important things to watch that some don't realize are, body alignment behind the weapon, (recoil is like electricity, it will take the path of least resistance and hook/slice the shot) stock to shoulder pocket position, consistent cheek weld, natural point of aim, and naturally breathing, trigger control, and follow through. All of this should be second nature while the shooter is focused on making the shot

You are right sir.
A lot of mechanics to shooting at distance. That's mega cool. I like the challenge. Small things like putting your cheek weld over the bag and so on.
My getting the rhythm of the recoil, is still a work in progress but getting there.

 

[Jcann]

I too like the challenge. We put 60 rounds down range yesterday, 20 - .260 rem & 40 - 7wsm. I still need to gather additional down range data and I really need to do a tall target test on my scope. My ballistic data was 0.2 mils different than what I observed in the field. This may not sound like much but that's 5.5" at 455 yards. My "Shooter" app gave me 2 mils at that range but I only needed 1.8 mils.

 

[steelfingers]

I too like the challenge. We put 60 rounds down range yesterday, 20 - .260 rem & 40 - 7wsm. I still need to gather additional down range data and I really need to do a tall target test on my scope. My ballistic data was 0.2 mils different than what I observed in the field. This may not sound like much but that's 5.5" at 455 yards. My "Shooter" app gave me 2 mils at that range but I only needed 1.8 mils.

I use a ballistics calculator that gets me around where I need to be, but you really have to load for the best results. We go out to a thousand + and that's when you have to get pretty close on the dope.
I'm trying to get some consistency as I move out. Shooting at 200 zero and developing a load at 500. Figure when I get that clean, then it's me far down range. (Hell it's me up range too...Ha)

 

[Jcann]

I've never shot to 1000 yards. Probably the most I can get at the farm is around 900 yards. Most of the time it's either 760 or 845 yards max. To get 900 yards I would be shooting where I couldn't spot misses. Now if I shot across the county road onto my uncle's place I think I could exceed 1 mile...but that would be against the law.

 

[steelfingers]

I've never shot to 1000 yards. Probably the most I can get at the farm is around 900 yards. Most of the time it's either 760 or 845 yards max. To get 900 yards I would be shooting where I couldn't spot misses. Now if I shot across the county road onto my uncle's place I think I could exceed 1 mile...but that would be against the law.

Very against the law. Ha. Right now, I might as well be throwing rocks at 1,000. I can hit but with little consistency. Even with a spotter, can't really see the misses except the low ones. If your high, forget it. Anything past 500 is prone for now. Thinking about a tent and build a solid bench for cold/bad weather.
I don't like being cold or wet and cold and wet is no go.