Anyone use Shooting Coats?

[Crimper-D]

For the number of centerfire rifles I shoot, a coat with the proper padding is the difference between fun and PAIN! I find a shooting jacket provides a level of comfort even when shooting rimfires and benchrest...I have very boney elbows that don't like being dug into dirt or a concrete shooting bench.

You hear about Eye and hearing protection while shooting, but not much about Padding!
Anybody... ?

 

[shadowkil]

Shooting coats are used in highpower competition, but not so much for padding as for stability. In fact, near as I can tell (I just started learning this game last weekend) there isn't really any padding at all in a highpower shooting coat. You have rubber pads at the shoulder and elbows to provide extra friction so that the stock doesn't slip at all on your shoulder and so that your elbows don't slip on the mat in prone or your legs in sitting. It is also tight around the hips and lower back to provide extra support during standing strings. I wouldn't know anything about cushiony coats

 

[Rokchukrslave]

Highpower coats have padding on the elbows, left bicep area(for RH shooter), and the shoulders where the butt of the rifle is placed. Mine in particular is a Creedmore, and has 1/4" padding in these areas. The padding on the left bicep/tricep is to not only provide friction for your sling, but to deaden the pulse that can be transfered to your rifle.
As far as shooting comfort, I regularly shoot in 60+ rnd matches with a .308 and I am not sore at all.
They are far too expensive to buy just to go shoot at the range from a bench or the like.

 

[swampyMO]

CrimperD,

Padding against recoil is not the issue with the shooting coats & jackets....... damping of your pulse and steadying the hold are their primary purposes.

I don't have one of the heavy padded coats. Too heavy and HOT for me. I shoot with one of the Champions Choice green canvas "riflemans coats". No padding whatsoever. It does have the gnarly rubber patches in all the right places to keep you from slipping. It can also be cinched down tight enough to give the body support your position needs. It is also 1/3 the cost of one of the big heavy padded coats.

When I first bought it I noticed an immediate improvement in my ability to hold offhand. By making the upper straps tight across the shoulders, and the lower straps tight around the hips, I was able to see a firming up of my standing position. Note: leave the middle straps around the waist looser so you can breath properly.

The rubber patches also give you a wider range of OPTIONS in you position. My previous prone position was kinda' high. Usable, but not nearly as stable as a lower position would be. Without the jacket, the low prone was not possible because the buttplate would not stay in my shoulder pocket. Kept dropping out. With the jacket, the rubber pad in the right shoulder grips the butt and allows me to get as low as I want.

For $65.00... it's definitely worth that to see my shooting improve.

my .02
Swampy

 

[AK103K]

I find it interesting that people who shoot with jackets have a hard time shooting without them. I was always chastised for not using one when we shot CMP/High Power, that my scores would be much better if I wore a coat. I always looked at them as "cheating", along with fancy clip on slings and mitts. Its funny how the jacket crowd's scores drop without that coat and extra gear. Practice makes perfect, I think the money is better spent for ammo. This kind of goes hand in hand with the people who only shoot from the bench and expect that this is a true indicator of their capabilities.