Sand bag vs bipod

[5whiskey]

bipods are a little more tricky to use, but they are every bit as stable as a sandbag if your rifle can take them. So pointers...

-"load" the pods by keeping forward tension on them.

-bipods are best used in the prone on dirt. Hard surfaces such as benches, concrete, truck beds, etc. will be much more difficult to control the rifle because of the bounce.

-Your rifle stock must be stiff enough to take bipods without flexing into the barrel. If the stock flexes into the barrel when using bipods that will kill rifle accuracy.

-Bipods that mount or clip on the barrel are junk and useless, unless it's an RPK and you can achieve accuracy by volume. Even then, those Ruskies should have come up with a better design.

-A slight exception to the above... I have seen bipods used on AR handguards that were not free floating that shoot acceptable groups. The rifle usually shoots better from a rest or bag, but bipods don't open the group up drastically.


FWIW, I shoot almost exclusively from bipods and field shooting positions. I only use a bench if I go to a range that has one, and then I only use it if there is no prone station or the prone station is occupied.

 

[kcub]

What's the best shooting sandbags? So you still put the rifle against your shoulder, right? Doesn't seem like it would make much difference but it must.

 

[ronl]

I use a bipod and rear sand bags. Never really had much of a problem with it. The squeeze method works very well for me. I make my own bags using worn out trousers. Cut the legs out to the length you want, sew up one end, fill the bag with play sand and sew up the other end. Only takes a few minutes and allows me to have any size bag I find necessary.

 

[wpsdlrg]

A .22 is, of course, a low recoil proposition. But, if you want the most precision you can get, short of a "machine rest"....then an adjustable forward rest, usually on a heavy tripod base, as opposed to a bag.....teamed with a rear rifle bag (under the stock), is your best bet. Makes an amazing difference over any sort of forward bag.

For mid to long range shooting, say 200 yards or more, I can't imagine being truly accurate with anything less.

I say this from experience. I used to try to get by with a forward bag rest and no rear bag (bracing the stock as best I could). I've now found that a proper set-up (as described above) is WORLD's better, even for a 22.

I routinely shoot my .308's at 200 and 300 yards. I can now achieve smaller than 2" groups at 200.....and a little better than 3" at 300. And I am NOT a great shot, by any means. This is using a sporter rifle, with no modifications. I was NEVER able to achieve anything like these results using a forward bag rest.

Can't really speak about bipods, because I've never used one.