Steyr vs Steyr Bench Rest

BENCH REST - It can be easy and difficult at the same time.  It can be very fun and very frustrating at the same time.  It   also can be very addicting.  That in a nut shell is my personal opinion of Airgun Bench Rest.   What got me addicted, was how I could pick up a new gun, in this case a Steyr LG110, drop it on a single front bag, supported by a chunk of Styrofoam underneath and shoot a perfect  250 - 5X card?

Rick B - Shooting his Steyr LG110 Hunter

This is what happened last Sunday, shooting against my friend Rick B. also shooting a Steyr LG110 Hunter in .22cal, he managed a 249 - 6X, again using a forward single bag.  With our confidence high, we started trying different shooting positions and different ammo.  Each of us shooting three additional cards, I averaged in the 245 range, while Rick out shot me with his LG Hunter averaging 247, seems the harder I tried and lower my scores became, hence the frustrating part.

I'm finding that being able to take an accurate airgun and shoot nice little five or even ten shot groups is much different then hitting the same pin head size target 25 times in a row. There are so many factors involved. Position of the gun on the bag, consistent grip or lack of grip in some cases allowing for constant shot sequence, weather, temperature,  (some of the range is non heated), ammo quality, barrel harmonics, the list can go on and on.  

Rick B made it back out to the shop this Sunday for some more bench rest challenge.  Other than using a different pellet JSB 8.4/4.53 head size this weekend, I started out with my mono bag styro foam set up that gave me the 250 card the week before.  245 - 3X was all I could mustard.  Rick with his .22cal Stery Hunter beat me with 246 - 5X.

Rick was complaining about his cheek piece being in his way, so I suggested that he remove it, which he did, and he also quit using his pellet seeding tool, last time I give him advice.  He jumped up to a 250 - 3x!  I moved up to a 248 - 6X.  Perhaps it was the JSB 7.9's or the fact that I went to a improvised rear rest, yes, feel free to chuckle at the set up, as I said it was improvised.

However, my scores were moving in the right direction, so I stayed with it.  Our third cards tied with a 249 each, but my 4X to his 2X gave me the win on this card.  Fourth and final card, Whoop there it is! 250 - 7X with my 12ft/lb .177cal LG110, Rick threw 5 bad pellets which placed him at 245 - 6X.  

Rick and I both decided that we are totally hooked on Airgun Bench Rest.  Now we need to acquire the proper bench rest equipment, build some sturdy benches, and practice, practice, practice. With long Michigan winters, FT not yet an option and small game season over,  Indoor Bench Rest has proven to be another great alternative Airgun option.  

**To Clarify our range building is 25 yards long, which means actally indoor shooting distance is approximately 24 yards. The last six yards of the range on unheated.

** Ricks LG Hunter has been reduced from 30 to 22 ft/lbs, shooting 18g JSB's.

**Rick's gun scoped with Nikko 10-50x60
** Jim's gun scoped with Leupold 6.5-20x40 Dot Reticle

For those of you who would like to try Airgun BenchRest, join us this Thursday March 1, 2012 from 5:00pm - 9:00pm.  $5.00 for 3 cards.  RSVP's always appreciated. 248-969-0377 or precisionairguns@gmail.com  This is a non sanctioned event, where the focus is on fun.  Targets set at 50 feet, indoor range.