Shooting a Revolver from a bench???

[44man]

I bought a used "Pistol Perch" years ago, works great for taking the 'me' out of the equation.

Larry

I have one too but it flew over my head with every shot!

[crabo]

I use a tall leather sandbag on my front rest and push the bottom of the barrel and trigger guard into it. I place a bunny bag under my right wrist, so the gun can recoil. My left hand is wrapped around my right hand, with both thumbs stacked and pointiing forward.

I also put a sand bag under my left wrist/hand and one under the left elbow. The right elbow is cushioned by a soft pistol case.

It works pretty good for me.

[Three44s]

I prefer the Keith backrest position to a bench type solution.

Three 44s

[Bass Ackward]

Felix, you're quite a shooter if you can touch off that Model 29 like that without disturbing the sight picture. I've struggled for almost a year now with a 29-3 10" bbl, something about the grip shape seems to hit a tendon wrong and I can't make the trigger break without shifting the gun. 100-yard groups got better when I used a vee-block under the ejector rod shroud and a bag in front of my knuckles, but it's difficult to two-fist a .44 Magnum and NOT bear down on that front block. Vertical strings often result for me. SAA style guns are MUCH easier for me to shoot sitting at a bench.

I don't know the BEST bench postition for a pistol, but I know for sure POI is greatly affected by anything at all under the but of the gun, as well as any downward pressure on the bbl. Like Larry said, a pistol butt needs room to travel downward.

Gear

Many peoples shooting problems stem from grip. I can't shoot most grips for S&Ws. Never could. Hands ache in short order if the caliber requires that I stress to control. And the gun feels .... LARGE and heavy. That .... has long since changed.

Try taking the hold of your choice and holding it with the pressure that you are going to fire and hold that tension for 2 minutes. Then relax. If you don't feel like you could go right back to another 2 minutes, then you and your grips don't fit. Grip fit improves your steadiness for off hand work because you aren't stressing the grip. Both up front at the beginning and for long strings. And at the end of the shoot, I can still balance a dime through hammer fall.

I suspect that this happens to a lot of folks that just .... don't realize it or ignore the inconvenience. But when I got into Herrett's that fit my hand ergonomically and perfectly positioned my hand correctly every time, then things changed. Got my first set in 1978. Takes grip sensitivity for POI change out of the equation. And the surprise is I actually feel less recoil than when I use rubber grips. I have two sets of Herretts that get installed for shooting. (They are about $100 a set)

If you ain't got good grip fit, then even your baggin won't be all it can be.

I bag for control, screw POI.

[44man]

On the money Bass!
POI is not even thought of when working loads, just so they are on the paper somewhere.
Sight in always is last once you decide what to shoot.

[felix]

The "hold" I suggested is valid for no more than medium loads, if that. I have never gotten a grip feel that I am comfortable with, and so I hate any resemblance of recoil. Steve's grips are polly best, but I have only used them on the break-open guns. Even then, the 30 Herrett loaded max was max recoil I can stand, even with the Herrett grips. ... felix

In the Herrett case, 18 grains 4227 with the 311291 hovered the one inch area at a hunnert. The gun had a 2x scope. I made 100 rounds for the guy who owned the Southwest Rifle Range in Houston in exchange for a lifetime of range fees. He really enjoyed that load because it killed his game on an annual basis. As far as I know, that was the only gun he used hunting during the time I was in Houston. ... felix

By the way, that gun had a 14 twist, and the boolit holes were round with that boolit, say 1700 fps thereabouts. ... felix

[Bass Ackward]

The "hold" I suggested is valid for no more than medium loads, if that. I have never gotten a grip feel that I am comfortable with, and so I hate any resemblance of recoil.

I ain't saying that Herrett's are the only ones out there. There may be other customer makers like Lett that does my Bisley grips. But Felix, it looks like you have medium sized hands. The smaller the hand, the more you appreciate a custom grip. Please visit their WEB site.

http://www.herrett-stocks.com/

But I feel that I owe myself the best chance to perform. And I have a deficiency of scruples so I will steal every advantage possible. And of all things I can recommend, that comfortable grip pays the most (BIGGEST) dividend. If you think $100 isn't worth it, then I have to ask how serious you are about what you do?

All I can tell you is that the older I get, the more I appreciate these grips. The biggest pay off is snap shooting because it positions the hand consistently. For off hand work (aimed) it allows for increased steadiness that is observed in group improvement. For bench work it returns the least I suppose, but it still helps some. But who in the hell shoots bench all the time with a handgun.

I can recommend the covered back straps for the Jordon's for recoil and the Combat Shooting Masters for ambi work which I describe as an ambidextrous Jordon.

[9.3X62AL]

Lots good info in this thread for me, 'cause I'm not settled on a particular method of bench-firing a revolver. Much of my past such work is done with the same grip dynamics I use standing offhand, with the wrist-ends of my forearms rested atop the bags while I'm seated. Alternately, I go Elmer Keith-style as above.

[Bass Ackward]

Lots good info in this thread for me, 'cause I'm not settled on a particular method of bench-firing a revolver. Much of my past such work is done with the same grip dynamics I use standing offhand, with the wrist-ends of my forearms rested atop the bags while I'm seated. Alternately, I go Elmer Keith-style as above.

Well consider the gun too. If your alignment isn't good from left to right, you may find a different technique better. Take a pistol perch that has no side support to allow uncontrolled movement under recoil.

No one way. Sometimes I have a bag in the front, one under the butt, a rag under my elbo, and another heavy bag on my fore arm to steady and or cancel recoil. And that's for a 22LR.

Can't win fair .... cheat.

[archmaker]

I use the creedmore when I can, but most gun ranges won't allow it.

I believe that you have to shoot from the bench when testing a load. Standing may be the way I shoot, but the groups you produce are product of how good you are standing, not a group of how good the gun shoots. You can't diagnose your own personal shooting problems until you know how good your gun shoots. If bench testing indicates a 3" group at 50yds and you are shooting a 9" group at 50 standing, you need to work on fundementals.

Bag under the butt, wrist supported, front of barrel supported right in front of the frame with my blast shield drapped over the front rest. Slow and easy with rest as needed, last week shot my 45 1911 for accuracy, 24 rounds took me over 20 minutes to shoot, and I hurried some of them. I typically sit for about 3 minutes after I set up the target to allow myself time to get used to the noise and focus on what I am going to do.

[Rocky Raab]

A few observations from my own 50+ years of test shooting ...

The best place to rest most handguns is under the frame immediately in front of the trigger guard. That point is closest to the center of rotation, and therefore has least effect. Read details below.

If the butt touches anything, or rests on anything, accuracy will be affected adversely.

The gun WILL shoot to a different impact point off a rest. You can use a rest to judge accuracy, but you have to sight in holding it as you will when afield.

Here are the dynamics involved: The fall of the hammer gives the muzzle a slight down-push (and so does the trigger hitting its overtravel stop). If the barrel is resting on something, it will rebound upwards as ignition is taking place. The barrel will always therefore be pointing higher than it would be if not rested.

The instant the bullet begins moving, the gun reacts by moving upwards as well. When the bullet hits rifling, the gun will respond by torquing opposite the twist direction. That is usually counter-clockwise as seen by the shooter. So the gun moves up and left - and this is more pronounced for right-handed shooters because the wrist bends better that way.

The butt slams downward under recoil, but will bounce if it is resting on something. Depending on your grip, that bounce can either add to the upward muzzle flip, or counter it. Either way, the vertical component of recoil is changed.

All things considered, the gun will shoot smaller groups if rested just ahead of the trigger guard on a slightly cushioned rest, with the butt not touching anything. Resting the forearms or wrist(s) will not change anything. The gun will not shoot to the same point of aim when rested as when shot unrested - so do your final sight in unrested, even if groups are larger that way. I do final sight-in holding the gun with both hands and my elbows resting on pads, but the gun otherwise unsupported.

[MT Gianni]

I use a MTM caseguard adjustable rest. It was under $15 10 years ago. I rest the front of the frame where the bbl screws in on the rest and the butt on my hand. I shoot for group to test loads. Practice is a field rest of resting the arms against a tree or post in a two-handed grip. This can be with the arms on top of or with a slight push on the side of a wall or post.

[357tex]

I used to stand and shoot with both hands like Felix shows,over the hood of a tractor,Now arithritis has me most of the time setting behind the wheel of my golf cart,using the steering wheel as a rest gripping as Felix showed.Works for me.