Shooting rest or bag?

[Demonic69]

Hi Everyone, me again......
While I whittle away the hours until I can ACTUALLY GO SHOOTING I'm getting together a list of thing I may need.
Already planning on a bore-snake etc and have now turned my short attention span to rests.
I'm only after something for sighting-in/zeroing, not for when I'm actually competing or plinking.
There seems to be a vast selection of bags and rests.
The way I see it is that bags can be cheap and do they job, rests will be a bit dearer (only looking at the £40-60 range really) but *should* be more accurate and could possibly be used for other tasks, like cleaning.
I'm sure I've seen a rest that takes different attachments for shooting, cleaning and smithing (bubba-ing in my case) but I can't find it now.

So over to you guys. I really do respect your opinions and experiences. What do you recommend a n00b for making sure it's me that sucks, not the rifle?

Cheers

[The Gun Pimp]

Firstly - ditch the bore-snake - worst possible way to clean a rifle - best way to ruin the crown! Start off right, buy a rod AND a bore guide.

Secondly - if you just want a large sand-filled bag to rest the fore-end on, there are a few on Ebay under Sporting Goods/ Hunting.

[Demonic69]

Firstly - ditch the bore-snake - worst possible way to clean a rifle - best way to ruin the crown! Start off right, buy a rod AND a bore guide.

Oh right! Glad I didn't bite that bullet yet! The other option to hand is the Bisley rifle cleaning kit, any good? Do you know if it comes with a guide?

[Tower75]

I've personally never gotten on with bags. I use one of these:

http://www.solware.co.uk/air-pistol-air ... rest.shtml

I was only looking for something cheapish when I bought it, after all, money, what's that, never seen it.

I think it cost me around £40.00 a few years ago to buy one. Very sturdy, and adjustable.

[Demonic69]

Hi-Tower (See what I did there?)
That's similar to what I've been looking at, but the full front and rear version, they're about £40 now too, which seems OK.
Are they plastic? What's the weight like?

[ovenpaa]

The combined front/rear rests never seem to work as well as they should do when I tried them. Remember a sand bag is just that, a bag filled with some sand and as such easily improvised. You can even build a simple front support out of wood with some carpet attached to prevent damage to the rifle front end. For the back something as simple as a plastic bag with sand in stuffed into a woolly sock works and costs nothing.

I totally agree with Vince, the bore snake is the work of the devil. Use a one piece cleaning rod pushed in from the chamber end and if all else fails improvise a cleaning rod guide out of a piece of tube that is a reasonable fit in the receiver. It is there to align the guide to the bore and prevent damage to the chamber and throat so try and find something with a smallish bore, I have seen bits of 3/8" ID aluminium tube from an old TV aerial wrapped with tape used to good effect in the past.

You can always upgrade at a later date

[Tower75]

Hi-Tower (See what I did there?)
That's similar to what I've been looking at, but the full front and rear version, they're about £40 now too, which seems OK.
Are they plastic? What's the weight like?

Yes, plastic. They don't weigh hardly anything at all.

[SevenSixTwo]

Got range bag? Use that.

[Christel]

Firstly - ditch the bore-snake - worst possible way to clean a rifle - best way to ruin the crown! Start off right, buy a rod AND a bore guide.

Wot the Pimp says.

Also this is where the jag comes in, I was not quite sure if you were serious when you asked what a jag is. razz
The jag sits at the end of the cleaning rod holding the cleaning patch with the cleaning fluid on, some cleaning rods come with a standard jag however they are not spear points.

[The Gun Pimp]

Firstly - ditch the bore-snake - worst possible way to clean a rifle - best way to ruin the crown! Start off right, buy a rod AND a bore guide.

Oh right! Glad I didn't bite that bullet yet! The other option to hand is the Bisley rifle cleaning kit, any good? Do you know if it comes with a guide?

Buy the right stuff and buy once. Check out Proshot - Hannam's and Fox Firearms are UK importers. Tip - buy a 22 cleaning rod - it will clean anything from 223 upwards.