Just started shooting for groups with an AR for the first time. I have an old front rest that’s pretty dinky. I’m looking for a moderately priced rest/bag/whatever, front or whole rifle, that will help me stay on target. I’d really like to spend $100 or less. Just need something decent to get the job done. The more $ I have to spend on ammo, the better:D.
How about:
The Caldwell NXT:
The Rock:
The Matrix:
I have this same question, as I too want to shoot from a good rest for sighting in. My buddy brought his Lead Sled today, but the AR would not fit due to grip and mag. I saw this in a Midway flyer when I got home, and might get it:
I got “The Rock” it pretty simple and works very well for the price and its can packed on my bag without making much bulk. the only problem i noticed its the sand bag its a bit small i may cause a problem if you got attachment on the front part of your rail, otherwise good stuff 
I’m going to suggest a front bipod instead of something the size of a small automobile like most of what you have pictured. Add a rear bag and if you’re any kind of shooter you will get similar groups to what you would get using most of your pictured products.
Do you want to shoot the gun or just watch it go off when you pull the trigger? Anyone can set a rifle in a sled and produce decent results. What’s the point in that? 
The point is to determine what the firearm is capable of if you remove the human element. That way you have something to gauge your performance by. I would not use one except to determine the capability of the firearm. Then practice without it.
I do not own one, but have considered buying one. It is very low down on my list of things to buy though.
Yeah that is what I was thinking as well. I think it would be nice to know how bad of a shot I really am… LOL
Another great reason for it is when your hand loading for a rifle and need a solid base to make sure everything is as close to the same as you can get for evaluating different loads.
The OP said for shooting for groups. That means more precision than off hand and prone. This is a very different animal than just plinking and “combat accuracy”.
Understood. But for around $100 what the OP is going to end up with is not going to be very good at what he’s wanting to do. Getting a front and rear sandbag would be even cheaper, accommodate his AR, and give just as good results as any of the options pictured.
A good bench sled-type rest is going to run more than $100 and if you are just going to use a front-type rest then, again, a good front bag (or a couple front bags since we are talking an AR here) or simple sandbag is going to get the job done. A front and rear bag can stabilize a rifle just as well as any of the options pictured. It won’t get rid of the recoil, however, so if that’s part of your requirements then the two bag system isn’t what you’re looking for. Most of the Caldwell sleds require resetting between each shot also, however, unless you have them bolted to your bench.
I have one similar to the first one pictured and I like it.
The rock as it is more flexible.
I am firmly in the “Bipod and and a rear bag” Camp.
You might lose 1/52 MOA, but you will have items with multiple purposes, especially if you are shooting a weapon that deserves to be benched.
That^^
Sand bags are way cheaper along with a 20 round mag. or smaller so the rifle doesn’t have to sit so high.
Once the rifle is sighted in irons or scope…
What’s the intended purpose?
punching paper? self defense all around plinking? small game where legal?
Hows the rifle set up & is it a quality brand?
I don’t think you give up much just using a good bi-pod - so long as it’s minimum setting is the proper height for bench use.
This may be worth looking at.
http://www.montie.com/#shooting_rest
Youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjA5LofoZxw
good for using as bipod. not for rest, it jumps alot.
Yes it does jump, but it beats dragging sandbags to the range.
Morning,
We designed the X-Rest and AR-Rest products to be extremely lightweight and quick to deploy. The big advantage is that when you are done you just take it apart and put it in your bag and go. Nothing heavy or bulky.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Montie
Montie Design
montie@montie.com
800-722-7987 x107
I am also looking for a rest solution. I do not want a sled, but nor do I want a bipod (which I already have and use). For my purposes I need the rifle isolated but stable, and a separate front and rear rest would appear to me to be the best way to do this.
molon uses the Sinclair Benchrest Windage in his testing but at $370 for the front alone this is more than I want to spend.
I would like to hear more about what people are using that’s moderately priced and is a complete system for front and rear. Specifically something that works well with both free-float rails and standard handguards as well as various collapsible stocks at the rear. I’d like to be into the whole system for around $200.
The Caldwell Rock pictured above seems like a potential candidate for the front rest and I’d like to hear more from those that have used it and what they used in conjunction with it at the rear.
Anyone can set a rifle in a sled and produce decent results.
Not so. If you think benchrest is easy, go to a benchrest match and tell the competitors.
I’m no bench rest expert, most of my experience is with rifles that kick too much to shoot extensively off a rest. Some things I know for certain: It looks easy. It ain’t easy. I don’t have all the answers but I do know some of the questions.
I was benchrest shooting several ARs over the weekend and it took some time and effort to get decent results and I am by no means happy with the results. There are several pitfalls in benchrest. First, the forearm must slide freely on the front rest. If it grabs because of checkering, a Picatinny rail or sling swivel it will cause inconsistency. Similarly the butstock must move freely. If the gun is not sliding freely on the rest or bags you should use a towel, polyester shirt or something to make it slide freely. The front rest must not tip during firing, it will not tip repeatably. As the rifle recoils it should move away from the rear bag not into it. This is almost always accomplished without problem with an AR (see photo above) or a more conventional rifle but the M4 type stocks present a problem. I’m pretty sure my rear bag was grabbing the stock inconsistently so I quit using it. Other problems are consistency of hold, breathing and heartbeat. These issues more or less invisible in offhand shooting but are plainly a problem off the bench. One thing I did use to good effect was this:
Remove the pins and use on the bottom Picatinny rail, it presents a flat, relatively wide base which slides well on the front rest.
One thing I would really love to have is an AR15 style stock that would slide onto an M4 extension for just this purpose. I’m thinking about fabricating one.
Benchrest does have great value in testing. If you are shooting six inch groups offhand at fifty and your ammo shoots ten inches at a hundred then your marksmanship is pretty good but you need better ammo. If your ammo can group an inch at a hundred then it is your marksmanship that needs work. Benchrest is the way to tell which is which.
The Caldwell Rock pictured above…
Looks too tall. I can’t find height specs on it but I was using a cheap Hoppe’s rest over the weekend and found it tall enough at it’s lowest setting which is pretty low compared to this Caldwell. I wound up not using a rear bag at all, using my upper body with chest against the bench and elbows planted. The problem was that my heartbeat caused the crosshairs to jump maybe an inch at 200 yards. I accepted this just mentally subtracting an inch from the groups. No big deal since my groups were in the range of eight to twelve inches. If I was getting better groups, say three or four inches and heartbeat was causing an inch jump it would have been of more concern.
re: the need for the forearm to slide smoothly
I saw a web page yesterday (cannot find it today, naturally) in which the writer had used the holes in the bottom of a standard hand guard to afix a smooth rectangle of steel to the forearm, which let it slide on a rest similar to the Caldwell fore rest in this thread. I have also seen commercial versions of this plate advertised, and an accompanying plastic piece that was attached to the toe of the stock. This second piece then slid smoothly on a rear sandbag. Not adequate for high recoil rifles, but good for .223/5.56.
Not a benchrest shooter. Just trying to find out exactly how accurate my rifle is with various ammo, to see if it needs a different twist barrel. I was first headed down the “tie it down 'till it screams” line of thought, but after this thread and a couple of benchrest demos on on the web, I think a better path would be to let the rifle slide back consistently (no tipping) and then re-index to a known fore-and-aft position.
Thoughts?