What is your setup for shooting good pistol groups from a bench?

What is your setup for shooting a big bore revolver from a bench?

Is this rest helpful?
https://www.midwayusa.com/prod...015046659?pid=517357

I bench rest my pistol for the purpose of sight confirmation after I install new sights. So I have an MTM Products Rifle Rest. It works for the few times I need it and was priced right.

I bought a similar rest, and didn’t much like it. My objective was to get the sights of my pistols properly adjusted. All had adjustable sights.

A statistical method worked better for me. I gave the rest away.

I used to use various configs of leather sand bags that I normally used for rifles, it worked pretty good. I've tried the MTM pistol thingy, was not happy with it. Leather bags are nice, you can get them in all sizes and shapes, but are a little pricey.

I don't have confidence in hard surface rests given the dynamics of recoil for handguns, which I don't understand, the way I understand high power rifle recoil movement in bags. My GUESS would be the best way for testing like that would be to rely on your hands to handle the dynamics of the gun, on top of bags, short of a ransom rest. I'm positive someone on the great Sigforum knows the answer.

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What is your setup for shooting a big bore revolver from a bench?

My setup is what I would use hunting. Seated, forearms resting on my knees.
Worked well for my 44 mags.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I bought a similar rest, and didn’t much like it. My objective was to get the sights of my pistols properly adjusted. All had adjustable sights.

A statistical method worked better for me. I gave the rest away.

I used a similar rest when working up loads, but found it was not useful in regulating the sights. I found the point of imact from the rest was different than that when handheld.

I had a fancy pistol specific rest but ended up using the same thing I use for my rifles. Various shooting bags work great and maybe just an adjustible front rest make my setup.

I've always just used a stack of small sandbags.

I used to shoot 100 yard groups with single action and DA 44 Mag and DA 357 SuperMag revolvers, both open sighted and scoped. Also a 375 SuperMag SA revolver. A key of course is a good rest for gun, but also elbows and head. I usually use a normal target rifle rest under the barrel, and either a 1/2" thick rubber mat under the butt or a brick sandbag.

Sitting against a post or tree with knees up and elbows on knees is good because you get some head stability, but you give up some support steadiness perching elbows inside knees. Perfect would be back and head rest seated on ground with a low bench for a sandbag rest.