I have a friend that says that his rifles shoot to a differnt point of impact when shot in a Lead-Sled with 50# of shot on it as compared to standard rest and sandbags with only shouder impact. I am talking significant difference.

Question:
Do people feel that the Lead-Sled will produce a rifle sighted in significantly different than conventional bags.

Choices:
Yes...never use a Lead-Sled.
No...they work just fine.
No...but I think they are hard on rifles.

 

Too many absolutes in your answers. Even if the point of impact changes (which it does in some cases), that doesn't mean there is no valid use for a sled. Also, the amount of lead affects the outcome. Your friend doesn't need 50# for most calibers. I use 25# for everything 458 Lott and under, 50# for my 550 Magnum.

Answer 2: They work but they like anything else, they can be misapplied and cause a problem.

What does "hard on a rifle" mean? If you break a wrist on a properly setup Lead Sled, it was going to break sooner or later anyway. But on the other hand, by that logic it should extend the life of your scope significantly.

Last, on a heavy kicker you're going to have a change in POI between sitting on a bench and typical field positions anyway. Once you work up a load with the Sled or on the bench, you should be practicing and tweaking the scope to the proper POI for the field position you most likely expect to use.


I've had a sled since they came out but I don't get to use much these days because all my friends borrow it. It's very popular.

My buddie says all of his rifles shoot up to several inches off in a sled with 50# of lead.

I shoot in mine all the time and have never seen a problem. Just curious as to others thoughts.

That's a bunch! He must have a drastically different technique between the two. I try to hold my rifle just the same either way and I only get an inch or inch and a half change at most.

He said 1 rifle shot up to 6 inches low off the lead sled as compared to his regular rest and bags on the same bench and chair.

I have shot a number of my rifles from a Led sled and have seen no difference in point of impact. Having said that they have busted up a couple of my recoil pads so i usually put a little extra padding between my recoil pad and the sled.

I cant explain why, and please dont bash me, But I shoot better groups shooting off sandbags.
My groups with my lead sled are all over the place.
W.

W.
No bashing here. Just curious as to why. The fellow I originally talked about is a very cmpetent rifle shot.

Got any theories??? Is it just positioning?

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Got any theories??? Is it just positioning?

I picked up a Lead Sled DFT and have used it all of one time so far.

I will say that I can shoot my .338 and .375s again. Have some bad cervical discs that don't do well at the range anymore.

You can "pinch" the forend into the rabbit ear front bags. This will prevent the rifle forend from raising up due to recoil. This will make a rifle shoot lower than from a loose gripping front sand bag.

That's my theory and I'm sticking with it.

I haven't had the change to compare POI w/ the Lead Sled and w/o it yet.

I think you'd have to actually watch him shoot both ways to really give a solid answer.

But my guess is when he shoots off of bags the gun is much lower to the bench and maybe harder to get a good hold on the forearm? The sled is so high that you can really reach around and honk down on the forearm.

I use a self-made benchrest device which uses no addtional weight. It weighs about twelve pounds and is fully free to slide when the gun fires. I have tested dozens of rifles ranging from .22 Hornet to .375 H&H A.I. for POI change when fired either on bags or from the shoulder and have found absolutely no change. I've built three of these benchrests and all of my shooting friends clamor to use them when we go prairie dog hunting -- not necessarily for the recoil reduction, but for steadiness and convenience.

Adding the twelve pound weight of the rest alone to the inertia of the gun will tame the recoil of ANY rifle; adding 25 or 50 lbs to the Lead Sled is unnecessary and undesirable. By making the gun fully stationary you place a huge strain on the bedding. It doesn't take a very large caliber to start splitting stocks if you virtually immobilize the gun, thus forcing the stock itself to absorb all of the acceleration.

If you use the Lead Sled (which has some design flaws unrelated to the use of additional weight) put a few sandbags on it if you wish, but don't put any shot; it is unnecessary and may cause harm to your rifle, particularly if it is a heavy caliber with a wood stock.

silliness......

quote:

self-made benchrest device

Stonecreek,
Can you post a pic of it?

Personally...I like my Lead-Sled. Have had NO trouble with anything on it. A friend, who is a competent shooter, was just telling me how bad they were and how my guns won't hit where I look.

quote:

Originally posted by woodsie:
I shoot better groups shooting off sandbags.
My groups with my lead sled are all over the place. ...

That is typical for a lot of the Recoil Absorbtion devices.

quote:

Got any theories??? Is it just positioning?

No theory to it, the Fact is the Recoil Impulse is changed by having a Recoil Thingy in the way.

If it is a Large Bore, you will always be afraid of the Recoil if you do not acclimate yourself to the Firing Sequence. Being able to establish a proper Hold and Shooting Form is totally eliminated by having the Thingy in the way.

Even the 22RimFire Competitors have a Class where $$$HUGE$$$ Recoil Abatement Thingys are allowed. Fully adjustable in all directions so they can put one-shot in each Target. What a joke! Might as well have a Robot do the shooting. How they can take pride in shooting that way is something I do not understand.

Even the Pachmayer Decellerator and other Recoil Absorption Pads change the Recoil Impulse and make accuracy less precise. Just the way it works. But they do help with the Recoil.

I have a Lead Sled, but I don't like using it. For whatever reason, my groups are always tighter off sand bags. As far as shooting different POI, mine is the same.

The only time I use mine is for initial sighting in, but when I start fine tuning, I switch to bags.