Have you had any problems with your point of impact or ruining a scope while using a heavily weighted Caldwell Lead Sled. Leupold does not recommend them. Your experience? AIU

I have probably 75 rounds with my 500 Jeffery through a lead sled with 35 lbs on it. Most of the other 300 rounds have been shot offhand. I have a Leupold 1.5-5x and no problems yet. It does put strain on both the stock and the scope. Since my load development is done, I probably will only put 3 rounds a year through it on the lead sled, just to check zero. The point of impact offhand and with the lead sled at 50 yards are identical as close as I can tell.

I usually use only 25 lbs, to allow the rifle to move some. I use the Lead Sled to sight-in or for load development on all my big bore rifles.

no problems whatsoever....

I damaged my mounts on a leadsled with 20kg with my 416 Rigby. Since then I have used it with no weights, and it seems OK. I only do that for accuracy testing, which is fairly rare. I zero my 400 and 450 gn loads at 100m standing post. You need more shots for this to be certain of the zero. I zero my 300gn loads at 200m sitting post. Again you need more shots to be certain of the zero, but at least I know that in the field from field positions it will shoot exactly where I aim. With bigger calibres, I have found that the point of impact shifts from benchrest to field position, and I am finicky, so I prefer to zero from field positions. As far as I can tell it makes no difference with smaller calibres, (30 and below)

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I use the Lead Sled to sight-in or for load development on all my big bore rifles.

Especially that hard kicking Stevens 22 LR!

quote:

Especially that hard kicking Stevens 22 LR! Wink

Yes, that little butt-kicking Terminator!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
I usually use only 25 lbs, to allow the rifle to move some. I use the Lead Sled to sight-in or for load development on all my big bore rifles.

Biebs even takes it with him on safari.
Karl has a special set of sticks on which Biebs sits the Lead Sled and Voila! That duiker is down ...

Michael, I was hoping you might wade-in on this topic. Have you tried the Lead Sled? If not, how do you protect yourself from the KICK of a .50 caliber gun at the bench loaded for Cape buffalo? Regards, AIU

quote:

Karl has a special set of sticks on which Biebs sits the Lead Sled and Voila! That duiker is down ...

Doc, don't underestimate those little Duikers...this one took 5 shots from my 416 Rigby...they're TOUGH! :-)



(OK, I know, it's a Suni)

quote:

Originally posted by Ackley Improved User:
Michael, I was hoping you might wade-in on this topic. Have you tried the Lead Sled? If not, how do you protect yourself from the KICK of a .50 caliber gun at the bench loaded for Cape buffalo? Regards, AIU

ME?

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:

quote:

Karl has a special set of sticks on which Biebs sits the Lead Sled and Voila! That duiker is down ...

Doc, don't underestimate those little Duikers...this one took 5 shots from my 416 Rigby...they're TOUGH! :-)
(OK, I know, it's a Suni)

They all look alike to me?

M

Michael, I think AI User wanted your opinion on using a Lead Sled, since you do so much big-bore testing and shooting.

PS: But your inability to grasp this simple question has provided the answer....you don't use one, and you've been kicked senseless by now!!! :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Michael, I think AI User wanted your opinion on using a Lead Sled, since you do so much big-bore testing and shooting.

PS: But your inability to grasp this simple question has provided the answer....you don't use one, and you've been kicked senseless by now!!! :-)

What was the question??? :-)

Biebs---


Well, I ain't short on opinions, and I have used a lead sled a little, right this minute I have a few guys coming over at 3 pm. So I am going to wait and post my thoughts on this later. So ya'll hold tight and I will get back to ya on it. End story, I don't like them much and don't use one! But will tell you why shortly.

Michael

Yes, Michael458, I was hoping you might weigh-in on this topic. It's an important topic. Lead Sleds are getting more-and-more popular; and, if there are problems with them, it should be known. I'm worried about different point of impact and accelerated scope destruction. Regards, AIU

I have used the sled with .375 up to .510 calibers without weight added. The rubber feet drag on the cement benches where I shoot and give enough to prevent destruction to my scopes or rifles. The only time I have had issue is when I lifted the rifle up out of the butt or shoulder brace and allowed the cheekpiece to recoil into the metal scratching the finish. I have corrected that for myself by adding additional foam to help prevent that from happening.
Frank

AIU

I will have to chime in tomorrow morning on it. My group just left, and found out I have another on the way--There is no peace here! LOL............ Getting close to my bedtime as well.

Catch you in the morning.

Michael

If you have a problem with load, bullet, rifle and need to fire a lot rounds to sort it out the lead sled can be a valuable tool. The butt of the lead sled is iron with A cover that gives little or no protection. Less recoil does not mean no recoil and you will find that you need a sand bag placed between the butt of the lead sled and your shoulder which only exacerbates the extended length of pull issues of the device. It is not a lot of fun to shoot with, but like any tool it has it's place.

A lead sled beats the hell out of this ...

Jebus Chuck! What did you, free recoil the 500 like it was a p=dog rig??

Shot like 15 rounds from the bench with a T-shirt (before I learned better) working up loads with the 570g TSX in my 500 Jeffery. The last 3 were over 2500 fps. It started hurting pretty bad at round 8, but stubbornly I finished all 15. I've learned to respect "Baby" and we get along fine now. I only shoot my 500 Jeff from the bench with a lead sled. I've shot 20 offhand in a session and it's just fine.

some few years ago, I guess when the lead sled first came out, I had some friends here that got somewhat concerned about the amount of big bore shooting I was doing. They contended that if I kept the pace up, that I would blow my eyes out, something like this I suppose;






They had been watching too many shooting shows, saw the adverts on the lead sled and stayed after me to get one. I said yeah yeah, I will, but never did. So they ended up getting one for me themselves. OK, so I was obligated to give it a go. I first set the contraption on the bench, and found with my benches I had to have two boat cushions to get up high enough to get in position to shoot! Bad mark #1--I did not like that. So I put 25 lbs of lead shot on and proceeded to shoot. I forget what I was shooting, but the damned thing moved all over the place, Bad Mark #2--I did not like that. I added another 25 for total of 50 lbs, still moved all over the place. So I got two more bags for 100 lbs, and the damned thing kept moving. Well the issue with this was, that now on every single shot I had to stand up, move a 100 + pounds of lead sled, and the rifle, sit back down and get in position again. At that time I had a LOT of load development going on, shooting hundreds of rounds a week to get data. Crap, if I had to go through this big drawn out process with every shot, I would never get anything done. So the thing was put under storage somewhere and not used again.

In 2007 I had a little heart issue, and the docs put a stint in. Doc said no shooting big bores for at least 3 months. WTF? I had a lot of shooting going on, I could not do that? Now I doubt seriously it would have hurt anything, I don't know, and suspect the doc was just being overly careful and covering his ass, but I tried to follow the rules. First thing I figured my oldest son could take over these duties, he is a rather big boy, work out at the gym, arms bigger than my legs, so I put him to work while I supervised. He shot well, no doubt, he knuckled in tight and hammered down, but the longer these sessions went, I could tell it was taking a toll on him since he was just not used to it. And he seemed to bruise up pretty bad. So I remembered the lead sled, dragged it out, and let him work with that a couple of sessions, even though it was slow going. Better than him developing bad habits from long sessions at the bench. Which is easy to do, even me, I have to work hard at it sometimes!

After a bit, I said crap, there is no recoil here, and no reason I should not be doing the shooting, this way I did not have to wait on my son to arrive, I could just go to it. So I started shooting with the lead sled again. Now I quit RTB a long time ago. RTB? "Reading the Book" No man, I don't need to read instructions and crap like that. HEH... So I decided I am going to stop this aggravating moving around after every shot! I made some wood holders and screwed them down to the bench to hold that lead sled in place, to where it would not move at all! Then I took a strap and strapped the front end of the rifle down in the front rest! Now By golly you SOB, you not going to aggravate me by jumping around! So I busted out the 510 Wells with some of the heaviest loads I had to give this a go. Sure enough that SOB did not move at all, I could shoot several rounds and get my work done, no issues!

So I went to work with the B&Ms and other things and shot like this for a few weeks. Some little something was bugging me about it, one day I just sit down and looked at my contraption and started thinking that "Recoil has to go somewhere" Has to be transmitted to something, nothing is free in life, there are consequences for everything, and there are reactions to actions! Starting thinking about the stocks mostly, and all the energy being transmitted to them and no where for it to be released. So on my own, still not ever RTB, I took the restraints off so the thing would move again. I still left the strap on the front to hold down the muzzle end. I continued this until I just plain got sick of sitting on two boat cushions to be high enough, and sick of after every shot having to dick around with a 100 + lbs of mess to get back in position for another shot. I put the thing back away for good then.

Later I saw that they had made some improvements to the lead sled, so I purchased one on my own, the new version. I don't remember exactly when that was, a few years ago. Somehow I just have never got up the energy to take it out of the box and put it together, it is still under one of the reloading benches in Lab #2 somewhere, still in the box.

Nothing really against the lead sled, it works for sure, but it is just too slow to work with, and such a pain in the ass having to sit on boat cushions to get high enough. I just use one of the sissy pads. I just shoot sissy guns anyway, Rob said so! LOL.......

Michael

No one can explain it like you do Michael.....
But I must admit that I agree with you.. it works very well limiting recoil but is a pain to work with.... And I have not even been sitting on boat cushions....

Hi Michael. Some things I've learned in my limited experience with what Rob calls our sissy guns ...

One: Once I've developed a good load for my rifles (I've been shooting the same two loads for my 270 for 40 years, 90g Sierra HPBTs at 3500 fps and 150g Partitions at 3000 fps), I'm lazy and don't change them. I'm the same with the 500 Jeffery. All these loads shoot well under 1 MOA. So I tend to do my shooting either offhand, kneeling or sitting, in hunting positions. So my use of the lead sled is really limited.

Two: Yes the lead sled is a pain in the ass, I too sit on cushions, the whole thing moves 3 inches with 35 lbs of weight on it when I shoot the 500 Jeffery and very often knocks off my hearing protection lol ... My only consolation is that all of that recoil could be going into my shoulder without it.

Three: Agree it puts a lot of stress on both the stock and the scope. That's why I only use it for load development and initial sight in. If my pretty wood stock splits, I'll put it in a B&C synthetic and have the metal CeraKoted and take it to Alaska after brown bear (you always have to have a plan B).

All of Michaels points are valid, you pay your money, you make your choices ...

Guys, have you noticed a different point of impact between using the sissy pad and the lead sled? Also, how have your scopes done while shooting on the lead sled? AIU

AIU- I never busted a scope on the sled and have seen no difference in impact in my 300 Win Mag, 375 Ruger, 416 Wby and 458 Acc Rel rifles which are the ones I have tried in the Lead Sled.. It works very nicely I think... But as Michael points out - its a bit timeconsuming moving the sled back in position after every shot fired...

quote:

Originally posted by Ackley Improved User:
Guys, have you noticed a different point of impact between using the sissy pad and the lead sled? Also, how have your scopes done while shooting on the lead sled? AIU

I never noticed any change of POI at all. I could not shoot as good in the sled because of not ever being in the right position. And having to start over each shot from scratch. Could have been I was just aggravated it was taking so long too--I have little patience sometimes. Especially when my efficiency is being dicked around with! LOL.............

I never noticed any change of frequency of my destruction of things in or out of the sled, seemed I could destroy things just as well with it or without it, made no difference! I have not used one at all since 2007 and I can still destroy things!

Michael

I have been using a lead sled at our shop for 6-8 years to sight in/zero customers guns. I have used them on everything from a .22lr up to a .458Lott. I have never had a problem using up to 2-25 pound bags of shot. I do not use them on double guns due to regulation of the barrels. I highly recommend them for sight-in. Not a device to practice shooting with IMO.

Chuck375- From the autopsy pictures, I think it would be wise to come to Vegas for one of Rob's shootin school experiences. I'll reposition those black and blue patches to the right places and reduce the severity a mite. Stick to the sissy guns till then though! -Rob

chuck, no disrespect, but where were you holding that stock. Man, that gun beat the hell out of you. That is wicked OUCH!

I have never used a leadsled or anything similar. I just shoot off of sand bags at the bench. That is for all the rifles we build including the 600's and 700's.

50 calibers don't kick anyway, so what's the problem?

However, if you put too much weight on your sled, you WILL crack your stock eventually. Something has to give.

Wayne, I agree. I have never used one either.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdoggy2bore:
chuck, no disrespect, but where were you holding that stock. Man, that gun beat the hell out of you. That is wicked OUCH!

Believe it or not, I know how to hold a rifle. Shooting without a sissy pad or even a sweatshirt on for padding from the bench was just stupid. The bruise started on my shoulder and the bruise just grew over time. That was day two, it actually got bigger and more colorful over the next few days. My wife made me go to my doctor (who's about 68 and is the most awesome GP I've ever had) because she was worried about clots. He said: "Now tell me which end of the rifle did this again?"

Those bruises can spread. I fell and hit the back of my arm on some ice just above the back of my elbow. After about 4 days, my arm was black from the armpit to the wrist and about 6" wide. It took almost 3 months for it to completely heal after fading through shades of blue green and yellow.

one sack of shot, and you are good to go

I dont need no stinkin led sled!-Rob

Some of us girly men do though ...

I have never touched a Lead Sled, only gandered at them at Gander Mountain store.
A PAST Magnum sissy pad is what I do to prevent bruising at the bench in load development.
50 rounds per day can be fun like that.
If I have to do more than that, I get out the 25-pound bag of shot at the bench, and stand it up on end between me and the rifle butt.