I am going to buy a shooting rest for bench shooting, and have narrowed my choices down to the following two Caldwell models.

Rock BR for competitive shooting..........$169.00

Rock deluxe............................................$79.00

The BR model is heavier, it has more adjusting dials, and will accomodate a wider bag than the deluxe model.

For our type of shooting am I justified to spend the extra $90.00 & purchase the BR, or will the deluxe satisfy my needs???

Bruce

Remember that the big one from Caldwell (Midway) is a ripoff of the Bald Eagle design.  I use a Wichita.  Wish I had a BE, but finances don't allow it at the moment.

David
Montezuma, IA

As the thread is drifting away from the original question, if I were to buy a basic rest just to keep the fore end from resting on the bench, I would either get the cheapest Caldwell, or the old, ever popular Hoppe's unit.  If I were going for a good one, with price being of little or no concern, I would buy the Mountain Specialties (see my review in SSR J about a year ago.)  Since I am "financially embarrassed" (as usual) I am using a jury rigged version of a bencrest that is a pale copy of the M-S unit's better features.  FWIW, the Hohne (sp?) top is as good as or better than the other windage tops and can be retrofitted to your good heavy base if you have one.  I suggest perusal of a copy of "Precision Shooting" might give you some good ideas, as it is a Bench Rest specialty mag.

Froggie

Bruce,
If those are your two choices I would go with the “BR”.   I caught them on sale one time and bought two, one for myself and a friend.  The windage slide adjustment part in the middle can lift out and break the base at the swivel point.  I put two tie-wraps on mine to keep this from happening after my friends broke.  I also removed most of the top stuff because I use a “Brick” bag and rest the barrel, not the forend. Many folks shoot off the forend so I’m not sure the best way to set it up for that.

Thanks so much for the information.

Especially the details on all the other rests which are on the market.

Like a lot of other folks so often I have found myself buying equipment and later upgrading to better quality. I end up spending more than what I needed to if only I would have went out and bought quality to begin with.

For the money the Caldwell products look fine, but over the years I have come to learn that using the best you can afford does indeed improve your scores even if it only gives you that much more piece of mind when you reach for ther trigger.

I like the look of the basic Sinclair model. At $249.00 it's still within my wallet's range.

Regards,  Bruce