Jackpine please provide more info.....
Does the rest have a windage top, what rest are you using, your rear bag, front bag, trigger pull weight, how is stock shaped/configured, free recoil, wind flags...?

Scott

I sold several boxes of Ely Tenex to a local ARA shooter simply because it was manufactured on machine #3 at Ely.  He swears that hos rifle will only shoot well with ammo from that machine.

Jack

Bench rest is a specialty, one I never mastered. But rifle shooting, most other forms of shooting too, consistency is key. No matter what the equipment it has to be handled consistently set up and recoil .

That’s why some, me included, could shoot smaller groups prone with a coat glove and sling than bench rest. Certainly the rested position is more stable, I  had thousands of shots prone very few rested. That’s the difference.

My advise is leave your equipment alone it’s probably good enough, and practice consistency moving from bulls eye to bulls eye. Short strings 3 or so, but left right, left right, over and over until you understand what’s different target to target . No doubt it’s way the rifle is managed on bags   

Boats

Scott, in answer to your questions;

I was originally using a Bald Eagle rest, with windage top and the "remote" flex adjustment removed and replaced with a direct knob screw directly into the side of the top.  I have upgraded to a much heavier custom made rest which I bought from a shooter who had gotten out of the game due to age and health.  It is what I would call a T configuration with bar which is rides over the leg of the T and has very fine adjustment for both windage and elevation.  I shoot in the Factory ARA category so it is a two piece rest, front and rear not connected.

For bags I started using Protector both front and rear.  In hoping to be more consistent I built I front rest where the stock rides on Delrin rods and is kept centered by delrin rods, one side being lightly spring loaded.  For rear I have built a rest where the stock rests between two Delvin posts.   

I started with a CZ 457 with AT-one stock and trigger pull of about 12 ounces. When rules changed and allowed Bergara b-14R (steel barrel) and about 4 ounce trigger.   
I shoot mostly free recoil, trying with thumb lightly resting on top of pistol grip and "pinch" with trigger/pointer on trigger and thumb behind trigger guard, with no face/shoulder contact. I was just starting to try a light grip of stock and light shoulder on butt when I tore up my shoulder and had to put shooting on hold.  I do use wind flags.

Thanks,

Jackpine

Jackpine sounds like you got the bases covered. Practice and more practice will pay dividends. You are well on your way.
Keep em center,
Scott

When the bag is stabilized/aligned after shooting the rifle will always travel straight back with recoil.

When you move the bag or front rest then the rifle will not be in complete alignment so that when it recoils it will move the bullet a bit left or right from where you had sighted it in for. It then takes a number of shots before the bags will shift back into straight alignment from the recoil from the shots.

Many rests have a stop to reposition the rifle to but when I used it I was not always perfectly back to center for elevation which required changing my benchrest position to adjust the rear knob up or down - meaning i was no longer in the same postion after the adjustment plus the time it took to readust the elevation with the back screw.

I removed the stop which allowed me to slightly move forward or backward to perfectly adjust my elevation without moving from my benchrest position and without taking additional time to adjust the benchrest screws.

A stop puts you back to the relative same postion but does not place you to the perfect zero position on the center of your target.

Sliding the rifle forward or backwards when you have a perch belly stock allows you to more quickly and effciently reset your rifle for the next shot.

However people who have adopted flat bottom stocks are forced to take more time and adjust the rear screw which is not as efficient adn contiually forces you to change your benchrest position which is not a good thing to do.

Improved accuracy is being setup in your approriate position to catch the change in the wind condition that you have sighted in for.

You miss those opportuntites if you are wasting time adjusting your rear screw or repositioning yourself after realigning your rifle after the recoil.

The most important thing I learned from Tommy Mason was being ready and patient to catch the wind condition you sighted in for.

That is why I have loaded cases ready to insert (without changing my benchrest position) and do NOT waste time reloading a single case at the bench between shots.

I have a Bald Eagle slingshot rest cast in iron with a windage top using a Edgewood front bag.
I have a rear Bald Eagle sand bag.
These sandbags are more solid, and firm and hold the rifle's position far better than the somewhat more flimsy Protector bags.
I have a flat bottom front forearm with a perch belly rear stock on a Miller Dehass action shooting a 236 grain bullet in .32 RKS gain twist barrel finishing at 11.5:1 twist.

This forum is about ASSRA and ISSA benchrest shoot using single shot rifles using plain base cast bullets.
These rifle shoot at a very low velocity and have signifcantly more wind drift due to the bullet being exposed to the the wind for a longer period of time.

AR rifle shooting using high velocity jacketed bullets are less susceptible from wind drift however some techniques are transferrable.

For high powered shooting I ensure my forearm is fully free floating and I use a "U" shaped bag to rest the front part of the forearm.

I can naturaly tell if my crosshairs are perfectly level and that cant is not an issue.

For those who are not so certain a levelling bubble can be attached so you know the rifle is perfectly upright with no cant.