Rear Sandbag Packing

[Barossa_222]

Hi all. Wondering if anyone can give me some help with packing a rear bag for F/TR shooting. I have a Seb joypod and an Edgewood single stictch rear bag. I have filled it quite firmly with garnet sand and even after settling the gun and tapping it into the ears well, it still sinks quite a fair bit. Anyone familiar with a joypod will know that stopping mid string to click the bipod legs down is not ideal, so any help would be appreciated.

[johnk]

Did you use something like a Forster funnel to get as much sands as possible into the bag? Filling with a straw like some recommebd doesn't cut the mustard.

Try leaning on the bag while pushing the ears outward with the heels of your hands, then lay the stock butt on the bag & LEAN on it.

[Barossa_222]

Hi johnk. I use a funnel and also packed it using something similar to a ramrod. I am wary of packing it too much as I've heard both front and rear bag being packed too tight might cause problems also.

[johnk]

...but you don't use a front bag in F/TR.

In any case, the idea is to settle the sand in the bag before you shoot, however you best can - and settle the bag on the mound. As visitors to Brisbane will tell you, for example, Belmont turf is springy & needs to be mitigated against by using something like a very heavy plate or suitable levelling underbag.

[Barossa_222]

What I meant by that is if you are shooting off a steel plate for instance and the rear bag is also quite firm, can that cause issue?

[Julian D]

I have come across something similar with mine every once in a while . Just check that the rear bag is not moving down the hill ( it doesn't have to move far at all to make a difference ) , it used to happen on the steeper mounds and since gone to a larger / heavier rear bag .

[jasmay]

I had an edgewood, I found the leather to be quite supple in them which creates its own problem in the fact that even when packed tight, it still moves around quite a bit.

Settling as Johnk has described is about all you can do.

[KHGS]

I suggest you do not over pack the "ears". Over packing the ears will give you settling issues.
Keith H.

[seb]

I'm no expert - but you use a Joypod.... Have you tried a rear bag with spacing between the ears that fits/suits your stock? (so that the stock rides directly on the bag body, not on the ears).

As you don't have to hold the rear bag or pinch the ears anymore using a Joypod, and also that you now shoot F/TR with a lot of torque in the front (not benchrest where you have a solid front rest)... my thought is, the whole rifle would have much better chance to track more straight & more consistently under recoil if you use a heavy-solid/stable rear bag with correct spacing in the back.

Jmho,
seb.

[cheech]

I'm no expert - but you use a Joypod.... Have you tried a rear bag with spacing between the ears that fits/suits your stock? (so that the stock rides directly on the bag body, not on the ears).

As you don't have to hold the rear bag or pinch the ears anymore using a Joypod, and also that you now shoot F/TR with a lot of torque in the front (not benchrest where you have a solid front rest)... my thought is, the whole rifle would have much better chance to track more straight & more consistently under recoil if you use a heavy-solid/stable rear bag with correct spacing in the back.

Jmho,
seb.

I just received one of yours Seb , with correct spacing I will try it soon but I can see it will work perfectly better than what I had anyway