Pistol rest

[BehindBlueI's]

It occurs to me as I have a freshly mounted red dot on a pistol that I do not have a pistol rest, and while ordinarily I'd just make do with a make shift rest as usual I don't want to waste much carry ammo in today's climate.

So, recommend me a good pistol rest. I'd prefer it to be a long term purchase and capable of dealing with anything from a Shield to a 6" N-frame. Pricewise, let's say keep it under $100...no Ransom Rest need apply.

[RJ]

BBL, I’m interested in what the folks post here. I have wondered for a while whether an affordable rest would help me test pistol mechanical accuracy.

I have no experience with any, but did a quick search to come up with this company. I don’t know if this is worth looking at, or maybe you are already aware, but they have quite a few options under $100:

https://www.caldwellshooting.com/rests/shooting-rests/

[tlong17]

I usually use an ammo can with a sock full of sand on top. Alternatively I have this $13 Amazon special.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000K...b_b_asin_title

Mas referred to it in an article he wrote forever ago and I picked it up. Works great no complaints.

[BN]

I have an Outers Pistol Perch I got a long time ago. I seldom use it because I think there is little consistency with the way the pistol recoils off the front rest.

I usually just stack up sand bags for the butt and sometimes also have a stack for the barrel. It's pretty easy to blow holes in the sand bag with muzzle blast if you aren't careful.

[karmapolice]

Take a rolled up shooting mat like a Dillon Precision or a a big tack driver caldwell bag and rest your wrist and the mag/grip on the bag. That is the best way but you have to be extremely conscience of your grip and trigger press as people tend to relax to much of their grip when shooting a pistol rested. It is different feeling than a rifle rested as there is no good way to rest the dust cover reliably.

[JAD]

Agree with all posted. I’ve never had good luck with rests like the MTM, or attempts using my very nice rifle rests, that place the dust cover against the cradle. It bounces funny.

I actually get the best results resting my forearms on a sandbag.

[BehindBlueI's]

I did just shoot off my range bag and a makeshift rest to site in the RDS today.

I had to zero twice because I screwed up. I got it zeroed on the rest and then let my son shoot it. He shot low/left a few inches but a decent group. I then shot it and hit in exactly the same spot low/left. So we either sucked equally and in the exact same way or I didn't zero it properly on the rest vs free hand. I re-zero'd free hand and we were both in a 2" dot at 7y free hand.

I've never "zero'd" a pistol off a rest and didn't really consider how it would differ from free hand shooting. I was interested due to the RDS being more adjustable and more precise then irons would be. I am vaguely aware of how long gun POI can be changed if the barrel becomes "load bearing" but didn't really think about resting the WML on a fairly soft surface would change the POI.

I'm still interested in a pistol rest but I suppose I also ought to learn how to use it properly.

[Wise_A]

I don't really bother with a rest unless I'm incredibly frustrated. If I must, I use a large bag and rest my wrists, as karmapolice suggests.

If it helps, forget about the idea of a perfect zero like you would with a rifle, and just focus on moving the center of the group where you want. That's all I do for bullseye, which I suspect has a smaller 10-ring and much smaller scoring rings than what you're concerned about.

[psalms144.1]

I'm in the "no rest" camp for pistols as well. Had to zero two RDS equipped pistols in a hurry on Sunday (sharing the range with some other folks and didn't want to tie them up). Shot a group at 7 yards (where they were shooting), made adjustments and confirmed. When they took a break, I moved back to 25, shot another group, made fine adjustments, and called it good after a confirmation group.

Of course, I'm good with anything hitting in a 5" shoot-n-c as good enough for government work, but I've been underwhelmed with the differences between zeroing rested and where I ended up printing when I shot off hand...

[APS-PF]

Alternatively I have this $13 Amazon special.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000K...b_b_asin_title

Mas referred to it in an article he wrote forever ago and I picked it up. Works great no complaints.

I've had this one for over 20yrs and more recenlty a Caldwell Matrix. For both, padding on the front rest like a rag helps to improve consistency. I generally just use them for determining accuracy potential with different loads.