14 replies to this topic

[Winchester94]

Daughter bought me a shooting bag rest and now I have to fill it up with sand I guess, what about kitty litter, oil dry, saw dust, just can't seem to find the right kind of sand,,maybe crusher dust would work. just your thoughts on it what I could /should use.

[Tyson10gauge]

# 0 or Double 0 sand blast media , very easy to pour in the shooting bag and very easy to also adjust is what i put in mine over 30 yrs ago , my son bought two new ones for us and just filled with regular dry play sand , its fine grain and still very easy to get into the bag , use a funnel in the fill hole , fill about 80% full to allow give and adjustment .

Kitty litter if gets damp will only clump and stay damp as well give bulging in the bag . Crusher dust ive heard someone tell me was worst thing he did , ruined his bag.

Hope this helps .

[Winchester94]

Yea, I Googled it to see what was good to use, al kinds of ideas, rice,, dried cracked corn, lead shot, steel shot, even coffee beans. checked around the home hardware stores they seem to only have traction sand, I find that sand wet. I have a bag of speedy dry, that might work in a pinch.

[Tyson10gauge]

Just asked a buddy of mine what he used in his shooting bags as he is strictly a target shooter, he only uses #9 lead shot, fine enough to pour in and manipulate the bags to any shape , also heavy enough to resist any moving.

Ive only used mine for sighting in for hunting season so no real need to make them firm and heavy for constant use .

[KEVIN]

The POS Caldwell front rest on the "rock" is filled with small plastic pellets....real good idea cuz they aren't hydroscopic...but the .GD 02 cent worth of faux leatherette they have on top of the heavy nylon tore wide open from just the rifle recoil. !!! I'm pretty sure that the big one that comes with the kit is full of sawdust 

 

I have home made sand bags ( hand sewn heavy canvas and play sand) that are 20 odd yrs old...and STILL goin strong. 

[Tyson10gauge]

The POS Caldwell front rest on the "rock" is filled with small plastic pellets....real good idea cuz they aren't hydroscopic...but the .GD 02 cent worth of faux leatherette they have on top of the heavy nylon tore wide open from just the rifle recoil. !!! I'm pretty sure that the big one that comes with the kit is full of sawdust 
 
I have home made sand bags ( hand sewn heavy canvas and play sand) that are 20 odd yrs old...and STILL goin strong.

My 30 plus yr old bag is double heavy canvas , the new ones are canvas but only thin layer with what looks like plastic coated canvas , time will tell for those . I know few others that said the caldwell shooting rest bags were garbage at best

[Rembolt]

Most auto supply store carry blasting media .sand will be the cheapest . do not use any thing that will absorb moisture like kitty litter or sawdust .you want the bag to be as heavy as possible that way it does not move around .I have a set of shooter ridge leather rest bags . filled them with sand 20 years age and still as good as new . from what I have seen the nylon bags are crap . they rip easy if you get the sling stud on the bag when shooting .

[Sir William]

Go to your local pet supply store and see if they have snake or lizard bedding. It is crushed walnut shell that's what I have in mine and works good.

[1NSH Dave]

I made my own rear bag (I have bipod up front) and I filled it with a combo of plastic pellets from craft store, and popcorn kernels! Popcorn is cheap for enough of it, fairly light, and should be relatively water resistant as long as I don’t completely soak it. 

[Winchester94]

I might get the barrel so hot that freggen stuff starts popping,, what then,,, better take some butter next time to the range,,lol

[Winchester94]

Come to think of it,,my daughter had a bearded dragon and had some kind of a sand or something in the bottom of the gage, also had a fish tank,,fish tank had a crushed up blue gravel if i'm not mistaken, that would work to would it not?

[1NSH Dave]

I might get the barrel so hot that freggen stuff starts popping,, what then,,, better take some butter next time to the range,,lol

Hhaha. 
 

On a serious note though if you’re resting the actual barrel on your rest then you’re doing it wrong. Haha

[KEVIN]

Dave...ixnay on the arrel bay 

[3macs1]

Back in the day lead shot and sand blasting sand was common for the average shooter until reports starting coming out about the issues the dusts can cause to ones lungs and they were no longer recommended. If one was a serious target shooter that did competitions lead was never legal to use and sand blasting sand has very high levels of  Crystalline silica which is linked to lung cancer , silicosis etc and we all know about lead dusts

 

I tossed my old gear and bought new gear after I had my final mandatory physical when the mines closed 21 years ago and found out my lungs were not 100% from working underground so didnot want to add to it but no pension from the silicosis I had  . Not bad enough they said 

I switched to river sand from a pet store and all is good . It can also be bought on amazon or 20 bucks for 10 pounds

To each their own

 

https://www.6mmbr.co...comparison.html

[adam_h]

I'm sure target shooters might light the heavy bags but I don't.  Had it filled with sand and it was a royal pain in the ass.  switched it out to lighter media - the plastic pellets would be the best.  I did mix it with some sand to get a little weight to it though.