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M14/M1A Bench Techniques Tips and Suggestions

2K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  JunkyardDog 
#1 · (Edited)
Recently it came to my attention that there may be some tips or suggestions that I and others could offer with benching the M14/M1A.

Please add your tips and suggestions.

1) First off, pick a good day, light/no winds.
2) Solid bench is critical.
3) Work your reloads/ammo carefully. Don't expect best accuracy with crap ammo. I trim every round, hand prime, weigh every charge and use Sierra 168's.
4) A good bench setup is critical. Get a good stand and front bag.
5) Good rear bags are important. I like the leather rabbit ear type.
6) Lube the bags with dust or graphite. Make sure things slide smoothly.
7) Return the rifle to exactly the same spot (critical with the m-14)!
8) Experiment with how you hold it. My Super likes no contact with me other then the trigger (squeeze between trigger and guard) while my National wants a cheek weld.
9) Make sure that after recoil the gun is aiming at the target. If it is skewed the shot will be bad.
10) Use your wind indicators
11) Read the benchrest sites.
12) Get a bench rest coach to help you out.
13) Most important have fun!

Other suggestions?

Picture of my standard setup:

 
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#2 ·
Looks like ya got it covered Sir,,some great tips,,,,Thanks,,GI6 I never thought about using graphite on the backs,,sounds like a ideal worth trying ! Great looking rifle by the way !
 
#5 ·
Now now Tommo, with all due respect, this is still a free country and while I am not a fan of benching a rifle, I can see some merit in it, but I do tend to agree that bench shooting is not practical shooting; but for some it is fun and they should have that. Most of my friends sit down to shoot a rifle at first, I'll tell them "that's great, get comfortable with the gun so when you transition to standing, sitting or prone the hardware is not the challenge anymore" GI2

I tend to look at all shooting sports from a practical angle, what if I needed shooting skills to survive? But if god forbid I ever was resigned to a wheel chair, I would be happy to be able to shoot from a bench, it's all perspective. MCORPS1
 
#6 ·
Tommo,

I would like to do more position shooting but basically our club strongly discourages it. Standing is totally out of the picture. Kneeling is difficult to do because of the barriers, Sitting I practice occasionally when the fire ants are not out and prone, well, the indians developed torture methods like this by putting folks on the ground in fire ants.

So, I plunk my fat butt on the bench and shoot my M1A's the way I can. I wish it were different but as I told my daughter at dinner. 11 more years till I can retire and then enjoy my hobbies somewhere other then Houston, TX.
 
#7 ·
Tommo,

Some of us would love to be able to get off of the bench. For me, I consider it a very good day when I can shoot a few rounds prone (I'm trying to work up to being able to shoot F-Class) or lean against something to shoot a few standing.

There are several guys in the same situation (most worse) at the clubs I shoot at.

We'd all love to "practically shoot" rather than "barely able to still shoot," if we had the option.
 
#8 ·
I've never shot from a bench, but 2 of the ranges in NoVA only allow bench shooting for Rifle's (Woodbridge & Gainesville).
While I have no plans to shoot from either of those ranges, it's good to be aware of how to shoot from a bench if & when you need to.
Thanks,

Creed

P.S. How do you make a 1-piece cleaning rod better than a bore snake? MCORPS1
 
#9 ·
P.S. How do you make a 1-piece cleaning rod better than a bore snake? MCORPS1
Hmmm... I'll bite..How?

Didn't realize until I had it pointed out that the loop at the end of a boresnake would hold a patch.
 
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