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Precision Front Rests

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:41 pm
by SnipeWench
I've been having natural point of aim problems with a Caldwell Rock BR front rest, which I bought when I first started shooting. The Rock BR rest has done me well to date, but I could see that my accuracy was hurting at times because of it.

The natural point of aim was being compromised by the fact that the windage feature relied on the rest top pivoting about the base screw. If my rifle wasn't square to the rest top, the forestock would get trapped by the edges of the front bag, and thus would impart a sideways and upwards recoil. Although the rifle is a .22, this weird recoil would be enough to push the impact away from the point of aim, towards the rifles natural point of aim.

I would see this as I moved from one edge of the target card to the opposite edge. When I push the rifle back into battery, it's point of aim would be different to just before the shot broke. I noticed these subtle differences because I'm a geek who notices patterns, and this pattern began to really annoy me.

BTW, the new Rock BR version has been changed, so the rest top slides from side to side.

Anyway, I decided I needed a better front rest, so I settled on the Farley front rest. I also had a look at the SEB front rest, but emails to the distributor over here were never responded to, so the SEB was out - do they want my business or not? The Farley is imported and sold by BRT - Stuart and Annie Elliot have been responsive, full of advice, and shoot using the Farley themselves, so the selection of a Farley was a no-brainer.

I received one on Friday, took all of about 15 minutes to assemble, and I was off to St Marys Indoor to have some fun with it!

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Apologies for the photo quality - they were taken by an iPhone in terrible light conditions.

The Farley is supplied as a complete unit. It's a joystick-based system, where the rifle sits on top of a rest top which is free to move in any direction, according to the movements of the joystick. The cast iron base is extremely heavy. The rest body and top are machined to tight tolerances, so there's no slop anywhere (unlike my Caldwell). The range of movement _almost_ covers the entire TRA benchrest card at 50m.

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The large knob on the left hand side is used to raise and lower the rest body. There's a little screw next to the knob which controls the force required to move the knob. The lever is used to lock up the rest body from moving up and down on the post. This vertical movement is precise, and is able to hold the weight of the rest top and rifle in position, without having the locking lever done up tight.

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The way I set it all up is to place the rest squarely on the table, and level it off using the inbuilt levelling bubble. Then I place the rear bag down in position, then the rifle itself. Line up with the target, check to see the rifle is square to the rest, move the joystick all the way to the bottom of travel, move the side height adjuster knob so the sight cross hairs are just below the 10-ring, then check the full range of movement so the rest covers the card.

One thing I noticed almost straight away was the rifle kept returning to POA each time a shot was fired, and the rifle pushed back up into battery. No weird recoil patterns, no NPA problems, though I did score a 199.17, and I attribute that more to the weird wind patterns in the range.

Yesterday, I went out to Sutherland, and shot a 200.20 (perfect score) in the first detail - pretty darn good for the Farley's first outing in anger! The shots didn't even look like straying out to the edge of the 10-ring, or drop a point... Everyone else present dropped or point or a few.

If you're interested, these rests aren't cheap (something like $1200+), and their availability is limited.

Cheers,
- bec

Re: Precision Front Rests

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:01 pm
by curan
Hi Bec,

This post is a seriously good read. Thanks for taking the effort.

It's good to the point that I wonder if you have considered copying it to the "Equipment/member reviews" section?

I only mention it as I can see that some members would find this post useful in thew future, and the review section would be the place to find it.

Either way, well done, and thanks. :D

regards, curan.

Re: Precision Front Rests

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 9:45 pm
by 223 fanboy
How do the joystick rests work?
Does the joystick adjust windage, and you adjust elevation with the side knob?
Some of the write ups on joystick rests imply that the joystick is used for both adjustments.

Re: Precision Front Rests

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 10:29 pm
by singleshot
223 fanboy wrote:How do the joystick rests work?
Does the joystick adjust windage, and you adjust elevation with the side knob?
Some of the write ups on joystick rests imply that the joystick is used for both adjustments.
The joystick adjusts both elevation and windage.

The side knob on the Farley is for course verticle adjustment. You adjust this first to get near the mark then lock it. Now, when shooting all adjustment is with the joystick.

I hope that is clear.
Cameron

Re: Precision Front Rests

Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:58 pm
by SnipeWench
SingleShot is correct. The knob on the left hand side of the Farley adjusts the coarse height of the rest, the position of which is found by putting the joystick in the lowest possible position, then turning the side knob so the scope crosshairs sit just below the bottom-most target. The locking lever is then used to lock off the coarse height adjustment, and you use the joystick itself to move the rifle left, right, up, or down as required for each target on the card.

Quite easy. Lift the joystick, and the rest top moves up, move the joystick left, the rest top slides left, etc. The movement of the rest top is enough to easily cover the complete BR30 card at 50m. If the targets can't be completely covered, you've either run out of vertical height coverage (in which case, you unlock the side lever, and adjust the coarse height up or down, locking it off again), or horizontal width, in which case, you'll need to move the rear bag a smidge.

Because you're not imparting a lot of movement at the rifle end, you're not adjusting the rear bag between each shot. One hand is on the joystick, one on the trigger. It's quick to aim, and also quick to adjust to a hold-off aiming point before firing. The only downside is that it's not going to give you super-fine precise movements, as there's too much tension in the rest top to overcome with such fine movements, and you invariably move the cross-hairs more than needed.

Certainly didn't worry me when I shot that 200.20 - stick the cross-hairs on the edge of the 10-ring at 3:00 or 4:00 (sometimes 4:30), and watch the round drift into the centre X.

If you're curious as to how these kinds of rest tops work, some gun shops sell the Caldwell equivalent (the Caldwell Fire-Control), and so you can usually have a play of the display rest. It's a lot cheaper than the Farley and SEB, but I've never liked the amount of play in Caldwell's rests.

Re: Precision Front Rests

Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:47 pm
by BRT