n our travels providing shooting classes and competitions, we often
visit various shooting ranges across the US. We have found the one
constant at these ranges is shooting benches.
You may ask, what’s wrong with a shooting bench? Absolutely nothing if you’re looking for a nice stable
platform from which to do your load work or accuracy testing, or even to get a rough zero on your rifle.
However, the use of a bench and some of the tools commonly found on one can lead to issues and habits that
can actually hurt your shooting in the field.
If you pay close attention to the people using these benches you will see a variety of activities, from load work and
bore sighting to shooting through a chronograph. You will also see people sighting in their rifles for hunting season.
This is where using a bench becomes interesting.
Shooting benches have been around for a long time, and as I have previously stated if your goal is to shoot in a
bench rest competition or develop a precision load they are a great tool. However, if your goal is to shoot an elk in the