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Post by gwinnman on Feb 3, 2012 11:16:23 GMT -5
I just purchased a Lead Sled Solo model. It has velcro to strap the barrel down tight to keep recoil down. Do you gun gurus strap in down tight or leave some slack. I'm shooting anything from 22-250 to 12 gauge 3inch slugs.
Thanks for input.
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Post by hornharvester on Feb 3, 2012 11:44:22 GMT -5
Dont strap it down as that will change the point of impact when you shoot it off hand. One bag of shot is more than enough to tame the recoil down. I personally wouldnt use any more than 50 lbs. and that would be with high recoiling guns like 12ga. turkey loads. Too much weight and you can break optics. The gun shoots best with a light recoil that moves the sled back slightly.
On my rest I use 25 lbs bag of lead shot with all calibers and I can shoot the heaviest recoiling guns all day long with no problem, plus you will learn not to flinch since there is very little recoil which leads to better accuracy. h.h.
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Post by gwinnman on Feb 3, 2012 12:16:12 GMT -5
Thanks!!!!!!
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Post by lugnutz on Feb 3, 2012 23:06:57 GMT -5
Dont strap it down as that will change the point of impact when you shoot it off hand. One bag of shot is more than enough to tame the recoil down. I personally wouldnt use any more than 50 lbs. and that would be with high recoiling guns like 12ga. turkey loads. Too much weight and you can break optics. The gun shoots best with a light recoil that moves the sled back slightly. On my rest I use 25 lbs bag of lead shot with all calibers and I can shoot the heaviest recoiling guns all day long with no problem, plus you will learn not to flinch since there is very little recoil which leads to better accuracy. h.h. Excellent advice! |
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Post by esshup on Feb 4, 2012 10:48:35 GMT -5
hh, why would more weight break optics?
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Post by danf on Feb 4, 2012 11:22:08 GMT -5
Simple physics. The optics need to move with the recoil. By adding weight you are not allowing the optics to move with the recoil of the gun and they will break. Its like a highrise building- they are designed to be able to flex with the wind. If they were absolutely rigid and un-flexible they would only withstand so much before simply breaking apart. By being able to flex they can withstand much more. By adding more weight you are taking the flex out of the equation.
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Post by hornharvester on Feb 4, 2012 11:39:19 GMT -5
What danf said. When these sleds first came out guys would put 100 lb of weight on them and then shoot a big bore rifle and wham, there scope was junk. What the breaking point is I cant say but 25 lbs will be sufficient in most cases. h.h.
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Post by esshup on Feb 6, 2012 14:57:01 GMT -5
I can see the building in the wind example. But I don't see that as being "apples to apples" in regards to the lead sled. Recoil is measured 2 ways, amount of force applied at the butt, and speed of the gun rearward in fps. If the gun isn't moving rearward, then the scope shouldn't see the rearward speed. The gun moves rearward first, then the scope plays catch up when the force is transmitted thru the mount, then the rings then finally to the scope. That's why spring air rifles are scope eaters. They recoil rearward, then as the spring hits the front of the chamber, they start a forward "recoil" and the scope reticle is going thru a fore/aft recoil pulse. If the lead sled was set up properly, then it'd be the same as mounting a scope on a very heavy gun. I think the problem is with the shooters not having the lead positioned properly on the lead sled, allowing the gun to move rearward at it's normal recoil level/speed, but then stopping it quickly when the lead on the sled is compressed. How many guys wouldn't reposition the lead on the tray after every shot? I'll bet if they shoved it forward after every shot then the scope problems that are being seen would be minimized. I've been shooting Simmons, Bushnell, Leupold, Burris, Nikon, Cabelas Guide and other brand of scopes while using my home made "lead sled" since 2004 and haven't had a scope failure. I have a heavy shooting bench behind the house. I have this gun rest that also has a leather strap around the rear "rabbit ears" that holds the butt from moving rearward. www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting/Shooting-Accessories/Benches-Rests|/pc/104792580/c/104769180/sc/104212080/Secure-Bench-Rest/742132.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fshooting-shooting-accessories-benches-rests%2F_%2FN-1100226%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104212080%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104792580%253Bcat104769180&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104792580%3Bcat104769180%3Bcat104212080It's chained down the the shooting bench at the front, which allows you to adjust the right to left by moving the rear of the rest, but doesn't allow it to move rearward. When shooting slug guns, or large bore rifles, the whole bench will want to move rearward, but only a very miniscule amount. All the recoil force is transferred to the bench. If the gun doesn't have a muzzlebrake, the muzzle will recoil up but you don't have to have your face on the stock, or the stock against your shoulder. It's almost like a machine rest. I use it for load development and checking accuracy of the rifle, not point for checking point of impact nor for "practice". For instance, a slug gun will print 4"-6" higher when using the rest than if you were to hold the gun, but the rest doesn't have an inconsistent hold, so the groups are always smaller. I think that if the extra weight alone was causing the scopes to break, then I should have seen a bad scope by now. I always pull the gun/mount rearward so there isn't any slop before squeezing the trigger. It's shot up to and including .375 H&H Magnum rifles without any problems. I did have to re-weld the rear ears to the main tube once - the welds started to crack. |
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Post by steiny on Feb 6, 2012 20:21:13 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't buy that notion about too much weight on the lead sled breaking your optics either. I'm guessing cheap optics and cheap mounts. Had a Simmons fall apart on a 12ga once. Never had an issue with a Leupold.
By the way, good purchase, those lead sleds will help anyone sight in and get zeroed with minimal ammo expended. From a practical standpoint, they should only be used for sighting in. Once you know the gun is zeroed, it's up to the hunter to be able to hold steady from various rests and positions. You won't have a lead sled in the field.
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Post by hornharvester on Feb 6, 2012 21:08:36 GMT -5
Hey if you dont believe me go ahead and pile on the weight. I could care less. h.h.
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Post by swilk on Feb 6, 2012 21:11:51 GMT -5
I buy into the thought process of to much weight would be a bad thing.
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Post by esshup on Feb 7, 2012 10:52:23 GMT -5
steiny:
You are 110% correct about sighting in. I can get a rifle or slug gun pretty durn close if not right on with only 2 to at the most 4 shots. That's if the firearm groups worth a darn with that load. It sure saves on ammo costs, especially for a slug gun.
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Post by moose1am on Mar 22, 2014 17:29:04 GMT -5
Yeah, I don't buy that notion about too much weight on the lead sled breaking your optics either. I'm guessing cheap optics and cheap mounts. Had a Simmons fall apart on a 12ga once. Never had an issue with a Leupold. By the way, good purchase, those lead sleds will help anyone sight in and get zeroed with minimal ammo expended. From a practical standpoint, they should only be used for sighting in. Once you know the gun is zeroed, it's up to the hunter to be able to hold steady from various rests and positions. You won't have a lead sled in the field. While you may not have a lead sled out in the field you can have a DeadShot FieldPod out in the field to shoot from. And there is a Caldwell Shooting Bench/chair that you can put in the back of a pick up truck and shoot from that setup in some areas.
The Magnum DeadShot FieldPod was my choice. Now if I can lug that heavy thing out into the field. It weights in at 13 lbs without optional stuff like a camera holder on it. But it does provide a steadier platform to shoot from in the field than just hand holding the rifle.
But you are right in that one must learn to shoot properly without the aid of a sturdy bench rest. The Bench rest only shows what the rifle is capable of in the best of circumstances. The shooter needs to learn to shoot from different positions in the field at times. They may not be enough time to setup a FieldPod or a chair/bench table to shoot a coyote.
I'm looking to find information on the Lead Sled which is want this thread OP asked about. I figured that I could find some good first hand information about the Lead Sled devices in this thread.
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Post by moose1am on May 30, 2014 12:48:34 GMT -5
I just purchased a Lead Sled Solo model. It has velcro to strap the barrel down tight to keep recoil down. Do you gun gurus strap in down tight or leave some slack. I'm shooting anything from 22-250 to 12 gauge 3inch slugs. Thanks for input. I was looking at buying a Caldwell Lead Sled for some time so I was interested in this thread.
I ended up buying the Caldwell Lead Sled Dual Frame Technology (DFT) model and it's been great.
My rifles (two of them) are now capable of shooting very tight MOA groups at 200 yards when using the Lead Sled DFT gun rest.
I'm very happy with this addition to my gun and shooting tools.
One thing I liked about the DFT model is that you can use a longer magazine with it where the single frame model has a problem with the metal tube blocking the area where a long magazine would normally be while the gun is resting in the Lead Sled older models.
Now the solo model doesn't have the problem . I thought about getting the Solo Model.
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