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The range that I shoot at has a nearly unlimited supply of shot bags filled with sand.  Nearly, of course, until I want to use just one or two more, only to find them all gone.  In the past, I used a Midway (Caldwell) “The Rock” front rest.  With its dial height adjustment, three pointed wood grabbing feet and front leather bag, it was a great thing to have.  The only issue was hauling the thing around.  It is a wonderfully heavy/sturdy device, but with the pointed ends on the feet, well, I poked myself once too often.  I wanted something a bit more handier than the metal front rest, and I found the Caldwell “Deadshot” shooting rests.

I like the “Deadshot” front rest because it has a nice carry handle on it and is semi moldable to what I wanted to use it for.  Made of 600 Denier polyester tear resistant fabric, it is water-resistant and very durable.  The area between the “support” ears has a nice soft leather pad to protect your rifle as well as give some stock gripping capacity.  You can get them pre filled with a corn cob type mixture or unfilled.  And it is inexpensive to boot.

I tried out two of the “Deadshot” front rest bags, one filled with the corn cob mixture and the other filled with rice (bought empty).  The instructions give you the option of those two (or similar) types of fillings using the large filling port in the bottom of the bag.   These bags are not to be filled with sand or lead shot. 

Trying out both of the bags, I preferred the rice filled bag to the corn cob one.  Two reasons really, first off, the rice is heavier, weighing in at 13lbs. 11oz. pounds vs. 8lbs. 9oz. for the corn media.  The hefty weight helps keep it steadier for me.  The second reason is that the rice takes to molding better it seems and does not shift as much under recoil.  The trade off, of course, is the weight.  The front bags do come with a very comfortable and useful carrying strap.  Just grab it and toss it into the truck to get to the range.

At my range, the 100 yard target holders are at a slight downhill angle.  I found that the “Deadshot” bag is useful in that I can actually shoot off of any side of it if need be.  I needed a bit more elevation for the rest, all I did was turn it side ways and shot across the leather padded “ears” with no issue at all.  Hey, I am shooting a mil surp with iron sights at the SurplusRifle.com postal matches, not popping bench rest 1/8 MOA clover leaves.  For the mil surp shooter, it is a great tool.  And inexpensive (or did I say that already?) and much more handy than hauling a number of sand filled shot bags around.

The “Deadshot” shooting system also has an optional rear shooting rest.  I use it to prop up my rifle while I am NOT shooting, being that the postal matches we run do not allow for rear support bags.  Of course, for everyday sighting in and shooting, the rear bag can hold the rifle tightly into place.  It has an angled base to it so that the “V” ears of the bag make more contact with the rifle stock.  Filled with corn media, it weighs in at about 1 ˝ lbs. and has a clip that allow it to be attached to the handle of the front rest so they always stay together.

Both or either of the Caldwell “Deadshot” Rests can be gotten at a number of shooting suppliers, namely MidwayUSA, Cabela’s, and Gander Mountain, just to name a few.  Cost runs about $17 filled and about $10 unfilled for the front rest.

As usual, Caldwell and the other Battenfeld companies are a great friend to the mil-surp shooter, offering affordable and usable accessories to keep our shooting alive and fun.

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