Target Shooting Incorporated Gun Rest

 

by Jeff Quinn

photography by Jeff Quinn

October 25th, 2002

 

 

 

A couple of years ago, I was searching for a high quality, solid, and easy to use machine rest for use in rifle and scope testing. I had previously been using a combination of sandbags, wood blocks, and an Outers Varminter rifle rest. The sandbags are great for stability, but are very awkward to use with a lever action or semi-automatic rifle that has an extended magazine. With a lever gun, the rifle must be lifted from the bags to cycle the action. A semi auto such as an AR-15 has to be blocked up high enough to clear the magazine. The outers rest would almost get the rifle high enough, but was severely lacking in stability. It is a good concept, but not sturdy enough for precise shooting. Neither the sandbags and wood blocks nor the lightweight gun rests on the market were satisfactory to squeeze the best accuracy from a test gun.

At the 2001 SHOT Show in New Orleans I ran across  a gentleman named Wally Brownlee, of Target Shooting Incorporated, who was displaying his new gun rest to the amazement of a gathering crowd, of which I was included.  The versatility, ease of use, and quality of materials and craftsmanship soon had me parting with my hard-earned cash and packing one of his rests back to Tennessee. 

I have been using Wally’s gun rest for almost two years now. I am constantly receiving inquiries asking about the rest that is pictured in our test articles, so I decided to write this piece explaining some of the features of the Target Shooting Inc. Gun Rest.

First of all, the Gun Rest is very  easy to use.  If a rest is cumbersome to set up and use, a shooter would be as well off piling up various sandbags and  other apparatus  upon which to lay the weapon. This Gun Rest is made primarily from powder coated cast iron, but still weighs under eleven pounds and sets up ready for shooting instantly.  Both the rear buttstock portion and the front fore-end portion of the rest are adjustable for elevation, and the rest is also adjustable for length, to accommodate any conceivable rifle configuration. After the rest is adjusted to place the sights on target, the elevation wheel is rotated to fine tune the crosshair alignment.

When testing the accuracy of a rifle, stability is paramount. The Target Shooting Inc. Gun Rest holds the gun in a solid position to allow precise and repeatable shooting.  Many times I receive accolades for the tight groups that are fired with various rifles in our feature articles. With a good rest, I can train a teenage girl to shoot good groups in about five minutes. The key is, that the rifle must be held absolutely steady when the trigger is pressed. This demands a solid rest. You cannot rest your rifle on a rolled-up jacket from the hood of your pickup and expect the same results.  Target Shooting’s Gun Rest gives this repeatable stability.

One other great feature of the Gun Rest is the ability to use it in the field when hunting from a fixed position, such as in varmint shooting or from a stand. The front of the rest pivots a full 360 degrees to allow the shooter to rest the fore-end and pan laterally over the target area without lifting the rifle from the rest.

Since I purchased my Gun Rest, Wally has made a few improvements, resulting in a lower overall gun position and a greater bench contact area.

Target Shooting incorporated also offers several accessories for the Gun Rest such as a flat top adjustable fore-end rest, gun vise, and pistol rest. I haven’t yet tried the pistol rest, as I have had excellent results using the Gun Rest as is for testing handguns by adjusting the length, as can be seen in the photos.

The Gun Rest retails sells directly from Target Shooting Incorporated in Watertown, South Dakota. Check them out online at:  www.targetshooting.com  or call toll free at:  1-800-611-2164.

Jeff Quinn


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Click pictures for a larger version.

 

Author using Target Shooting, Inc.'s gun rest. Jeff has been using this rest for all his serious accuracy testing since buying the rest at the 2001 SHOT show.

 

 

The Target Shooting, Inc. gun rest is fully adjustable for length and height at both buttstock and fore-end, allowing a solid and repeatable rest for virtually any type of gun. Such a stable rest is a must for precision shooting, and the Target Shooting rest is the best the author has found.

 

 

The fore-end support pivots a full 360 degrees, making the rest practical to use in hunting situations such as varmint shooting or stand hunting.

 

 

The length of the rest is adjustable to such an extent that the Target Shooting, Inc. rest can be used for many handguns.

 

 

The padded rear saddle is fully adjustable for gun length, height and tilt angle.

 

 

In addition to the ability to pivot 360 degrees, the similarly-padded fore-end support is fully adjustable for height and features a fine-tuning elevation wheel.

 

 

One of the nicest features of the Target Shooting, Inc. rest is the elevation wheel that allows the fore-end support to be fine-tuned on target while the shooter aligns the cross-hairs in the scope.

 

 

The design of the Target Shooting, Inc. rest allows the easy use of extended magazines.

 

 

The latest version of Target Shooting, Inc.'s gun rest features a lower-profile base for added stability and greater range of adjustment. Author's older version is shown at right in the top picture for comparison. Jeff considers such a fine rest to be an invaluable tool, and credits the rest for a good deal of his ability to test the accuracy of guns and ammunition for Gunblast.com.