Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Well I finally bit the bullet yesterday and bought a Lead Sled. I've been wanting one since they first came out, but just didn't want to spend the money on one. The new upgraded version the "Plus" model, is still marked $159.00 on Caldwell's site, and "unavailable". http://www.battenfeldtechnologies.com/caldwell/catalog.asp?product=lead-sled-plus It has an upgraded elevation adjustment wheel and adjustable weight tray, to easily fit bags, plates, or barbell weights. It's really a hi quality bench rest made to last a lifetime. I bought one of the optional Caldwell heavy duty zippered sand bags, and found that two 25 lb bags of shot fit perfectly inside the double pouches it has. Or you could fill with sand, wheel weghts, etc.. It has two convenient carry handles sewn in, and is partitioned off down the center. Box says it weighs 20 lbs full of sand. Filled with lead shot instead, it's 50 lbs. Solid as a rock it was, with that and one 14.3 lb barbell. Prolly wouldn't even need that if I'd had two full bags of the shot to put in the canvas bag. I put 1 1/2 in it. ( gonna be making my own shot very soon..) So my local shop Fuquay Gun & Gold http://www.fuquaygun.com/ just got in a large shipment of them and has them on sale for $99.99, with the optional weight bags on sale for $15.99. So I decided to finally bring one home. And I must say that was one of the best investments I've yet to make for my firearms! As much sighting in and testing as I like to do with various shotguns and rifles, and trying different loads & accessories (like chokes for instance), it is going to pay for itself many times over. In fact it already did yesterday, within hours of putting it together. A good friend of mine was over here on my range with some new 12 ga slug loads his buddy is putting together, along with some .308 loads he wanted to pattern through his Remy 700 Tactical. We had a fucking BLAST. And today my shoulder is not the least bit tender. Since I lost a third of my total body weight to cancer three years ago, my shoulder doesn't tolerate recoil the way it used to, so no I'm not gonna play mr. macho man all the time and abuse it. It was a sheer joy to be able to shoot everything from his and my .308, to the PSL, and even 12 ga magnum slugs all day long, and only feel about 5 - 10% of the recoil. Hell yeah! Also it is VERY useful when getting a scope dialed in, by being able to virtually take operator error out of the equation. In fact if we had not had to deal with table flex (gonna fix that next time out...), we could have done even better. I was able to get my Saiga .308 and PSL dialed in to about 3/4 - 1 1/2 MOA @ 60 yds in just a few shots. Saved lots of ammo. Can't wait to go back down again with some cement blocks for shoring up a table, and walk them on out past 100 yds. After that we can hit the 250 yd range I have across the pond, and really start having some fun! Anyway, it was such a fun day on the range I wanted to share some pics and video. These are off my phone / cam so I hope I can also get whatever he managed to get of me shooting. I dunno what he has because I was havin' too much fun finally hitting shit like I wanted! lol Hope y'all don't mind but this is pic heavy. Feel free to post your own range photos if ya got em! I love seeing what everybody else is shooting. NOW I can also finally get around to doing those long awaited tests of different 12 ga slugs, fired through my rifled Paradox and Winchoke / Choke adapters and actually be able to post some reliable data, without killing my shoulder or having the gun shooting all over the place. Unfortunately our slug testing went south when the damn battery died in my optic, just as we were getting it dialed in with Remy Sluggers. His friend is ready to load the piss out of a bunch of them though, so soon I hope to get back on that, along with some Brenneke and Wolf, and Remy Sluggers testing. The Vepr-12 is a joy to shoot slugs with though, It actually cycled with the optic placed where I want it... I can say that at least. Next time out, the Saiga "Blackie" gets to play too. That one has my ultimate short reset match trigger in it so it should be even more fun that the Vepr. Great times ahead!! My first Saiga .308. This is my target Saiga. She's a SWEET shooter. Custom fitted with my match G-2, and Vepr furniture I got in a trade with my buddy Brian (dinzag). I love what it does for the feel of this rifle. The Vepr-12 It will barely fit in the bench rest with the factory 5 rd mag, but it was easier to just load the shells one at a time and not have to dick around with the mag. This pic was after removing the optic and giving it a go with irons. After a slight windage adjustment she was right on the money @ 60 yds, (about a 3-4" spread with sluggers, middle of the paper... through the Paradox in the pic) but we decided to wait & do our testing with an optic installed (with a new battery!! grrrr...). My PSL was so much fun to shoot, as always. The scope has needed adjusting for a long time and we finally had what we needed to do it right. It was outside the range of elevation adjustment at 60 yds (probably still set for much farther out...) so we moved the dial to get her down where we can have some fun in the 1 - 300 yd range for now. MAN that baby's sensitive! On half click = a friggin mile up that close! She's ON now though! Time to back it up and have some fun! I can actually afford to play with the 54R. Then my buddy got to bust out his favorite deer rifle. OMG this thing is sweet shooter. Remington 700 SPS Tactical .308 Bull Barrel. It's a friggin tack driver. He's "folded em like a dishrag" (in his words...lol) out to over 300yds down on his land in eastern NC. In fact he killed his first deer last season at close to 400 with it laid across the hood of the truck when he was first arriving at the field. It was his first shot with it in the field after we dialed her in on my range brand new. With hand loads it's amazing. Yesterday we were actually there to test his buddy's brand new loads, which he's trying to get close to the Hornaday 150 gr rounds it likes. Unfortunately the case heads were either a military brass, or something... (they were very similar to my SA surplus .308 battle pack rounds) and the bevel was a little different than the Hornaday. I dunno if it was that or the longer bullet setting messing up the headspace, but the bolt wouldn't close all the way. He's gonna figure it out today with his bud. So we just fed her some of what we know she likes, and the results were the same as usual... friggin great! Had a one hole group about 3/4" with one flier almost touching same hole. He has it scoped in at about 125 so his group was predictably low at 60yds. Once we go back down again at 100, we'll see if we need to tweak the windage a tad. With the sled I could do that all day long and never flinch. Yes I know, it's cheating...lol, but we were there for testing grouping, not accuracy per say. Once the rifle is dialed in, the same accuracy from a bipod shooting prone is just as easy... or a bag. Now to get to work on a serious cutout range bench so we don't have to sit on a foot shooting across a bouncy table.... 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted March 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 The walk up after 5 shots on the .308. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LuPiN8oR 333 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Wow man that is impressive! Would be well worth a lil roadtrip down the hill if you take visitors! And id bring the atlatl too! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernOne 203 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 That's a nice setup. I need to get one of the sleds for my 300 Win Mag. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
devildogdakota 804 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Definately looked like ya had a blast, Cobra. And with some very beautiful tools to boot! Your post has just magnified my cabin fever tenfold! That is a nice hefty lead sled. I have a cheapo Red Head been using for years that you've now inspired me to modify with some dumbell weights, due to how light it is. I have a fully raised carpeted bedkit in my truck that I get prone on and fire from when I bench dial my rifles. It's nice to be able to fire out of it, because It obsecures others from being able to see my rifles, unless they walk right up to the back of my truck, and with the tailgate down and cap hatch lifted up, I can stay dry in the pouring rain. I especially like this thread because I'm very partial to the .308. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jpanzer 1,265 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Really diggin that PSL Cobra! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted March 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Wow man that is impressive! Would be well worth a lil roadtrip down the hill if you take visitors! And id bring the atlatl too! Sounds fun to me brother! I'm only a few hours from Boone so you could even make a day trip out of it. Would love to play with the Atlatl also! I might have to adapt a new sidearm way of chuckin it though. My surgeries disabled my ability to throw overhand or even lift my right arm past the shoulder. I'm dealin though... Bringit! Definately looked like ya had a blast, Cobra. And with some very beautiful tools to boot! Your post has just magnified my cabin fever tenfold! That is a nice hefty lead sled. I have a cheapo Red Head been using for years that you've now inspired me to modify with some dumbell weights, due to how light it is. I have a fully raised carpeted bedkit in my truck that I get prone on and fire from when I bench dial my rifles. It's nice to be able to fire out of it, because It obsecures others from being able to see my rifles, unless they walk right up to the back of my truck, and with the tailgate down and cap hatch lifted up, I can stay dry in the pouring rain. I especially like this thread because I'm very partial to the .308. Oh man no better way to ring in the Easter weekend IMO. Although after all that blastin high cal. weapons yesterday, I'm being kind and respectful to my neighbors today, out of respect for all involved. I love your prone P/U bed technique myself. Gets ya up off the ground enough to clear the grass and unevenness. Also keeps your ass free of ticks and chiggers! We had our first run ins with the ticks yesterday in fact. I hate those lil buggers... they SUCK! We also have another cool way to drive right up and get on target with a comfy seat and good rest for a bipod or bag... And oh yes Panzer! I love that PSL! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
devildogdakota 804 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 HaHa!! Good ole' boy enginuity! The rollbar for a rifle rest and toolbox for a seat is a grand idea. Just gotta get a body harness and positioning hook set up to lock the shooter in so he doesn't fly off the truck when he's firing while you're offroading (hunting down or running from DHS agents when SHTF). I joked around for years about cutting out a circular hole through my hardtop on my Wrangler and setting up a ringmount turret on it. The way everthing's been going south lately, I'm seriously thinking about doing it. The spot you fellas have the shooting table at, is that the predomant spot that you's shoot from? If it is, I would pour some sac-crete around a couple of 4x4's going down below the frost line (do you have a frost line in NC?), and build a permanent shooting bench that would never move. A guy could run them 4x4's 8' tall and put a little roof over it as well, to shade from sun and rain. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted March 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Yep Improvise! Adapt! Overcome! Gotta love it. Do what works...lol! Yeah we usually do most of the rifle walk back / sight in/ bench rest kinda thing down there. I prolly would setup permanent shooting stations down there at 50 yd intervals, but it's actually my next door neighbor's land. I've always used it and kept it bush hogged since before they bought the land from my other neighbor though, so they let me use it all I want. It's friggin crawlin with deer and every other wetland creature. There are even packs of coyotes living back there, and we have spotted a few bear tracks too. I love it. We will never want for food or fresh water around here no matter what hits the fan. (as long as it's not chem or nuke that is...). It's a huge wetland / flood plane that stretches for miles in both directions along my creek, bordering my property. We have a pistol range on my side of the fence, with two gates for access back and forth, and golf cart / lawn mower traffic. Unfortunately (well not really! lol) my land is about half covered by a 4.5 acre pond, with land all around it, bordering the creek on one side, and the "higher ground" above on the other. The house is about 50 yds up the hill from the 100 year flood mark...which I got to see up close for real in '96. So if we aren't down in the back on the pistol range, we're up here shooting 250 yds down across the pond at the same back stop along the creek. We could do a flat ground setup along the fence line but it's just easier to drive around and use the other range. Oh my buddy just uploaded this video of me on the PSL so I snagged it. Damn thing sounds like a cannon on here...lol. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=563854610311572" width="1280" height="720" frameborder="0"></iframe> Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Who are you aiming at in the top picture? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jrance@iacwds.com 716 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) Now that's fun and a beautuful place to shoot! Color me envious. Mix that with some B-B-Q and good friends and you got close heaven right here. (this isn't a quote, I did something wrong,) Edited March 31, 2013 by 1911 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LuPiN8oR 333 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 ^yeah, makes me a little homesick for flat land! And +1 on the B.B.Q! Sounds like good times! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 p.s. Looking forward to your data on the slugs. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Who are you aiming at in the top picture? I'm shooting my buddy in the back while he places a target. With the camera silly! The gun was not loaded yet. p.s. Looking forward to your data on the slugs. Me too, it's been at least a couple of years since I bought the sabots to do the testing with. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cobra 76 two 2,677 Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Yup this is true. And the smoker fits right it the back of the truck for a great smelling shootin session. Nuthin like the smell of BBQ chicken or pork, mixed with the smell of gunpowder! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unclejake 428 Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Definately looked like ya had a blast, Cobra. And with some very beautiful tools to boot! Your post has just magnified my cabin fever tenfold! That is a nice hefty lead sled. I have a cheapo Red Head been using for years that you've now inspired me to modify with some dumbell weights, due to how light it is. I have a fully raised carpeted bedkit in my truck that I get prone on and fire from when I bench dial my rifles. It's nice to be able to fire out of it, because It obsecures others from being able to see my rifles, unless they walk right up to the back of my truck, and with the tailgate down and cap hatch lifted up, I can stay dry in the pouring rain. I especially like this thread because I'm very partial to the .308. I guess the weather is a tad bit unpleasant to be shootin in yet up your way, huh! Got an NRA Cert class next week and yesterday went out back and burnt through 100 9mm rounds. THEN broke out the Dan Wesson and had a friggin blast!! I have got to slow down with that revolver..38's are going quik!! And ifn you can find them, they aint cheap...FORGET ABOUT .357s!! Had to pull out my Saiga 21" 308 and try out CCSPECS mag..Bubba, ya done good!! You are making some grade A Classy mags!! Hat off to ya bro! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
XdamagedX 248 Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 ...the target says "brians load"... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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