Artillery Sticks

[a1rgunz]

I've been designing a set of shooting sticks designed for spring and gas ram air rifles. Here's what I have come up with so far:



The legs are made of 3/4" schedule 80 pvc pipe. Leg adapters are 3d printed as is the rest surface. A bit of pipe insulation is used on top of that for the rifle to rest on. I pulled the spring my junk pile and have since bent it around the screws.

Note that the forearm of the rifle is able to rest on a steady, consistent surface. The rest does not pinch the forearm, allowing it to recoil freely as you would with a traditional artillery hold. The legs are able to move in such a way to provide a level shooting surface on uneven terrain.

Here's what it looks like in action:



Your off hand is used to steady the sticks. The results are super promising. Here are two 10 shot groups at 20 yards, the first string on the left, the second on the right:



The first group was me getting used to the new setup. The second group measured .456" ctc with the flier, the rest of the pellets were pretty much stacking. It shows that if I do my part, the rest of the system works like a well oiled machine.

This artillery stick is a piece in a puzzle that I'm working on. I'm trying to build an external system that mimics the function of the recoiless action on the RWS 54. The next piece of the puzzle is a system that will allow the buttstock of the rifle to recoil consistently regardless of your type of clothing and pressure that you apply into your shoulder.

[rsterne]

It would make the sticks much harder to hold.... but using a roller rest works extremely well on Springers....



Top group on a sandbag, bottom one on the roller....

Bob

[a1rgunz]

Thanks for the idea! A tripod might be the way to go with a roller. It would be simple enough to print a roller holder that could clip into my camera tripod.

[rsterne]

Yep, would work great on a tripod.... Quite a few guys have had success with the roller when shooting from a bench.... which is always problematic with a Springer.... I suppose another roller under the butt, and then your anti-recoil device against the shoulder.... might improve things even more?.... At some point, though, you end up with the gun moving around on a lead-sled (think artillery carriage), and your only contact with it is pulling the trigger....

Bob

[a1rgunz]

I'll have to choose my battles wisely, as I want it to be portable enough to take to the woods squirrel hunting 

Thanks again for the ideas and feedback. Here's the .stl files I've made so far for the current rest:

One of these will need to be printed: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9p-ZyfRRmqEb3A0cG5BLUdmR0E
and two of these: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9p-ZyfRRmqEUFpoM1VPZTRlNzA

For some settings to get anyone wanting to print one started, I print the first file with 15% infill. The second file, I ended up rotating 180* and print with 50% infill and 15% support density. You might need a little finish sanding on the leg adapters to get everything to pivot just right.

[Barkis]

I've been thinking about sticks as well and yours are a good idea. Since I use a telescope tripod as a "shooting bench," I think that I will try out the paint roller idea.

[glassman98]

Like Bob said, rollers work good on springers.  Craig

[Tater]

Cool project Geo.

[Nvreloader]

Thanks Bob

Is there a diagram of the roller rest or plans for building one?
As the search dog didn't work for me again.

Would this rest be advisable for a standard PCP, like the QB 79 AR?

Looks like something I could make for BR shooting/testing etc. 

Tia,
Don