Shooting from a Bench

[ScottQ]

As a brand new shooter (both to IPSC and to shooting in general) I've been trying to learn as much as I can, soaking up lots of info and ideas, and having a lot of fun.

A question has come up, though, that I just can't seem to find an answer to. In Matt Burkett's video, Brian talks about how valuable it can be for new shooters to learn to shoot from a bench or rest. I've seen other folks talk about that as well.

I've searched the Internet, and these forums, and for the life of me I can't find anything about how to go about doing this properly. I see all sorts of articles on benchrest shooting of rifles, but can't find a thing on pistols. Should I be looking to shoot off of some sort of stand? Bags? Or just with my freestyle grip supported on the bench? Any other tricks or tips?

My goal here is twofold. One, I have just purchased a new pistol specifically for USPSA production shooting (yeah, I'm hooked!), and I want to see what it's capable of shooting, accuracy wise, before I get any work done on it. Two, Brian's suggestions (on Matt Burkett's video) make a lot of sense to me, to use benchrest shooting as part of my practice, as it can help to isolate things like trigger control, and watching the sights, without worrying about holding the gun still, etc.

I'm sure I already have enough bad habits going that I'd like to try to avoid adding more, so any suggestions or thoughts are appreciated!

Thanks,

Scott

[Flexmoney]

The idea is to get as much solid support as possible. To not disturb the gun at all. Stability.

You want to take as much of the "shooter variable" out of the equations as possible.

If you are shooting from a bench (you might also shoot from prone), try to use a sandbag or two. Position it forward on the bench, so that you can get good extension of your arms. Press the gun down into the bag. Press your forearms and upper arms down into the table...none of that teetering on your elbows stuff.

You may need to offset yuor body from center...so that you can get maximum contact of your arms to the bench.

You don't want to be hold the gun with muscle tension. Use all the support you can manage.

That is my take on it, anyway.