Wanted to get some opinions on the Lead Sled. Had heard some reports that they can cause damage to the stock and scopes.

From what I've heard the lead sleds are great for sighting in and getting accuracy results with less punishment on the shooter. The problem as I've heard is putting too much weight (like the 100 lbs of lead shot in the advertisement) on the sled. With the heavy weight, upon firing of the weapon, the sled does not move, but the energy has to go somewhere. So it goes back into the rifle and cracks stocks and I would probably say adds undue stress to the optics.
If you're recoil shy and do a lot of load testing I would say go and get one but only put 25 or 50 lbs of weight on it.

If they are put together correctly and properly maintained I have found them to work great. I never damaged a scope or cracked a stock with mine. If the front rest is loose (screw that holds it on) or you do not lock it down I have found it will throw some fliers.

I much prefer shooting with a Bulls bag front rest and a Caldwell rear bag. The Bulls bag grips the forend pretty well and IMO cuts down on some felt recoil.

What you have heard can be correct and has happened...

I need to tell you that I don not have a lead slead and do not plan on having one.. but that is just all a personal thing with me. Others are using them and reall do like like them.

I THINK... the key is not to over load this with lead and remove all the recoil capabilities of the rifle. The rifle's recoil is designed to be an energy relief system... without the proper amount of recoil you can certainly stress and strain a stock. This scope is even easier to break without recoil. The internal system is designed to handle the violence of the shot but needs some recoil to be able to reduce the shock to the internal mechanism.

I would think the lead sled operating instructions would come with the proper way to use the sled and with in those parameters it could really be a nice tool.

Fusion,

I've had bad experiences personally. My CF rifle had the steel bases destroyed and my Omega had the scope shaken loose to the point where I had to remount it.

50 lbs. of lead by the way. Just my two bits.

I use mine all the time with no weight in it at all,
you can hardley feel the recoil even with a 300 win mag in it.
You really dont need any weight in it for it to work at reducing the recoil!!!

Ray

I was told not to use them. To hard on scopes is what i was told.

I've used one quite abit and I only put one 8 lb weight from a dumbbell set on the tray. It works great and has not effected any of my guns or scopes.

i use an adjustable front rest and a rear bag. Lead sleds are popular here but most use too much weight on them. Watched one guy trash the stock on his Dads pre-64 high grade model 70 Winchester.

Ive used them a lot even with the really hard kicking GMB54 and max loads. I don't like using them with a nice laminate though. The rear rest cover tends to get torn up and will easily scratch the stock.

I set mine up so the sled will slide back and i don't add bags unless i must. A moving blanket on a smooth top table works great. This will make it easier on the stock and scope. Its still best to verify POI off of some bags and only your support before you are ready to hunt.

The sleds POI and POI by only your support might vary enough to miss a longer shot. My lighter kicking target loads are basically identical but a heavy recoiling load might be off quite a bit vs the sled.