Lead Sled Solo
 

I just received a Lead Sled Solo for Christmas, and I was wondering if anyone has used one before and what they thought of it? Also do you need to add weight to it or can you shoot as is?

I've got a Lead Sled Plus, which is about the same thing. They are great tools to really get your rifle dialed in. I put some weight on it no matter what rifle I'm shooting so I can remove as much shooter error as possible. One thing I try not to fall into is shooting with it all the time.

Thanks for the input. I definitely think it is going to be tempting to shoot with it all the time (tiny groups are seductive), but I plan to use it like you describe - get my rifles dialed in. Then at least I know if I miss its probably my fault.

I have a Lead Sled Plus I just got. I really like it and it helped me dial in my inline.........and I plan on using it to let the grand kids shoot. No recoil!

I weight mine down with 30 lbs as I want no movement.

JW

The solo is a great rest. I especially like how there's room to work a lever action without any interference, I've shot some amazing groups with my Marlin 336SS. It also works great with my son's AR-15 and 30 round mags. I use a 25lb bag of lead shot to cut down on recoil and it makes a huge difference. A bag of lead works the best, but even a bag of sand would cut recoil. Remember that if there is interference between the strap and the rear sight, the front rest can be rotated 180* so you don't damage the sight.

Be careful as people have cracked their stocks using a Lead Sled or similar product where the butt of the long gun is against a solid object.

I bought a lead sled a couple of years ago. I used it with all my guns to make sure they were dialed in correctly and, since then, have just used sand bags. I used it with and without weight. The cracked stocks have mostly happened with the heavier guns. The biggest gun I used it with was my Wby 270 Mag and it did not crack the stock. Cheers/bg

As country1 stated, it's not good to have no movement because when you get into the heavier recoiling calibers the recoil can damage the stock (especially a wood one), scope, rings, screws, etc. Wherever there's an action there's an equal and opposite reaction. Your shoulder moves so that reaction is dissipated, but when in a weighted down sled something has to give and eventually something is going to break when shooting a heavier caliber firearm on one.

Not a problem with the Solo. It only uses 1 bag of shot maximum, and the front will come up off the bench when you shoot. Also the cradle is mounted to the base using a stout spring which acts as a shock absorber.

Topgun & Country1 - have either of you had a stock split or scope break while using a lead sled? Or is that just what you have heard? The reason I ask is that since reading up further on it I have heard others say you can crack stocks/ruin scopes, however they are often shouted down by others that say its nothing but an old wives tale.

Also like Centaur stated there is a heavy duty spring which would allow the rest to give a little, soaking up the recoil, and hopefully not transferring it all into the stock.

I have never used them and never will for the obvious reasons. First, shooting from a solid rest where the butt of the stock is not against your shoulder the POI is going to be different than when the butt of the stock is against your shoulder. Second, when there is no give at the butt of the stock of a long gun under recoil, this puts stress on the stock. Repeated or excessive stress will damage the stock at some point if enough shots are fired. You get the right vibration going through a bridge, and the bridge will eventually collapse -you can verify that with engineers. I have read more than one article (not Internet forum posts) warning about cracked stocks using this type of bench rest. If a periodical warns you about a product causing potential damage take note as they do not like giving the negatives about a product that has or may advertise in their magazine. I have also read posts on the Internet regarding how a long gun developed a cracked stock; and yes, they have used these types of bench rests. Ask the people who buy a used long gun at a gun show and later discover the stock is cracked. I would not be surprised if these cracks are from shooting from these types of bench rests.

It is your money, so you can do as you choose. For me, my long guns will never see them; and I will not recommend them to others.

gmil6184, have you had a chance to try out the new rest?

country1---Good post and spot on! If anybody has a rifle that has enough recoil that it hurts to shoot it from the bench off their shoulder, there is only one comment I can make and that is to get rid of the friggin thing and go down to something smaller that you can handle. A cradle or bags to hold the gun steady is one thing. To put one with significant recoil in anything that doesn't give with the shot, whether the whole thing goes backwards or has a spring that takes the recoil like the shoulder would, is flat out asking for trouble. One guy on another site said he had a lead sled loaded with umpteen pounds of weights and was using it for a .338 mag. He couldn't understand why he was shearing ring screws every 10 or 20 shots! It's a wonder his scope didn't fly apart too, but for the fact that it was an expensive Leupold that I like. Even at that, I told him the scope would probably be next if he kept that up!

the solo is on my list to get.been using the original style sled for years. its a great tool! it will take quite a bit of recoil off without using weight bags and will still recoil enough to feel but get you through longer sessions without getting all beat up. when shooting heavy recoil guns like slug guns and rifles like my 338 i try to set up so im sitting at the table comfortably square and shouldering the gun 90 degrees.works great and no damage to stock-gun or scope in years of use. you can fine tune your set up with a tweek of the spinner dial. much better than any sand bag. i believe people waste ammo and complain about accuracy in there guns because they cant get a good enough comfortable rest for a long session at the range.

Hey all - thanks again for all the feedback. I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I hope to this weekend. Gonna start with my Remington Model 5 .22 lr. The soon to be father in law wants to shoot his 7mm - 08 with it too. I will let you know what I think of it.

Hey everyone, got a chance to use the new lead sled. First impressions are pretty positive. Shot mostly with my .22 and was able to get groups at 50 yards which were basically one ragged hole. Even out to 100 yards I was able to get some pretty impressive groups (for a .22). Also shot a 7mm08, .308 and even 12 gauge slug gun. Sled def takes a lot of the bite out of the bigger rifles and shotgun. I bought a large weight bag but did not have a chance to fill it with sand. Even without the sand I was impressed with how stable the sled was and I am sure with the sand bag added it would be even more stable. All in all I was fairly impressed. If I had one criticism it would be that the front v shaped rest (where the forearm of the firearm goes) was surprisingly hard. I think I would have made it out of a little softer material, but that nit picking.