A lot of my friends that are hunters know that I am a "gun nut", and often ask me to help them sight-in their rifles for deer season. I am glad to do so.

However, I am often surprised at how awkward many people are when they try to shoot a rifle off of a benchrest. Today, I will show those of you that are interested, how to use a benchrest to sight-in or to test a rifle.

First, let's clear-up what we are doing.

We are not talking about how to hold a rifle for hunting or about off-hand shooting positions.

We are strictly talking about how to use a benchrest to test a rifle for accuracy, to sight-in a scope or iron sights, or to test ammo.

The purpose of using a benchrest is to "remove the shooter" from the equation as much as possible, so that we can test the rifle, ammo, or sights.

First we need some equipment. You need a good rifle rest.

I have one that I bought from Sinclair, many years ago.

It is a nice rest, and has adjustments that are easy to use.

I like to place a loosely filled sandbag on the rest, as I don't like to take the chance for the rifle to "bounce" on the rest.

If you don't have an expensive rest like that, you can build one like this, that I used for many years.

I place the sandbag on the top, to rest the rifle fore end.

One of the most critical items needed is the rear bag.

Mine is one that I got from Sinclair long ago, and it is leather, filled with sand, and has "ears" to hold the butt stock. But any sandbag can be used.