Some writers are ex-championship sharpshooters and/or accomplished and world famous hunters, but that would not be me. If I want to do right by a product and avoid concluding with, “The rifle would not shoot better than 18″ groups at 100 yards”, I need to set up so I can isolate a firearm’s performance from my own abilities. The easiest way for me to accomplish that separation is to shoot from a rest. With a rifle well-supported, all I have to do is concentrate on aiming, controlling my breathing and controlling my trigger squeeze.
My typical approach had been to shoot from a padded cast iron rest, arm curled under the gun’s stock, squeezing an aft rabbit ear bag in my hand to finesse elevation control. A rest of this type is heavy and unwieldy and tends to break things when stuffed into a range roll cart being dragged to and from the range several times each week. Additionally, this setup did not adapt well to shooting some semiautomatic rifles where a short stock and contact with a bare barrel tended to scatter groups. The X7 shooting system, pictured above, is proving to be a good alternative to the cast iron rest and doesn’t suffer from the same ailments.
Neato! Just like Transformers…
The X7 Bulls Bag Shooting System, one of a number of products offered by the Bulls Bag Company, is actually a collection of shooting bags of varying size and shape, as pictured above, that can also be assembled into one large central rest as shown below.
There is some interesting engineering at work here. With the system assembled, filled with sand, cat litter or walnut/corncob media, each component is a solid structure. Moving the saddle sleeves outward pinches the rifle within the vise-grip rest and locks everything up rock solid with the routine downward pressure of the rifle and shooter’s hold. I tried both sand and walnut media and cat litter and both the latter lower density, lighter weight fillers seemed the best. They were easier to handle and more responsive when the firearm position was adjusted.
This configuration, with the vise-grip attachment securely adhered with Velcro to the filled saddle sleeves, the X7 was instrumental in significantly reducing felt recoil. The rifle pictured is chambered for the 260 Remington and not a heavy kicker by any means, but I also shot a similar size gun chambered for the 300 WSM and both guns were much more comfortable to shoot over the duration of a long and very active range day. With gun in hold on the rest, the vise-grip really grabs the forearm, so under recoil the gun attempts to pull along much of the weight of the rest, in this case thirty pounds, plus the weight of the rifle and scope.
With a little imagination…
By stuffing a saddle sleeve with a low owl ear rest and rectangular rest, and inverting it on whatever is being used as a shooting bench, the result is a solid front rest with a concaved, suede lined recess to support a rifle’s forearm. A second rectangular rest can be used to support the buttstock of the firearm, or the aft rest can be skipped and supported solely with the shooter’s shoulder. Why this combination rather than the full set up? Less to carry and set up for a field set up, if that is important to the shooter and the situation.
Component parts of the X7 system can be arranged to facilitate handgun shooting. In this case it was just a matter of stacking a low owl ear rest on top of a rectangular rest in both cases pictures as they yielded the right height, a lot of stability and room for a good solid grip.
I draped a leather square over the owl ear rest when shooting the revolver to protect the bag from hot gasses and powder residue escaping between the gun’s cylinder and barrel.
The X7 Bulls Bag System comes in camo. Very effective. In fact, for a moment or two, I couldn’t locate it on my shooting bench. Uncanny. The fabric is heavy duty, as are the zippers, and where Velcro attaches, there are acres of the stuff, so straps don’t fall off and bags don’t separate under any handling.
Filling is about like any other shooting bag, Each component has a double flap Velcro sealed filling point that is large enough for a funnel that will pass filler through, and seals securely when closed. During a long shooting session I left no trail of breadcrumbs, nor did I leave a mess on the bench. So shooting bag flat tires are not something to worry about.
The fabric will not scratch finishes, zippers are well covered and suede lines gun rest surfaces.
The modular X-7 Bull Bag System is available from Brownells as #100-005-682 X-7 Bag System, Tree Camo, Modular Style Mfr. Part: M90007 and is priced at $159. Considering it will replace a cast iron rest and accessory shooting bags, it is a tight system and a bargain price.
Lots of systems and options to select from…
Where the X7 System may be an overkill, or if a more compact set up is needed to facilitate field use or simple range use, Brownells also offers heavy duty suede and fabric shooting bags like the one pictured above, right in 10″ and 15″ lengths, color fabric or camo, and a smaller four piece modular set, above left, that covers most types of rested shooting. Prices range from $30 to $99. At theBrownells‘ site search enter “Bulls Bag” and the entire product line will be displayed.
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