Little Sure Shot Gun Rest

I am always a little wary when a new product is dubbed as the ‘Worlds Best’ of anything, which a new gun rest from America called the Little Sure Shot is claimed to be.

Whenever I’m out shooting, I always have a gun rest of some kind, be that a pair of sticks, Quad pod, Harris bipod or my knees! But this new rest does look intriguing and is certainly small and compact. It is a clamp system that attaches to any available fence post, small tree stem or gate and is small enough to fit into your pocket and deploy when you need it. Sounds good, but you know me, I have to really test it in all weathers, scenarios and with various rifles to check that everything works as claimed.

Artificial rests have a tendency to shift your point of aim on a rifle as it changes the pressure rested on the forend and can change the barrel harmonics on firing and thus move the point of aim. However so long as you know this and it is consistent there should be no problems. Let’s see.

Build

The Little Sure Shot is certainly compact, only 6.25 inches long and weighing just 5ozs it`s light enough to keep in your jacket or roe sack with ease, its billed as no bigger than your hand, and I’d go along with that. There are three models and these relate to the size of the loop that attaches to the support of your choice out in the field. The original size is a single loop and fits 3/8” to 1.5” diameters, the second “Big Mouth” fits 0.5” to 1.5” whilst the one on test the “Ultra Big Mouth” fits 1.25” to 2.4”. The main body is the same however and made from a high impact plastic to save weight, while still being robust and weather proof. The hoops or loops fit through the base of the body with a threaded end that connects to a large thumbwheel that tightens to secure the rest to a tree, post, gate rail etc.

The top of the rest has a shallow semi circular recess some 2.75 inches long and 1.0 inches wide to accommodate most rifle forend`s and importantly it’s lined with a dense polymer foam to absorb sound but more importantly dampen any recoil, resonance and ‘jump’ on firing.

Field Test

Importantly this is an ambidextrous rest i.e. the attachment loop can be unscrewed and flipped over so when sitting in one position it can be repositioned without have to swing it 180 degrees to reposition. It was actually quite easy to fit to an amazing array of regular and irregular supports, I tried gate posts , tree limbs , poles, Tractor foot rests, quad bike, deer fence and car window sill.

You can use it in the standing, kneeling or sitting position or lying prone and although the rest may not sit directly parallel, it does not matter as the cushioned inner rest allows the rifle to be held vertically. You can leave the rifle’s forend resting in the support without your hand or supported also with your hand, it’s up to you. I tried it out with a Tikka .308 stalking rifle, .20 Satan Varmint rifle and .22lr Sako Finnfire from all the above positions primarily to see how steady the rest was and if there was any zero shift from the rifles original sighting in. If the rest was attached to a tree limb, trunk or pole there was very little impact change, which was good to know even when not supported with the left hand, a heavier recoiling rifle might be different. On a harder and less flexible support I had minimal zero shift with the .20 Satan and .22lr, but the .308 from a light rifle did move about 0.5 to 1.0 inch, I guess due to the resistance from the solid gate post or similar. It’s consistent though, like when using a good bipod (which shifts the impact high normally), so long as you know this I cannot see it being a problem; just test it with your rifle and ammunition to check your own rifle under your conditions.

The Little Sure Shot is not a quick solution to a speedy shot, rather it’s an ‘ambush’ tool where you can sit or stand at a position, attach the rest and then wait. Naturally if you can approach game undetected then you can set up the rest at the end of the stalk, but I found the sit and wait approach easier.

Conclusions

Thunderbolt Customs, the makers, have produced a compact /light and actually quite useful little shooting aid. Available in a choice of six colours to suit and sizes to attach to most differing supports it’s a robust little unit which is well worth keeping in a pocket should you need it.  It depends if there is a suitable supporting medium to attach it to, but under many circumstances out in the field when you have no rest or normal rests are unsuitable the Little Sure Shot can come to the rescue.

The Little Sure Shot Gun Rest™ costs around £18 and is available from most good gunshops.