Caldwell ‘The Rock’ Deluxe Shooting Rest

I spend most of my time in the woods hunting, but it all starts out on the bench testing ammunition and accuracy and that needs a truly stable position. For years, I have used a sand bag/bean bag set up, with a leather rear bag that has served me well, but with some recent Bench Rest gun tests I decided to up the game and go to a fully adjustable front rest.

More hi-tech than the humble sandbag, they come in all manner of options, from a fixed-height bean bag to fully adjustable metal and plastic designs, some even offer a cant facility. It all depends what you might want.

You can be paying up to a grand for some examples! I don’t shoot competition, so I just wanted something that allowed a steady front rest with adjustments for height and a removable bag system so that rifles with varying forend widths can ride them. A trip to Norman Clarks in Rugby revealed what I needed was encompassed in the Caldwell range of shooting rests. They are an American firm that has a very good range of affordable, but well-made shooting accessories. One item that took my eye was ‘The Rock’, an apt name for a well-priced £105.

Spec

Made in China is fine with me, it’s a solid unit at a good price with the features I needed. If you want less, then there are models to suit all pockets and needs. The Rock is an all in one package with bench rest and filled deluxe front bag and perfect for testing rifles, zeroing and probably competitions too.

It comes disassembled but is easy to put together. It’s heavy too at approx. 2.5kg, which is exactly what you want, as it needs to be stable, so any variation of the aim is down to you. The base is a cast iron tripod powder-coated in Caldwell’s green livery, with 11.5” between the legs, which gives a really stable platform. Most practical and convenient is the integral carry handle!

The ends of the legs are drilled and tapped and accept 3.25” threaded vertical extensions with spiked feet. These offer good stability for a secure and stable union to the bench it’s resting on and allow you to level the base, which is another important consideration.

Ram rod

Elevation is sorted by a large centrally positioned threaded ram that drops down through a hole in the base, which is locked for the set height by a long, J-ended handle (J-handle) that simply screws in through the side of the base to lock it in position. A cushion washer sits between the base of the tripod and the underside of the rifle rest (cradle), which is done to protect the components. The ram is raised/lowered by a six-spoked wheel made of cast iron that screws onto it, so it’s a simple matter of just turning it to get fine adjustment.

It allows a precise elevation movement of between 4.5 to 7.25”, so once settled on the bench, you can adjust height from your shooting position without disturbing it with a turn twist of the wheel. At the top of the Ram is the forend cradle, which also mounts the front bag. This is in several parts with the flat base having two ears that slot in to both ends and act as side stops for the bag when fitted. The bag can now be placed between them, which can be tightened to hold it securely in position and move it left or right slightly to fine tune forend support.

Deluxe

The Rock comes with a Deluxe front bag that is 5.75” wide and 2.5” deep with cut out centre to steady the rifle’s forend. It is made of thick green cordura and has a black, faux leather top and comes filled with some sort of artificial beads.

There are two Velcro straps, which attach around the cradle for stability that allows you to change the front bag to suit the style of rifle you are using. This Deluxe model is fine for normal width forends, but alternatives can be bought in 1.75-2.25” or 2.75 -3.25”. I fitted the latter for the bench rest style 3” wide forend, which only cost £19.44. Finally, a forend stop assembly is screwed into the front of the cradle and this acts as a guide that the rifle’s forend touches, so that you know it is in the same place each time before you fire.

In use

This system is meant to be used in conjunction with a rear bag; again, Caldwell have a great selection to suit the style of rifle you have. I have several already so used my own this time. There is an art to shooting and using this system. Bench guns are usually shot so they ride the bags; the rifle is allowed to slide in the rests in free recoil. Then pushed back into exactly the same firing position again for each shot to maximise accuracy potential.

That’s how I use them with low recoiling cartridges like the 22 PPC and the like.

Rather than moving the gun for elevation, you use the ram/wheel to make adjustments, thus not altering your hold that will cause inconsistencies. For normal sporter type rifles, the narrower bags are great with the underside of the butt rested on the rear bag and to let it recoil as normal and let The Rock just steady your aim.

Conclusions

I was going to buy an all singing all dancing bench rest, but for my needs The Rock was more than good enough, and the realistic price allowed me to spend more money on reloading components to actually shoot!