Improvised Shooting Rests With a Rifle

If you’re out in the field hunting or target shooting, on land that you own or have access to, and are permitted to shoot on both sides of fences, they can be used as improvised shooting rests. Before employing one of these rests, be aware of two things. First, do not put hard on hard, and second, never rest the barrel itself on any surface. Always rest the stock on a surface.

Barbed-Wire Fence

One of the improvised shooting rests you may encounter is a barbed-wire fence. (The sample rifle has no bipod.) Don’t push in on the front to get that tension and stabilize yourself because that’s too close to touching the barrel. Any time you touch the barrel, you can induce a change in the way the harmonics or vibrations of the barrel change between the time the bullet enters the barrel from the chamber to the time it leaves the muzzle. That affects your predicted point of impact relative to your rifle training and practice in a controlled environment.

What to do? Whether you have a sling attached or not, you can put the sling stud against the fence line. Push forward on the fence line and lean your weight in. This will allow you to stabilize, get on target and take your shot.

Fence Posts and Trees as Shooting Rests

Remember, during firearms training, hunting or defensive shooting: do not put hard on hard. If you can take a jacket off and put it on the fence post and rest the rifle on that, it will work. Otherwise your fist or flat hand, especially turned palm up, can be placed on the fence post. Then lean your body weight in to stabilize. This video also covers how to use the non-flat surfaces of trees as improvised shooting rests.