I agree. I don't shoot anything that is too much recoil for me. I do use an unweighted lead sled occasionally for a variety of reasons. I always verify my zero off of a front bag with the butt shouldered, no bag. Bottom line, if you want to use one, use one. If you don't, don't. Simple.

I have a scenario for you, you sight in rifles for a gun smith and you get home from school on Friday and see you have 10 to 20 rifles to sight in on Saturday morning. They range from a 270 to a 340 Weatherby Magnum and on several the owner wants you to work up an accurate load for them. Half of them have scopes they installed that are loose so your first 3 shots are so far off you have to start over.
I would have loved to have a Lead Sled back then as you fire the first shot then aim at the same mark and walk the cross hairs over to the bullet hole and you are almost spot on.
Now move to a front bag only and fine tune. Sure would have saved lots of time and ammo not to mention the damage to my shoulder. Back then I was 5'5" and weighed less than 120 pounds.
To each their own.

I've got an idea for you too Old Rabbit. I would never have anyone mount a scope, sight in my rifles or do load development for me either. Lead sleds stress stocks, mounts, scopes,etc.

You might as well bring a shooter along to kill your animal for you.

Nonsense sir.... Then you would not be a hunter!...Now gut, skin and cape that deer while I go take a shower at the lodge.

Yep, I may be in the minority, but I really enjoy the process of sighting rifles and load development even if it causes a little soreness sometimes. No way would I ever let someone else do it. I also have never used a lead sled type device and I have no interest in them. I use a bipod or other rest in the front and a bag on the rear and it has always worked for me.

Learning to shoot prone, helps tremendously in combating recoil. All of one's body weight is behind the rifle. A good stiff stock, and something to load the bipod into will significantly tone down felt recoil.

I've used Lead Sleds for years to do the "tune up" accuracy checks before hunting season or after changing scopes, barrels, stocks, triggers or loads. I use 'em because they're easy to set up and easily adjustable. My "final" check is always using the hunting set-up I have planned. I've shot everything off my Lead Sleds from 17HMR to 30/06; wood stocks, plastic stocks, and any other material my stocks happen to have been made of at the time. I have never experienced any damage to any firearm or optic that I have used on the Sleds. I think they are a handy, portable, relatively inexpensive firearm support system that fits my modest demands quite well.

No lead sled but I seem to get grief over wearing a shooting jacket when doing alot of heavy recoil shooting! Even with lighter recoil amazing how much heart beat a good jacket will absorb! Won't have the luxury during the hunt but I like it when poking holes in paper!

Makes sense

I will say most led sleds I have seen were bolted down or have weights so they wouldn’t move. But would agree that would be a factor

I bought mine years ago in an attempt to reduce the variables when setting up a new rifle. I was constantly on the fence whether the inaccuracies were me......or my rifle/scope setup. I never used it with weight added, it was strictly set on a bench to steady my rifles. I am most certainly not a precision shooter, but I could not detect a change of POI with/without.

Once I discovered how to effectively use sand bags, my lead sled became cumbersome and redundant. If someone is near Cedar Creek Lake and wants one, I'll make an exceptional deal on mine that looks brand new.

Marc

Is the issue with the lead slead just cheek weld changing affecting parallax on scopes that aren’t adjustable?

I use a sled when I am checking or sighting in a handful of rifles. I use it because it is easy to dial in the bullseye. I know how I shoot but I might be checking a buddy's rifles. I know it is on after using the sled. I never use added weight in mine.

This thread got me to thinking and I will be honest, I think I have used the lead-sled as a crutch. I have more confidence being steady with a lead-sled than just on my shooting bags when sighting in a rifle. I’m glad I read this thread because I have reached out to FiremanJG and gonna make the trip for a day to work with him. I started hunting about 7 years ago, but was never really taught or shown proper techniques. I really want more confidence in my shot so I am looking forward to the class

I have one but don't use it much. I just had a root canal on my right jaw. Yes, I'm using it while I do some load work with a 12 gauge slug gun.

Some time ago, saw where a fellow that shot heavy recoil rifles for a manufacturer used a life preserver. I gave mine a try with some 45-70 Govt load work off shooting bags. Really helped with the recoil.

You can find those vest on sale at Academy for around $12

Well I shoot OK out to 700 in different positions, but a new rifle is perplexing to me. I damn sure plan on taking the borrowed lead sled out to ensure that I remove myself as the point of failure. Opinions vary.

Glad you have the time, tools and experience to do the job yourself lots of folks don't.
Over the years we have drilled out and repaired a lot of stripped threads in receivers due too over torque. Have also had folks use Red Loctite then break off the screws. Had a few that drilled and tapped their own receiver and they were so far off center the scope wouldn't even set in the mounts enough to put the top rings on. We had a Forster Universal Sight Mounting Fixture and lots of other high dollar tools. Most new rifles come drilled and tapped now but back in the 60's and 70's a lot didn't.
As for load work up we had more than one customer bring in a blown up firearm. They bought a cheap set up and used a spoon measuring set to put in the amount of powder they thought it needed. No reloading manual on some, others used pistol powder in a rifle round. Had one guy that just filled a 44 mag up to where the bullet was seated and blew out the top three cylinders and bowed the top strap.
Not trying to argue just saying some folks should not work on a weapon and that reloading is above some folks comfort zone.
Wishing everyone a great and safe hunting season. It's here.

We had a rifle site-in last year at a private ranch. 100 yards, covered cement slab, great benches. Two of the shooters decided to use a sled. They both had shot their rifles the past year, so they intended to just confirm they were still sited in. Both shot scattered 4-5 inch groups. By far worse than any of the other 12-13 shooters. We all noticed how much of an issue they seemed to have with cheek weld when using the sled. We had both guys shoot their rifles without the sled, with a front shooting rest and rear bag before adjusting the scope. Instantly no cheek weld issues. One group was around 1" the other 2". These groups tightened up even more once they figured out "OK, it's not me!"

I can see a use for one to help get a gun on paper. Other than that I would never use one.