QUARTERMASTER FEATURING GUNS ALL-STARS! RaNGe SyStemS SiGht-Bloc Holt Bodinson his is one of those products you T can really feel good about. It’s both a highly versatile gun rest, and it’s made entirely from recycled rubber. Range Systems is a manufacturer of a variety of professional quality range products with an emphasis on composite rubber, encapsulating, bullet backstops. Their latest product made from a recycled rubber composite is really clever. It’s called the Sight-Bloc. Measuring 6x9x11 inches, the Sight-Bloc is molded to give the shooter three different height rests by merely flipping the block. There’s a 4-inch rest surface, a 7-inch surface and a 9-inch surface. Each rest surface is shaped like a deep “U” to firmly support your gun. Weighing 14 pounds, the Sight-Bloc is also a very stable platform, and being a rubber composite, it grips firmly to any surface it’s rested on. I’ve noticed many times that some rifles shoot their best when rested over prove to be a very handy and flexible field rest. For handgunners, two of the rest surfaces measure 4-inch and 6-inch deep respectfully so they will clear a suitable length handgun barrel. The Sight-Bloc is a well-designed and ingenious product for the shooter. It’s available directly from Range Systems for $49.99. Range Systems 5121 Winnetka Ave. N. New Hope, MN 55428 (877) 423-1785 www.gunsmagazine.com/range-systems limBSaveR’S coBRa Holt Bodinson hen the wide shoulder, cobra slings first appeared on the W market, I tried them. According to The sling buckles are formed from a quiet polymer and are securely attached via a threaded through-bolt and lock washer. the puff ads of the day, no military or Whelen-type sling could compare with a cobra. The cobra design was touted as being superior because it better distributed the weight of the rifle across the shoulder and more firmly secured the rifle on the shoulder. Maybe so. Now I’m not slope shouldered, but as I moved in the field, every cobra-type sling I tried, whether it was lined or unlined, kept working off my shoulder rather that sticking to my shoulder. Cobratype slings were particularly troublesome if slung over the shoulder straps of a rucksack or pack frame. The Sight-Bloc provides the shooter with three different height rests, and is ideal for benching ARs and AKs fitted Nope, after a few unsatwith 30-round magazines. isfactory experiences afield with cobras, it was back to a softer surface than a front rest bag that simple 1-inch, leather sling that or sandbag. To solve the problem, Remington used to package with sometimes I would simply cradle the every Model 700. That narrow, leather forearm with my hand resting on the sling snuggled down nicely between front bag of my rest. Other times, my neck and collar bone, and it never I have placed a soft, gummy, recoil rode off my shoulder, pack or no pack. reduction pad over the front bag and Then one day, right out of the blue, rested the forearm on that. Being someone asked me if I had every tried made of rubber, the Sight-Bloc by the new sling LimbSaver was producdesign already provides a soft surface ing. I hadn’t. to rest the forearm on. One of the more contemporary challenges is benchresting an AR or AK when fitted with a 30-round magazine. The Sight-Bloc solves that problem by offering a 9-inch-high rest position. It is simply ideal for an AR or AK plus if you accidentally knock it off the bench, it won’t break. You aren’t going The outer and inner surfaces of the LimbSaver sling are tacto hurt the Sight-Bloc. Carried tile and tenacious, while the molded-in handgrip of the sling around in a car or truck, it will is perfectly positioned for a comfortable, controlled carry. 70 LimbSaver is no stranger to the shooting community, offering a complete line of effective recoil pads, barrel dampening devices and most recently, slings. Their proprietary secret has been NAVCOM, a tacky rubber-like compound that first saw its use in compound and recurve bow dampening and noise reduction systems, hence the company name, LimbSaver, as in, the limb of a bow. Curious, since the LimbSaver “Kodiak-Lite” rifle sling is a cobra design, I fitted one to my Kimber Montana in .300 WSM for my annual Coues whitetail hunt. Hunting Coues deer in southern Arizona is about as close as you’ll ever come to hunting mountain goats or ibex. Coues deer like altitude and rough, vertical country. You carry a pack, and you climb. The hunt’s good exercise and a definite test of whether or not your sling will keep your rifle contained. Cobra, I apologize. All those things I said were lies. LimbSaver’s new sling has made a believer out of me. Here’s what I really like about the product. It’s “clingy.” Once on your shoulder or on top of your pack harness, the NAVCOM cobra sling does not move. It sticks. Next, the quiet, polymer buckles that attach the sling to the rifle swivels feature long, threaded cross-bolts that are secured with lock washers. They are not going to come undone on even the most rigorous of hunts. The most innovative part of the LimbSaver design is the integrated NAVCOM handgrip incorporated into the sling. Being long and comfortably rounded, it is perfectly positioned along the length of the sling to grab W W W. G U N S M AG A Z I N E . C O M • AU G U S T 2 0 1 3
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