A Steady Rest Is Important When Hunting With A Handgun

Resting your handgun may not seem important, right?

A steady rest is important when hunting with a handgun. The scope, ammo, and of course the gun itself get all the attention. I think there are a few reasons for this. Men especially don’t want to admit they can’t do something well. Asking how to rest your gun in a Facebook Group or forum might label you as a sissy who can’t handle a large gun. I’m guessing nobody could consistently hit a basketball at one hundred yards without some sort of rest, but who knows. I could be wrong. The other reason handgun hunters don’t talk about shooting rest is there just haven’t been many good options. This post may seem like a bit of a commercial for the Trifecta Handgun Rest, and that would be true, but I hope you will also gain some insight as to what to look for in a handgun rest for hunting.

Most handgun hunters start cheap

The picture above shows the typical configuration many hunters start with. A pair of $30 sticks are simple to set up and lightweight. It seems like the way to go, right? I started out with the exact same thing in my early days, and it cost me a few bucks (not money). The first concept to think about is consistency. if you can do the same thing every time, you will be able to hit the target the same way every time. Look at the picture above and notice the line under the shooter’s hand. There is no support for the back of the gun. Without support, the shooter now has the entire length of his right hand and arm dangling free. Leverage does not work in our favor in this situation.  Fiberglass sticks are also limited on elevation adjustment and are somewhat flimsy. They are much better than nothing, but perhaps not the best option for maxing out your gun.

Forgiveness leads to consistency

A handgun rest should allow the gun to settle on at least two touchpoints including the butt of the handgun and the frame just in front of the trigger guard. Both the Signature Camo Handgun Rest and the Hybrid Hunter include three touchpoints. The third is the trigger guard touching what we call the Trigger Guard Guide Wheel. This third touchpoint is super important when trying to make a quick move on a game animal. The hunter can feel where to put the gun instead of looking at it. The gun will be at the same rest location every time. A steady rest is important when hunting with a handgun, and the Trifecta Handgun Rest allows the hunter’s gun hand to rest comfortably on the Control Freak Bag so he can relax and keep the same hand angle.

Speed is important

There used to be a plastic handgun rest on the market that was popular with many handgun hunters. I know the name, but don’t want to say it. The rest was designed to fit on a certain brand of a tripod. Over the years I have asked people how they changed aim points to track moving animals using that system, and never received a positive response. The rest had no way to adjust up and down other than to pinch an added rear bag, or move the front tripod leg in and out. Our Trifecta Handgun Rest uses a fluid head that will adjust very quickly and can be tightened in a near-instant. A handgun hunter should be able to keep his eye on the intended target at all times, and shoot when the animal stops in a good position.

Lack of Elevation adjustment.

A bipod might seem like the ticket to consistent success, and in some instances it is. I think a pronghorn hunter could do well resting his gun on a bipod. Much of a pronghorn’s habitat is made up of the low-lying cover. The shooter can go prone and make a long-range shot. What about everything else? The Trifecta Handgun Rest will allow the handgun hunter to stand up or sit down and hunt by perching his Trifecta Handgun Rest on a quality tripod or monopod. The vertical adjustment will allow him to reach over whatever cover is in front of him. Using a monopod is a great option for handgun hunting out of a tree stand.

Material is important

I am always intrigued by some of the aftermarket ideas people come up with to rest their handguns in the field. Plastic, wood, and PVC pipe are all materials that are easy to work with, but might be floppy, noisy, bulky, brittle, and in the case of wood, just plain heavy. Many of these ideas are one-off, meaning the prototype is the end product. No balance or tuning could be included . A steady rest is important when hunting with a handgun. We have been building handgun rest for over ten years. Many changes have taken place in that time, and we always strive to make further improvements. The Trifecta Handgun Rest was designed and built out of aluminum then powder coated for a durable good looking finish. It is ready to go out of the box, but can also be tuned to the user’s particular needs.

If you would like more information, please visit the Trifecta Handgun Youtube Channel. If you have a direct question, please use the form to contact us, and we will gladly get back you to.