Bean Bag Beads

[Wm.Traynor]

Attempting to fill a front rest bag with beads but having trouble at the finish. Very difficult to pack them in nice and hard, because everything that I use as a rammer, comes out coated in the damn things In other words, the beans don't stay rammed. It could be used the way it is with some slabs of firm rubber under it but I am wondering if anyone has succeeded in making a firm bean bag

[niteowl]

RICE, the way to go

PS. You gotta keep it away from the mice tho

[Oldbloke]

RICE, the way to go

PS. You gotta keep it away from the mice tho

That's what I use.

[Wm.Traynor]

Thank you niteowl and Oldbloke but that stuff is probably too heavy for me.
However, I will check on it

[Tinker]

Cat litter made from recycled paper.
But use it before the cat does.
Polystyrene beans will squash down quickly and you'll need to keep topping it up.

[Die Judicii]

None of you blokes are in the right paddock, let alone on the right track.

WM Traynor Mate,,,, get on ebay and find "Plastic Pellets"

The ones I buy are 4-5mm diameter, colored white.
They don't absorb moisture, and aren't susceptible to rats, mice, or weevils.
They flow easily through a funnel and straight into your shooting bags.
No need to ram or force them in, and they settle well.
If your caught in a rain storm they are easy to dry out.

[Oldbloke]

Probably a better option.

[Wm.Traynor]

None of you blokes are in the right paddock, let alone on the right track.

WM Traynor Mate,,,, get on ebay and find "Plastic Pellets"

The ones I buy are 4-5mm diameter, colored white.
They don't absorb moisture, and aren't susceptible to rats, mice, or weevils.
They flow easily through a funnel and straight into your shooting bags.
No need to ram or force them in, and they settle well.
If your caught in a rain storm they are easy to dry out.

Thank you Die Judicii. I am looking in to that

[bladeracer]

RICE, the way to go

PS. You gotta keep it away from the mice tho

And don't take it out in the rain.
I use plastic pellets from Ebay.

[Wm.Traynor]

RICE, the way to go

PS. You gotta keep it away from the mice tho

And don't take it out in the rain.
I use plastic pellets from Ebay.

Got it
Thanks bladeracer

[Fester]

Anyone know what Caldwell use in their pre-filled bags as it is much lighter than the sand I filled the upgrade leather bag.

I now have the heavy bag to stay put at the centrefire range and the small Caldwell to not weigh down my pack at the 22 range.

[jezzab]

Anyone know what Caldwell use in their pre-filled bags as it is much lighter than the sand I filled the upgrade leather bag.

I now have the heavy bag to stay put at the centrefire range and the small Caldwell to not weigh down my pack at the 22 range.

Not sure about Caldwell but these came in mine. Polyester:

PXL_20250414_013200897.RAW-01.COVER-resized.jpg (729.44 KiB) Viewed 1652 times

[Wm.Traynor]

Cat litter made from recycled paper.
But use it before the cat does.
Polystyrene beans will squash down quickly and you'll need to keep topping it up.

How about some home-shredded newspaper?

[Tinker]

Cat litter made from recycled paper.
But use it before the cat does.
Polystyrene beans will squash down quickly and you'll need to keep topping it up.

How about some home-shredded newspaper?

Worth a try.
Better for the environment than those Chinese-made plastic beads.

[perentie]

wood shavings or sawdust?

[Die Judicii]

Cat litter made from recycled paper.
But use it before the cat does.
Polystyrene beans will squash down quickly and you'll need to keep topping it up.

How about some home-shredded newspaper?

Worth a try.
Better for the environment than those Chinese-made plastic beads.

How so Sunshine ?

I'd bet my bottom dollar they are made from shredded drink bottles and the like,,,,,,
Plastic that had use in some other form originally.
Recycling it into beads,,,,,,,,,, at the end of the day it is still plastic.

The beads that I use in my shooting bags stay there.
It's not like I'm spreading them out across the country side.

[jezzab]

Cat litter made from recycled paper.
But use it before the cat does.
Polystyrene beans will squash down quickly and you'll need to keep topping it up.

How about some home-shredded newspaper?

Worth a try.
Better for the environment than those Chinese-made plastic beads.

How so Sunshine ?

I'd bet my bottom dollar they are made from shredded drink bottles and the like,,,,,,
Plastic that had use in some other form originally.
Recycling it into beads,,,,,,,,,, at the end of the day it is still plastic.

The beads that I use in my shooting bags stay there.
It's not like I'm spreading them out across the country side.

Totally agree. It's not like they are making the filling from raw resources JUST for this purpose, they will be recycled vs landfill

[deye243]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/18693062292 ... media=COPY

[Wm.Traynor]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/186930622927?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=0YDQxdMMT8a&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=M2ECKivOSle&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Thank you dye243. This seller is significantly cheaper than another Seller on ebay.
Do you reckon that their 3Kg would fill my bag that is 10" X 6" X 6" or 25cm X 15cm X 15cm?

[deye243]

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/186930622927?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=0YDQxdMMT8a&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=M2ECKivOSle&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Thank you dye243. This seller is significantly cheaper than another Seller on ebay.
Do you reckon that their 3Kg would fill my bag that is 10" X 6" X 6" or 25cm X 15cm X 15cm?

Just look at a three liter milk carton for physical size those poly beads are lighter than water or milk so I suppose it will

[Die Judicii]

Shooters Bag.jpg (207.04 KiB) Viewed 1602 times

I generally fill all of mine to approx 90% full.
This one I just weighed,,,, and it came in at 5.5 kg

[Tinker]

How so Sunshine ?

I'd bet my bottom dollar they are made from shredded drink bottles and the like,,,,,,
Plastic that had use in some other form originally.
Recycling it into beads,,,,,,,,,, at the end of the day it is still plastic.

The beads that I use in my shooting bags stay there.
It's not like I'm spreading them out across the country side.

Wow, no-one's called me Sunshine for a while. Thanks Buttercup!
These beads are usually new-made solid polystyrene, which takes 400-500 years to degrade. If you wish to use that instead of something like recycled cardboard pellets, fill your boots. That's not for me.

[Die Judicii]

Wow, no-one's called me Sunshine for a while. Thanks Buttercup!
These beads are usually new-made solid polystyrene, which takes 400-500 years to degrade. If you wish to use that instead of something like recycled cardboard pellets, fill your boots. That's not for me.

That's OK Sunshine,,,,,, at least when it rains my bags don't turn into paper mache blocks,, or have to keep buying new bags because the mice ate holes in em.

[bladeracer]

Wow, no-one's called me Sunshine for a while. Thanks Buttercup!
These beads are usually new-made solid polystyrene, which takes 400-500 years to degrade. If you wish to use that instead of something like recycled cardboard pellets, fill your boots. That's not for me.

Cardboard or paper will be crap as soon as they get some moisture into them. I thought I found a good use for spent .22LR brass, until the first time the bags got wet, the cases held water and dribbled it out for days. Plastic pellets are the way to go.

[Oldbloke]

Been using rice ummm perhaps 6-'7 years.

Never been wet. If I used them in the rain I'd just slip a freezer bag over them. Never eaten by mice.

YMMV

[Die Judicii]

Been using rice ummm perhaps 6-'7 years.

Never been wet. If I used them in the rain I'd just slip a freezer bag over them. Never eaten by mice.

YMMV

During the last big mouse plague I had the little mongrels getting up onto my shooting rig during the night while I was shooting.
They'd run up little tree saplings and Lantana bushes and simply jump aboard.
I reckoned they could smell the tucker in my esky even though I kept it closed.

[Fester]

If it's too light the bag won't sit steady with the rifle sliding straight back on recoil, not that I have proper target stocks that ride the bags correctly.

I am not seeing any better grouping using the better heavy sand-filled bag, but I can feel the rifle not riding it properly.

[Wapiti]

None of you blokes are in the right paddock, let alone on the right track.

WM Traynor Mate,,,, get on ebay and find "Plastic Pellets"

The ones I buy are 4-5mm diameter, colored white.
They don't absorb moisture, and aren't susceptible to rats, mice, or weevils.
They flow easily through a funnel and straight into your shooting bags.
No need to ram or force them in, and they settle well.
If your caught in a rain storm they are easy to dry out.

Spot on mate, that's the perfect stuff.
My bags are full of these, weigh nothing, do not compact of absorb water or static electricity.
I leave my bags outside under a small roof over my shooting bench, and often light rain is blown in over them to no effect whatsoever.

Some of the green rear bags have a large black belt clip on them. When going for a walk with a heavy barreled big long range gun with a bipod installed, the rear bag gives you a rock steady prone shot. The plastic bead filled ones are so light you don't notice carrying them, and you can stuff them completely full and as DJ says, don't compact smaller. Great workout!

[Wapiti]

I listened to some very bad advice once to use rice, which sucked in moisture and rotted... and the weevils moved in.
Sounded great, hindsight is a smartarse.

[on_one_wheel]

10 out of 10 mice prefer bags full of grain.