Went to the local indoor range to sight it my rifle today. It's an 85 yard range. Used a lead sled to sight it in. Put 2 rounds touching exactly in the middle of the bullseye. Shot 4 rounds to get it sighted in, and I'm very confident that it was properly zeroed. Then I pulled out the .22 to shoot a couple rounds. Pulled the .308 back out to shoot from just a front rest and shot around 20 rounds. They were all 3 inches low and an inch or so left roughly. About a 2-3" total group. I kept thinking it was me pulling shots until I had shot enough rounds that I knew it wasn't just me being a mediocre shot. I adjusted the scope 3" up and 1" right, and put 2 in the bull. Why would it be so far off going from a sled to a front rest?

Not free floating? Pressure on the front of the stock different in each application

The lead sled doesn't allow the gun to recoil as it would off your shoulder alone. P_102

Because lead sleds are evil, and make rifles shoot in crazy places different from where they will when the rifle is on the shoulder of a shooter.

This very thing happened last week when a buddy was zeroing his wife's rifle from a sled. I said watch this, took the rifle out of the sled, and shot it twice at 100 yard paper. Same thing, the zero when shooting it out of then sled was way different. This is why I say to turn lead sleds into scrap metal unless you're going to hunt with the rifle in the sled.

Different hold and different pressure applied to various areas on the stock. Not an uncommon occurrence with some firearms.

We do load workup with a bench rest. I want all of the variables removed as possible. But after that, we zero the rifles with a set of shooting sticks that we are going to use in the field. On some rifles it makes a difference, and others not so much.

Ok. Thank you very much guys. I really thought I was going crazy. I feel a lot better about it now.

Fireman is right. Lead sleds suck.

Caribou, were you at defender shooting center?

Surprised so many people don't like the lead sled, I enjoy mine. It's a little awkward to shoot from, but I haven't had any zero issues. I shoot from trigger sticks usually though, so maybe that's why?

Yep. What an awesome facility. My boss shoots there a lot. It's the only range with a decent length rifle range open late. But it was pricy. $25 range fee for the rifle range is double what other places charge, but it's a really nice facility. They have the machines that will run your targets out to whatever range you want them, and a camera on the 85 yard targets so you can see your bullet holes.

Was shooting a buddies rifle once he put a few rounds down range and offered it to me to shoot a few rounds so I did. I shot three rounds in a pretty decent group that were a few inches low and left of his. I think its differences in eyes and how you hold the gun.

I guide alot and most of the hunters I guide only take the rifle out of the safe once a year when they show up to hunt. For a quick check of zero and to help take the error away form the shooter the rest works. In 10 years never seen anyone have enough POI change to make me question the sled. But I don't disagree that the rifle shoots different from a sled vs the shoulder pocket.

It has all of that, and $25 is expensive?

Wow!

I guess not really. I just didn't check their prices before I went. All I knew was it was an 85 yard rifle range. The extra amenities were unexpected.

85yd rifle range is weird to me.

Quai Creek $20 something, rifle or pistol.

As Bill would say, I concur.

Quality creek is $12. But they close early.

It's indoor, so I'm assuming it has to do with the available space in the building. And it's in the middle of down town, so they probably didn't have the extra 15 yards of real estate.

whats a lead sled?

I always liked a two sandbag setup or bipod

Oh. I've never been to an indoor range & have no intentions of trying one out. I got spoiled to having 21K+ acres to shoot wherever I wanted. Too bad that's gone!
No outdoor ranges near?

whats it matter indoor or outdoor?

Outdoor ranges close at 6. I needed to shoot later than that.

For me its about getting a true 0 on wind

That's another great benefit. It's air conditioned, and they play great music inside.