Hyskore Dangerous Game™ Machine Rest

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Recoil makes cowards of us all. Knowing you’re about to get hammered by a heavy-caliber rifle may have more to do with missed shots than anything. After all, most dangerous game rifles are fired at relatively short ranges into impressively large targets. Lots of professional hunters will tell you (privately) that lots of clients visibly flinch – and miss, sometimes badly, when shooting big-game rifles.

Hyskore has come up with an ingenious machine rest that turns even the largest blaster into a manageable weapon, enabling you to check your scope or sight alignment without leaving a major contusion on your shoulder.

Their new Dangerous Game Machine Rest will handle any centerfire rifle from a .223 to a .416 Rigby without damaging your weapon – or your shoulder. This rock-solid rest means you can actually fine-tune your rifle/scope combination with ease- and accuracy.

The Hyskore handles recoil via a graduated set of compression dampers- think shock absorbers – geared for a range of calibers. The #1 (Mild) can handle .223 Rem through .308 Win with ease. #2 (Medium) moves you into the heavier calibers – from 7mm Rem Mag to the 375 H&H – a standard African “big game gun.” Damper #3 (Heavy) moves into the realm of great big game guns, handling .338 RUM through the frighteningly-powerful 416 Weatherby.

In damper #3 we’re talking big bullets moving fast.

A 416 Weatherby fires a 400 grain bullet with a 2570 FPS muzzle velocity. That produces prodigious recoil - from 80 foot pounds in a nine-pound rifle to a clavicle-crunching 102 foot pounds in a 7-pound gun.

In other words, a flinch is virtually guaranteed if you’re firing multiple rounds at the range. Flinch means you can’t get your rifle/scope zeroed. That means misses.

With the Hyskore Dangerous Game Rest, however, you have the ability to tame the recoil and fine-tune your scope/rifle combination without punishing yourself or your rifle.

To test our Hyskore unit, we went to our local range armed with the largest rifle in our arsenal – a pre ’64 Remingon 700 chambered in .375 H&H. In addition to being a staple of African game rifles, this beauty is also one of our prized possessions. We had no interest in seeing this beautiful piece of machinery damaged by being wedged into a vice-like shooting contraption.

That was a baseless concern with the Hyskore. Rifles are mounted via an ingenious – and generously padded butt mount, “V” barrel rest at the front and into a couple of Velcro restraining straps along the center of the rest. When securely strapped in, the rifle is resting firmly – but on non-abrasive surfaces.

After mounting, you simply adjust the fine-tuning knobs for windage and elevation and you’re nearly ready to fire.

Don’t worry about your tendency to “yank” the trigger on your big gun, the Hyskore has that handled, too. This rest uses an optional infrared firing mechanism. It’s inserted into the trigger guard and adjusted as you’re mounting your rifle. Just give it a couple of dry-fires to make certain it’s adjusted properly and when you’re ready to fire, you just push the button and the rifle fires with consistent trigger pressure every time.

 As you can imagine, this rest is dealing with a bunch of forces working against each other, so it’s crucial that you get the rest securely mounted to your shooting bench.

 If it’s your own bench, you can simply bolt the unit down. If you’re using a bench at a public facility (like us) consider building the Hyskore-suggested shooting bench platform. It’s a fairly simple process, and instructions for assembling and operating the bench include the bill of materials and detailed instructions on how to build a wooden platform.

It’s a straightforward procedure and results in a very nice – and highly portable base – that allows you to take the dangerous game rest to any range or shooting facility. If you shoot at different ranges, consider permanently attaching your rest to the base and taking the whole unit to your shooting destination.

When you arrive, simply “C” clamp the entire unit to any bench – including concrete ones – and you’re ready to shoot.

One word of caution: if you’re using the dangerous game rest, and are tempted to fire your rifle with the remote firing control while you’re looking through the scope at the target: DON’T!

Recoil is a function of the action-reaction created as the bullet moves forward in the barrel and the gas exits the muzzle. It’s the “rocket effect”, and it’s managed by the Hyskore rest’s damper system allowing the rifle to travel precisely to the rear and back during firing like an artillery piece.

When a 30-06 a rifle is fired in the rest, there’s as much as 1-1/2 – 2 inches of very rapid – and powerful –rearward travel. If you’re looking through the scope, a nasty cut might be the very least injury you could expect. If you’re looking through the scope with a .357 H&H you might not see anything for several minutes.

As the accompanying documentation warns: “if you do something dumb, bad things can happen.”

If you pay attention to the instructions, however, you’ll find that you won’t have to subject yourself to the pounding of your big-game rifle in order to make certain it’s right on target.

We followed the clearly-written directions carefully and were rewarded with nothing but resounding clangs as our rounds punished a 100-yard steel target every round after we fine-adjusted our scope.

Like any device that’s built to take a pounding, it’s advisable to check all the mounting straps and adjustment bolts after a few shots. We didn’t have any problems, with that, but realized we had a tendency to shoot rounds too-fast through the rifle.

That’s gratifying, and impressive, but not good for your rifle. No big-game rifle is designed for high-volume rapid-fire.

Go slow, allow your rifle to cool between rounds, and you’ll find that your big game rifle is considerably more accurate than you’d ever imagine.

Knowing that – without having bruised your ego or your shooting shoulder will mean you’re going to shoot it more accurately when you’re afield on your dream hunt.

Suggested Retail Price: $249

More Info at HySkore Website

Buy It at Midway USA
($204)