When load testing for my Contender, I often find it tough to rule out shooter error.

What is the best bench/rest/technique to eliminate shooter error?

i have a bipod on my 223 and i use a sand bag under the grip
and then hold down on the leg of the bipod that works for me
or without the bipod sand bags front and back hope that helps.
and welcome to the forum.
larry

I use a nice big cushy bag and nest the gun in it. Nothing under the butt as that can affect consistancy. From there it is just a steady grip tension from shot to shot.

After deciding on a solid rest, practice, practice and more practice of proper marksmanship fundamentals. It sometimes helps to have an observer or "coach" to point out your mistakes.

Oh yeah, sand bags are hard to beat.

all around....they sure are! old jean legs cut to length, filled with sand or a lightweight "fine" material(plastic, corn cob media etc), and then tied off on each end work really well. two stacked in front and one in the rear for resting your wrists/arms.

also...."Fuzz" over at specialty pistols builds some really nice handgun rests/rifle rests(C&J machine). some all steel....some aluminum! with the one piece front rifle rest, one can use the square "brick bag" for the rear. may have a pic er two of mine in the bragging board here.

subsonic, I ran into the same problem as you did with the Contender. After years of shooting revolvers I assumed I would go to the range and print sub MOA groups with my 6.5JDJ. I was changing the type of rest I was using until I settled on rolled up bath towels.All these years a 3" to 4" group at 100 yards was all I needed to cleanly take game. Now I was trying to put 3 rounds inside 1" and realized that what I needed most with my Contender was, as Kral said above,practice.Good luck, JFS