For those not yet so professional biathletes that don’t have the time and money and connections to get a high-end custom setup for your rifle, but still want to experiment with standing-block options and height without the common trial and error method, the following will definitely be interesting for you.
You should know, for context, that I have no hips basically, and short underarms. Even with two raiser blocks and a 3d printed standing block from biathlonstocks, when I do my natural alignment while I am in a comfortable standing position, I am aiming welll below the target. I tried changing my position, but with physical limitations and a stubborn mindset I don’t want to give up one thing I feel comfortable in (standing position) to fix another.
I have also struggled with finding the right height of standing-block pretty much from when I started shooting a few years ago. My coach got me all setup, and I tried other people’s rifles and setups, bought some pretty pricy raiser blocks/, tinkered with other wood pieces, and searched the internet (even using a vpn to get non-North-American results!), but to this day my rifle still does not feel comfortable when shooting in standing position. There are so many options and examples out there, but to just go ahead and order to only find out it doesn’t work for me is going to be pretty expensive.
In my search for a way to adjust on the fly and try different things without spending hours in the garage with a saw and scrap pieces of wood, I noticed my kids’ storage box of duplo. If only I could attach it to my rifle and still use it with other blocks…
Some measuring and tinkering later I drilled some holes in a duplo piece and attached to the rifle using the standard (Anschutz) bolts, and I also added a duplo piece to the standing block. All of a sudden my options were endless!
Just grab any 2×6 Duplo piece, I use a plate but you can use a block too. Just make sure the bolt ends are not sticking out too much and test if the next block will fit tightly. I used the standard Anschutz bolts and added a ring to avoid the hole chipping.
Note that on the backside of the Duplo pieces there are two circles that appear to line up perfectly with the two bolts, but they don’t. It’s not much but make sure you measure and check the fit. And again, makes sure the nuts don’t stick out too far.
Now I have been able to try different heights of the standing block with increments of a duplo plate, and try with my current standing block or with other configurations made from Duplo, and perhaps Lego later on.
I’m not sure how comfortable I will be trying this out on a range, unless i tape the pieces together, but for dry-firing at home it works great. Print your in-house target (relative correct size at 4 meters away), put some extra blocks on a chair beside you and dry-fire, exchange, dry-fire, exchange, etc.
Although I’m still working on it, this is my favourite setup so far, but I have more duplo and Lego pieces ready to go for further refinement.
On a serious note, I do think this is a great, inexpensive, flexible and fast way to find yourself a good setup for standing shooting, which really doesn’t require more than a drill and a screwdriver. And Duplo of course.