With British Snipers to the Reich

My thought on "sewing part of a Vickers belt" is that it's fat, wide & very stiff, so I'd think it difficult to sew & even more so to wear!

Especially when they could source "ammo Belts" from various places with no problems.

Agreed. We're testing the rifle & load, not our shooting ability.

I use a front-rest & it's bag, a rear bag & barely touch the rifle except for the butt-stock & trigger.

This is intentional. I don't use the sled because recoil action is based on a somewhat "flexible" recoil absorption, (Me!) rather than a rigid "stop"

I usually have the front bag back where my offhand would be, just in front of the magazine, this was just for a photo set shot.

I'm a little further back than that, I hold the fore-stock just in front of the center sling swivel.

I use the off hand to fine tune elevation.

Coarse sighting with the front rest screw, pinching the bag for a fine tune. Oh & resetting to the same spot on the front rest every shot.

I only ever shoot it with a modern rifle and bipod, the sandbags I used to put in front and behind of the bipod to minimise it creeping forward, although one if front should do the job. The heather filled bag I stuff under the right hand chest of my chest for support...it's an age thing! 

Looking at images of this years McQueens which ended today I notice only one sandbag per firing point but the have increased the number of "castles" to four from three.

These are the castles if you're unfamiliar with the McQueens, you get two sighters on a target frame to the side of the castle followed by ten 3 minute exposures with varying times between each one in any of the apertures on the castle or on top of the castellations. 

I feel ya A square, the last three years haven't been good to me health-wise.  I always kept fit throughout my Sixties, walking 3 1/2 miles 5 times a week, Planking several times for a minute at a time, could still do 12 pushups and a few pull-ups.  I could crawl around underneath and over my vehicles to do repairs and whatnot.  Then came the Prostate cancer diagnosis in late 2022 with 40 Proton therapy sessions which weren't too bad but 4 Lupron injections absolutely devastated my physical abilities.  I lost a lot of muscle mass and gained weight way too easily.  That was followed by a kidney stone attack and lithotripsy, then MOHS surgery for a BCC, then a hip replacement.  I feel like I've aged 20 years in just three.

I prefer to shoot prone but like the rest of you I often need help getting back up; usually by climbing up my No.4 and using it as a stick to steady myself. 

The damp winters are the worst and seem to make the metal work in my body ache far more than summer.  

I've had one knee relaced and the other is now on the way out.