The benchrest is good for what it's good for. It's great for sighting in. It's great for load development and analysis. But I despise the bench. It's a laboratory tool that is, at times, a necessary evil. It the Devil's tool to addict you and ruin your field marksmanship. Use it if and when you must, then walk away and shun the infernal thing. Learn to stand up on your hind legs and shoot like a man. Do I ever use one? Yeah, on the occasion, but I know darn well that it's detrimental to real-world marksmanship. It's a good tool for ballistic research and accuracy trouble-shooting. We probably all know people that can't hit anything at a hundred yards without using the bench. Consider it for prescription use only, like morphine. Here's the obligatory smilie:
,but it's still true.