Shooting bench?

[mikld]

I'm cobbling together a shooting bench and just curious if any of you have your own portable shooting bench, home made? So far I have a top made from two pieces of 3/4" plywood glued together and since I can't decide on legs, I'm going to use my Workmate to hold the top. Any hints/suggestions for a home made shooting bench? Pictures?

[vancelw]

You asked about home made. I don't have one. I have a Cabela's version of the San Angelo bench. It folds up flat and goes in the trunk or the back of the pickup.

I think if I was making a home made bench, I would make a non-folding version with wheels on the front and spikes on the back. You could even put a cam on the wheels so you could raise them off the ground for more stability once in place. Wheelbarrow type handles on the back to maneuver it would be handy.

If you used aluminum, you could lighten the weight some.

[Hairtrigger]

I wanted a solid bench that I can move to various distances from my backstop

The wheels and axle are from an old lawn mower that a coworker was junking (at the right time for me!)
The loop fits over a 2" ball on the back of an ATV or pickup
This bench never goes more than a few hundred yards and since the trailer part does not fasten to the bench I must move slowly

[mikld]

Now that's a heavy duty bench! I forgot to mention I need a portable bench...

[Bill in Oregon]

I had one I built with 1-inch plywood using the folding leg kits (think church potluck tables) you can get at Home Depot. Often just used a five-gallon bucket for my seat. Don't think I have a photo.

[Malamute]

Benches certainly are nice. I'm looking forward to making one for my yard range at some point. I may end up shooting off the picnic bench/yard table. It will be full cut 3x10 and similar other 3x material.

I've done the vast majority of my sight in shooting off the hood of my truck. I lay an old saddle blanket over the hood to keep from staining it with muzzle blast. If shooting some things with enrgetic ejection, a saddle blanket across the windshield is helpful. I use a sleeping bag or whatever I have for a rest. I like to stand as straight up as I can, leaning against the truck to reduce movement. Makes a pretty stable rest most of the time.

Whatever your doing, I'd suggest making the bench so you sit as straight backed as possible. Most benches make you lean way into them, and making felt recoil much worse, for no good reason that I can think of. When I shoot at ranges with benches, I pile as much stuff up as required to sit straght backed as I can.

[Ben_Rumson]

When I shoot at ranges with benches, I pile as much stuff up as required to sit straght backed as I can.

+1

[Sixgun]

The heavier, the better. I really like Hair Trigger's bench....nice job!

If a bench is light and portable, it's well, might be OK. Don't expect bench rest accuracy. If that is what your limited to, get a few sandbags to add to the weight......75 pounds minimum. This could be easily accomplished with a half dozen 12- 15 pound sandbags.

If extreme accuracy is not important or desired, Malumute has the perfect solution. I've made well with all sorts of things from a case of beer and a towel or a backpack.

I believe RCBS has a pretty nice portable bench. At our club, each bench is probably 200 pounds or more. I've been to some gun clubs where they use concrete.....that's what the Ridgway Club uses where they do 1,000 yard bench rest competitions.

Your call....your bucks.----6

[vancelw]

The heavier, the better.

I agree. But for a portable (collapsible, even) bench, those little San Angelo benched will surprise you. I figure if I can plug prairie dogs from 200 to 500 yards from it all day long, it's stable enough. That's why I'm going to add wheels to mine....so I can drag it around the p-dawg towns. I need a holder for a beach umbrella on it Gets hot out there.

If a guy wasn't wanting to fold it up for travel or storage, a home made version would be pretty simple.

[jnyork]

My prairie dog shootin' portable bench rest:

[Malamute]

I've made well with all sorts of things from a case of beer and a towel or a backpack.

I did pretty well with a pair of binoculars as a rest when antelope hunting once. I crawled over a low rise in sagebrush about 300 yards from them, no way to work closer. The binoculars standing up were perfect. I hit the antelope within a couple inches of where I planned from that spot with the scoped '06.

[vancelw]

Well there you go, mikld...just get you an old rice-burning red pickup to throw in the back of your Ford to use as a portable shooting bench. If you drive off and forget it....oh well!

[Glenn]

A friend made me a portable varmint shooting bench and used 1" pipe for the legs, mounting pipe flanges to the underside of the bench. Very portable and quite steady. Just screw the legs in and out by hand.
Glenn

[J35]

I'm cobbling together a shooting bench and just curious if any of you have your own portable shooting bench, home made? So far I have a top made from two pieces of 3/4" plywood glued together and since I can't decide on legs, I'm going to use my Workmate to hold the top. Any hints/suggestions for a home made shooting bench? Pictures?

No handy pictures, but I made mine out of half of a old 36" solid core door, I used 3/4 pipe for the three leg's, I ground a angle on one end of 3/4 pipe couplings so the legs would be splayed out and then welded them to some 4"x4" 1/4"plate and screwed the plate's to the door, two in the front and one in the rear.

I made two out of one door, one for a old friend and one for me in the late 80's, I still have mine and use it quite a bit in the evenings for shooting air rifle's, never weighed it but would guess it's close to 80 lbs, it logged a lot of miles in the back of my old bug when I lived in S AZ.

----J

[claybob86]

My prairie dog shootin' portable bench rest:

That picture makes my back hurt!

[Hairtrigger]

My prairie dog shootin' portable bench rest:

That picture makes my back hurt!

I was thinking the same

[vancelw]

My prairie dog shootin' portable bench rest:

That picture makes my back hurt!

I was thinking the same

Makes me sweat!
The heat coming off the hood is awful. I'll use a pickup for an occasion rest, but when I'm on a prairie dog town I might be there for hundreds of rounds. Ususally, if I use a vehicle my back is against the front wheel with heavy shooting sticks out front. Very stable for long shots. I've seen more than one person with a hole in the far side of the truck from shooting across it....they forget the scope is 1.5 to 2" above the bore