halfmoanut
Silver $$ Contributor
Who builds and sells a portable shooing bench that can be used for long range groundhog hunting. Has to be solid and be able to support a 17-20lb bench rifle and front rest and rear bag. Thanks for your time!!
Portable Shooting bench
- Thread starter halfmoanut
- Start date
I got this small banquet table from home depot for $30. Fits in my little grand am, is reasonably lightweight, and supports my 24lb prairie dog gun along with a full ammo can of 22-250 (say another 15 pounds?). I got sick of carrying it, not because it's heavy (it even has a built in carry handle), but just because I'm that lazy 
So I got the wheels for 6 bucks apiece and put them on, and just recently put the carpet on to protect my sensitive little elbows haha. I use a small camping stool to complete the lightweight package.
With any bench, you're going to have a trade off between portability and steadiness. That's not saying they will be UNstable, just more "bump-sensitive". As long as you keep still, any bench will be steady enough.
So I got the wheels for 6 bucks apiece and put them on, and just recently put the carpet on to protect my sensitive little elbows haha. I use a small camping stool to complete the lightweight package. With any bench, you're going to have a trade off between portability and steadiness. That's not saying they will be UNstable, just more "bump-sensitive". As long as you keep still, any bench will be steady enough.
Bangs OH
Silver $$ Contributor
I was gonna build one but sprung for the aforementioned Caldwell, as time was factor and the price was good (on sale @ Natchez for <150 bucks; even with scary-price shipping still cheaper than anywhere else). Will still probably need some reinforcement of the top for max stability, but this seems to be the one of the better ones out there for the $.
CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
Bought a fancy on from Sportsman's Guide. It shakes. Sat on two more that also shook and cost big money. Went to Lowes. bought one of their smaller, grey, fold out plastic tables for around $30.
How do you spell GREAT?
I take a lawn chair, my Caldwell bench or hunting rest, a rear bag and there's room for spotting scope, ammo, lunch and a good magazine (like Varmint Hunter where my wife and I are in the new issue). The secret is to shoot on it from an angle, not from the direct side or rear. It's comfortable and withing 1/16th" stable @ 100 yards as I often now use it as a portable banch rest.
Cheap[, light and works ... Lowes.
How do you spell GREAT?
I take a lawn chair, my Caldwell bench or hunting rest, a rear bag and there's room for spotting scope, ammo, lunch and a good magazine (like Varmint Hunter where my wife and I are in the new issue). The secret is to shoot on it from an angle, not from the direct side or rear. It's comfortable and withing 1/16th" stable @ 100 yards as I often now use it as a portable banch rest.
Cheap[, light and works ... Lowes.
I built one like Nomad's - doubled up 3/4" MDF, cover edges with hard wood, add angle blocks and pipe flanges. The hardest part of the whole thing is making the angle blocks and this is not bad but involved hand work ( at least my 10in table saw couldn't make the entire cut). Low cost, effective, and you get to play with power tools!
A friend cut the wedges for me. I have a limited amount of power tools - living in a motorhome. Another friend, for his bench, used plastic wedges that I think are for splitting wood.
Yeah, cheap. For mine, one 2'x4'x3/4" piece of plywood, the wedges, three pipe flanges, three pipes threaded on both ends, three pipe caps, some glue, drywall screwes, and lag screws.
Yeah, cheap. For mine, one 2'x4'x3/4" piece of plywood, the wedges, three pipe flanges, three pipes threaded on both ends, three pipe caps, some glue, drywall screwes, and lag screws.
Bangs OH
Silver $$ Contributor
Yep; I grew up in "downtown" Bangs, a couple houses north of Leo's General Store. Am now a mile due east of that teeming metropolis . In fact, Nomad, is it possible you're the guy who sighted in your Winchesters and a Savages at my farm about 3 years ago?? Small world.
. In fact, Nomad, is it possible you're the guy who sighted in your Winchesters and a Savages at my farm about 3 years ago?? Small world.
Rick in Oregon
Gold $$ Contributor
I'm sorta biased towards the BR Pivot too......about as stable as a rock, and "vehicle-served portable". I've used mine since 1998, and it's still going strong. Just returned from a 5-day ground squirrel shoot, and it performed perfectly once again during the firing of over 500 CF rounds, mostly .20 Vartarg and 204 Ruger.
My BR Pivot Lite with my Cooper M38 VR .20VarTarg aboard:
If you're after PD's, a rotating bench is about a must unless you like to pick your bench up and move it every time a rat pops up out of the fixed line of fire......been there. Midway does not offer the Lite version, but their standard model does everything you want. Good luck with the quest.
My BR Pivot Lite with my Cooper M38 VR .20VarTarg aboard:
If you're after PD's, a rotating bench is about a must unless you like to pick your bench up and move it every time a rat pops up out of the fixed line of fire......been there. Midway does not offer the Lite version, but their standard model does everything you want. Good luck with the quest.
Like everything else the big companies buy up the quality goes down to keep the price down. Midway has put a cheap nylon/compost top on the bench that's to short to support your heavy rifle and front rest. One of the guys in our dog shooting group replaced his top with double 3/4" plywood glued and screwed. It's just a little bigger then the original BR Pivot top and is the most comfortable top I've ever shot off of plenty of room for my Seb Neo, long rear bag plus a 20 lb plus rifle.
RJ
RJ
Attachments
This is not the best bench I have ever shot off of but it is pretty good.The Rockwell Jawhorse itself is a pretty handy tool. The shooting top took about 15 min to make ,and it sets up in less than a minute.
Just purchased the BR Pivot with Syn. Top. I went with the syn. top for a couple reasons. 1. The top has a raised lip around the outside to help keep things on the table. 2. It was like 50 dollars more for the wood top and I know that if i don't like the syn. one I can built a nice wood one mysely to fit me personaly.
My first though was to get the RCBS RASS but after finding one and setting on it I quicking moved onto the BR Pivot. The Rass had to many fitting for slop to mulitiply and didn't seem that it would be solid. I also wanted an actual bench to lay out bullets/binocs/rangefinder... etc. Rass had a small tray but wasn't for me.
I used the BR Pivot last weekeng for the first time... love to be able to sweep across the town... waiting for my front rest to come in...
My first though was to get the RCBS RASS but after finding one and setting on it I quicking moved onto the BR Pivot. The Rass had to many fitting for slop to mulitiply and didn't seem that it would be solid. I also wanted an actual bench to lay out bullets/binocs/rangefinder... etc. Rass had a small tray but wasn't for me.
I used the BR Pivot last weekeng for the first time... love to be able to sweep across the town... waiting for my front rest to come in...
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