Shooting table top finish coating

[SheepDog]

Horse stall mats are great! You can use contact cement to install them on the bench and trim any excess rubber mat.We use them on the sides of our falling plate targets to keep the bullet fragments from destroying the sides of the bay.

 

[6MMsteve]

Lots of guys use spikes to hold there rests from moving. Take that into consideration before topping a gun bench. I have a solid 4x4 & 2x12 constructed bench with 3/4 treated ply covering the 2x12s. Varnished with multiple coats and recovered every few years. Nothing fancy but very heavy, solid and built for longevity. Not like concrete but a bit more mobile.

2x6x 1 1/2 plywood for me

 

[6MMsteve]

if you have a planer & jointer 3x8 oak glued up park your tractor on it with epoxy finish

 

[perry42]

I have a friend that used a white "plastic" 4'x8' sheet 5/8" thick in rebuilding his 35' cabin cruiser. I will call him to find out where he purchased the material. One side was smooth and the other side had a pebble finish. This material is weather proof, stable, and resistant to gas/oil/cleaning products. I'm sure some using this site have come across this product.

perry42

The plastic sheeting was produced by FARCO PLASTICS.

 

[hoz53]

IMHO, rubber is "live"....meaning it has the abilty to move i.e. resilient. Hands down best is bare unpainted concrete. Wood benches are a problem unto themselves. I know of no range venue holding BR competition where I could not detect any movement induced by a wood bench. Smooth and glossy, IMO, is NFG. You need a surface where the bags stay put under recoil if you want to get all shots down range in like conditions.

I agree concrete is best but I don't think it would be good to pound the foot points on your rest into the concrete. What do you do where the rest meets the concrete?

 

[LHSmith]

I agree concrete is best but I don't think it would be good to pound the foot points on your rest into the concrete. What do you do where the rest meets the concrete?

Pounding the rest feet goes back to the old days (pre-concrete tops) where soft wood benchtops would allow the rest to settle from shot to shot. I have never found it necessary to pound the rest feet into an unpainted concrete top. The bench rest feet "stabilfeet" and "superfeet" which are large metal discs with a "thin" layer of rubber (elastomer) are a good alternative. The rubber must be the right durometer however....too hard it will slip over the top, too soft and it will have a tendency to compress at different levels dependent on how much pressure is applied.

 

[jdh47]

Tony Boyer mentions pounding the feet of his rail gun in his book. I was amazed at that because of all the problems I can envision a heavy rest moving is not one of them.

I do have trouble with my Harris bipod sliding because the hard rubber protectors slide on the bench. It can't be loaded properly, by me anyway. None of my rests do though.

Before I got a set of superfeet I used some steel pads I turned on the lathe and they worked well. I just like the superfeet. Vanity I guess.

Joe

 

[Tnslim]

I intend to check this out to use on my home built 1 1/2" plywood/urethaned top. Would also help out on the elbow comfort.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/utility-rubber-mat-black-4-ft-x-3-ft?cm_vc=-10005

 

[hoz53]

Pounding the rest feet goes back to the old days (pre-concrete tops) where soft wood benchtops would allow the rest to settle from shot to shot. I have never found it necessary to pound the rest feet into an unpainted concrete top. The bench rest feet "stabilfeet" and "superfeet" which are large metal discs with a "thin" layer of rubber (elastomer) are a good alternative. The rubber must be the right durometer however....too hard it will slip over the top, too soft and it will have a tendency to compress at different levels dependent on how much pressure is applied.

It just seems the pointed feet would slide around on concrete and pounding the feet into the concrete would mess up the top so I like the superfeet idea and will have to find out where to get them.

 

[wiuprof]

It just seems the pointed feet would slide around on concrete and pounding the feet into the concrete would mess up the top so I like the superfeet idea and will have to find out where to get them.

These are the ones that I use with my Sinclair Competition front rest. They work very well on concrete benches.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/shootin...ng-rest-accessories/stabilfeet-prod34461.aspx

Joe

 

[jdh47]

I think Benchrite is who I got mine from. They work pretty well. You can make some out of washers and rubber glued to the bottom. Some people like to use carbide tipped pads but I think it is overkill. They are pretty hard on any surface.

Joe

 

[perry42]

The white plastic sheeting I talked about in a previous post was produced by FARCO PLASTICS.

perry42

 

[linekin]

IMHO, rubber is "live"....meaning it has the abilty to move i.e. resilient. Hands down best is bare unpainted concrete. Wood benches are a problem unto themselves. I know of no range venue holding BR competition where I could not detect any movement induced by a wood bench. Smooth and glossy, IMO, is NFG. You need a surface where the bags stay put under recoil if you want to get all shots down range in like conditions.

Agreed on the smooth & glossy,polished, concrete tops. They look nice but bags will move around.NFG
Keith

 

[dickn52]

It just seems the pointed feet would slide around on concrete and pounding the feet into the concrete would mess up the top so I like the superfeet idea and will have to find out where to get them.

2 washers, jb weld and a rubber washer on the bottom. I made mine at 2" rubber and base with smaller diameter hole for the top. Use the JB weld to hold it all together. May have cost $4.00 total for three feet. If you can't find rubber washers, use an old mouse pad.

 

[M-61]

Rubber stall mats at Central Tractor/Farm & Fleet type stores have one of the lowest prices for thick sheet rubber. Farm Bureau stores also have this product. Sizes and thickness vary. Scrap may be utilized elsewhere or sold to members for personal projects.

+1
I have used stall mats. They are not cheap but they have been outside for a few years. Nothing has happened to them. I put them with the rib side down so some air circulates on the plywood. 4'x 6'x ¾" Not the easiest to cut but a skill saw works.
Here's a link but I'm sure there are a number of suppliers:
https://www.farmandfleet.com/stable...+stall++mats&utm_content=Mats+-+Stall+-+Horse

 

[hunter243sgk]

Rubber is VG.An old,not discussed much,cheap as dirt method*;make a slurry of masonry "brixment",slathered on wood....then the mat on top.

*ever seen a masons scaffold board rot?Didn't think so.

No sir I have never seen one rot. But the ones that get used for awhile get so dry from the mix that they end up very brittle and can be broken very easy.

 

[EBaker]

We took our tables to a local shop that does spray in bed liners. They charged us $55.00 -$75.00 depending on the size of the table. Works really well. Does make the table a good bit heavier.

Ed

 

[Intheshop]

In our "race shed",think pro rally down and dirty equipment maintenance.

We have oil soaked 3/4" plywood that is old as dirt....with shop truck and ag tractor running over daily.May not be up to "every" EPA code but....it does work and is cheap.Every 20 years,burn it.

 

[CJ6]

I am a member of my local gun club of meager means. We have solid tables/benches, a couple concrete tops, but mostly plywood tops.
What is the preferred table covering for a plywood table tops? Paint with sand? Rubber?
Thanks for the advice!

Ours are just painted.

 

[msinc]

I have been following this thread because one of my next things to do is a new shooting bench...just as soon as the weather breaks. My question is exactly what kind/material are the benches that top notch benchrest competitions are shot off of??? What was the bench like that the last world record benchrest was shot off of??? I think I want one like that.
Obviously, I don't shoot benchrest and have never been to a match. The two things I kind of remember in regards to benches in Tony Boyer's book was that he said if you are set up and looking thru the scope at the target and somebody leans on the bench and the crosshairs move the bench is not stable or rigid enough. Okay,I get that one. The other was something about using carpet to cover the top, but having it cut out so the rest feet were on the actual bench top. He never mentioned rubber. I cant imagine my Sinclair rest, heavy as it is, walking around on the top...even with the screws raised up.
Then again, he also talks about having your rifle set up in the bags and being able to cycle the action to load it and the gun not moving. That is to say set up the rifle, have rounds in the magazine...work the bolt without holding onto the rifle or otherwise touching it and be able to cycle to battery. I have several long range rifles and I cant do that with the heaviest one.
One other thing I will throw out there...it's just as important if you are shooting to see how small of a group you can get, to see that the target cannot move either. Sounds simple, but I have shot some bad groups while scratching my head watching the target sway in the wind before I finally got it.