Homemade "Bench" for Rest Shooting

[RickKr]

I'm looking for designs of homemade benches for rest shooting. Portable. I've seen the thread here where the guy made one from a weight lifting bench. Great idea, if I can find an old lifting bench. Nothing currently available in online advertising sites.

I need something that can be folded up, put in the back of an SUV and taken to an "informal" shooting area. I live in a very rural area and have access to a place on public lands where people do a lot of shooting. There are no facilities, so I need to bring my own bench.

Rick

 

[BenPerfected]

Go to Google and request “homemade shooting bench rest”. Numerous choices.
Ben

 

[RickKr]

Of course. I should have though of that. Lots of good ideas. I think I like the pipe/pipe flange ones best.

 

[TAJ45]

I doubled the top thkns, had bud weld some threaded pcs at an angle and had Ho Depot thread some pipe. If you are young, it's portable. I tip it and put on a hand truck to go in and out of my shop. I need more gym time :/

PS. PVC end caps fit my pipe perfectly - keeping the steel out of the mud. I would use the next smaller diameter next time. It is pretty rigid.

 

[Lonny in ID]

Rick,

Not the only way to skin a cat, but here is the blueprint I use for the flange/pipe legs variety.

 

[BoydAllen]

A lot of it depends on what kinds of tools you have. I have a portable bench that has four pipe legs, but can also be configured with three. One leg is adjustable so that when four are used that it won't rock on an uneven surface. The legs screw into couplings that have been cut and welded to plates, one across the back and two in front. All legs are angled outward both to the side and also front and rear, except for the coupling for a single rear leg, which only angles to the back. This is a heavy bench, weighing about 107# but it is sturdy. I have found that I can leave it assembled and simply haul it upside down in the back of my truck and slide it out and flip it over to unload it, right next to where I will be shooting. The legs are 1 1/2" schedule 40, and the plates are quarter inch. I designed the top so that my chest does not touch the edge of the bench when I am in shooting position. The top shape is not typical, and it works perfectly. Portable benches are more susceptible to movement by the shooter's heartbeat and breathing.

 

[rsmithsr50]

just do a search on here for shooting bench. maybe portable shooting bench. lots of pics and styles in the classifieds a guy sells pope brackets.
while the drawing shows 22" common plywood is 24, use as is

 

[RickKr]

Thanks, guys. I like the plywood top/pipe/pipe flanges approach. Definitely attractive as budget friendly.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Buy some of the flanges from lonny above. He has them listed in the classifieds

 

[Ccrider]

Some guy on here listed plates already welded. All you have to do is go to Home Depot, buy and have them cut and threads your pipe legs and buy a sheet of plywood and cut it in the shape to desire. Buy the screws and screw it in and you are done. Easy and cheap.

You can get two tops out of one piece of plywood. So make two or double the top on your table.

I will post a picture of my table later. I had a guy local make the plates for me.

 

[rsmithsr50]

they sell hobby cuts of plywood...2x4(24x48) is common
buy thick,
laminate 2 sheets
bolt( not screw) leg brackets to one sheet, laminate second sheet over the first..nice flat smooth surface.

 

[waybones]

2 inch steel tubing and 3/4 inch top. Makes for a great portable table and very solid.

 

[jdh47]

If you have fabrication capabilities do a search for Stukeysbenches. He makes a decent bench and they are expensive. You can reverse engineer one and build it.

Some years ago Rick Jameson did an article on a shooting bench he designed I presume. Do a search for that and portercalls has the plans for it. It is a little simpler to build.

 

[CarlGeorge]

A few years ago I made one using (most likely) Rugged Buddy sawhorse legs. (From the pics I see online now they're almost certainly Rugged Buddy legs. If I didn't use those in reality what I have is AWFULLY close to the Rugged Buddy.) I got one of the premium plywoods (Birch? Don't recall) from Home Depot.

Overall it works really well and I've used it a fair amount. But I now prefer to shoot prone so the bench hasn't hardly gotten any use recently.

 

[hdskip]

Not to be critical but the above drawing shows dimensions to the center points of the radius-ed corners. This doesn't reflect over all length with out adding the radius dimension. I like the design and plan to use it except for the fact it is bass ackwards for me.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I got a legacy shooting bench recently. That satisfied my bench needs

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Not to be critical but the above drawing shows dimensions to the center points of the radius-ed corners. This doesn't reflect over all length with out adding the radius dimension. I like the design and plan to use it except for the fact it is bass ackwards for me.

Just turn it over

 

[jpx2rk]

I made a portable shooting bench from a Ryobi Miter saw stand with QD clamps available from HD for around $100. Screwed 2 thick pieces of plywood (2x4 size) together then bolted the QD clamps to the plywood, figured out my measurements, etc., and made a few cuts. The top is flat, lays in the truck bed, the miter saw base folds fairly flat, is long and narrow with the legs folded in/retracted, so it's pretty easy for an old fart to load/unload and set up.

 

[alf]

 

[DickE]

I'm a lefty, I made one out of a full sheet of 3/4" treated plywood cut in half, stacked, glued and screwed together. cut an elongated semi-circle in rear. Works for lefties and righties, space to put your stuff on, either way. Gave it 10 coats of house paint, lasted over 10 years.