I posted a pic of one I made out of scrap plywood and his brackets in his classified add. I used a single sheet of 3/4 plywood to save weight because we have to carry everything in. Its still solid as a rock.
Homemade "Bench" for Rest Shooting
- Thread starter RickKr
- Start date
I posted a pic of one I made out of scrap plywood and his brackets in his classified add. I used a single sheet of 3/4 plywood to save weight because we have to carry everything in. Its still solid as a rock.
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
The legacy is solid until you put a big heavy gun on it- other than that its the only one i can shoot free recoil off of
IMHO
sorry I do not see a massive 2" frame as portable,
nor do I see bolt heads in the bench surface as user friendly.
sorry I do not see a massive 2" frame as portable,
nor do I see bolt heads in the bench surface as user friendly.
not stable enough for any serious shooter.
fine for plinking with the kids but that is all
fine for plinking with the kids but that is all
You can kinda see mine in this picture:
The key to stability: the seat has to be securely attached to the bench so that when you sit, you anchor the whole thing in place. This guy is about 20 inches wide, 24 inches tall, and 40 inches long. Built from 2x4 and standard 1" pine boards from your local supply store. Fits in a station wagon or a truck bed with a topper with ease. Weighs about 20 pounds. Every bit as solid as the concrete benches I've sat at, but it is low down to the ground.
The key to stability: the seat has to be securely attached to the bench so that when you sit, you anchor the whole thing in place. This guy is about 20 inches wide, 24 inches tall, and 40 inches long. Built from 2x4 and standard 1" pine boards from your local supply store. Fits in a station wagon or a truck bed with a topper with ease. Weighs about 20 pounds. Every bit as solid as the concrete benches I've sat at, but it is low down to the ground.
Dusty Stevens
Shiner
Its funny that most ive found with a seat attached are not sturdy due to the seat being attached
LarryDScott
Site $$ Sponsor
Plus 1 on not attaching the seat to the bench. The only one that I know that it works on is the Pivot bench. Its all has to move together to work. LDS
Maybe I stumbled into a good design on accident then. I purposefully set the leg lengths so that when I sit on it, it twists the whole bench, pressing the leg directly in front of me into the ground. This fact in combo with how short the legs are is what I attribute a lot of the stability to.
Most folding tables I've tried have bounce to them. I've got a bench almost exactly like alf's. Even when they feel stable while breaking the trigger, they bounce the gun under recoil and you get all sorts of odd fliers. I've never been able to make a folder that doesn't do this. I even tried bringing some specific size poles and ratchet straps to triangulate the front legs to the rear. That made it feel more sturdy and stable, but it still flexed and "bounced" under recoil, throwing shots.
Cool looking truck, got any more pics?????
Portable benches are just that, portable and none that I've seen can compete with a concrete bench however some are more stable than others. The two I mentioned truly are portable but they take down. 1" pipe legs will not be as stable as 1 1/4" pipe legs but when you go up in size you add weight. I made both types and the Stukey's design is the better I think. I made it ambidextrous for my left handed grandson.
Below is a picture of a bench made from 1/2 sheet of 3/4 " plywood. I believe that this design was made by Rick Jameson. One can get a double layer of 3/4 inch from the half sheet. The legs are made from 1.5 inch pipe screwed into 3 flanges which are mounted to wedges to give a wider stance. I mounted a door handle on mine to ease portability. This would NOT be my choice for BR but it makes a great prairie dog table. Shown here is yours truly and the late John Boughton and the late Bucky Murdoch shooting PD's near Encampment, WY. PS- John in the upper picture is using a Commercial table. I can't remember the name of it.
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I'll admit it, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool DIY'er. But with so many fold-up portables for sale its hard to justify building your own portable. Here is the one a good buddy of mine uses (he ditched the hoakey rifle rest). Another prairie dog shooting friend uses an ironing board for a bench, carries his sand bags in a plastic bucket that then doubles as a seat! But as already said, nothing portable can compete with a good stationary bench rest with separate chair.
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Untitled by Sharps Man, on Flickrckaberna
Gold $$ Contributor
I bought a couple of the “WEN” miter saw folding “saw horses” and a sheet of 3/4” plywood and made two tables for me and my son. Doesn’t compare to the concrete bench behind the shop but about as stable as I can get and remain portable. Table top is 1.5” thick. Stands are about $75 shipped if I remember correctly. Mine stand weighs just under 27lbs. as pictured not including the top.
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