Most fans of the joystick style front rest consider the SEB NEO to be the one to have. But like with anything there are ways to improve it to match your particular shooting disciplines. Here’s what I’ve done to make mine more multi-gun, multi-distance, and multi-range friendly while making it faster to adjust.
The super-feet were made by having a couple washers and a metric nut welded together from the inside. The cavity was then filled with a plastic nut with tape on one side to keep epoxy out, so the leg’s point can rest in it, and filled with epoxy. The epoxy was also smeared across the bottom and a piece of rubber was put on it. Once cured you can use a razor to cut the excess rubber away. That’ll give you a set of easy to remove yet solidly attached super-feet that will allow you to quickly and easily move your rest without having to play with moving the super-feet by themselves. You may also want to consider placing a rubber washer where the super-feet and lock rings contact the base.
The used SEB NEO I was lucky to get off of cigarcop on this site came with what looked to be a bead blasted base. I was contemplating having it dip coated in some kind of pattern, but went with the more durable powder coating instead. Whatever you decide to do, if anything, with your base, do not allow the 2 pillars to removed. Mine popped out while pre-heating and it took up a good amount time to get the things aligned just right again.
The 2 knobs that are used to lock the body from sliding up or down have threading that is way too long. Measure them up and cut down those threads so the knobs don’t stick out so far. It may save you from scratching up your stock or snapping one off down the road.
My favorite mod is the use of Kipp adjustable handles to lock down the adjustable side bags instead of the supplied allen head screws. The M6X20 sized ones I got provide more than enough leverage to lock down the side bags and the handle can than be rotated to any position you’d like to keep it out of the way. I ordered mine from MSG Industrial with a black handle. They also come in stainless. If you want to use your NEO with rifles that have different width fore-ends these are a near must have. You can put a small brass flat washer under them to keep from marring the finish.
The front stop as it comes has a good amount of adjustment in and out. But none when it comes to the up or down adjustment you may need if using different style stocks or shooting up or downhill. What you’ll want here is a plastic handled nut with a hole through it that will allow a fully threaded bolt that has had its head cut off to pass through. I had to drill a hole through the center of the handle I found at Lowe’s. On the other measured end of the threads you need to permanently attach something that will act as a stop. It can be plastic or if you’re lucky something made of aluminum round stock that you can place o-rings or grommets on. Once again get some brass flat washers and a nut so that handled nut can lock the stop in place once it is adjusted to the desired height.
I like to use the fuzzy part of industrial Velcro tape on my bags. It not only acts as a uniform cushion on my otherwise hard bags, but it lets the stocks slide nice and uniform.
I cut up a piece of the metal bracing that is used to attach lumber runners to a ceiling header and drilled the hole large enough so the cap screw on the top of the NEO's vertical posts will hold it tight. Then cut the magnetic clip off the back of a Sinclair timer. Put on some Velcro and there you have a timer right at eye level.
Hope this gives some of you some ideas.
The super-feet were made by having a couple washers and a metric nut welded together from the inside. The cavity was then filled with a plastic nut with tape on one side to keep epoxy out, so the leg’s point can rest in it, and filled with epoxy. The epoxy was also smeared across the bottom and a piece of rubber was put on it. Once cured you can use a razor to cut the excess rubber away. That’ll give you a set of easy to remove yet solidly attached super-feet that will allow you to quickly and easily move your rest without having to play with moving the super-feet by themselves. You may also want to consider placing a rubber washer where the super-feet and lock rings contact the base.
The used SEB NEO I was lucky to get off of cigarcop on this site came with what looked to be a bead blasted base. I was contemplating having it dip coated in some kind of pattern, but went with the more durable powder coating instead. Whatever you decide to do, if anything, with your base, do not allow the 2 pillars to removed. Mine popped out while pre-heating and it took up a good amount time to get the things aligned just right again.
The 2 knobs that are used to lock the body from sliding up or down have threading that is way too long. Measure them up and cut down those threads so the knobs don’t stick out so far. It may save you from scratching up your stock or snapping one off down the road.
My favorite mod is the use of Kipp adjustable handles to lock down the adjustable side bags instead of the supplied allen head screws. The M6X20 sized ones I got provide more than enough leverage to lock down the side bags and the handle can than be rotated to any position you’d like to keep it out of the way. I ordered mine from MSG Industrial with a black handle. They also come in stainless. If you want to use your NEO with rifles that have different width fore-ends these are a near must have. You can put a small brass flat washer under them to keep from marring the finish.
The front stop as it comes has a good amount of adjustment in and out. But none when it comes to the up or down adjustment you may need if using different style stocks or shooting up or downhill. What you’ll want here is a plastic handled nut with a hole through it that will allow a fully threaded bolt that has had its head cut off to pass through. I had to drill a hole through the center of the handle I found at Lowe’s. On the other measured end of the threads you need to permanently attach something that will act as a stop. It can be plastic or if you’re lucky something made of aluminum round stock that you can place o-rings or grommets on. Once again get some brass flat washers and a nut so that handled nut can lock the stop in place once it is adjusted to the desired height.
I like to use the fuzzy part of industrial Velcro tape on my bags. It not only acts as a uniform cushion on my otherwise hard bags, but it lets the stocks slide nice and uniform.
I cut up a piece of the metal bracing that is used to attach lumber runners to a ceiling header and drilled the hole large enough so the cap screw on the top of the NEO's vertical posts will hold it tight. Then cut the magnetic clip off the back of a Sinclair timer. Put on some Velcro and there you have a timer right at eye level.
Hope this gives some of you some ideas.
