Shooting Benches,Portable) -- Your Opinions WANTED

[AckleymanII]

Back when shooting so many p. dogs, we made all kinds of tables. We came up with a very stable table that you could have a 400 pound gal up there doing a lap dance on.

Basically it looked exactly like MikeCTX table, but with a 4th leg.

The one big mistake a guy can make on a home made table is to make the table so narrow in the rear that would leade to him not being able to put his elbow on the table, that elbow has to be supported in order to be stable in your shooting.

We had no issues leveling the table on the dog towns with solid 1 1/2" straight pipe legs. I feel as if adjustable legs is over kill, but it sure would be nice on extremely uneven ground. The legs when unscrewed do roll around , so we had a local saddle shop make a simple canvas bag to keep the legs in.

If the legs are not angled, you will have a rickety outfit.

We put two handles on the front, and two handles on the back to make the 1 1/2" plywood easier to move around.

CdnHotShot's design could save a guy a lot of trouble if the height of the table fits his torso.

One thing that guys forget is the quality of the stool or chair which is as important as the table. The stool has to fit your table's height, so an adjustable musician's stool gets this job done in spades. I get these stools cheap at pawn shops, they are very comfortable and adjustable.

 

[AZROY]

Folks,

I'm doing a product summary for portable,or at least semi-portable) shooting benches such as the Coyote Jakes, Stukey etc.

I want to include buyer/user comments in this article. If you have used a commercial shooting bench, or built your own, please tell me what you like,or dislike) and WHY.

I'm interested also in general decision-making comments, such as:

- weight vs. portability
- 3 legs vs. 4 legs
- wood top vs. synthetic
- rotating vs. non-rotating

SHARE your WISDOM with other readers!

Thanks, Paul McM, Webmaster

:comp:

 

[AZROY]

Parairie dog shooter for 30 years-definitely need 3 legs since PD fields are never level.

 

[Dope Dealer]

Here is one I built which works well. It is very stable and has adjustable legs so you can level it anywhere and also raise it high enough to shoot off of while standing.

Where did you get the legs?

 

[BoydAllen]

I have experience with everything from monolithic reinforced concrete to wood benches that are so wobbly as to be ridiculous. My impression is that if one adopts a shooting style that involves doing the final adjustment of aim by squeezing the rear bag ears, that satisfactory accuracy for varmint shooting can be done with any number of designs. Essentially one ends up holding the combined bench, rest, and rifle still in order to maintain ones point of aim. As far as I am concerned, the most stable portable benches have very stiff components, and four legs, with one adjustable. Even with that setup, it is advisable to use the bag squeezing technique. The reason that everyone does not use one of these is that they are the hardest to reposition, and heavy. Mine weighs 107#. It can be configured with either 3 or 4 legs. The other issue is the tolerance that each shooter has for cross hair movement on target. A small amount may have little practical effect if distances are moderate, and targets are not too small, but some folks are really distracted by that sort of thing. The best advice that I can give is to try out several designs and buy the one that seems to best fit your needs and preferences.

 

[Rpbump]

I bought a metal saw horse with adjustable legs from Harbor Frt this Saturday.
Using ideas from this post I will build a portable bench to use at Camp Blanding
this year. For a seat the adjustable musicians stool appears to be ideal. Will post pictures when its done. The sawhorse cost less than $25.

Rpbump

 

[Two Flints]

I was looking for a minimalist solution for my air gun field shooting and hunting. Originally, I made my own shooting table and had various types of rifle rests that I was using on my shooting table. Problem was carrying all that gear into the woods for hunting or to my local range for the shooting I wanted to do. All that gear meant too much weight to carry in and out.

So I began looking for alternatives to my current shooting table set up. After searching the Internet for several months, I settled on the Idleback Shooting Chair, made in England and completely self-contained and not heavy at all. It actually has three different sections or pieces that fit together. First you have the legs, then the rifle rest with attached round seat, and finally the arm or rifle butt rest. The Idleback is a solid piece of equipment. Weighs about 24 pounds and you can sling it over your shoulder and carry it in or out from your shooting spot.

The round seat (or available saddle seat if you prefer that style) swivels or rotates a full 360 degrees and the swivel is adjustable to your preferred rotating speed. The rotation is very smooth. Adjustability is unique to the Idleback Shooting Chair. It has adjustable feet (up & down); an adjustable gun rest; and an adjustable arm or rifle butt rest; and an adjustable back rest. And, the arm/rifle butt rest can be attached to accommodate a left or right hand shooter.

Here is my Idleback Chair with the three main sections attached together:



More information below:

Reviews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by5KwAqQBj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RzxYb95Isk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVR9D22Iuv0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0xI7pqb88U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm8xNKSlgAM

Idleback Web Site:

https://idleback.co.uk/ Has detailed information on the Idleback Chair and accessories, and many videos to watch.

 

[Jeff A]

The DOA is by far the best portable shooting bench I've used.
http://www.doashootingbench.com/

I have to put in my recommendation for the DOA bench as well. A great product.

 

[powderbrake]

I have recently posted a review of the CMP Precision Varmint Bench in this link.
The bench worked great in it's 5 day shoot.
http://forum.accurateshooter.com/th...og-hunt-with-new-rifle-and-new-bench.3903853/

 

[odie]

Another plug for DOA tactical. I used to run my own pd hunting service and seen/used about every style out there. The DOA is stable enough to make hits out past 1500 yards . Have the tshirt

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

Check out the www.ruggedbuddy.com model. I shoot everything from 223 to 338 LM, and my big rifles for Africa like 425 Westley Richard, 458 Lott, and my wildcat 550 Gibbs load testing from it.

 

[Hammer0419]

Im going to order a set of those legs and make one. Looks like it will work nice

 

[Richard Coody]

now this is an interesting rest for the PD or varmint hunter

http://www.mcfaden.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=TripodStandard24

 

[Richard Coody]

and this is an interesting rest for the PD or varmint AR hunter.

http://www.kopfjagerindustries.com/the-reaper

 

[Hammer0419]

and this is an interesting rest for the PD or varmint AR hunter.

http://www.kopfjagerindustries.com/the-reaper

The reaper grip is super nice but a bit oversized for small narrow stock GUNS. Great for ar type frames. I shoot with a Triclawps gun vise on a carbon fiber tripod. Awesome setup. I settled on the Triclawps after testing pig saddle, hog saddle and reaper grip.

 

[VaRandy]

Mine was built specifically for setting up once a day for Pa area groundhog hunting. The key to its capability is the 2 inch threaded pipes I stole from a previous Armour Bench from MANY years ago. If I could get someone to make me the receivers for the legs, I would make a couple more! I use two 3/4 Marine Plywood and made it large to accommodate the days needs. It weighs 65 lbs but is only carried a couple of feet from my truck. I have shot a 75 lb weapon and a 65 lb front rest on it without difficulty. Because of the angle of the legs, the more weight on it, the more stable it is.

 

[powderbrake]

There are a lot of good ideas in this thread, and each table has been constructed with certain needs in mind, and they serve the builder's purpose. I have been prairie dog hunting since the 1960's, and have spent a lot of time looking through binoculars, trying to find that next dog to smack. In fact, you probably spend more time with the binocs than actually shooting.
I believe table constructions should take this into consideration. You need a easy way to support BOTH elbows when scanning the field with binoculars. The pic below shows what I mean.

My right elbow has room next to the gun for support, and my left elbow also has a support point. When shooting there is plenty of room for my right elbow on the bolt side of the gun. I generally bag squeeze for elevation with my left hand.

 

[Old Navy]

I had a couple I had to load, unload and load back in the truck. None even came close to as steady as this.

 

[Baer45]

I don’t have time to go into a lot of details but I have owned most of the benches named on these post. Without a doubt, Stuckeys makes the best portable bench I have ever owned. I like that it does not have a swivel seat as I can get much more comfortable with his seat and it is easy to move back and Cross a field line of view. I also like it is so well made I leave one as a permanent bench in field and use the other for range trips as I find his bench to be better then the heavy wooden range benches....love it! 5*****

 

[rockriver15]

Here is one I built which works well. It is very stable and has adjustable legs so you can level it anywhere and also raise it high enough to shoot off of while standing.

Do you have the plans for your bench or maybe what type material did you use for then legs? I like the adjustability part.