Portable shooting bench

[GQshayne]

Yep, out of the same factory it seems. I did consider a better quality one, Ryobi have one for $100, but then that sort of defeats the purpose of doing it without spending much money on something that may only be used a couple of times a year. So I stayed with the cheapie.

I have put bolts and wingnuts on each side of mine, which means that it now sits perfectly flat, and is more stable. Side to side it does not move, but I noticed it did front to back, as the support brackets down the bottom of the legs move on the bolts. If the bolts are tightened up more they crush the box section the legs are made out of. I considered welding the two bits to stop them moving, but easier and requiring no re-painting etc, was to use self drilling metal screws to pin the bracket to the legs. They have no movement in their holes, unlike the bolts. Very little movement now. I also put a shelf in across these supports, held on with bolts and wing nuts. Good spot for those bits and pieces we all have to keep them off the ground.

Tomorrow I will tinker with how to use the adjustable front rest I have. I have a big sandbag that is much better to use, but of course is not height adjustable. So I will see what I can do with the gun rest to improve it. It does not have a proper top on it, so I usually put a small sandbag on it, which is not the best. I will change that (will think about how to do that tomorrow), and then set it up so it does not move on the timber top under recoil. Bit of rubber or something perhaps.

I am also tinkering with the idea of making an adjustable base for the big sandbag to sit on. So it can be adjusted for height, and also moved around a bit before then being locked down so it cannot move. It is very stable compared to the adjustable gun rest, so being able to use it would be an advantage. I think the adjustable base can be designed to work with the big bag, and also the gun rest, so it will support both. Hmmmmm…….. we shall see what I can come up with.

[GQshayne]

Righto, finished my bench today.

I needed to have the bench top in two pieces so I would fit in my vehicle easily. This makes it harder of course, as you lose the strength of the single piece of timber. The portable bench top, being made of MDF is not overly strong, so it does not have enough support for two separate pieces of timber.

Here is the end result. I have added a shelf in the bottom, located by captive bolts with wing nuts for ease of fitting and removal. The "stunt" rifle in the photo is my recently acquired Tikka 17 Rem project gun.

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Two sections of timber, with a steel support to hold them together.

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The MDF flexes even with a small weight on it, so I have used two small pieces of box section ally to make it more rigid.

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I like to use the big sandbag when I can, instead of the adjustable gun rest. But of course then you do not have your height adjustment. Also, the gun rest would move easily on the hard laminex top. So I have used a piece of ply with some divots in it for the gun rest legs to sit in. It has a rubber sheet glued to the back so it will not slide, yet it can be moved to where you need it. It also has some nuts countersunk into it, so that the legs off the gun rest can be fitted, and then it serves as a height adjustable base for the big sandbag.

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Seems to me that it will work well. A milk crate is about the right height for a seat.