The grass at the time was really high (sigh!) and bipods were no good for that, tripods well, I find them still too wobbly for me in the winds on hilltops and soft ground and just a bit of a gimmick (certainty popular though in this consumer paradise but not for me).
And a benchrest, if it's light enough to handle and set-up yourself is wobbly and flexible, and you struggle if you aren't getting around in a ute.
From other posts over time it seems quite few of you are real keen and have heaps of talent to make your own stuff and invent some really innovative targeted gear.
So I knocked up this thing over a few evenings and had it ready for when some mates came out to sit over some baits from a hilltop.
- rest1.jpg (695.53 KiB) Viewed 45 times
I got one of my tripod pipe-stands, left over from a company that was sold, I managed to get a dozen of these things, and I use them in the farm workshop.
You can buy lightweight ones from Trade Tools.
We used them in the trade to set up smaller gas pipework, and I used one for the front part of the rest. I cut off one of the three legs, the one that would face the rear.
In its place, I welded a horizontal piece that linked the rear rest, and a bent rear leg.
So the thing is still a tripod, and will never rock on uneven ground.
All pipe is thin walled for lightness, except for the vertical sections where the threaded sections are dropped in.
- rest2.jpg (680.36 KiB) Viewed 45 times
The upright sections are Shed.80 40nb pipe, into which the threaded sections are a very nice, non-wobble drop-in fit.
The threaded sections are square-thread scaffold legs, these come with square ends welded to them and are designed to adjust scaffold feet nice and take up variations in ground level. You can buy these singly online, or from industrial supplies or scafflod supplies, and come with the big cast steel wingnuts to adjust your heights. As you can see, it's adjustable front and back.
The front and back rests are just Caldwell benchrest bags with white sand in them.
The black handles are hose tidies, they are used to keep your air and water hoses neat and attach by velcro, we use these to lift them at each end.
- rest3rear.jpg (681.96 KiB) Viewed 45 times
Close-up of the rear.
The long threaded M12 nut is just one of the long nuts used to join threaded rods like in besser-brick walls or bracing, and available at hardwares.
The threaded sections are just 8.8 bolts with a T welded to them. This tightens each section to remove any movement. You could leave these out.
Bags are just cable-tied to the tops of the threaded sections.
These tops can be cut to be of a shape you like. I'd recommend rounding the corners so nothing sticks into you with decent big cartridges recoiling.
- rest4front.jpg (685.12 KiB) Viewed 45 times
The front end. The same thing here.
The paint is just Mist-Green Colorbond touch-up paint from doing some repairs on something else.
We just sit behind it, each leg either side of the bent down rear section. The thing is absolutely ROCK steady and if you are taking aim at an animal within ethical range and you know your rifle is spot on, you will be successful.
It can easily be lifted and put in a SxS tray and is way lighter than it looks. And you can take it and set up a makeshift benchrest range anywhere you like, and with the two hugely adjustable ends, you can always have enough uphill or downhill adjustment for any situation.
I hope this was interesting and might inspire similar, or other ideas to share.
