Materials
- 3/4" Plywood 25x36" (I think 5/8" or perhaps even 1/2" would also work)
- 2x2 Lumber 96" - 6 pieces
- 1/4" x 3.5 (or 4") carriage bolts, nuts, washers , lock washers - 4 of each
- Decks screws, 2"
- Carpenters' glue
- Small screw eyes - 6
- Elevator bolts, 3/8-16 x 3" - 4
- T-Nuts, 3/8-16 x 7/16 - 4
- Wingnuts, 3/8-16 - 4
- Furniture Grippers (rubber feet with self adhesive) - 4
- Caldwell DeadShot Front Shooting Rest
- Outdoor furniture padding, matching fabric ribbon
- Optional, 1/4" plywood 21x22" for bottom shelf

Construction
I am not much of a carpenter, so if you have a better way then by all means do it that way. I assume no liability for the safety or function of a bench built from this plan

1. Cut top to size and frame it with 2x2s. I cut one piece at a time and trimmed to fit as needed
2. Attach 2x2s to top with deck screws and glue
3. Cut 4 legs from 2x2's 51" long. Drill 7/16" hole 3" deep into bottom of each leg and glue T-Nuts
NOTE: Leg length may need to be longer or shorter to fit shooter. I am 5'10" tall
4. Attach legs to top with carriage bolts and deck screws. T-Nuts go to the bottom
5. Cut 4 lower leg braces from 2x2s. Measure each to fit. Install with deck screws and glue (glue
is critical on 2x2 frame). Mine are 12.5" up from bottom of legs
-- APPROXIMATE bottom brace lengths: front - 19", rear - 19", left - 18", right - 30"
6. Measure and cut diagonal braces as required. Install with deck screws and glue
-- APPROXIMATE diagonal brace lengths: front - 29.5", rear - 26.75", left - 25.75", right - 42.5"
7. Install Wingnuts on Elevator Bolts and screw into T-Nuts in bottom of legs. Attach furniture
grippers to bottom of Elevator Bolts. This should provide 2" off adjustment
8. Cut outdoor furniture pads to desired size and sew in fabric ribbon. Attach screw eyes to
underside of 2x2 top frame as will best secure padding via the fabric ribbons

Good stuff
Thanks for taking the time

There are all kinds of more portable options. I envision making the top as is then constructing a portable base that bolts together. Perhaps making the base out of 1/8 x 1" steel angle, tube, or channel.

If anyone else builds one of these, please post about it here. It took longer than I thought to make plans, and I'm curious how well they work for someone else.

Great set up. Thanks for sharing

If someone is willing to post some pics I have another version that has worked very well for me and became a most when working on two 505's

I can be reached at echolslegend@comcast.net

DArcy: E-mail sent.

Here we go with D'Arcy's photos, and the commentary he sent along with them:

Bill
The Bench itself and concept was made and sold by a company in Montana called Armor Metal Products. The top is made for 1-1/2" Glue Lam and mine is cut for right hand use. It is unfortunately no longer available. It allowed 3 or 4 lags to be screwed into the base plate using standard pipe threads using 1-5/8 pipe on approximate 20 degree angle. Set up even with 3 legs for uneven ground is a very steady shooting platform and does not wiggle or shift around due to the weight and span length of the leg footprint. The original legs supplied were much shorter that allowed you to use the rest from a sitting position. For standing I found that legs 52" long worked well for me and my height. of 5' 10". Shorter shooters will need shorter legs , taller shooters can use a variety of rest. For doubles it allows you to rest the splinter and barrels in your palm while the back side of your hand is resting on a padded rest or support. You can use a set of Bunny ears behind the grip if you want for more precise work. For heavy calibers it works very, very well for sight regulation and final zero. I am damn glad I have it

The height of the shooters in the pics are 5'-6", 5'-10" and 6'-2". The two rifles being shot are chambered for 505 Gibbs.
D'Arcy

INTJ: By the way, I made a portable shooting bench a while back -- not stand-up height -- but found that I really liked using 1-inch plywood for the top. Super stable, and adds useful weight. Even better would be to use two thicknesses of 3/4 inch.
What part of Southern Oregon? Moved from Talent two years ago.

Roseburg. Was here from 1960-65 and since 2007.

For a "standing" rest for doubles I use my trusty ol' jaw horse. 2X6 with a bit O pad for my foreword hand, standing at the front end. A shorter piece for sitting beside the long end to brace elbow.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Here we go with D'Arcy's photos, and the commentary he sent along with them:

Bill
The Bench itself and concept was made and sold by a company in Montana called Armor Metal Products. The top is made for 1-1/2" Glue Lam and mine is cut for right hand use. It is unfortunately no longer available. It allowed 3 or 4 lags to be screwed into the base plate using standard pipe threads using 1-5/8 pipe on approximate 20 degree angle. Set up even with 3 legs for uneven ground is a very steady shooting platform and does not wiggle or shift around due to the weight and span length of the leg footprint. The original legs supplied were much shorter that allowed you to use the rest from a sitting position. For standing I found that legs 52" long worked well for me and my height. of 5' 10". Shorter shooters will need shorter legs , taller shooters can use a variety of rest. For doubles it allows you to rest the splinter and barrels in your palm while the back side of your hand is resting on a padded rest or support. You can use a set of Bunny ears behind the grip if you want for more precise work. For heavy calibers it works very, very well for sight regulation and final zero. I am damn glad I have it

The height of the shooters in the pics are 5'-6", 5'-10" and 6'-2". The two rifles being shot are chambered for 505 Gibbs.
D'Arcy

Nice rest! Wish they were still available!

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Here we go with D'Arcy's photos, and the commentary he sent along with them:

Bill
The Bench itself and concept was made and sold by a company in Montana called Armor Metal Products. The top is made for 1-1/2" Glue Lam and mine is cut for right hand use. It is unfortunately no longer available. It allowed 3 or 4 lags to be screwed into the base plate using standard pipe threads using 1-5/8 pipe on approximate 20 degree angle. Set up even with 3 legs for uneven ground is a very steady shooting platform and does not wiggle or shift around due to the weight and span length of the leg footprint. The original legs supplied were much shorter that allowed you to use the rest from a sitting position. For standing I found that legs 52" long worked well for me and my height. of 5' 10". Shorter shooters will need shorter legs , taller shooters can use a variety of rest. For doubles it allows you to rest the splinter and barrels in your palm while the back side of your hand is resting on a padded rest or support. You can use a set of Bunny ears behind the grip if you want for more precise work. For heavy calibers it works very, very well for sight regulation and final zero. I am damn glad I have it

The height of the shooters in the pics are 5'-6", 5'-10" and 6'-2". The two rifles being shot are chambered for 505 Gibbs.
D'Arcy

Nice rest! Wish they were still available!

Someone with a machine shop could probably machine brackets like those that could be bolted to a cut and sanded piece of 3/4" plywood. If we only knew someone with a machine shop . . . .

I had that same thought Mike!

Just thinking out loud. I wonder if you could buy a couple sets of the Moultrie metal feeder feet, drill holes to allow them to be mounted to the bottom of a piece of plywood to use for the leg brackets. Bolt the feeder feet to a piece of 3/4" plywood and have the platform set up. For legs, you could use some cut pieces of 1 1/4" metal electrical conduit. The conduit would simply slide into the feeder feet hole under the plywood. Might be able to find some rubber feet for the conduit too. I am not much of a handyman, what am I missing?

http://www.moultriefeeders.com/metal-deer-feeder-feet

My only concern about the Moultrie would be their sturdiness? I think stronger legs would be needed?
Worth thinking about.

I am well on the way to building the prototype Rusty. I got a sheet of 4' x 8' 3/4" plywood. Cut it in the shape shown in the pictures above. I decided on general dimensions of roughly 3' x 3 1/2'. Bought two sets of feeder feet at Academy. Drilled holes in all four corners of the feeder feet. Mounted those to the platform with the feeder feet brackets angled away from the platform. Mounted five feeder feet to the platform. Bought five sections of 3/4" x 5' metal conduit. The conduit fits the feeder feet perfectly. Put rubber feet on the conduit to grip the ground. The conduit will need to be cut now to adjust the top level of the platform to approximately 52". I will post some pictures when I am finished. Still need to sand the edges of the platform and then stain/paint the platform. I do not think the platform will require bracing underneath with 2" x 2" for rigidity but it might. The 3/4" plywood is pretty stiff. Also need to cut the five conduit sections to lower the platform level. If thicker conduit is required for rigidity, I think instead of using the 3/4" conduit and sliding it inside the feeder feet, I can get conduit that will slide over the outside of the feeder feet. So far I have about an hour and a half into the project and approximately $85. I am sure that someone with any modicum of skill with their hands could do a far better job, but we can label this one V1.0.

In regard to weight. I think the 1-1/2" Glue-Lam top and the 1-5/8" metal pipe with all 4 legs really adds to the stability of the rest. Not saying less material won't work but MASS in this case is a good thing.

Undoubtedly. But I was trying to work with materials I could readily lay my hands on relatively inexpensively. Also wanted something that would be easy enough for me to manipulate at the range by myself. The one in the pictures above is a Cadillac for sure. I hope I am doing an entry model Chev . . . but would not be shocked to end up with a Yugo. We'll see . . .

3/4" plywood can warp slightly. The stuff I used is MDO--which is A grade with paper on top. I work in the HQ of a forest products company and I can get MDO blows cheap, and the only thing usually blows is the paper. Anyway, there are no gaps in the core line on my standing bench top and I can see a very slight crown in the plywood. So if I were building an unbraced top I would use 1" or even 1.25" plywood.

I like the idea of the feeder legs. Wish someone had brought that up when I was trying to figure out my standing bench last year. Then again, I haven't seen any deer feeders here in Oregon. They were everywhere when I lived in Texas.

If someone does decide to use 2x2 legs, the top will need to be braced regardless of it's thickness so the legs will have a place to attach. I take that back. You could use a couple "L" braces, and that might hold. The issue is a screw or bolt trying to hold longitudinally in a piece of lumber is a weak attachment.

WTG, Mike! Let me know when you want to try it out!

My design continues to "evolve". Pictures perhaps later this week.

IF I was making one like that, I'd buy pipe couplers of what ever diameter I wanted and saw one end off at the 20* angle. Then weld them onto some flat bar or plate steel so I could screw pipe into them for the legs.

Then the flat steel could be bolted on what ever top I chose, using carriage bolts.

The legs could be unscrewed for transport...

DM

I am with D'Arcy on this. Mass is your friend when it comes to shooting benches.

Certainly, but not so much your friend hauling them back and forth to the range and trying to set them up by yourself. The stability issue is the legs, not the plywood deck. The 3/4" plywood deck is plenty solid and firm. I am doing this to shoot doubles so all that should be resting on the plywood deck are my elbows. The legs and their bracing is the key to me. That said, I conceded up front I find changing light bulbs to be mechanically challenging.

quote:

IF I was making one like that, I'd buy pipe couplers of what ever diameter I wanted and saw one end off at the 20* angle. Then weld them onto some flat bar or plate steel so I could screw pipe into them for the legs.

Then the flat steel could be bolted on what ever top I chose, using carriage bolts.

The legs could be unscrewed for transport...

I had the same thought! Great minds think alike, and all that.

A lot of benchrest shooters have an eyelet on the underside of the table. They then screw one of those large corkscrew looking bolts into the ground. Running a ratchet strap between them acts to pull the table down loading the legs. It also helps to slightly pull the legs out before loading them. This greatly adds a lot of stability.

My brother is a welder/fabricator. I might see if he would want to produce some.

Where were all you guys with your plans and ideas when I asked about this last year? I would have been happy to buy one, though I have come to like mine a LOT.

Not a portable solution, but rifleshooter magazine had plans for a concrete bench reported here
http://bulletin.accurateshoote...oting-bench/#respond

The concrete form for that bench is sitting uselessly against my fence. If anyone wants it, I'll unscrew it and send it to you for the cost if shipping.

This is what happens when you turn a non-handyman, lawyer loose with tools. All and all the stand assembles and disassembles relatively quickly. The cross bracing makes it very stable. Probably cost between $100-$120 in materials.

Nice job!!

I can't believe you didn't make a right hand model for your friends! That's OK. I'm making one!

Rusty, that IS a right handed model. Maybe I am less design impaired than I thought. . The shooter stands in the cut out area and rests his right elbow on the right side of the platform and his left elbow in front of where he is standing.

Nice fab job Mike! What did you use to attach the legs to the under side of the bench surface?

LOL, Sorry Mike! Just ragg'n ya!

For a more portable and lighter weight version, my top with Mike's legs would be a good option and would easily fit in the trunk or backseat of a car.

Standing rest brackets waiting to be sent out for powder coating.


Now I have to make a couple of tops!

. . . my effort looks seriously anemic compared to these proper pieces.