googled shooting bench plans and what i found was mostly descriptions, not plans. wanna make a sturdy one w/runners (like a sled) so can be towed to diff. locations. any help appreciated. thanks

What do you plan on running the runners on, snow, sand , grass or ? Also, how far do you plan on towing it?

hard packed dirt, maybe 50-100 yds.

If I wanted to make a cheap one, I would use 2 of the "skid type" pallets for the base. Like the one on the top ot the bottom of this pic:


And put a plywood floor on it, then either build a table or find a sturdy metal table and attach it to the topside of the pallet:

or like I said build one from 2X4's and plywood. Should be light enough to drag and sturdy enough to shoot from.

At the moment I am building a shooting bench from an old concrete form but it is not going to be portable.

thanks. we need to make it pretty sturdy, and i don't think that would skid along in the dirt very easily. i think it would dig in pretty quick. think i am just gonna slap one together out of 4x4's and 2 bys etc like i have seen pics of and put a sled type runner on the sides.

If it's hard packed dirt, why a sled rather than a small utility trailer?

runners would involve 2 2x4s rounded at the ends. trailer would involve wheels, axles, platform, etc etc. lot simpler this way, i think. did it years ago, in the 80's and it worked out pretty good. bench will only need to be moved a coupla times or so a year, and short distances.

The book "Do It Yourself Gunsmithing" by Jim Carmichel has full plans for both a skid/sled bench and a heavy all-concrete bench.

This book is kind of old, published by Outdoor Life Books back in 1977. You might come across it at a used bookstore or a library. I'm not sure if it's safe to scan in stuff from books of that vintage or I'd just post the pics here.

i actually had that book, and a few others way back when and then tried a coupla things in it. that didn't last long! but thanks, i'll see if i can find a copy somewhere.

There was a guy on 24hr campfire a few years ago that went by TXRam who sold some bracket kits for building your own shooting bench. The kit also came with a tabletop bench template which came in handy.



You took two pieces of 3/4" plywood and glued them together, layed the template over that and cut out the top. You bolted his brackets to the table and screwed in galvanized water pipe with end caps which you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes.



It is without a doubt the most stable portable bench I have ever seen or used.





You might want to look him up and see if he still has any.

It's not a "skid" but it's portable, sturdy and with the three leg design it's always planted solid.

Terry

Thank looks really good Terry. Looks like just the thing to have around for mobile shooting like at a range or for p-dogs or maybe even checking zero when you reach some destination for a hunting trip. It's certainly easy to build. If you don't have the capability of welding, you could use tapered wood pads to make the leg angles and use off the shelf floor flanges to fit your pipe. That makes it a simple wood working project.

You could even make it heavier (but less portable) by adding a third layer of plywood to the top, filling the leg pipes with something, and/or welding some short spikes onto the pipe caps so it doesn't move around - if this would even be needed. I probably have all the stuff needed to make this just laying around here too!

Just a note to anyone wanting to build this sort of thing: make sure to coat the pipe threads on any joints you want to remain removable with some sort of anti-seize or anti-rust substance. Even plain bearing grease works ok. Unprotected pipe threads will rust even indoors with just a little humidity. The pipe may be galvanized and well protected, but the threads are not. I made a portable reloading bench with this sort of setup and the pipes are now nicely rusted together.

Your suggestion about coating the threads is spot on. I store this bench in my garage unassembled and have nothing on the threads. As you can see in the pictures they are covered in rust. I need to do this ASAP. The bench is extremely solid.

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by john c.:
runners would involve 2 2x4s rounded at the ends. trailer would involve wheels, axles, platform, etc etc. lot simpler this way, i think. did it years ago, in the 80's and it worked out pretty good. bench will only need to be moved a coupla times or so a year, and short distances.

If you still are thinking about putting runners on it, it just occurred to me that some used skis from goodwill screwed to the bottom would be pretty durable in addition to economical.

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
There was a guy on 24hr campfire a few years ago that went by TXRam who sold some bracket kits for building your own shooting bench. The kit also came with a tabletop bench template which came in handy.
Terry

I PM'd TXRam over there on 24hr Campfire, he said he isn't the one that makes those. He suggested searching in the classifieds there to find who it was, but I've had no luck with that. Any other guess on what the user id might be for the person that makes and sells those?

Thanks for your time.

Darby

Found the guys info from another member on 24hr:

quote:

The man who makes the brackets is: Bob Hagara
PO Box 511
Ferron, Utah 84532

I had him make me a set for 1" legs back in March of 2010.
Good luck!

Bob Hagara's phone number is (435)637-6233.