Portable shooting bench recommendations

[Garry J]

That looks very sturdy. I can weld mild steel but no rig to weld aluminum, so SOL on building one of those. I do have a very large sheet of 1/4 aluminum plate. Would make a nice top for a base like that.
Thanks

You can also weld aluminum with stick rod.just a little more trouble. You have to preheat heavy sections before welling. The burn rate of the rod is considerably faster than what your mild steelhead rod is. The rod I use is made by Eutectic.

 

[Garry J]

That looks very sturdy. I can weld mild steel but no rig to weld aluminum, so SOL on building one of those. I do have a very large sheet of 1/4 aluminum plate. Would make a nice top for a base like that.
Thanks

You could substitute steel for any part of this bench just would make it heavier.

 

[Garry J]

That looks very sturdy. I can weld mild steel but no rig to weld aluminum, so SOL on building one of those. I do have a very large sheet of 1/4 aluminum plate. Would make a nice top for a base like that.
Thanks

You can also substitute steel.
It would make it a little bit heavier but you can use lighter gauge steel than Aluminum. You can also weld aluminum with stick rod. When I bought my boat seats at bass pro outlet they were only 20 or 25 dollars.that tells you how long ago I got them they are Considerably higher today. Cost of Materials have skyrocketed.

 

[Garry J]

You can also substitute steel.
It would make it a little bit heavier but you can use lighter gauge steel than Aluminum. You can also weld aluminum with stick rod. When I bought my boat seats at bass pro outlet they were only 20 or 25 dollars.that tells you how long ago I got them they are Considerably higher today. Cost of Materials have skyrocketed.

This is a bench I bought recently for a 100 dollars + tax. Very sturdy. A little over 5 feet long one folded down flat. Without a truck or a large Van hard to move.
Welding is not a problem here.

 

[yobuck]

Thanks everyone. I bought one from Cabelas, looks to be identical to the Herters.

I may build a couple as well. Tripod configuration possibly with Sched 80 pipe legs with an over-sleeve tight fitting pipe which will be attached to the 3/4" plywood top. They will be heavier and less portable than the Herters style but may well be stronger/more solid. Something to play with.

Weight dosent necessarily correlate with sturdy.
A 1/2" plywood top can be as sturdy as a 3/4" plywood top, depending upon what the top is fastened to.
A piece of plywood, preferably exterior grade, 24" wide and 32" long is adequate size for even the larger bench rest type guns. Just round the corners slightly so they dont jab you.
Both left and right hand shooters can use it.
Then use light weight 1 1/4" aluminum angle to create a rectangle about 4" smaller than the plywood.
Fasten the plywood on with screws up from the aluminum angle.
In each of the 4 corners weld a small triangular shape piece of 1/4" thick aluminum as a gusset which helps secure it from wobbel and provides a base for attaching the legs.
As for legs, go to an electrical supply house, not a box store, and get one 10 foot length of both 1" and 1 1/4" of heavy wall aluminum conduit. Remember, all pipe is measured ID not OD, so the 1" will slide inside of the 1 1/4".
Also get 4 1 and 1/4" couplings, which will be welded on a slight angle outward to the triangular pieces in each corner of the frame.
Cut the 10' pieces in equal lenghts, and thread one end of each of the 1 and 1/4" pieces which become the fixed outer portion of the leg and screw into the welded in place couplings.
About 6" up from the bottom of the outer section, weld an aluminum 5/16" nut, or make one from just a square piece and weld that on to the leg. Tap the nut making threads, and use some 5/16" all thread bent for a handle for the adjustment.
Or you can use a bolt with a piece welded on for a handle as well.
The 1" part can be slid inside and tightened at whatever length is required for terrain conditions.
At Home Depot you can buy rubber crutch bottom pieces, and the can be used on the bottom piece to prevent dirt build up from entering the leg. You can also just pinch the bottom closed and weld it.
The legs will screw on and off, and can be stored on the bottom of the plywood top.
My bench as described is about 30 years old, and weighs just a bit over 20 pounds.
I have a sling attached to one side, which makes for easy carrying.

 

[RB II]

This is a bench I bought recently for a 100 dollars + tax. Very sturdy. A little over 5 feet long one folded down flat. Without a truck or a large Van hard to move.

Pretty much the exact bench 8 bought labeled under Cabelas. It does fold down flat and not an issue to haul several in a truck bed c

 

[longrangehunterII]

BR Pivot Bench…. Best money that will be spent!

 

[338 dude]

That would be a much better design if they made it ambidextrous. These tables are lighter, have a lot more room on them, ambi, can actually swivel point of aim through a 90 degree arc quite easily, and very cheap at about 45 bucks on sale at Lowes or Home Depot for the 4 or 5 footer. We drilled a hole in the corner of one for an umbrella.

View attachment 468999

It works for me too.

 

[Garry J]

It works for me too.View attachment 470476

I have 2 tables like that the first year I went to Colorado. That's what I shot off of. I build a left hand table for a guy I hunted with. He has since passed on and who knows where his tables at now. I wanted Plenty of room to set stuff to the right of my shooting rifle. The table I bought at Costco last week has adjustable legs 3 position.
It cost me just over $60. They work for anything else you wanna use Them on. be hard to use my shooting bench for this job. Had the carburetor off the weedeater and cleaned it in the ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[Dean2]

I have 2 tables like that the first year I went to Colorado. That's what I shot off of. I build a left hand table for a guy I hunted with. He has since passed on and who knows where his tables at now. I wanted Plenty of room to set stuff to the right of my shooting rifle. The table I bought at Costco last week has adjustable legs 3 position.
It cost me just over $60. They work for anything else you wanna use Them on. be hard to use my shooting bench for this job. Had the carburetor off the weedeater and cleaned it in the ultrasonic cleaner.

Hard to get folks to understand juat how useful multi purpose usefullness is. That same table we shoot gophers off of goes hunting with us the rest of the year. From cooking breakfast to boning out moose and elk, it regularly serves many purposes. It weighs less than 20 pounds sits flat in the box of the pickup, accomodates multiple surfaces and uneven ground and they are amazingly strong.

I am actually kind of surprised how many responses this topic has generated. Really is kind of an interesting topic.

 

[huntsman22]

BR Pivot Bench…. Best money that will be spent!

^^^^THIS^^^^, if a guy is serious. The herters/cabelas if a guy only wants to use it a few times, and cuss the piece of junk the rest of his life.....

 

[Garry J]

I have 2 tables like that the first year I went to Colorado. That's what I shot off of. I build a left hand table for a guy I hunted with. He has since passed on and who knows where his tables at now. I wanted Plenty of room to set stuff to the right of my shooting rifle. The table I bought at Costco last week has adjustable legs 3 position.
It cost me just over $60. They work for anything else you wanna use Them on. be hard to use my shooting bench for this job. Had the carburetor off the weedeater and cleaned it in the ultrasonic cleaner.

You only put that picture in there to make us jealous of your shooting range LOL. Nice range.

 

[Garry J]

I use to use a rotating bench/seat combo that worked really well, but stopped using it 3 years ago. I now use a tripod.

When the wind comes up on the WY prairie it can be really tough. I have a game cart that will allow me to move my gear from one location to the other including a folding seat. With my rig being portable, it allows me to reposition with what ever the wind is doing. My kill ratio has really gone up.

Starting off with the 17 HMR and later going to the 20 Vartarg. With the HMR suppressed, I'm able to get many more PD until I need to switch over to the 20.

I'll be heading out soon and will update this post with some photos of my rig.

No more tables for me.

N0rmb

 

[RB II]

One tip on the folding tables and making them even more versatile. Use 1" PVC sch 40 pipe, cut in about 12" lengths (don't remember what it takes to make it perfect work surface height) put the pipe over the legs of the table to raise it up to the perfect working height so you don't have to bend over to use it.