Shooting rests --no bipods !

[ol mike]

Howdoo ,

We all do load development off shooting benchs of some sort -what can be used portable to say a mile from the truck.As stated in the subject line no bipods.
Here in idaho and MANY other places- weeds/sagebrush etc. will not let you shoot from a prone position often enough.

What is out there ? or what could be built that is portable enough to pack a mile or more and not die doing it?

I leave my truck behind and my longrange shooting goes down the drain.
I saw a precision contraption once in varmint hunter magazine -kind of like the transit deal Len is selling but very adjustable and obviously very high dollar.
I'd like something were i could sit comfortably and glass w/the gun sitting at ready on a small? bench ? set-up?? something?
Honestly i don't like laying on the ground -the dry silty dirt ,stickers etc ain't for me.I'm out there to enjoy myself and want a comfortable/portable shooting set-up.

 

[SamSpade]

 

[royinidaho]

I built an L shaped shooting table short enough to sit my butt on the ground and light enough to pack w/a couple of straps on my back. Worked ok but still didn't like it.

No bipod, try a tripod as in ultimate tripod. Len has one for sale. They are pretty much the ticket.

The way I do it is all prone and have been known to carry a set of grass shears and a small shovel. During my scouting activities in the summer I prep my hides with the shovel.

I don't mess with anything smaller than a yote from a hide thus tall grass isn't a problem.

 

[dmgreene]

Ol'Mike, I'm in the same boat as you. The best thing I have found so far is a cheap camera tripod. I made a leather lined v block attachment for my rifle set in. Works pretty good.The legs can be individually adjusted for slope plus you can change the elevation without removing your eye from the scope. It's light wieght and very compact. I usually just strap it to my backpack. The only problem I have found with this setup is that I have to have my back up against a tree or something to get very stable. This is not nearly as good as shooting prone with bipod, but like you, the lay of the land just will not let me shoot that way. I'm interested to see what kind of responses you get because I was going to ask the same question.

 

[wadedc]

Check out the rests at this site very nice. And watch the video. http://www.lonestarfieldproducts.com/

 

[ol mike]

Sam ,

Does the back leg swivel on that rest -you know -so you don't have to pick the whole thing up to adjust windage.
What's it called ?

 

[ol mike]

Wade ,

That's a very nice rest but a liitle out of the shooting rest budget right now.
That new versa rest would be my choice.

 

[SamSpade]

[ QUOTE ]
Sam ,

Does the back leg swivel on that rest -you know -so you don't have to pick the whole thing up to adjust windage.
What's it called ?

[/ QUOTE ]The buttstock support leg swivels back/forth and forward/backward. In the picture the rifle is just balanced there for the pix. It takes a little practice to get used to the movements but I find it very stable. It's made by Stoney Point and the back leg is call a taq-a-long. The whole setup is a little over $100.

 

[ol mike]

DMG ,

I did a little looking at camera tripods -look pretty good!

I'm wondering if a swivel head attachment could be modified to hold a rifle while using a compact chair/stool ?
I broke my back a couple of years ago on my mx bike so laying prone for any length of time has me oooing OOOHing in short order.

I've seen a couple of the real small 4-wheelers for kids that made me think in the back of my mind -that would make a nice shooting buggy.
Suzuki makes an 80cc two-cycle that is so quiet it's amazing.I can only imagine another hunter seeing me 6-2" 190lbs on a 80cc 4-wheeler /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
Nonetheless i've considered one as a coyote hunting buggy.

Imagine one of those camoed out w/a -what would appear to be a front to back roll-bar w/a swivel type shooting chair about 6' off the ground...
Jig up a foam rifle scabbard/shooting platform on the little front rack to shoot from the riding position- and a shooting accessory box that would hold binos/rangefinder ect. then maybe gillie suit the whole thing out w/ some burlap camo strips.That would make a fine hunting shooting platform!
Of coarse you couldn't go into wilderness areas w/a vehicle but out in the blm land or an eastern hunter on a hunting lease would be pretty mobile w/a rig like this.
Animals are use to hearing/seeing vehicles of any type.
I was coyote calling one day and about two minutes into my stand i heard a 4-wheeler coming in the distance-sure enough he came within one hundred yards of me down the same dirt road i had walked off of.
I started back calling after he had been gone 6-8 minutes and a few minutes later i heard him coming back.Quads were not allowed in there so it kind of ticked me off.Well again after he was all but out of hearing -i resumed calling and spotted a coyote meandering around in the brush but never got a shot.
Animals figure things out pretty quick a vehicle moving through an area doesn't scare them.
Ease in slowly and i'd bet within minutes the animals be going about business as usual.-Mike

 

[ol mike]

Thanks Sam ,

I'll look them up !

 

[royinidaho]

Mike,

I cobbled one of these. Vertical was very good but horizontal was not so good. That's with a 338 Win Mag.

 

[edge]

I have a Roto Blaster that works great. I normally can get within 1/2 mile of where I am hunting, but our ground is pretty flat so weight is no big deal. If I had steep terrain I probably would not shoot a 12 1/2 pound rifle, carry a 17 pound rest and also a backpack /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

For 360 degree shooting I don't think that you can beat this type of setup, but if it were Aluminum it would even be better.

edge.