The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Art of the Rifle: General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old June 24, 2018, 06:34 AM   #26
Picher
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 14, 2004
Location: Maine
Posts: 3,694
The attached photo is of a home-made bench and stool that I designed and we built ten of, for our club. It uses a half-sheet of 3/4" waterproof flakeboard top with 6x6 legs, 2x6" sides/braces, etc.

They were made about 15 years ago and held up well, being made to withstand moving around on a concrete slab. After replacing them with concrete benches, I brought one home and am using it in our blueberry field range. They're very strong and haven't deteriorated.

We don't have plans. You can see that it's ambidextrous and pieces cut in the top were used as leg braces.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Guy Coro (2).JPG (202.8 KB, 24 views)
Picher is offline  
Old June 26, 2018, 07:52 AM   #27
Caliper
Junior Member
 
Join Date: December 30, 2013
Posts: 9
I'm going to say no, you don't need a bench unless you need more space to put gear on. Most of the time at the range the first thing I do is drag those things out of the way.

I'll use a bench sometimes for a zero on a rifle or if really interested in testing the accuracy of just the rifle, but beyond that the most supported position I use is a bipod and rear bag (which is 99% as good as a bench anyways). The thing with a bench is that it's purpose is to remove the shooter from the equation as much as possible so you can test just the rifle. If I'm confident that the rifle is accurate, there's no fun in testing it again. I want to focus on improving my shooting and will go for some other position.
Caliper is offline  
Old June 26, 2018, 08:08 AM   #28
LineStretcher
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 14, 2018
Posts: 619
Do you need a bench rest? I'm going to recommend it simply because it is your first rifle and you do not know it's capabilities. Shooting without a rest can cause you to develop bad habits that are hard to break.

If you don't have a bench then an inexpensive outdoor table can be bought at Lowes or Home Depot. A folding chair can also be purchased there and they are usually the correct height for their tables.

A bipod for your rifle will get you started but you can use sand bags or spend the money and get proper shooting rests.

I use a Lead Sled for my larger caliber hunting rifles. It keeps me from developing a flinch and most importantly, it takes much of the human factor out the process of sighting in a rifle and determining it's accuracy potential.

Once my rifles are sighted in and I'm shooting good groups I put the sled away and see if I can repeat from the various positions that I might encounter while hunting when no sand bags or fancy shooting rests are available.
LineStretcher is offline  
Old June 28, 2018, 05:30 AM   #29
Picher
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 14, 2004
Location: Maine
Posts: 3,694
I never used a bench for the first 20 years of my hunting/shooting hobby. Sometimes we'd shoot over rolled-up blankets on the roof of the car, but we didn't have powerful scopes and shooting was mostly in gravel pits where we mostly shot offhand, prone or sitting.

Accuracy was something we tried to achieve for hunting varmints or deer and not as a quest for tight groups, just needed to adjust a scope or irons for hunting/plinking.

When I joined my first sportsmans club, we had a bench and used whatever we could find to rest rifles on, usually bank bags or cut up old jeans legs full of sand. Still, my .22-250 Rem shot some pretty nice groups.
Picher is offline  
Old June 29, 2018, 02:39 PM   #30
fourbore
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 22, 2015
Location: new england
Posts: 1,159
Quote:
Originally Posted by Amati View Post
I've shot them before but they were M1 Garands 30-06 and shot mostly offhand. Now it's a nice rimfire to be shot, eventually, in some form of benchrest competition.

There are many benchrests and they are priced all over the map so what is the smart thing to do in the beginning? Get a couple of sandbags, go straight for the ones where the position stays unchanged shot after shot or go for something in between?

Suggestions much appreciated.
You have come to the wrong forum.
Quote:
eventually, in some form of benchrest competition.
And the advise, use a 4x4. Seriously, do your self a favor and join another forum. rimfire central is ok place to start.
fourbore is offline  
Old June 29, 2018, 06:13 PM   #31
davidsog
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 13, 2018
Posts: 1,318
Good suggestions on sandbags. To go with the sandbags supporting the front I would suggest making yourself a rice sock. Take a knee high sock and fill it with rice about 2/3 full. Cradle the rifle in your non-firing hand elbow pointing in the direction of the muzzle. The sock goes in your non firing hand under the buttstock. If you stack the sock right, you can squeeze or relax pressure to adjust elevation.

Very stable and comfortable too.
davidsog is offline  
Old June 29, 2018, 08:15 PM   #32
fourbore
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 22, 2015
Location: new england
Posts: 1,159
http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?...ald-eagle-rest

Bald eagle is a good entry level rest for "competition". One piece rest is not legal. RCBS best rest is ok for casual use.

Like I said, this is not the forum.

I just looked. This web site has a competition forum. Why not post over there?

https://thefiringline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

Last edited by fourbore; June 29, 2018 at 08:23 PM.
fourbore is offline  
Old June 29, 2018, 11:39 PM   #33
Pathfinder45
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 7, 2008
Posts: 3,224
The benchrest is good for what it's good for. It's great for sighting in. It's great for load development and analysis. But I despise the bench. It's a laboratory tool that is, at times, a necessary evil. It the Devil's tool to addict you and ruin your field marksmanship. Use it if and when you must, then walk away and shun the infernal thing. Learn to stand up on your hind legs and shoot like a man. Do I ever use one? Yeah, on the occasion, but I know darn well that it's detrimental to real-world marksmanship. It's a good tool for ballistic research and accuracy trouble-shooting. We probably all know people that can't hit anything at a hundred yards without using the bench. Consider it for prescription use only, like morphine. Here's the obligatory smilie: ,but it's still true.
Pathfinder45 is offline  
Old June 30, 2018, 08:46 AM   #34
fourbore
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 22, 2015
Location: new england
Posts: 1,159
Quote:
But I despise the bench.
THAT IS WHY I TOLD THE OP NOT TO POST HERE. Bench rest is as good a sport as any other. Or a way to relax. Good equipment, as in any sport, helps.
fourbore is offline  
Old June 30, 2018, 10:04 AM   #35
Don Fischer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 2, 2017
Posts: 1,868
Quote:
Originally Posted by ratshooter View Post
Amati this is what I use for a front rest. Its made from scrap 2x6" lumber I got out of the scrap bin where new houses were being built. I made 3 of these and have been using them for over 20 years. And like the other poster I used old blue jean legs filled with sand for shooting bags. I made one lightweight bag filled with pinto beans.
Love those rest's! Never seen one like them before, gonna have to make one!
Don Fischer is offline  
Old June 30, 2018, 10:30 AM   #36
Don Fischer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 2, 2017
Posts: 1,868
Quote:
Originally Posted by Picher View Post
The attached photo is of a home-made bench and stool that I designed and we built ten of, for our club. It uses a half-sheet of 3/4" waterproof flakeboard top with 6x6 legs, 2x6" sides/braces, etc.

They were made about 15 years ago and held up well, being made to withstand moving around on a concrete slab. After replacing them with concrete benches, I brought one home and am using it in our blueberry field range. They're very strong and haven't deteriorated.

We don't have plans. You can see that it's ambidextrous and pieces cut in the top were used as leg braces.
When he mentioned bench rest that is what I though of right away. But reading some post's I figured I miss understood. Then with bench rest firmly planted in my brain I couldn't come up with rifle rest, maybe that's wrong too.

I did make my own bench and it's portable. Actually have made a few and they all sort of worked! My top is cut from 1 1/8th inch car decking. Double 3/4" would work as well I think. Underneath are three leg's made from 1 1/4" black pipe I mounted a pipe flange for the legs. 1x4 hardwood cit into 3 1/2' length' and cut top corner the bottom corned with a band saw. That makes the legs go out of the table at an angle. Bottom of each leg has a 1 1/4" pipe cap screwed on and the top screws into the pipe flanges. Use a 5gal bucket for a seat but looking for something better. Only thing I like about the bucket is it's handy for carrying the rifle rest and sand bags.

My sand bags are made from the legs of old jeans and filled with sand. Gonna up grade them pretty soon, Have a problem with sand bags that get wet then freeze. No longer a sand bag but frozen it become a rock. Gonna make some new one's and this next time put the sand into plastic storage bags.

This is the bench.





Don Fischer is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:35 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.06695 seconds with 11 queries