due to lack of a good gun club/range around here, I have decided to build my own on some land that belongs to a relative. because of tall grass, I cannot go prone to sight in my rifle, so I need something to shoot it from. building a shooting bench shouldn't be too hard, and should serve it's purpose.

i am wondering if any of you guys have built your own bench, or if you can give me any tips or ideas i may want to consider. thanks!

Several points for you to consider.  Do you want it to be portable?  OK, portable by one man, or by three?  How stable do you want it?  Some of the benchrest shooting tables are 4" to 6" of concrete for a VERY stable platform (and several hundred pounds).  Do you want a covered firing position for shade / rain?  How about the stool, do you want it adjustable for different heights?  Do you want an ambidextrious design (think Ping Pong paddle). What about a side / back table to hold other equip, and maybe a rack to store safe (action open, no mag) weapons? And most important of all, what will you use to make sure no rounds "stray" from your range?

Have fun!

Quoted: Several points for you to consider.  Do you want it to be portable?  OK, portable by one man, or by three?  How stable do you want it?  Some of the benchrest shooting tables are 4" to 6" of concrete for a VERY stable platform (and several hundred pounds).  Do you want a covered firing position for shade / rain?  How about the stool, do you want it adjustable for different heights?  Do you want an ambidextrious design (think Ping Pong paddle). What about a side / back table to hold other equip, and maybe a rack to store safe (action open, no mag) weapons? And most important of all, what will you use to make sure no rounds "stray" from your range? Have fun!

i should be okay for stray bullets ;) the range is at the bottom of a huge hill, and just for the hell of it, i'm gonna put a 12-foot-thick pile of dirt around the target area, just in case i ever decide to get that AR-50 :)

i want the stand to be portable, and easy enough for two men to carry it. i only shoot when it's nice out anyway, so I don't see any need for a covered area. ambidextrious does not matter, nor does a stool. i prefer to stand, or lean against it. a shelf or extra table would be nice. i am pretty much at a loss for a design...or something to go off of.

basically, i want to haul it in the back of my pickup, be able to set it up in 10-20 minutes, and shoot. it doesn't have to be perfect, just something to shoot over the grass, but still be stable enough to zero my varmint rifle at about 300 yards. are there any online sites that sell benches? i've never even seen a real shooting bench....

hoosier,

Here's a thread over on the FALfiles that discuses this topic.  Some useful links there.

www.falfiles.com/cgi-bin/forums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=018949