One of my favorite past times is to help ranchers out west eradicate those pesky prairie dogs. But I like to do it from long range. Much more challenging and a real test of man and rifle.
I needed some type of portable shooting bench. I looked at all the available designs and didn’t like the idea of the seat being attached to the bench itself. At long range a very slight movement of the bench is a wide miss at 400+ yards. All the other portable benches were simply tables with a cut out for you to sit behind. The problem with these designs is it was difficult to swing right to left to engage more targets. If you are shooting off a Bi-Pod, this sometimes works fine. But I like to use an actual BENCHREST rest for my shooting. I’d have to design and make it myself!
It was clear to me the entire top would need to swivel. But it would also need to be extremely stable. If the rifle moves .001″, you will be off target about 3″ at 500 yards. That is a miss on a target the size of a Coke bottle.
So the design I came up with is a rigid table, with a small section sitting on top that swivels.
The picture above shows the main table with the swivel top.
For front legs I used a simple set of folding table legs.
But if I built another one, I’d use screw on removable legs available from IKEA. They would be more sturdy and they would be height adjustable to level the bench.
Height adjustable from 27 1/2-42 1/8″; adjust according to need.       
These adjustable height legs are just about perfect for building this type of table. Bases are available from IKEA to angle them out a bit and make them easily removable.
I decided to use three legs. A three legged stool is much more stable on uneven ground than a four legged stool.
The rear leg is two pieces of aluminum angle with a center “leg” of 2″ X 2″ aluminum square tube. A simple pin holds everything together while transporting.
If the rear leg is height adjustable, it will allow elevation changes of the rifle for those really distant shots.
I added two side supports to the rear leg.
The whole leg folds flat for transport.
The top swivels around a single pivot point. I brazed a washer to a piece of steel cylinder and screwed it to the bottom of the swivel assembly. You simply need to raise the rear the same height as the front. I also fabricated a wing bolt by brazing a piece of steel stock to an appropriate length bolt.
Underneath the table there is a hole. A “T” nut set unto the top of the swivel plate accepts the threaded bolt to tie it all together.
At the front I used simple ball rollers. These are available at good hardware stores or online.
And there you have it! A great way to set up in the PD fields
I’ve drawn up a full set of dimensioned plans. If you would like a set, simply email me and I’ll send them out to you.
More pictures here:
http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/gunsmithing-reloading/portable_shooting_bench/
I hope you enjoyed this article. Comments and ideas are always welcolm!
Good Shooting!
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