DIY portable shooting bench

[mxjunky78]

Here's my attempt at a portable shooting bench.

Materials: sheet of 3/4" plywood, 12' of galvanized 1 1/2" pipe, (3) floor flange mounts and (3) end caps and carpet scraps.

Before carpet: double layers of 3/4" glued and screwed



Underside showing the flood flanges to mount legs:


finished product:


Due to the weight of the double layer of plywood, this thing is very sturdy and stable. The legs simply unscrew for easy transport. I'm thinking of a way to be able to mount the legs to the underside of the top to make transport even easier. Any ideas?

 

[flyrodder]

I made a similar bench, and attached two blocks to the bottom of the bench, one with through holes and one with blind holes. The block with the blind holes is located a distance equal to the leg length from the front of the bench. This puts the other ends of the legs flush with the front of the bench, so when I slide the legs though the first block and into the second, I swing a stop block screwed to the front of the bench up and it traps the legs in place. I also cut a handhold in my bench so it is easier to carry, and added some half-round recesses on one side to allow me to lean a rifle against the bench without it sliding and falling over. My bench is a fat "T" shape and is symmetrical, so I just put the leg-holding blocks along the centerline. The legs add some weight, so you might consider where to put yours to avoid ending up with an unbalanced setup.

Wish I had a picture handy. Good luck!

 

[29aholic]

You could go with two sections of slightly bigger pipe mounted to the bottom drill a hole weld a nut on and use a thumb bolt to clamp the leg in it.

 

[Javelin]

Recommend using 1" Baltic birch next time & agree with the above to using wider mounts for your legs.

 

[lash]

Minor correction: That is OSB, not plywood. There is a difference, but not that it matters for your purposes.

Anyway, that looks liuke it will work and is relatively low cost besides. Like anything else of this DIY type, you will probably make improvements as you go along.

As to your portability question, maybe you could use some velcro straps mounted to the bottom to hold the legs during transport. You could mount them on the right side, out of the way, where you won't hit or feel them when at the bench shooting.

Oh yeah. Good work!

EDIT: 1" Baltic is really nice and would look nicer and be more stable and durable. It's also two to three times the price of OSB for those of us that don't own a cabinet shop.

 

[Javelin]

Agree Baltic is expensive vs plywood or particle board but... It's also much lighter for traveling with & won't break apart. It's a DIY material choice I guess. I like to build things that last I guess.

 

[BigMahi]

Good luck with this and let us know how you shoot on it.

As juxtaposition, in the Secrets of the Houston Warehouse, Virgil King wanted a "portable" bench and ended up pouring 700 pounds of concrete onto industrial caster rollers.

 

[mxjunky78]

Thanks for the comments guys. And thanks lash for the correction. Haha I know the difference so don't know why I put plywood. I used the 3/4" OSB subfloor because it was free from a construction site. I'm thinking the idea of larger tubing for the legs might be good for me as it will add more weight to the bench. As for how I shoot from it, I haven't had a chance to get out yet.

 

[mveto]

That's a nice looking bench, I have been thinking of building one as well. The tables I shoot from at the public range suck, it's hard to get into the proper position. Let us know how he bench works once you get a chance to use it.