Shooting Bench

[Topstrap]

Just finished a shooting bench. Made it to fit in the bed of a pickup in case we wish to move it to another location.

We shoot in very long distance matches competing against tatical rifles but with our pistols and needed a very sturdy bench to use in various locations to get the yardage we need. I've always preferred a bench with the center being open which is best for our handguns but also allows both left and right handed rifle shooters to use it. The seat is adjustable for heigth, I'm tall and I like it really low to get down low behind the pistol and some of my friends are shorter and wanted the seat higher so with the rods the seat can be moved up or down.






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[Bird]

Well, it's a good looking shooting bench. In order for it to be solid enough, I would think it would need to be pretty heavy, so I was wondering what it weighs.

 

[Topstrap]

I'm guessing somewhere between 300 and 400 lbs. I can tip it up on it's end but haven't tried to slide it into a pickup yet. Usually there are at least two of us shooting, the one not shooting is a spotter so it should not be that hard to get loaded and unloaded.

Thought I'd pass along a view of one of the target areas. This is of the furthest we shoot right now, two other areas cover the closer distances. The match targets start at 200 yards and go out to 900 yards in increments of roughly 100 yards each. 3 shots at each distance and the 500, 600 and 900 have 3 sizes ranging from a 18" wide and 32" tall plate to a 15" circle and the smallest is a 8" wide 14" tall plate. Points are awarded 5 for largest to 15 for the smallest. If ya feel good go for the smallest at each distance for the bigger points but if ya miss it then that one counts as 0. Lots of fun. Range is here in Ohio near Zanesville and will start up again in Feb and shoot each month.

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[Matt_Jr]

That is a sweet lookin' bench you have there. I like the way you have the center cut out too. What are you shooting with? What kind of pistols and rifles? I had a customer at our shop that shoots in PA, and has an aluminum, handmade stock, that cost him $15,000 dollars. He was pretty serious. If I recall correctly, he was a marine shooting instructor. Went all over the country. I bet he'd love that place you shoot at. What's the wind like where you shoot? Do you get a lot of heat wave distortion off the fields? Oh, when you switch out targets, how do you get to them? Is there a trail and atv's available? Which way do you shoot, south, north...? Thanks for sharing with us. Oh, and no, I'm not writing a book. Just inquisitive.

 

[Bird]

Now that is some beautiful terrain!

 

[Topstrap]

The matches were set up mainly for tactical style rifles. A lot of exmilitary, snipers, LEO, long range varmit, and benchrest shooters participate at this shoot. The varmint hunters do pretty well to 600 then start to fade, the long range tactical guys have better equipment usually but with the winds changing different directions in those valleys it sure makes it interesting. Sometimes you'll get 3 different winds across those valleys and openings out to the 900 targets. At times the mirage is really bad as the dew evaporates in the mornings. Having the targets on ranges like this makes it a lot more interesting instead of a dead flat range in the desert and as others have mentioned it's really pretty country to shoot in.

Well, there are 3 of us that have always done it a bit differently. We have always shot long range pistols and kept stretching the distances and felt we could shoot to 1000 and not be too outgunned. My XP-100 shoots a 7-08 and use Sierra 150 Match HPBT and Berger 140 VLD for the longer range stuff. I use a Burris 3 - 12 pistol scope and my son uses a Leupold 2.5 - 8 on his. At 1000 yards we are still sonic so they are still very accurate. The 15" plates if we get our wind estimates right aren't much of a problem. My friend shoots a rear grip XP-100 in 260 REM and my son shoots the laminated center grip XP-100 in 7IHMSA. That is a 300 savage necked down to 7mm.

The rifle guys shoot various models of tactical style rifles with high end scopes that cost more than a couple of our pistols. A couple guys even shoot the old M1 Garrands and actually impress everyone with doing it with the stock peep sights. It's pretty informal and everyone has a great time and is always willing to help others and even let you try out their rigs when the matches are over.

There are roads to the targets although some wind thru the farm. The shooters don't have to paint targets, they repaint the long range targets in between switching stages so you can see them. The bigger targets are black, mid size circles are orange and the wee lil plate is white and the different colors do make their sizes deceiving and depending on time of the day and the light angle they can almost dissappear in the shadows or bright sun. We shoot in groups evenly divided so you always have others watching thru scopes to see the hits or the misses so there is always a bit of pressure to not blow one totally and miss it by 10 feet. It don't take much of a mistake to miss a 15 inch plate at 900 yards especially with a pistol.

If anyone lives nearby this area and wishes to try it out or even come on a day we practice leave a note, always fun to have others that are interested stop in.

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[om21braz]

Good looking bench & range ! Our benches are similiar construction on the bottom, although far less portable than yours as they have a concrete top about 4" thick.