# buy shooting table or make one ?



## trappermrd (Jun 28, 2007)

i moved to Fargo ND this year. i plan on takeing up praire dog hunting. will try to get out in the western part of the state every year for a 4 day hunt. Question.... should i spend the money ( 300 to 400.00 on a nice shooting table ) or build my own out of heavy wood or just buy a picnic table and sit it in the bed of pick up and shoot off of that orbuy a plastic fold down table at walmart for 50.00 ? if i built my own i could use the saving to buy a nice range finder. thanks. marty


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## ilike2shoot (Jan 10, 2008)

If you don't plan on carrying it around much, I would vote for making your own. I made one a few years ago with some plans I found on the internet using plywood, some counter top material, and some pipes and fittings...I think it cost me about $70 to make at the time because I bought everything for it. It was about the most stable bench I have ever used, and it broke down easily for transportation and storage....unfortunately I ended up selling it to a friend a couple years ago and have never replaced it. Now if you plan on lugging it around on foot through the fields, you might be better off buying one of the lighter collapsible commercial models.

Well, thats my input for what its worth...If I happen to come across the plans I was talking about again I'll post the link.


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## SDHandgunner (Jun 22, 2004)

Wow Marty, that's a lot of questions.

I have always used a home made portable shooting bench. I have used a couple different styles over the years.

#1 was a cut the top out of a piece of 3/4" plywood. Then on the under side of the plywood I screwed & glues a 1x6 around the perrimeter of the plywood top to make it a little more sturdy. I then went to the hardware store and bought pipe boiler flanges (with the 4 bolt holes that would allow me to screw in threaded pipe legs), and 3 pieces of pipe threaded on one end. I used a tapered piece of 1x6 between the bench top and the boiler flanges so the legs sit at a slight angle rather than straight up and down for a little more rigidity. This bench worked out great, but takes a few minutes to set up.

#2 I used a piece of 5/8" thick plastic sheet material for the bench top. Under the bench top I bolted a "Y" shaped 1" steel square tubing framework I made. I also used 1" steel square tubing for the legs and used a couple pieces of flat iron welded to the legs (with a cross bolt through the frame work) for the hinge to fold the legs down flat against the bottom of the bench for transport.



















Bench #1 is the more sturdy of the two. However bench #2 has worked well for me, is lighter in weight and quicker to set up or take down.

I have also used the folding legs from tables (can buy them at MACS if I remember right). These work OK also, but are a little less sturdy. I modified the one I put on the rear to a single leg finding it was easier to level 3 legs out on the prairie than 4 legs.

http://www.larrywillis.com/shootingbench.html will take you to plans for a bench like ilike2shoot referred to, and is very similar to the one I built.

http://www.boogerbench.com/ is another portable shooting bench called the booger bench. I have made one of these also, but as stated made the rear leg a single leg instead of a double leg.

I am sure if you did a google search for portable shooting bench plans you can come up with a few more designs.

Good luck

Larry


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