Another approach to a fixed bench at your shooting range, could be using concrete building blocks. Obvi- ously this is would be a permanent structure but the added advantage is, it would be extremely stable and would last a lifetime. One picture Vince sent me was of the new facility in Weimar Germany which was built specially for the 2007 centerfire World Champion- ships – but never took place! As you can see the bench design has been taken very seriously with this ‘meaty’ construct. I don’t think any of us have to go that far for rimfire or air rifle benchrest but, bigger and heavier generally equals stability – always your aim when building a bench.
One thing you need to remember with all of these designs – the bench top must be flat and level. The easiest way to achieve a flat bench top is as stated earlier - by buying a 20mm to 40mm thick pressurised laminate wood. If you can afford the best quality ma- rine ply then all the better. Do also consider the shape of the top, as ideally it should be suitable for both left and right-handed shooters. The general shape can be seen in most of the pictures supplied in this article.
Also, consider the spacing – if you have a left and a right-handed shooter together you don’t want them nudging each other! Get two of your biggest shooters to sit next to each other and you’ll see what I mean. If space is limited and you opt for single-handed bench- es, you must include at least one left-hander. Lefties are in a minority but around ten percent of us are left- handed.
So, whether you are shooting inside or outside, have lots of space or none at all, there are alternatives to obtaining benches suitable for your home range. As always, money will dictate the route you take but once you get a few benches, I guarantee the plinkers will be just as made up with them as the benchrest shooters.
Until next time - Carl
RIMFIRE BENCHREST
71
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98