“Log Entry; July 19: Today we Observed the Hate Blogger Completing Some Sort of Alt-Right Assassination Platform”

The air at my house is heavy with smugness. I finished building my prone shooting platform today. Here she is.

The paint on the plywood is tough but not well-executed. I am not a good painter. I did what I could, but it still has weird irregularities in it. I don’t think it will matter out in the pasture.

I put two quasi-diagonal braces on it to make sure it stays square from side to side. I may put one on one of the long sides. I can’t put one on the left side, because that’s the side where I’ll enter the platform.

I bought some hardware cloth. It’s not cloth. It’s wire. It’s like square chicken wire. I plan to fasten it to the right side of the platform to send spent casings back inside. It will be better than chasing them around the pasture.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to carry the platform a quarter-mile with the tractor.

My plan is to put long pieces of lumber under the platform from end to end. There are three crossmembers under the plywood, and the long pieces of lumber will push up on them as well as the two-by-sixes on the ends. This ought to allow me to lift the platform without damaging it.

Taking the platform apart and reassembling it in the pasture would be a bigger and more damaging job than moving it with the tractor, so it’s the tractor or nothing.

Once I get it situated, I have to make sure it’s oriented so a rifle on a bipod will not be hard to aim at the berm. If it points up or down too much, the platform will have to be adjusted. I don’t see it happening, because I’ve shot from the ground where the platform will sit, and it wasn’t a problem.

I truly hope the cows will not be energetic enough to try to wedge their fat rear ends inside this thing. I tried to make it inconvenient for them. They have no respect. When you have cattle, you can’t have nice things.

This was a pretty tough job, mainly because of the weather. When it wasn’t raining, I was usually in direct sun with no help from clouds. Water goes in one end of me, and nothing comes out the other.

This year, it’s not hot by local standards, so I should be grateful.

I used my 12″ sliding miter saw to make this. I had been thinking of putting it on Craigslist, because I have a beautiful Powermatic 66 table saw which is easier to use for almost everything, and I also have a 19″ vertical band saw and a small 10″ miter saw.

It turns out it’s much easier to cut long, thin pieces of lumber on the 12″ sliding saw, especially if you make angled cuts. I had dreamed of opening up some space in the workshop. Not any more. The saw has earned its keep. I paid $300 for it when Home Depot had it on sale. That was a score. I had to add the Ridgid mobile base in order to make the saw useful.

This little saw (little compared to a Powermatic 66) can be rolled outdoors, so sawdust isn’t a problem. The dust goes where it goes, and you leave it there. It’s good for the yard. That’s my story.

The platform is ready to use. Maybe now I’ll actually be able to shoot my fancy new gun. That would be wonderful.