Meat-Eating Weirdo Builds Scary Shooting Bench

Recently, my friend Mike visited, and we shot in my pasture. I have a very nice roofed shooting platform which I built from pressure-treated lumber. You have to lie down to use it, and that didn’t work well for Mike. He used a Home Depot folding table.

The platform is a joy, but I can see that it won’t always work for guests, and it probably weighs 350 pounds, so moving it to different distances is not practical. I can do it on rare occasions, but I’m not going to keep the tractor next to it all the time. A bench will be easier to move, it will be easier on guests, and it will be nice when I want to shoot from a seated position.

I learned some stuff while I was planning the build.

1. Real sniper wannabees do not build benches with cutouts. A cutout will encourage you to sit beside your gun, not behind it. It will also make it too easy for you to sit upright. These issues will cause problems with recoil management.

2. A proper bench is low. I thought a tall bench would be nice because it would be comfortable. I learned that you need a low bench so your back will be nearly horizontal where you contact the gun. The idea is to make bench shooting like prone shooting. Again, recoil is the reason.

3. A bench should not have built-in seating. Every time you move your rear end, you’ll move your point of aim.

In order to see your own shots land, you need a muzzle that doesn’t jump or move to one side. To get that, you need to be directly behind your rifle, not beside it. You also need your body to be a good backstop, and that means you want to lean forward. It all adds up to a low bench with no cutout.

I never liked cutouts anyway. I always felt I had to strain to get behind the gun.

I’m building a simple table about 4 feet square. The height will be about 29 inches.

I thought about materials. First, I thought of wood. I decided against it. A strong wooden bench will be heavier than steel, it will require more ingenuity to put together, and it will require big, thick parts that are likely to get in the way when shooting. A steel bench will be lighter, and it won’t incorporate a bunch of two-by-sixes that make for cramped positions.

Today I went to my metal dealer and spent a hundred bucks on 2″ square tubing. I also bought a bunch of hex screws and washers. I plan to weld a metal frame and screw two-by-sixes to it for a top. I’ll put the screws through the tubing from the bottom. They won’t go through the top of the wood, so no hardware will be in my way.

I made a mistake by choosing 1/8″ steel. It’s pretty heavy. It will be much, much stronger than necessary. I guess I added 30 pounds to the bench’s weight. I couldn’t lift it even if I made it with thinner steel, though, so it’s not like it will be a problem. I should come up with a way to add wheels so I can pick one end up and move it.

The bench will be one solid weldment with a wood top, so it won’t break down. That will be a problem if I move. I can cut the legs off with grinder, though. If I did that, I could move the bench in pieces and weld it back together somewhere else.

I should be able to do all the welding tomorrow. Cleaning the metal to paint it will take a while, but it won’t be bad, because the steel they sold me is very bright. Once it’s welded, I’ll need a day or two to put truck bed coating on it, and then I can screw the top on. I think I’ll paint the top with farm implement paint. I just need a slick surface I can wipe down to get rid of mold or whatever.

I’ll need a mat for the bench. My prone mat is not suitable because it’s made in 4 flat sections. You can’t just unroll half of it and hang the rest off the front. I have a couple of very thick bath mats I don’t use for anything. They would be perfect.

It’s nice to have another welding project. It’s nice to know I’ll have a fantastic bench. If I couldn’t use tools, where would I be? Factory benches are not very good, and they cost a fortune.