Airgun Shooting bench?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I threw a piece of 3/4" ply over the existing plastic table. That alone was a big improvement. It Weighted down the legs and gave me a flat surface. The ammo box I steady my hold used to rock on the warped plastic table. I'll pick up some 4×4 for legs and fishplates tomorrow and make something more permanent

20250309_133706.jpg


20250309_133512.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chasdog, Bandito, .20calguy and 4 others
Upvote 0
Mycapt65 said:
I threw a piece of 3/4" ply over the existing plastic table. That alone was a big improvement. It Weighted down the legs and gave me a flat surface. The ammo box I steady my hold used to rock on the warped plastic table. I'll pick up some 4×4 for legs and fishplates tomorrow and make something more permanent

View attachment 545466

View attachment 545467
Click to expand...
i had a table just like that , one day the folding supports (not the legs ) suddenly bent , CRASH everything on the cement .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bandito and .20calguy
Upvote 0
This is a work in progress. The deck is cut long to allow bipods. I trimmed the corners for servicing the grille tank and left handed shooters. I'll smooth the corners before finishing the deck. The deck is left over 3/4" subfloor plywood pulled flat on a rectangular 2x4 frame. The three 4x4 legs are strategically anchored with post holders that are screwed to the deck joists.

The deck right now is temporary held on with one screw and bar clamps to locate the legs.. This way the deck can be removed and coated with something the weather resistant after I get everything figured out. It looks like it will get a diagonal 2x4 between the left legs to prevent forward sway. We'll see after the legs are properly attached to the deck's frame with screws and brackets.

This thing will hold an engine block and withstand any wind that won't take my roof off.

Be well all
Ron

IMG_2526.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: RCope, Bandito and .20calguy
Upvote 0
Mycapt65 said:
Because of construction I've been temporarily shooting off a cheap, wobbly, plastic Walmart folding table on my porch and rear deck. With construction done and the table wobbly and sagging I'm ready to make something better. I want something with a smooth top but some grip. Concrete my preference, is probably too heavy unless I make it very thin. I'm thinking a plywood top but this will be in the weather and I'm concerned about delamination. Perhaps sealing marine plywood?
Any suggestions? What do you use for a permanent outdoor airgun bench?

Thanks
Ron
Click to expand...
I used to have marble table tops for building two meter model airplane wings. Those are heavy and flat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bandito
Upvote 0
  • Like
Reactions: Bandito
Upvote 0
Gerry52 said:
Friend of mine gave me an electric piano stand with folding & height adjustable legs. I mounted a wood board on top & with a few modifications for additional stability to the legs it's worked really well for my purposes. Lightweight, portable and STABLE.
Click to expand...
That is what I'm using as well. It needs some mods now that I've got a bunch of hours on it. It's wobbly for one. It interferes with my right knee preventing me from getting closer to it, and the metal arm of the piano stand sticks out of bench top the cut out.

20230312_171453.jpg
Screenshot_20250311_092842_Gallery.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bandito
Upvote 0
My current bench is made of 2x6s cut and glued to make roughly 3x3 legs and a 1.5 inch thick top. It has adjustable feet for leveling on the sloped side porch it sits on. It is screwed to the railing of the side porch and painted with the same house paint as the porch rail. Sometimes I put a sandbag on top to steady it some.

I recently bought a 24x24 paver at the local home depot. You could make a shooting bench top out of a couple of these pavers with a wood frame (PT). The pavers weigh 80 lbs apiece so the resulting bench would be quite heavy. You could cut them with an abrasive disc in a right angle grinder.

My side porch has a canvas roof protecting it somewhat so the painted wood is doing fine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RCope and .20calguy
Upvote 0
.20calguy said:
That is what I'm using as well. It needs some mods now that I've got a bunch of hours on it. It's wobbly for one. It interferes with my right knee preventing me from getting closer to it, and the metal arm of the piano stand sticks out of bench top the cut out.

View attachment 546152View attachment 546151
Click to expand...
Mine has 4 individual height adjustable legs, not the "x" legs like yours. After some modification I got it pretty darn stable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RCope, Bandito and .20calguy
Upvote 0
I'm calling it done. We'll except making it pretty. I decided to go with only two 4x4 legs. The other 2x4 legs are toenailed into the deck joists. I triangulated two legs and this thing is super stable. I gave it three coats of Spar Urethane on the top, edges and under the perimeter.. Luckily today is too windy for shooting, otherwise I might have skipped the Spar Urethane and jeopardized the deck if rains tonight.
IMG_2532.jpeg

I can't wait to use it.

Be well
Ron
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chasdog, RCope and Bandito
Upvote 0
Kgphotos said:
In my side yard I use an adjustable welding table from Harbor Freight. With a shop stool that has adjustable height legs it makes a great combo. The table top has slots cut into it for welding but I just lay a towel over it when shooting to keep little things from falling through. The towel is also soft to the touch and keeps the table top cool in the summer. The table is light enough that you can move it by yourself yet still heavy enough to be stable for air rifles. I don’t leave it out permanently so I’m not sure how it will perform after long exposure to weather but I’d imagine a small tarp or even a large garbage bag would cover it well.

Click to expand...
This looks perfect
 
Upvote 0
I started working on my 70’ range in my basement. I borrow a concrete form from my local shooting club and the guy who made it is a member here on AN. Thanks Tim!
I bought five bags of Quick Crete from my local lumber yard. Founds some rebar left over from a previous job I had laying around. I’ll be using 8"x8" concrete blocks 4 high for each leg. Here’s two picture before I stated and halfway through the pour.

IMG_0581.jpeg


IMG_0582.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chasdog, Mycapt65 and rsfrid
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu