Range trip to try new bench and some LT30

Benches

Thank you for sharing this.
I would like for my local club to be able have bench matches (IBS, ARA, NBRSA, etc.).
But we can NOT install permanent concrete benches.
This is due to other disciplines that have leagues and matches.
Like Service Rifle and NRA Smallbore F-Class...
We currently have wooden benches that are moveable for general public use.

I would be interested in developing this steel tube frame idea with a concrete top that could be movable.
With having wheels off of the front two legs that when the bench was tipped at a sufficient angle, the whole thing could be rolled back on the concrete floor of our covered firing line.

If anyone out there has something like this or has a similiar situation I would really like to hear your thoughts and comments.

Thank you,

Richard
 
If we had gone with concrete tops, I was going to use a pallet jack with a built on fixture to lift and move the benches. I would have rolled it under the bench, straddling the rear leg, with the frame coming up within a half inch or so of the lifting points on the frame. With a couple of pumps on the handle, and the whole thing could be lifted and rolled to a different place on the slab. One modified pallet jack would be all that you would need. Frankly, after shooting off of our prototype, I am feeling a lot less apologetic about the top not being concrete. Going forward, the change that I would make would be to double up the top, and attach the top piece through the bottom one with multiple screws coming up from the bottom, so that no fasteners were exposed. To replace the top, all that would be needed would be to take out the screws, remove the top, and clamp down another one to be screwed in place from below.
 
Moveable benches

The benches that we have built at the San Angelo Gun Club weigh in at over 400 pounds and they are very steady. Due to ongoing remodeling at our range, we have had to move our benches at least twice. We have found that the easiest way is to back a low utility trailer up to the front of the bench ( the front two legs) and roll the bench on to the trailer. Two men can do this but three are better. We then drive to where we want the bench and roll it off. Piece of cake.

To move the benches on the concrete, we have pushed them around by hand and pulled them with a rope and a pickup. We haven't had a pallet jack on site when we needed one.

FYI: I have plans on my computer and I will gladly share them with anyone. Just E-mail me and I will send them to you. Who knows, your club might improve them.

Bill Wynne

hab@wcc.net
 
Instability

I don't intend to take this discussion in another direction, but I think Francis brings up an excellent point.

Unstable target frames and benches needs to be talked about. I’d be willing to bet that many scopes, barrels, and equipment in general have been blamed because something in the accuracy equation is moving.

It seems that everthing in this sport gets tested but target frames and benches. Two of the easiest things to test for movement.

My hats off to the Competitors who own the records, shot amidst the many variables, some probably, yet to be identified.


Now back to Boyd's Bench design discussion.



Glenn
 
Peter Wass

Peter, I know you shot at the Indian Hammock range with Jon Newman several times. I built the benches there and was looking for some input as to whether or not they were OK to shot off of. I have shot on the benches at Manatee and those were the only other benches that Ive ever shot on that were not junk. I saved the mold for the ones at the Hammock incase I ever needed to make more. Should I hold on to it, or does it need more work?
 
I bet the spikes on a heavy front rest will grip the wood tops nicely. Should prove to be very steady. Nice bench!!! Lee
 
Thank you Boyd!!! That is my mentor and friend Jon Newman in the orange vest. He posted here as Octopus. Cancer claimed him over a year ago. I miss him very much as we used to shoot at least twice a month. Yes those are my benches The legs are a piece of 8 inch PVC split on the table saw and poured on top of a base. the top is one of my 4 inch thick platforms made in a T shape out of Versatex . I always hated to rest my arms on a top with sharp concrete edges so I made a chamfer strip to go all the way around the T. I drilled the floor and epoxied the lags to the slab, they have a1/2 inch fiberglass rebar in them, but the other help couldn't be bothered to drill the top so they cut the bars off and the top is glued down to all of the legs. I've got the mold at the shop, but I had to hid it so the boss wouldn't throw it out. He thinks when he's hunting that all we do is make benches and out fit ranges all over the state. Boyd are there more Indian Hammock pictures out there some where? I don't have any pictures of Jon, there may be one of him and I some where. Ive shot several groups in the 0s and low 1s on these benches, and I cant hit a bull in the ass with a bass fiddle.
 
I did not ignore your request, but it has taken me some time to get back to you. That was the only picture of its kind that I found. I used several search engines.
 
I have not ignored yours either but it will be a big problem to get to my mold and get pictures. I will have to get one of my guys to help move all the mixers and pipe to get at it.
 
Where in the heck is this Lakeland?

Pete Wass said:
Several few years ago. I have heard there are two ranges @ Lakeland so not sure but I will say, the range I shot at was one of the nicest Benchrest ranges I have ever had the pleasure to shoot at. Everything under cover and toilets as clean as most kitchens. I believe the match I attended was the last IBS Score Match held there; a dern shame.

Pete
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I live about 30 minutes from Lakeland and it sure isn't the public range Wilbur is speaking of. Please, oh, please tell me where I can locate this range. Manatee is about an hour drive for me...
 
an hour to Manatee?????

If I lived an hour from Manatee I'd be there ever weekend!!!!! I usually leave a 5 am and don't get home till 6 or 7 pm.
 
Lakeland range..

I don't remember the directions but the range is on the same road as the race track where they race those little gas engine cars - the kind that fit on a loading table. You wouldn't think that a range was actually there but it is! The address and contact info:

2000 Lasso Lane, Lakeland, Fl 33801
email: lakelandrpc@gmail.com | Phone: (863) 665-0092

The website:

http://lakelandgunclub.com
 
Wish I had the time to shoot every weekend

ebb said:
If I lived an hour from Manatee I'd be there ever weekend!!!!! I usually leave a 5 am and don't get home till 6 or 7 pm.
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But when I do go there, I leave early enough to pull the trigger as soon as we are allowed to and I usually get home around 7 or later. I end up taking a truck full of guns and try to get my money's worth.

I used to live out west where I could just set up and shoot. I don't think my HOA would like that around here, and FL has felony laws for minor trespassing. Don't like that at all..... I miss all that public land

Thanks for the info Wilbur
 
Boyd Allen said:
The "over engineering" was intentional. For as many years as benches are in service, I think that designing too close to the line is a waste. Over time, the difference in material cost is insignificant. The reason that I did not go with concrete tops was because I did not have a group of volunteers to work with to make them. The club has a 300 yard range in the works, with firing line that will be built from scratch, with room for prone shooters in front of permanent benches. For that effort, I plan on designing a pull out all the stops bench that will have a reinforced concrete top that is long enough so that the supports can be at its ends, with nothing in the way of shooters' legs, no matter what their preferred position is. I am thinking 5 1/2" thick, with plenty of rebar, and a rich mix. I have not decided whether to use grouted block for the base, or pour it. I think that the tops will be poured in place. The shape will probably like this one, but longer in the tail. As always, the politics of getting things approved is trickier than the design or building work. It has been my experience that organizations are scared spitless of any sort of perfection, even if they have the means to create it, and that the more people who are involved in a decision, the lower the chances are that the outcome will be as good as it might have been...but I am hopeful. Wish us luck.
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Yes..a camel is a horse designed by committee
 
So far, the reports of board members' opinions, and for that matter everyone's that have sat at it have been that they are all favorable. I think that the key to this is that there is an adjustable stool paired with it, and secondarily that the bench is too tall to pair with a folding chair, or the even shorter stools that are paired with each of the existing wood benches. By making a strong point about the need to adjust the stool for each individual's build, we have been able to get fair appraisals from all who have tried it. What I am suggesting if and when a full set are on the range is that stools be made in two or three heights and those distributed among the benches so that shooters can swap them around to come up with the fit that they want.
 
Boyd Allen said:
So far, the reports of board members' opinions, and for that matter everyone's that have sat at it have been that they are all favorable. I think that the key to this is that there is an adjustable stool paired with it.
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I agree with the board members. That bench is plenty good. The adjustable chair at each bench would be necessary for the casual shooter but not for the competition shooters. A simple adjustable stool can be made with some pipe and a seat of some kind.

A chain to the bench will keep it there. I have seen stools that were attached to the frame and they transferred movement of the person to the bench. That is not a good idea.
 
I agree, and have made it very clear to all involved that I am not at all in favor of structurally attached seats, that could transfer movement to the bench. I think that the keys in this have been having a prototype to demonstrate the concept, and knowing when to push and when not to. Getting too far ahead of a consensus can doom a project, no matter how good it may be.
 
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