Which Shooting bench style?

M

Mooseyard

Guest
I'm going to the board of directors of the gun club next week with plans for a new structure over our firing line, and new benches. We only have enough room on the line for 6 benches. The plans that I gave the builder had the conventional "T" shaped bench top, which I greatly prefer because I think they take up less room, they are more accessible for handicapped people, they are easier to make and they are more comfortable. Another club member is going to come and tell the board that he wants the new bench tops to have the "U" shaped cut-out, and the only reason he can give me for wanting them is that they are better. With only having 6 benches, and needing 5 like benches to hold most types of BR shooting events, we need to choose one style or the other. What do you people say, do you have a preference, and can you give any reasons as to why one style is better than the other?
Thanks for your help
Jess
 
Don't forget lefthand shooters

With the "T" style benches, if a left hand shooter is next to a right hand shooter, it can get kind of crowded. While the "U" shaped benches are wider, you can put the benches quite close together, and the shooters won't get in each others way. With the "T" shaped benches you have to keep them far enough apart so that left and right hand shooters don't get in each others way.
 
Either one will work just fine. The U one will have more material in it and therefore cost a little more. I believe that the T shaped one will require less space if that is a factor.

You will have more surface area on the U shaped one and it will help if you when you use a spotting scope.

A human can adapt to either one and it is not worth a fight among friends. Let it be put to a vote and go with what the majority agrees on.

Concho Bill
 
no to u shaped benches

unless they are very wide on the outside your equipment sits funny and the cases fall off the bench if you shoot a eject gun as in centerfire.

range in colorado where the firewalker is held is funny benches nice guys but funny benches

get pics from there and see what I mean

Jeff
 
Jefferson said:
unless they are very wide on the outside your equipment sits funny and the cases fall off the bench if you shoot a eject gun as in centerfire.

range in colorado where the firewalker is held is funny benches nice guys but funny benches

get pics from there and see what I mean

Jeff
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I went to there site. Those are the benches that he wants to put in. I've shot from them before, and I just think they are very uncomfortable.
 
Contact Joe Haller over on rimfire for his plans. I dont know what part of the alphabet they are (Ts or Us) but they work good and are rock solid. Just hope you dont have to move one very far as they are heavy!!
 
langenc said:
Contact Joe Haller over on rimfire for his plans. I dont know what part of the alphabet they are (Ts or Us) but they work good and are rock solid. Just hope you dont have to move one very far as they are heavy!!
Click to expand...

Actually the contractor that gave us a quote used Joes design for the top. The base is going to be cement block, and the top is going to be 2, 3/4" sheets of plywood sealed with a floor covering epoxy that one of our members can get for us. They should last a lifetime.
 
The range I use has the U-shaped benches, and after a visit to a buddy's place where they have the T-shaped ones, I vote for the T. If I was building my own I would build a T, but could use a U as well, so long as it was wider overall and had a wider cutout than the one's we have.
 
Mooseyard said:
I'm going to the board of directors of the gun club next week with plans for a new structure over our firing line, and new benches. We only have enough room on the line for 6 benches. The plans that I gave the builder had the conventional "T" shaped bench top, which I greatly prefer because I think they take up less room, they are more accessible for handicapped people, they are easier to make and they are more comfortable. Another club member is going to come and tell the board that he wants the new bench tops to have the "U" shaped cut-out, and the only reason he can give me for wanting them is that they are better. With only having 6 benches, and needing 5 like benches to hold most types of BR shooting events, we need to choose one style or the other. What do you people say, do you have a preference, and can you give any reasons as to why one style is better than the other?
Thanks for your help
Jess
Click to expand...

You have the right idea Jess, go with the T shaped. We have 18 beautiful concrete U shaped benches. I end up shooting off the side, I just don't fit in the U. Everyone fits a T type bench!

D R
 
Another vote for the "T".

Hi Jess:

Hope ya can come UP and shoot with us again this year . . .

If you build the T type benches, I will be able to come down there and shoot in your matches. No way someone in a wheelchair can shoot from a U shape bench.

Our benches UP here at Sault Ste. Marie are "T" type: Heavy but movable. That solves the problem of not enough room when a lefty shoots to your right. We just move one or both benches over to get the extra room.

The 11 benches we build down in Mission, Texas have the two-ply wood tops and they are on concrete blocks like you are planning to use. We spaced them so there is room for the leftys.

I like wood tops cuz they are not as rough on human skin or on rifle stocks, and ya don't have to hammer on the rest legs to make 'em stick.

Another thing about wood: I suspect you get a different "tune" on a wood top. Dick Wright from Harrison, Michigan has been UP here with his Calfee built 40X four or five times and he has never won a match here. He tunes on a concrete bench at his home range down there in Harrison. Makes me wonder.

Here are the plans I drew up for the "T" shape benches UP here and in Mission. There are not a lot of people in wheelchairs that shoot benchrest. There should be more of us, 'cuz it's one of the few sports where we don't have to give or take a handicap.

Joe Haller

MovableRest.jpg


RifleTargets.jpg


BenchPlan-Cinderblock.jpg


We made the tops on these benches a little shorter, because we were able to get some Mahogany for free. The shorter benches worked well. But: They are stuck to the firing line and can't be moved.

MissionPicture.jpg
 
As a lefty I've never met a U bench I didn't like. T's, however, can be really nasty for a left hander if they're not done right. Below is a pic from the IR50/50 Nationals at Kettlefoot in 06. Benches the size of postage stamps and so close together it's almost impossible for a right hander and a lefty to shoot next to each other. I understand ranges want to get as many benches as they can in the space avalable but I'd appreciate it if you'd give us leftys a break.
358588393.jpg
 
Ya know . . .

With the number of shooters declining in sanctioned matches (average attendance last year was less than 10 per match): Seems to me, just leave an empty bench on the left hand shooter's right.

Or: For the clubs who are able to attract lots of shooters: Put the leftys on the right end of the range. If there is a honey hole down there, and ya got some cry-baby right handers, move em to the other end of the line for a couple of relays. Of course this is only a problem for those rare clubs that are able to attract lots of shooters.

Joe
 
Offend

Joe:
Seems you can't satisfy everyone. Too Hard, Too Low, Too High, Too Close Not Wide enough, Too Wide. IWe built a range and left out the number 13, and they still B****.
 
Hey Fred:

We got some "bitchers" UP here too, but they never come out to shoot in a match with us.

Yea: Too Hard, Too Low, Too High, Too Close Not Wide enough, Too Wide.

They come out to the range on days when no one else is around, so no one can see how poorly they shoot.

Hey! The snow is starting to melt UP here. I was in town yesterday and some the piles of snow around the parking lots that were more than 30 feet tall last week, are down to less that 20 feet.

Have fun at the range. We gota wait a while UP here.

Joe
 
Weather Here

Joe:
Didn't have any snow this year. Matter of fact, we really didn't have any bad winter. The Sun is shining and the temperature just right, but no driver so I have to stay at home. Saturday is our first match, and I'll be glad to get out of the house.
 
Bench Height

Check the height of the arms on a wheel chair and then set the bottom of the top, so there is clearance.
 
The Standard . . .

The standard height, defined by Colonel Townsend Whelen in a couple of the books he wrote back on the early 1950s suggested a 32" to 34" height.

There was a drawing of the bench, and it is the "T" design: In his book "Why Not Load Your Own".
 
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