Holdin her down

[charger 1]

I've been lookin at all the different contraptions out there to hold a gun on the bench. I'm wondering about the ones that hold the stock to little or no movement. I'm wondering how good they can be for metal to wood fit over time on big guns. To my way of thinking the whole process stays together because the thrust gets broke down gradually. Heck even at that take a look at the failures over the years. the 99 savage tangs,the 37 shotty,some TC's,etc,etc They failed due to poor design even when the wood was not held rigid but given somewhere to go. So what happens over time when we take a gun of high recoil and we dead end the shock within the wood. No place for it to go. ie if we put the butt up against the wall of my house and fired that cannot be kind to the metal to wood surfaces. Now I know these various jigs arent quite as bad as that example but by golly if you look at that lead sled on rubber legs with the 10 pounds it weighs plus the 100 pounds of lead it can hold,I wouldnt think there would be a lot of movement. Why I ask is cause a buddy of mine has scrounged the material for me to weld up two. One for me and one for him. As I get thinkin I'm not that sure I want mine. Like a fella would hate like he!! to go out and enjoy the range more but after X many rounds find out that he had done irreversable damage to the wood of his baby. Any thoughts appreciated boys

OH P.S.
Rather than lead or whatever we were going to use nylon braided rope to hold the front of the rig to the front of the bench cause it gives a little

[carpetman]

Charger1---I think CH tools makes a real nice one. Not sure maybe some other place.

[charger 1]

Charger1---I think CH tools makes a real nice one. Not sure maybe some other place.


The hell with waiting. I'm goin to drive down,leaving write now. Any replies from now on will be from my dog I've trained to type..Off to CH,,Yeehaa. But if they say its a bench rest and I get there and its a set of chisels I suppose I just take em anyway right? OK

[44man]

I feel the same way. I made mine to MOVE when shot. I just use two sandbags on the front legs to hold it steady. All I wanted was a way to hold the crosshairs on target at 200 yd's without shake.

[Scrounger]

Charger 1, friend of mine who liked to shoot heavy recoiling rifles for elk hunting used a nylon towing strap. The ends were hooked over the front corners of the bench and the middle of the strap was between his stock and his shoulder. The gun was recoiling against the full weight of the bench and almost no pressure on his shoulder. He just held it tightly enough to aim and controll the rifle. I used it several times, very effective. Very cheap and portable too.
My choice of rest is one of Uncle Bud's Bull Bags. When filled with shot it's virtually unliftable. I found sand was a lot more fun to use if you carry the bag to the range, which most of us do.
They're not too expensive and anyone with 4 old shot bags or 4 cut off levi legs can sew one up himself or beg the missus to do it.

[toecutter]

As long as you're making your own contraption, why not use some shock absorbers. Maybe like some gas pistons or something. There is a place in Pasadena, CA called C&H Surplus (yea, your favorite, but different) that has all kinds of second hand and used gizmos, last time I was over there they had all variety of gas pistons, pneumatic pistons, hydraulic pistons etc. Maybe give them a call.

[charger 1]

It works great now. So no c& h on or around it pls. The C&H Gods tend to poopoo on this boy

[carpetman]

Scrounger--Filling bags with shot is too heavy--sand better---it's also heavy. Try kitty litter. I know you are cheap,but this one time splurge and use new kitty litter.

[Scrounger]

Sorry, the weight is part of the advantage. The two upper bags sort of glom onto the side of the rifle, adding their weight to the weight of the rifle. So now instead of getting the recoil of an 8 pound rifle, the recoil is that of a much heavier (rifle plus bags) rifle and that is very significant in recoil reduction. Besides, I wouldn't think of taking litter from your beloved cats. Did you sit up all night playing with the Kitten Cannon? http://www.burststudio.com/kitten.html

[carpetman]

On the kitty cannon there is a plant up close to the cannon that is like a venus fly trap. Anybody know where I can get these plants for cats? Help Wills. Post a link.

[Uncle Grinch]

My 3rd shot with the kitty cannon went 967 feet!! If only they were cast kittys.....

[leftiye]

I've been contemplating a sled made by Caldwell that sounds a lot like this contraption (the one previous to the KIttypult). I think Charger is right about solid stop behind buttstock not being good. Maybe one could put the rifle in a fixture that sat hooked to the front of the bench with the part holding the rifle allowed to slide in a track against one of those car hatchback gas shocks, or something similar.

[leftiye]

Or a friction braking device.

[charger 1]

This one now has an all in weight of 50 pounds,weight plus unit. Tames the recoil unbelievably yet still moves a bit. All the big girls have had several rounds now and no signs of damage. All is well.Remember if your building the front legs get rubber the real stays sliding to keep the unit straight. I'm in love with this one.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/Chargerdive/HPIM0864.jpg