Scissor Jack Front Rest

[Ben]

I have not been totally satisfied with my current front rest. I made that front rest about 20 yrs. ago. While it works OK and was very stable , it often times was limited in the amount of elevation it could offer.

Today I bought a scissor jack at Harbor Freight for $18.99. The rest of everything that was needed for the project today was cobbled up here in my shop.

The " T - Handle " elevation screw on the jack runs smoothly and raises and lowers the front bag with minimum effort on the part of the operator.

My new scissor jack front rest is super stable and solid as a rock. You can rotate the crank handle and increase and decrease elevation in fine increments. For $20, it is rugged and super reliable. Wish I had done this 30 yrs. ago !

See the photos :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/010-27.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/011-30.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/012-25.jpg

The plywood that holds my front rest is attached with a pair of 10-24 screws with nylon locking nuts.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/013-27.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/015-20.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/018-11.jpg

[nekshot]

graet idea Ben, I could have used that today. Well another item I need!

[hardy]

Hi Ben,very professional looking.I did the same thing years back,car jack $1,yard sale,
bits of scrap plywood,carpet ,drywall screws and about 15 minutes.Needs be as needs must,works great
and an occasional"wow"from fellow shooters.The main reason is lack of fundsLOL ..Mike

[Ben]

I bit of SAE 30 motor oil on the threads and pivot points and this thing should last for MANY YEARS.

It is designed to hold up a car, shouldn't be much of a problem for it to hold up a center fire rifle.

[williamwaco]

Ben!

That is a spectacular idea.

I have a front rest but it is so heavy I quit carrying it from the car to the bench. Then I quit carrying it from the garage to the car.

And when I did use it it only allowed about two inches of elevation.

This is why I love this site.

[Ben]

Limited elevation range is why I took my old
rest and " retired " it.

This one has about 5 X more elevation range of movement.

Ben

[Artful]

you might have a peek over at this thread
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?211845-Benchrest-bags

[izzyjoe]

very nice! i made one out of a car jack, free from scrap yard. i welded two pieces of 1/2 pipe together on the top to form a "V", and then wraped them with foam pipe insulation. i also mounted it to a carpet covered 2x6 about 12" long with a notch in the back to clear a lever action lever.

[John Allen]

What a great idea. This is something I never would have thought of. Now all I have to do is find a scissors jack laying around.

[41 mag fan]

Great idea Ben and Artful!!

My wifes got one of them in her Toyota........I can hear it now.....hun I swear i don't know where your jack went, I'm sorry you had to walk the last 5 miles to work!!!!!!

[Ben]

I finally used my new front rest today.

FANTASTIC ! !

I should have built this years ago.

Ben

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/018-11.jpg

[rondog]

Redneck Engineering - gotta love it! That looks awesome. I sense a trip to HF in my future.

[koehlerrk]

Yeah, seen this before... going to build my own Lead Sled with the old jack as the front riser. Got the pieces, just no time right now... it'll be a winter project.

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

I finally used my new front rest today.

FANTASTIC ! !

I should have built this years ago.

Ben

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/018-11.jpg

Ben,

How stable is it? I have been curious if this set up would wobble.

Regards,
Everett

[1Shirt]

Might just have to make one of them ONE of these days!
1Shirt!

[Artful]

Ben,

How stable is it? I have been curious if this set up would wobble.

Regards,
Everett

Not Ben, but my experience is it depends upon the jack - if it's newish it's pretty stable - some of the well used ones from shop/junk yard maybe not so much.

[andremajic]

And another bonus is you can change your tires if you get a flat on the way back home from the range!

I like multiple use products! Very versatile! :D

[UBER7MM]

Not Ben, but my experience is it depends upon the jack - if it's newish it's pretty stable - some of the well used ones from shop/junk yard maybe not so much.


I made one that wobbled. That was an annoyance on the firing line and I abandoned the project. I hope you have a better experience than I did.

[Artful]

I made one that was stable and then made another and it wasn't - determined the issue was the second jack had been used at some point and loosened up - my friend suggested the person must have been to lazy to lower the jack and driven off of it. :shock:

[Ben]

If anything the pivot joints in mine are a bit tight. ( That's good ! )

Mine works great ,zero wobble in mine !
About the best $18.99 you could spend at HF.

[rondog]

With a little more work and Budweiser Engineering, that could be put on a longer board, a padded butt rest socket made, and you'd have a dandy homemade Lead Sled!

[Ben]

With a little more work and Budweiser Engineering, that could be put on a longer board, a padded butt rest socket made, and you'd have a dandy homemade Lead Sled!

Who wants a lead sled ? ? ? I certainly don't.

[sthwestvictoria]

I use the same sort of thing. Mine is very heavy as I set the base into a small piece of concrete. I used a small cardboard box as a mold, set up a jig to hold the bolts in place and let it harden then bolted the jack down. It gives fine service with a bag of rice in a small cloth bag as the rear rest.

[bedbugbilly]

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing it with us. Kinda makes a person feel stupid for not coming up with that! I don't think you could find anything near it where you could get so much variation in the height adjustment to fit what you needed. And, it should last a lifetime!

[Ben]

3 lifetimes !

[Fishman]

Very cool. Now take a page from the rving crowd and change out the t handle for a cordless drill. Quicker and easier. And more awesome.

"Send it" BANG! LOL

[Ben]

" If it isn't broke, don't fix it."

If you have not used it just as it is right now, it is hard to understand just how smooth this thing works.

[cbrick]

Oh great thanks Ben, yet another project on the "todolist". The more things I get checked off that list the longer the list gets. :coffeecom

Rick

[Ben]

Rick,

I can highly recommend this project to you.
I wish I had this 40 yrs. ago.
Life would have been simpler.

Best $20 that I've ever spent.

[rondog]

Who wants a lead sled ? ? ? I certainly don't.

I use mine all the time! Best thing ever for sighting in rifles and seeing how they group. I also have a medical issue with my shoulder. I can shoot with it, but it hurts me for days. And there's no way I can steady a rifle as good as the Sled can.

[GunnyJohn]

Ben that's an awesome idea. There are a bunch of us that get together to burn powder, and we vary in height. Your idea would work great at the bench. That's what I like about this site, great people with great ideas to share.

[Ben]

Ben that's an awesome idea. There are a bunch of us that get together to burn powder, and we vary in height. Your idea would work great at the bench. That's what I like about this site, great people with great ideas to share.

Make you one, you'll really enjoy it.

Ben

[btroj]

This just proves once and for all that Ben does know jack.......

[TCLouis]

Guy had one at the range years ago, said I was going to build one, haven't got off my duff and done it yet.

Maybe your post will be an inspiration for me to GIT ER DONE.

Would sure simplify the multiple gun issues I have with a regular rest.

[btroj]

Neatest rest idea I ever saw was a pipe clamp. The pipe had carpet wrapped around it then a layer of duct tape. It was easy to clamp to the timbers at put club that support the roof. This was a great rest for shooting offhand with a support, it adjusted to whatever height you wanted. Cheap, easy, and effective.

[Reg]

85807

This is what I came up with. The jack was supposest to have been new but did seem to have a bit of wobble to it. Picked a location that seemed to cover most of it's usable range and went in and drilled and tapped 3/8" NC and used a cut down metal knob to put just a very small amount of pressure on the frame. Made it solid as a rock.
The metal on mine was thick enough I got at least 2 full threads and unless one goes crazy on the pressure, it should last. If in doubt, one could also spot weld the appropriate nut to the correct location, then drill and tap through the nut and the frame. Would give much more thread contact area.
Have only used the rest for a couple of times but so far it seems like it works very well.

[cbrick]

Rick,

I can highly recommend this project to you.
I wish I had this 40 yrs. ago.
Life would have been simpler.

Best $20 that I've ever spent.

Ok, I just ordered six of them. :mrgreen:

Rick

[williamwaco]

I have been using a lead sled with the front rest replaced with one of those. It is great.

[Ben]

This just proves once and for all that Ben does know jack.......

Can you call and talk to my wife about this and make her understand what you seem to be VERY CLEAR on.

Ben

[Ben]

85807

This is what I came up with. The jack was supposest to have been new but did seem to have a bit of wobble to it. Picked a location that seemed to cover most of it's usable range and went in and drilled and tapped 3/8" NC and used a cut down metal knob to put just a very small amount of pressure on the frame. Made it solid as a rock.
The metal on mine was thick enough I got at least 2 full threads and unless one goes crazy on the pressure, it should last. If in doubt, one could also spot weld the appropriate nut to the correct location, then drill and tap through the nut and the frame. Would give much more thread contact area.
Have only used the rest for a couple of times but so far it seems like it works very well.

If you're shooting off your front rest in the same orientation as the photo, yours is 90 degrees from mine, but if it works for you that is what counts.

I got lucky I guess, mine has zero wobble and is very steady with no modifications.

My rifle sits on my front bag like this :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/018-11.jpg

Ben

[Love Life]

85807

This is what I came up with. The jack was supposest to have been new but did seem to have a bit of wobble to it. Picked a location that seemed to cover most of it's usable range and went in and drilled and tapped 3/8" NC and used a cut down metal knob to put just a very small amount of pressure on the frame. Made it solid as a rock.
The metal on mine was thick enough I got at least 2 full threads and unless one goes crazy on the pressure, it should last. If in doubt, one could also spot weld the appropriate nut to the correct location, then drill and tap through the nut and the frame. Would give much more thread contact area.
Have only used the rest for a couple of times but so far it seems like it works very well.

If you could attach a much longer extension to the elevation adjustment, and the large knob, that would be the absolute bee's knees.

[Handloader109]

Thank you for the idea. I've two extra jacks collecting dust, one is going to be put to use soon.