Shooting stick lengths

[Hackleback]

I am considering making some shooting sticks as Christmas presents though I have no idea how long. Can someone tell me reasonable lenghts for a set of prone and sitting sticks. This way I don't have to make a pair and keep trimming til I think I have it right.

Thank you

[wills]

Take a look at the sticks Buffalo arms sells to use as a go-by

http://www.buffaloarms.com/search.htm?step=2&viewfrom=1&numresults=10&searchterm=sticks

I made my own sticks and I think they are about 3ft

[1Shirt]

I used to do some cross stick black powder shooting, and my cross sticks were a yard long. They were just plain janes out of 1x2 with a pointed end. They worked for me at that time, I am over 6'. I ran into a few homemade cross sticks at an antique shop in Lincoln a couple of weeks ago that I thought were excellent, they were less than a yard long, made of a very hard wood that was relatively slender, held together with a copper rivet and had a small washer between them. What made them kind of unique was a piece of rubber tubing that was stuck over each end with enough excess so that when they were opened the tubing acted as a rest for the rifle. If I decide to shoot cross sticks again, that is the design I will plagerize. Think they were asking $25.00 a pair. Hope this helps.
1Shirt :coffeecom

[wills]

By the way, there are rules regarding cross sticks used in competition

[KCSO]

I make mine 38" long with 2" long iron pegs. I use 1" square straight grained oak and pin them together with copper harness rivet heads and an iron rivet. The top of the stick has an 8" leangth of oak tanned leather rivited on so when you open the sticks the leather makes a rest for your rifle. I finish them with Watco danish oil and I have one set that has been in use for over 10 years.

[TCLouis]

information is posted on Varmint Al's site.

http://www.varmintal.com/abifu.htm

I keep saying I will get around to making a set to use and test his lengths. Easy to move the crossing point to height and then cut overall length to match.

[XBT]

I use three-foot sticks for coyote hunting. This length is good if you’re sitting on a hill, and a little long but usable for flat ground. I don’t know about prone as I have never used sticks in that position.

Here are some I’ve made from common 3’ X ¾” dowel sticks.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/retiredBT/sticks1t2.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/retiredBT/sticks2.jpg

These are easy to make and can be as plain or fancy as you like.I just sharpen the bottom ends and burn the design in with a propane torch. A little work with a dremel tool finishes the design.They are fastened together with a brass machine screw and brass washers. I use two thick leather washers in-between the sticks for spacers. I lace a piece of soft leather on the top to protect the gunstock. Ordinary Elmer’s glue is used on the leather pads and lacing to help hold it in position. They are finished with boiled linseed oil and can be stained to any color you like.

[waksupi]

I guess we approach things differently around here. The common sticks are at least three feet. No pinning of the sticks. Make leather close fitting sleeves for the sticks, with about twelve inches of leather connecting. Then you can adjust to ground variances much easier.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Shooting stick length depends on position and terrain. I found that when sitting on a folding camp stool in a stand that four feet was none too long. Eventually, it dawned on me that the photographer's light stand that I use to support my chronograph screens was lighter than the sticks, very stable, and easily adjusted for height. I made a slip-on rifle bracket from odds and ends that resembled a padded oarlock. Of course, this was entirely for hunting. No doubt, some forms of competition would preclude using a modern telescoping sheet metal stand.

[Hackleback]

Many great ideas/ thanks to all! It appears that I need to just mess around with the lenght and some of the details until I get something I like.

[carpetman]

Hackleback----Once you get the proper height for your shooting sticks ascertained and get them built,if your height calculations were off a few thousandths,you might try wearing a different pair of shoes to compensate. Welcome to the board.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Hackleback, I see you live in Columbia, MO. Can you just walk into the Midway USA store and buy what you want, or do they insist that you mail order it?

[BruceB]

This may be a perfect example of the Murphy's Law which goes "One size NEVER fits all."

Situations and conditions can dictate stick length. Shooting from prone, we sure don't need 36" sticks. Shooting from a stool, as Curmudgeon, Al and I did in October on our Alberta hunt, DEMANDS longer sticks. My first set were made with 48"-aluminum tubing....TOO SHORT for my situation, and replaced by a pair made with 54" leaf-rake handles for legs.

These rake handles are about 3/4"-diameter hardwood with one end tapered for a ferrule which supports the rake's tine assembly. I camouflaged the sticks with archer's bow tape (same as I did with the aluminum jobbies), ran a 1/4" bolt through both at 4" from the upper ends, and used a self-tensioning nut (with the plastic element to prevent loosening) to give just enough tightness that they hold their spread setting but are still easy to adjust. There's a flat washer under the bolt head, another between thwe the sticks, and a third washer under the locknut on the other side. This allows smooth yet secure and wear-free adjustmant of the angle (and thus height).

I drilled the into the bottom end of each leg to take a 5/16"x4" lag screw, and ran the screws in so that about two inches were left exposed. The heads were then ground off the screws to form fairly-blunt points to eliminate slippage in the soil, gravel, snow, whatever. I also applied heat-shrink tubing over the tapered bottom ends of the hardwood and shrank it on TIGHTLY. This supports the wood in that area and reduces the chance of splitting.

Two small eyelets were installed 6" from the bottom, one in each leg, and a 12" small-diameter elastic cord was permanently attached to one of them. By wrapping the cord several times around the two sticks and hooking it into the other screw-eye, the sticks carry easily without flopping around.

These sticks were a major reason for my successful shot on my whitetail. They are so solid that it was almost literally like aiming off a benchrest. Without them, I can honestly say that I would not have fired the shot.

I'll most likely shorten the "Mark I" aluminum sticks to maybe 36" or something like that, for use from sitting or kneeling. Might be I can surprise ol' Wiley Coyote with a good shot some day....

[versifier]

In winter while coyote hunting from snowshoes, I have found that a pair of cross country ski poles works great. Simply put the strap of each over the handle of the other. You can spread them as far as you need to get the proper height, and the tips/baskets stay put nicely. I got the idea one time while bird hunting. I didn't want to put my shotgun down in the snow when nature called, so I made a quickie rest for it. Looking at it I realized it would work great for a rifle. The poles come in many different lengths, too, and the extra long ones that are made for skate skiers would be perfect for standing shots, while regular ones work fine for kneeling and sitting.

[Ed Barrett]

Hackleback, I see you live in Columbia, MO. Can you just walk into the Midway USA store and buy what you want, or do they insist that you mail order it?


Midway doesn't have a store just a warehouse setup. You can pickup stuff at a warehouse door if you make arrangements in advance.

Graff's over in Mexico Missouri is a bunch of large warehouses with a building about the size of a 2 car garage you can go into a place an order and they have it ready in about 5 minutes. I guess that's what keeps the prices down.

[McLintock]

Here's mine, the longer ones are 36" and for sitting, the mid ones are 28" and for prone in NRA BPCR Silhouette and the shorter ones are 13" and made to use on my homemade pickup mounted benchrest. The measurements don't include the spikes.
http://pic7.picturetrail.com/VOL206/1303399/2593806/122289677.jpg

I make them out of 7/8's" oak dowel rods which come in 3 foot lengths, use 1/4" spikes and the copper caps so I can drive them into just about anything. The prone ones may be still too long and I think I'll shorten at least another inch, as I was using them last saturday and they were still a little long. Forgot to mention that for the prone sticks it makes a difference on where you're shooting; mine are for shooting off a slab with a little drop to the dirt, if you're shooting off dirt with no drop they can be even shorter. The copper sleeve in the middle is where they join and I can shorten as needed; I've got a double threaded connector to help join them.
Hope this helps.
McLintock

[wills]

Anybody have a picture of a set of bench sticks?