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I wedged and flanged very similar to you Joseph on my front two legs. I was going to go for the same design you did to start with but I wanted to be able to attach the seat. My idea was to be able to get everything together to get it out to the shooting position, but I am still going to have to make areas for the legs to attach on the bottomside or something along that line for transporting. But the good new is it is very stable like this. No not like a concrete bench but stable enough to test loads out to 200 no problem and ultimately to use in the field on prairie dogs for several hundred I think. I am excited to keep trying it and making improvements on late additions. I can build one in a few hours, not counting the top glue drying, probably just over two hours. And cost is around $100 but I bought enough of most parts to do several when I bought so that may bring the cost down.
I am trying to upload the pics directly to make easier viewing. I am hoping to get to use this bench when it cools down a bit on some local prairie dogs. So far it has worked very well but I would like the top a couple of inches longer and to spend more time rounding the sharper edges. I have done that some since these photos and I have additional tops I may switch out.
Roy, I like your design too. Our ground is not too level out here though and that is why I went the way I did. The tripod base will find solid and the top will spin where ever you want it and then drop the down riggers to level the top. The seat spins around the center leg as well as rotates. Adjustments are quick and easy even on pretty unlevel ground. The bench is stable even in pretty heavy winds. I went back and looked at my notes from that day and that was gusting into the 30's and the two shooters in the photos were grouping pretty well. I have shot off of it and been very happy with the performance. I hope to do some 600 + yd shooting off of it this weekend. It has been no problem out to the 430 + so far.
I don't have any pictures but I used to have a co-worker and hunting buddy back in the early 1990s while stationed in Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ that had a home made clay thrower and shooting bench mounted on his Jeep's hitch. It was nicely done and very handy.
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Feenix, That is a great Idea too. We were shooting 800 Friday with a 13 mph cross wind off of the bench. It was rock solid. We could have left it in the back of my pickup and gotten a little more elevation but then you get the swaying of the truck. Prone would have been great but with the contour of the ground we needed the little bit of hight of the bench. But the bench performed flawlessly and any misses had nothing to do with it. It let me introduce my buddy, that is supposed to be getting one of these, to long range shooting. He finally gets it. I see a new rifle in his future along with finishing his bench now, LOL.
Devins we put scissors jacks under our truck to prevent swaying from the wind, wreckin yards are full of them. They are great at leveling the bed of the truck as well.
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