Brainstorm Please Frnt Rest Ext

[hnts4fun]

Hello all!

Explaining what I want help with is easy. Explaining why I want it is a little more complicated. I'll try to stick with the "what" for now.

I'm looking for a way to create a longer version of the part indicated below. Perhaps as long as 12 inches maybe as little as 6 inches. The very short version of "why" is that I need to create a relatively large elevation change quickly. I try not to reinvent the wheel and this rest accomplishes what I want... just not enough of it.

Any ideas? I don't know if plastic is machinable, but if it is I might be able to stay with the existing rest as a base. If wood or metal is the answer then I will have to have two matching "adjusters" to go with the extension.

Thanks in advance for any help you are able to offer

Matt

 

[rscott5028]

By the time you extend that post 12", you might as well be using a bipod or a Stoney Point tripod with or without the Tag Along.

If you need to use that particular rest, then set it on top of something such as 2x4's, sand bags, or feed sacks.

If you have a lathe, you could possibly pull the top rest off of the spindle and thread an extender to sit on top and then stick the rest back on the extender.

In any case, there's no room to go down 12".

-- richard

 

[hnts4fun]

The platform I'm using will have a hole to accomodate the unused length. I've used sand bags and such to do as you suggested but I need a much thinner profile.

Thanks...keep m coming
Matt

 

[rscott5028]

Your local smith or machine shop should be able to make a large bolt like that. Aluminum would be easy to work with and lighter, but won't withstand a heavy duty cycle like stainless would.

Because it's not your standard 60 deg thread, they may need to grind a tool bit to cut what almost appears to be square threads. But, that's no big deal.

I have a lathe, but not a mill here at the house. You'll need a mill or something to cut the channel for the locking screw. ...assuming that's really required. You could possibly engineer an alternate locking mechanism that won't booger your threads.

Also, one can only speculate about the top of the bolt that the rest affixes to unless you disassemble it and show pictures or a blueprint.

-- richard

 

[WildRose]

Make yourself a couple of 12x12x6" (LxWxH) bricks from plexiglass. Fill them with "great stuff" foam or something similar.

Drill holes to accomodate the legs so that it will drop in securely.

You can use dowels to join the two bricks together when you need the extra elevation all the way to 12" or greater.

You'll want your brick's to be in the 12" LxW so you get maximum stability but you could go smaller if need be.

This should make for a very light, very stable quick shooting platform.

You could make it even lighter by just using 1.5" thick foam insulation and stack them to the desired height and then shrink Wrap the whole thing.

 

[rscott5028]

Another option is to replace the bolt with a smooth shaft that's just smaller than the minor diameter of the threads and has holes drilled horizontally through the diameter of the shaft about every 1/2" or so. Then, use a pin to hold the elevation.

You could drill and tap a larger jam bolt to help stabilize it.

-- richard

 

[rscott5028]

How about sticking a heavy duty camera tripod under the bench and have the pedestal protrude up through the bench? Then, you can just crank it to the final height and lock it in place.

Of course, you'd need an adapter for the rest on top of the pedestal.

-- richard

 

[rscott5028]

Make yourself a couple of 12x12x6" (LxWxH) bricks from plexiglass. Fill them with "great stuff" foam or something similar.

Drill holes to accomodate the legs so that it will drop in securely.

You can use dowels to join the two bricks together when you need the extra elevation all the way to 12" or greater.

You'll want your brick's to be in the 12" LxW so you get maximum stability but you could go smaller if need be.

This should make for a very light, very stable quick shooting platform.

You could make it even lighter by just using 1.5" thick foam insulation and stack them to the desired height and then shrink Wrap the whole thing.

That's not fair... Even though your suggestion will be cheaper, easier, and more stable, your solution doesn't really require that expensive boat anchor that he already paid for.

;-)

 

[hnts4fun]

Richard, WildRose;

Thank you. You guys are obviously thinking so it might be time for some more information. First of all, Richard, the tripod mechanism might be another way of getting from here to there. WildRose, your suggestions have a lot of merit, especially when using the thick foam insulation.

I don't know much about how a adjustable shower curtain rod works; but I'd like to try cutting out the center 12 inches and seeing if I could still expand/compress the rod and lock it.

I have also looked at something that comes out of wood shops that might do what I want it to. See photo below. I could actually get two of the adjustment nuts and secure one to the bottom of my bench; and adjust it quickly by hand.

More info: I shoot out of a wheelchair and have been using a simple set up for the last 15 years. It's time for the next evolution. I'm all set for my rifles and triggers but am looking for a quicker way to adjust for elevation/support at the rear of my rifle. I have not bought that boat anchor of a rest yet and I'm actually thinking about using it for a rear rifle support. I've used varying methods over the years to adjust the height of my butt stock but ultimately they are all too bulky. I need something that's easier to "reach around" than my sandbags. I don't know that the wooden screw set up is strong enough for what I want and I would much prefer something made out of metal with a thread pitch similar to the rest in my first picture or this wooden screw.

My rear support MUST be something in the 1-2 inch in diameter range [as slim a profile as possible] to allow me a straight shot at my trigger. I have a tough time straightening my arm and the sandbags I've used, although rock steady and microadjustable, are simply too bulky for me to reach around.

Sooo......... like I said, I need something that will gain or lose elevation quickly; is sturdy; and has an extremely slim profile.

There's a million different ways to do things and some time down the road I'll post pictures of my trigger design and the next phase of my "sucking-the-butt stock-into-my-shoulder" device. I've never seen more collective wisdom in one place as I have from the Long Range Hunting membership. I know we'll figure something out.

The chair is not a big deal for me but hunting is. I took a tumble from a dirt bike in 1994 and killed my first wheelchair antelope at 385 yards in 1995. Longer ranges have definitely suited my wheelchair shooting style, as game doesn't tend to get as worked up when someone's a long way off. By the way, the set up pictured below is my "offhand" simulation. While it's steady, it's nowhere near as steady as a freestanding bench. This particular platform is attached to my chair and subject to flexing depending on how much I bear down on my rear support. It's manageable and functional to 400 and even 500 yards; but any further I want to be shooting off a freestanding bench.

I don't know that this is truly the rest of the story but it's certainly more of the story

Thank you all again!

Matt

 

[WildRose]

Looking at your set up there, my first thought would be that you need to raise the whole table/platform six inches or so instead of just trying to raise the rifle more relative to the table top. Whatever you do to raise the rifle above the table is going to create varying degrees of instability and the higher you raise it, the greater the instability will be.

As for rearward elevation/support a monopod sould be ideal.

Rifle Monopod Review

For additional height when needed you could make something similar to a standing paper towel rack with a flat base and a 2" dowel made from wood or even PVC that is somewhat concave at the top for the monopod to set on.

 

[joseph]

See if you could adapt a drum throne that screws up & down like this one:

Gibraltar Softy Drum Throne: Shop Drums & Percussion & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend

gt40

PS: You can take the seat off and attach the top of the rest on the top of the screw. It is easy to adjust up & down and can be locked into place instantly. I use one for a seat next to my portable bench when shooting at 1,000 yds.

 

[rscott5028]

There were one or two episodes of BOTW where they took someone with a wheelchair out to make a long range poke at an antelope.

As best I recall, they had a Caldwell Fire Control Rest setup which has front and rear supports. It was mounted to the chair and up a bit higher like Wildrose suggested. I'll have to keep an eye out to see if that episode comes around and if there's something useful there.

Otherwise, you might try to contact them through their website and see if they can put you in touch with the folks that built that rig.

The thing that's nice about the Fire Control rest is that the front has a coarse adjustment that you can make large elevation changes with. But, you have a handle that works off of a gimble type mount for smooth yet steady one-handed vertical and horizontal fine adjustment. It's much like the $3,000 front rests that many benchresters use. But, only about $200.

-- richard

 

[hnts4fun]

WildRose, I really like the looks of the P3 Monopod and I see some potential there. Currently I'm running a Harris bipod for front support. I've gotten excellent results with the butt stock resting on sandbags. I find that I'm able to wiggle the stock into perfect position, where it remains until I squeeze the trigger. I have looked at other monopods with an eye towards having them rest on a much lower profile sandbag, or more likely a beanbag; so I can make my final small adjustments by nestling the monopod into dense sand. I understand what you're saying about instability increasing as I raise the stock higher. As you can see in the accompanying photo my table attaches to the chair via two stanchions, which slip into arms that are attached to the frame of my chair. So I also get instability by raising the table. Before hunting this season, I'm going to run another support on each side angling back where it will attach to the original leg. That might tighten things up a bit so I can raise the table.

Joseph, that's exactly what I was looking for when I first posted this thread. I know that a machinist or woodworker can make just about anything. I've also found over the years that what I'm looking for usually already exists... it's just used for something else. From the looks of it, that "screw" has some length to it. Who knows, I might be able to find an old office stool at a garage sale with a similar piece.

Richard, I've got one of those episodes recorded on the DVR and I've watched it several times. It provides an excellent reference and is another example of how many different ways there are to get from here to there. I love the look of the Caldwell Fire Control Rest and have thought that I could extend the joystick so it would be a little easier for me to control on my own. I think a combination of the Fire Control & an elevated shooting table might be the way to go. However, I do need to stiffen up my shooting table.

I've looked at some light weight laminates, Baltic Birch, for a lighter, stiffer tabletop. I'll also need to triangulate some support from front to back, possibly incorporating a separate support piece that could run from the front of the table to the ground. I bought a couple of small level indicators, like you could fasten to a trailer tongue or RV, to make sure the shooting table stays level.

Thank you guys for the great suggestions. Anyone else out there with ideas please chime in. The easiest way for me to make something is to find out it's already been made and that it's ready for adaption.

Thanks
Matt

 

[WildRose]

WildRose, I really like the looks of the P3 Monopod and I see some potential there. Currently I'm running a Harris bipod for front support. I've gotten excellent results with the butt stock resting on sandbags. I find that I'm able to wiggle the stock into perfect position, where it remains until I squeeze the trigger. I have looked at other monopods with an eye towards having them rest on a much lower profile sandbag, or more likely a beanbag; so I can make my final small adjustments by nestling the monopod into dense sand. I understand what you're saying about instability increasing as I raise the stock higher. As you can see in the accompanying photo my table attaches to the chair via two stanchions, which slip into arms that are attached to the frame of my chair. So I also get instability by raising the table. Before hunting this season, I'm going to run another support on each side angling back where it will attach to the original leg. That might tighten things up a bit so I can raise the table.

Joseph, that's exactly what I was looking for when I first posted this thread. I know that a machinist or woodworker can make just about anything. I've also found over the years that what I'm looking for usually already exists... it's just used for something else. From the looks of it, that "screw" has some length to it. Who knows, I might be able to find an old office stool at a garage sale with a similar piece.

Richard, I've got one of those episodes recorded on the DVR and I've watched it several times. It provides an excellent reference and is another example of how many different ways there are to get from here to there. I love the look of the Caldwell Fire Control Rest and have thought that I could extend the joystick so it would be a little easier for me to control on my own. I think a combination of the Fire Control & an elevated shooting table might be the way to go. However, I do need to stiffen up my shooting table.

I've looked at some light weight laminates, Baltic Birch, for a lighter, stiffer tabletop. I'll also need to triangulate some support from front to back, possibly incorporating a separate support piece that could run from the front of the table to the ground. I bought a couple of small level indicators, like you could fasten to a trailer tongue or RV, to make sure the shooting table stays level.

Thank you guys for the great suggestions. Anyone else out there with ideas please chime in. The easiest way for me to make something is to find out it's already been made and that it's ready for adaption.

Thanks
Matt

Matt looking at your rig here are to suggestions.

One, running from the front of the table at about where you set your bipod legs you need an angle brace coming back to the riser posts.

Two, if you made a second set of riser posts/legs coming off of the rear at an angle which would attach to the cross bar/seat support on the chair you would have ideal stability for the whole rig.

You could have them made such that they just clamp on to the frame of the chair and thus not need to do any modifying on the chair.

Once all of the above is done I'd suggest making yourself a shelf across the front at roughly the height of the bipod or slightly below. Don't permanently affix the shelf though, in case you need to take a downhill shot.

When the elevation is needed for level or above line of sight shooting just having one of the bricks I suggested you make to set on that shelf would give you ideal stability.

The Monopods work great, but they do have their limits on height adjustment which is why I suggest the "towel rack" concept. The base can be either round or square with a width/diameter equal to whatever max height you think you'd need for elevation on the rear of the weapon. About a 1 1/4 dowell slightly concaved would give you an ideal rest for the monopod.

The nice thing bout the monopods is they don't have to be permanently affixed, they just screw in/out of the stock, and if you shoose to leave it permanently affixed they fold up against the base of the stock.

Something else that would be cheap and easy for your front elevation would be a simple RV jack or jack stand with a permanently affixed bean bag gun rest on the top. You can even get them made of aluminum now I think so that'd help with any weight issues.