Shooting Bench Build

[John Morris]

My son and I have been out and about several times shooting our new to us flintlock Lyman Great Plains .50 and we have been having a blast, just getting used to it, and not really trying to hit anything, but loading, shooting, cleaning, and care of and safety of etc.
We are itching now to get some paper up and really sight our gun in. We've been having fun offhand shooting, and now we want to get it up on a bench with a sand bag and support and get our grouping in.
Our transportation to our local range up in the hills is my 2009 Toyota Corolla, so the bench has to be somewhat light with legs collapsible to fit in that tiny car, so I started to build this pine top, that will have folding legs as our bench.

Here's just a few images of the bench in progress.
The boards glued up and cut, and planed.



Dry fitting the miters for the edging to make the top rigid and to have a nice strong look about it.



Just a look at my shop, it's our garage, when mama's car is out, it's a shop.



The edges I secured with old timey cut nails.





And there we have it, a done top, it'll get a few coats of varnish and it'll darken up nicely with some great patina, and look old and rustic. When I get the legs up I'll post an update here, and an update on how it functioned at the range. Thanks for looking!

[Jeff]

John. You put together a very nice bench top.  Jeff

[John Morris]

Hey thanks a heap Jeff, I just hope it works as good as it looks!

[recurve]

Just a suggestion you should make a  C  shaped cut on the back edge (and pad it) to hold your rifle while loading

[John Morris]

Too late for that, but I'll bolt one on the end. Thanks for that suggestion!

[kudu]

Well its probably too late but if you want to get closer to "historically correct" a Really old wood "Ironing Board" is neat.
I saw a guy with one not too long ago and I asked him about it , said he couldnt find one so he made it just like a original wood "ironing Board he even burnt/Scorched the top with a old Iron just to get the shape/imprint  of a iron tipped over while hot.

I walked away saying to myself ...... I should build one of those!!!

[little joe]

I like to rest my rifle near the forward themble. Bench would not be long enought for me. Nice workmanship.

[John Morris]

Well its probably too late but if you want to get closer to "historically correct" a Really old wood "Ironing Board" is neat.
I saw a guy with one not too long ago and I asked him about it , said he couldnt find one so he made it just like a original wood "ironing Board he even burnt/Scorched the top with a old Iron just to get the shape/imprint  of a iron tipped over while hot.

I walked away saying to myself ...... I should build one of those!!!

Ya too late, but that sounds like a fun project Kudu. I may embark on such a build. For now though, this is what we came up with, by measurements, and fitting by seating at a mock table, and taking height measurements and how long the table needs to be in relation to a long rifle. The dimensions are 48" long by 24" wide. We can sit at the end of the table for a long long rifle, and we can use the side of the table too if that feels comfy to shoot from. We'll see.
Thanks for the suggesions.

[John Morris]

Nice workmanship.

Thanks bunch Joe.

[John Morris]

Trying to get out and finish this bench up, but our garage is pushing triple digits, I work in the field and heat all week long, it's hard to come home and work in a hot garage! Been itching to get back out and shoot too, but man, the heat is hitting us Southern Californians hard this summer, intense humidity too. My work day is 115 degrees plus, I wonder how black powder would act in those conditions?

[aaronc]

Hey I know this guy,..aren't you "The Patriot" John Morris ??   I missed your intro a few months back apparently. Glad you made it over. Following your build - Aaron