Jthedinosaur
Member
I recall I mentioned a while back that I had been playing around with a budget/economy/cheapo rifle rest. Just another little project to keep myself occupied and amused. At my local target club I noticed they had purchased a couple of budget rifle rests. Rickety/shakey old things, unlikely you could ever use these to zero in, or even do maintenance on. But if you wanted somewhere to chuck your rifle whilst doing other things, this would be suffice.
So, I've attached a few pics.
My first improvement was to replace the plastic base tubes with some 12mm threaded rod. This immediately gave it some weight, but most of all a lot more rigidity. 12mm nuts at all ends and pinched up tight. The original plastic tube was 11.5mm dia. So had to drill out the holes an extra half mil, on the brackets, so used a spade bit without any issues. The front of the stand didn't lift my rifle level or above, so I fixed an additional acrylic flat bracket, (for further elevation) drilled out to take an additional knob (which I had in my fishing tackle shed). Once fitted this again offered more rigidity than previously experienced with the existing design. This acrylic plate can be removed should one wish to revert back to original design.. You will see on the front rest I have fitted a quick release strap, small bolts used to hold it it place. This can thread through between the cylinder and barrel, or over the top of the barrel, to pull/nip down tightly to hold the rifle secure at this point. Moving on to the back rest for the butt/stock, you will see I have drilled out and fitted a couple of knobs (angling knobs again) so these can screw in and pinch up against to stock to hold in secure. Also helpful when leveling. Bit of leather superglued onto the end of the threads to stop the butt from being marked. So, there we have lt. Done a bit of back garden plinking, managed to use rest for zeroing, as now quite robust. Appreciate not a Birchwood Casey, but gets me where I want to be.
So, I've attached a few pics.
My first improvement was to replace the plastic base tubes with some 12mm threaded rod. This immediately gave it some weight, but most of all a lot more rigidity. 12mm nuts at all ends and pinched up tight. The original plastic tube was 11.5mm dia. So had to drill out the holes an extra half mil, on the brackets, so used a spade bit without any issues. The front of the stand didn't lift my rifle level or above, so I fixed an additional acrylic flat bracket, (for further elevation) drilled out to take an additional knob (which I had in my fishing tackle shed). Once fitted this again offered more rigidity than previously experienced with the existing design. This acrylic plate can be removed should one wish to revert back to original design.. You will see on the front rest I have fitted a quick release strap, small bolts used to hold it it place. This can thread through between the cylinder and barrel, or over the top of the barrel, to pull/nip down tightly to hold the rifle secure at this point. Moving on to the back rest for the butt/stock, you will see I have drilled out and fitted a couple of knobs (angling knobs again) so these can screw in and pinch up against to stock to hold in secure. Also helpful when leveling. Bit of leather superglued onto the end of the threads to stop the butt from being marked. So, there we have lt. Done a bit of back garden plinking, managed to use rest for zeroing, as now quite robust. Appreciate not a Birchwood Casey, but gets me where I want to be.
