I hate to admit this to you all, since you'll probably be somewhat disappointed in me for it: I've rarely ever shot off a truly steady platform, even while sighting in and practicing. It's not that my shooting rests, whether manufactured or improvised, were unsteady. No, it was the table I shot off of.



This somewhat rickety old porch table has been my makeshift shooting table since even before I started hunting. Although with proper bracing it was somewhat usable as a shooting table, it was never ideal. The only reason I continued to use it for so long was, well, it's all we really had, and for most of our shooting, it was merely adequate.



Well, that's changed.

This year, I decided I was going to overhaul my entire shooting system for both my pistols and rifles. I've built a custom Encore pistol barrel - the 221 Fireball - to allow me to shoot an accurate, yet cheap to reload round. I've mounted a new Leupold 6.5-20x scope on my Weatherby Vanguard 270, which is about to have its creepy, heavy trigger replaced with a Timney trigger. I'll soon take possession of a new handgun rest to replace the backpack and pillow method I've been using as a handgun rest. But, while doing all of this, I realized that none of it would matter if I didn't have a solid table to shoot off of. Rather than pay for an expensive manufactured table that may or may not be what I need, I decided to design and build one of my own. With guidance from my uncle - a carpenter - I bought some treated lumber 2x4s, 4x4s, and 2x8s and constructed this shooting table:



Here's a picture (admittedly a poor one) taken prior to adding the 2x8s:


True, it's probably over designed for what I need, and it sure isn't pretty, but it's solid as a rock and cost me less than half as much in raw materials as some of the shooting tables I've seen for sale online. Even though I haven't shot off of it yet, one thing's for certain: this is a far superior shooting table to what I had been using.

Can't wait to try shooting off of this.

I see no problem with it. If the shoe fits wear it. Looks well built and should last for many years to come. Nice work......

Looks pretty solid Chance, nice job!

Looks good to me.

Looks good! Any thoughts on a height adjustable stool? I find I prefer different heights depending on rifle or pistol. I've seen some where they use some telescoping pipe with holes and a pin on a wheel rim.

I found that bringing a 5 gallon bucket to sit on at the local range improves my group size dramatically and keeps my back form aching after a morning of shooting cause all their stools are ~4" too high for me.

Looks rock solid, Chance.

Looks like a great shooting table to me!

Looks solid and well-built. Good job, Chance.

Now, put some large castors on it, and make it mobile....

... roll it out to your deer hunting spot....

Looks nice.

Very nice. I'll soon be building a shooting table on the deck of our camp that will be a great improvement over the portable table I currently use.

Thanks guys!



That's part of the reason I didn't build an attached bench to sit on. I'm sure the chairs I have will be adequate for both types of shooting, but a height adjustable stool would be a nice addition.

That..........is a nice table. Maybe ill steal that design for my kitchen

I build a lot of decks and would suggest that if it is going to stay outdoors to put a good quality sealer on it. I personally like the semi-transparent ones. Treated lumber just does't last like it use to, do to government regulations. Looks good I think we could use one like it at our hunting club.

That's definitely on my to do list. My uncle advised me to wait a few weeks and let it dry out a bit before I seal it.

Built this afternoon ... plan to spend plenty of time at it in the near future.

Very nice!

Update:
I've finally got some stain and sealant and applied two thick coats to my table. I figured I'd try to make it look good while I was at it.

It looks very good.

Looks good enough to serve dinner on, Chance.

Very nice!!

Looks good. Do you deliver?

Bamabow

Nice work!