Portable shooting table

After today's less than stellar results, I ordered this off of Amazon...



My mom got one for my stepdad last year and he loves it. Says it is very stable.

I use the mtm high-low table. It is pretty good, I expensive, and does the job. In my opinion it needs a support at the rear of the table to make it truly stable. So I use shooting sticks and it works great after that.

I hang some chain over the braces on the MTM to give it some weight. Not magical but helps some.

I use one of these. It seems to work ok. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/rangemaxx-deluxe-shooting-bench

After a great many tries, I've settled on relatively inexpensive 6 footers that fold in half for travel. I don't like the cheap and bendy ones.

I also like high quality folding chairs..... and shade! Because, you know, sammiches and beers.



Todd.

Trey Veston said:

After today's less than stellar results, I ordered this off of Amazon...

View attachment 991701

My mom got one for my stepdad last year and he loves it. Says it is very stable.

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Yes, it is stable and adjusts nicely... mine is a different brand but is the same design, it folds flat. Got it at Cabela's 7-8 years ago, it has a nice storage case with carry handles and pockets on the front, and it's been a good value.

irishlad said:

I like the folding table idea. Do you happen to know the brand of the table you like? Thanks.

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Our favorite chairs and tables come from Lifetime: https://www.lifetime.com

We use the 6ft fold in half and the 4ft and have one with telescoping legs for varying the height as well. The chairs are the best. We stick pretty consistently with 30 inches in depth.

The items never get hot in the Arizona sun and consequently don't soften or warp either. We beat holy hell outa them and if they get scruffy, a scotch-bite and Comet bring them right back around.

The foot pads are an oval rather than round so more stability there too. The added width is a great benefit to me as I have more surface area for my stuff&things and it adds greatly to overall stability. Gun, ammo/mags, spotting scope, note-pad... beverage all close to hand and not bouncing around either.

These things are so tough that they go on the bottom of the load many times but normally I want them slid in vertical for first out of the truck.

Unfortunately, every manufactured shooting table I've tried has presented too squirrelly and the ones with dedicated seating have never fit me ergonomically.

Another plus is that you can call the manufacturer direct when you mess up by having a bon-fire too close to irrigation so that your chairs sink into the soil and you leave one or two leg ends in the depths of your caliche.

In the end, you get outstanding shooting furniture that can be used in many other applications as well.

Todd.

I have a homebuilt rig that attaches to the top of my Workmate it is ok but a bit low

I got one of these a few years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VJUTF3S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

I have one of these. Only thing i don't like about it. It could use more table space.
https://www.amazon.com/Caldwell-Ambidextrous-Collapsible-All-Weather-Convenient/dp/B0779MSVJ4

irishlad said:

I bought one at home depot this morning. Thanks for the idea. View attachment 991788

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Great. The telescoping leg model is very versatile. Great to have around the house as well to augment monsters like leaning against your wall. Those old school banquet tables are damn fine but quite cumbersome to haul out shooting. We used them once.... once!

The Lifetimes will take the heat off the bottom of a Coleman stove too but I have a cut piece of 3/4" marine plywood anyhow - for soft camping food prep, they're the best.

Todd.

The best portable, like trunk of car, bench I have is this one.



The pipe legs are threaded and the female couplers were in the mold before the cement was poured in. The NPT threads and 3 legs make it zero wobble, the material being cement literally makes it rock solid.

If I have to move it very far I use a dolly that takes up more room than it does.



Also have some moveable ones but really only “portable” with two people and a truck.

It is steel with a built in seat, that is adjustable for height and in/out.



It’s about 20 years old and still does the job but has needed to be redecked a few times over the years.

Here's the solid 48x30 *Commercial* I like too. Note the larger footprint of the feet and the great strength afforded by the underside full-length rails.



And, I LOVE this part:

10 year warrantee and warranted by a company that has Americans answering the phone. I only know for having sourced parts that I'm responsible for screwing up and not due to any fault of the products.
Todd.

I've used card tables, ironing boards, and a folding portable shooting table from Cabela's (which I returned). All suffered from the same thing; instability. In my experience, stable reduces portability. Also reduces mobility if you need to move around. I'm currently experimenting with tri-pods. Saw a really creative one at the Tulsa Show, but quite expensive. Maybe I'll start another thread with questions about tri-pods.

I would like to have something valuable to contribute. But I belong to and shoot at a local club with permanently mounted shooting benches.

For field work, I use an old camera tripod with a home made rest for the forend of the rifle. Probably shooting sticks would be smaller to carry, but the tripod gives me three dimensional stability.

irishlad said:

The folding table I bought is going to work out well. I believe anything portable isn't going to be 100% steady. If I need 100% steady I'll drive the 25 minutes to the county range and use the concrete benches.

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I bought the exact same table a couple of weeks ago. Perfect height, size, and is durable. But it is NOT stable. However, at the range, I was able to get it to stop swaying back and forth and get good groups. But, the top is extremely slick and guns and ammo boxes will slide right off if it is not level. Others suggested a Harbor Freight moving blanket to throw over it, which sounds like a good idea. I just decided to relegate it to camping duty since you need a third arm to adjust the height of the legs. I actually used my forehead to get the legs to go back down when breaking it down at the end of the day. Comical.

Throw down a professional shooting mat

Go prone!

''get down'' USED to be a 1970s disco term. LoL

After shooting off of a few light weight benches and tables I bought the RCBS R.A.S.S. table. Its a tripod design with a "V" on top for your rifle. Its a little heavy but its pretty stable after you get settled in on it. I replaced the "V" top with a top that I cut out of plywood. It has enough room for a front rest, your elbow and I cut a hole that allows an MTM 100 round plastic ammo box to sit down it it. A few friends have the same bench and we all made these tops for them. A buddy bought a military duffel bag to carry his in and it works well.

I found a permanent bench that I like but WOW its expensive. Its made by Vaughn Concrete Products. Its precast from concrete with a metal frame and has an adjustable seat.

I'm envious of you guys that know how to post links. I wish I knew how!

I have an awesome Caldwell shooting table collecting dust in the garage.