About 20+ years ago, my dad started developing Parkinson's Disease and as a result, he had difficulty holding still to sight in his scoped 1950's Sheridan Blue Streak.
He took scrap wood, metal fittings and other odds & ends and made a rifle rest. One that cradles the forearm and butt of the rifle, taking the human error out of the equation.
When I got my Benjamin 392 about 6 years ago, I used the rest to zero it as well.
Dad's design worked ok, but it was overall too low (especially the butt rest), and he'd put 'arms" on the back of the rest, which made 'shouldering' the rifle difficult, but it did work.
About a month ago, when my passion for air rifles rekindled, I wanted to re-zero the Benji, and got the rest from mom's house (since technically it's my rest now). I had to use 4×4's and other pieces if wood to position the rest so I could use it, and thought about altering it to be more functional.
Those thoughts didn't linger very long, as it's still DAD'S rest, so I’d decided to build a new one using his as a model. I did it like he did, scrap boards and misc things from around the house including a good size chunk if carpet from the bedroom floor (I took it from under the bed, so the wife will never know
).
The only new parts I had to buy, were two 3/8 × 6 carriage bolts, two 3/8 t-nuts and some glue to attach the carpeting for padding for the rifle.
The end result is a much shorter, lighter and easier to transport rest, with height adjustable forearm AND butt rests. It also had taller and wider 'feet' for better stability.
I finished it yesterday, but haven't had a chance to try it out. Here are pictures of both rests, with my 392, to show the differences.
What do you think?
He took scrap wood, metal fittings and other odds & ends and made a rifle rest. One that cradles the forearm and butt of the rifle, taking the human error out of the equation.
When I got my Benjamin 392 about 6 years ago, I used the rest to zero it as well.
Dad's design worked ok, but it was overall too low (especially the butt rest), and he'd put 'arms" on the back of the rest, which made 'shouldering' the rifle difficult, but it did work.
About a month ago, when my passion for air rifles rekindled, I wanted to re-zero the Benji, and got the rest from mom's house (since technically it's my rest now). I had to use 4×4's and other pieces if wood to position the rest so I could use it, and thought about altering it to be more functional.
Those thoughts didn't linger very long, as it's still DAD'S rest, so I’d decided to build a new one using his as a model. I did it like he did, scrap boards and misc things from around the house including a good size chunk if carpet from the bedroom floor (I took it from under the bed, so the wife will never know
).The only new parts I had to buy, were two 3/8 × 6 carriage bolts, two 3/8 t-nuts and some glue to attach the carpeting for padding for the rifle.
The end result is a much shorter, lighter and easier to transport rest, with height adjustable forearm AND butt rests. It also had taller and wider 'feet' for better stability.
I finished it yesterday, but haven't had a chance to try it out. Here are pictures of both rests, with my 392, to show the differences.
What do you think?
