How to build a swivel-seat firearm shooting bench rest

Shooting your weapon is a great feeling, but firing your gun uncomfortably is not. Check out this instructional woodworking video to learn how to build a swivel-seat firearm shooting bench rest. When you have a firing range, it's a must to have a comfortable and stable rest for shooting, and this is a great start, especially on a budget.

With this benchrest construction, you'll only need a day to work with and some basic hand tools, a cicular saw, a cordless driver and a reciprocating saw. The design and method shown here could certainly be improved upon with more time and/or money dedicated to the construction. The key benefits however, are a swivel-seat design that can be adapted to many situations, and step-by-step instructions that enable any competent do-it-yourselfer to complete the installation in a single day.

If you want the shooting bench to feel as if it were set in concrete, this design will solve this without pouring new concrete, and it will solved other problems as well.

The biggest obstacle to a better bench was the shelter where it would sit. The firing line is a freestanding covered porch with a plywood floor set over joists. It's solid, but prone to movement when club members walk up and down the area behind the benches. Pouring a new concrete slab is beyond the scope of the improvements the range can take on at right now. Yet the club wanted the bench to feel as if it were set in concrete. The design did this -- and solved other problems as well.

The three-legged swivel-seat design is constructed from common galvanized pipe that is sold at home stores with the ends threaded. It is adjustable up or down, locks in place forward or back and can be used by a left- or right-handed shooter. It also eliminates the need for a separate chair, while reducing clutter.