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Anybody have any first hand experience with the Caldwell Stable Table shooting table? I don't have a dedicated shooting area and bench and thought this unit looked pretty good. 200 bucks shipped on Amazon. Wondering how stable it is for target shooting?
Thank-you
Mark
I've used it and I didn't like it near as much as the "Big game 360 swivel bench" sold thru cabelas. The big game is the closest thing and the most stable one that compares to the high dollar special order one my dad has. Best bang for your buck IMO. I use bags off mine in the P-dog fields.
Swivel-Action-Shooting-Bench/708606.uts?searchPath=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FcategoryId%3 D734095080%26CQ_search%3Dbig%2Bgame%2B360%2Bswivel
No clue how the quality is on the Chinese-made Caldwell knock-off bench, but I do know the original Ultra Bench design that it is based on which was a good solid setup. The design originated with David Krien at Coyote Jake's in Hays, KS. Coyote Jake's was bought up by Sellmark Corp. in 2008, which retained the Coyote Jake's name and made the products in Texas. At some point Sellmark sold it off to Battenfield Technologies (the parent of Caldwell, Wheeler, Tipton, etc.) which was owned by Midway USA at the time. Battenfield farmed the production out to China, cheapened them up as much as they could and started marketing them under the Caldwell brand. Midway USA sold Battenfield Tech. off to Smith & Wesson a few years ago and as far as I know S&W still owns them.
The only significant design difference I can see between the cheaper Caldwell bench and the original Coyote Jake's Ultra Bench is the bench top and seat. On the Coyote Jake's bench they were made from 1/2" thick HDPE with lightly textured finish. On the Caldwell they appear to be blow molded ABS pieces which I would imagine are much more susceptible to weakening and warping if left out in the sun to long. The CJ benches were also hunter green in color, not tan.
Here's a photo of the original Coyote Jake's Ultra Bench. I had one for a several years that I got from David after meeting him and checking them out at the 2004 VHA Jamboree when he first came out with them.
Attachment 3245
[QUOTE=melmark;409077]Anybody have any first hand experience with the Caldwell Stable Table shooting table? I don't have a dedicated shooting area and bench and thought this unit looked pretty good. 200 bucks shipped on Amazon. Wondering how stable it is for target shooting
It would depend on where you do the shooting, and the type conditions encountered.
If your on flat or relatively flat terrain, it would probably work fairly well.
But if your faced with steep or even fairly steep terrain on occaission, id say you would be disappointed.
For flat terrain, a set of folding carpenter saw horses with a pc of 3/4 plywood just laying on top will work well.
For that matter just one saw horse with a 16" wide pc of plywood fastened to it works well also
And you can also improvise some degree of leg adjustment.
I would recommend doing the least expensive until you start forming your own opinions based on your situation.
If you get serious enough about it, you will ultimately build the perfect portable bench to suits your needs.
And that will lead to the second perfect one. lol
I recently built a shooting bench to use for ARA practice at my local range since I don't have access to the benches used in ARA matches except at match time. These benches are the portable/temp kind that use the black steel pipe for legs that screw on/off. Very solid but they keep them locked up so they don't "disappear". :rolleyes:
I had read of people using a miter saw stand as the base, and I had a Ryobi miter saw stand out in the shed not doing much, so I bought 2 pieces of 2'x4' 3/4" plywood, screwed them together, mounted the quick detach clamp bases to the bottom and took it to my local range. Google Ryobi miter saw stand, they are $99 at Home Depot and come with the QD clamps.
I've used it a couple times and its pretty solid, you need to have something to level the table on uneven surfaces (4 legs) but it breaks down easily with the QD clamps in about 30 seconds, fold up the legs on the miter saw stand, and it fits well (just barely) in my short bed PU. I use a drummers stool for a seat. I plan on cutting the length down a bit and putting a carry hole in the top, but it's really not necessary. A friend of mine has offered to make a coupler of some type to attach to one of the legs to make easier to level/staiblize the set up. I have ~$50 or less in the table since I had the miter saw stand, which is about 10 yrs old, so ~$150 if you have to buy the stand new.
Good input, thanks for the replies.
Mark