I've been thinking of picking up a rifle vice to hold my rifles steady while I am doing something with them.
Like a number of us I like working on my rifles and installing the scopes and or other sights but have fought with trying to hold them steady in a number of contraptions that I would come up with. Then when I looked at rifle vices that you can purchase that will hold them steady I was put off by the cost of them.
So I came up with this.
I watched Craigslist and FB Market Place until I found a used Black & Decker Workmate. These portable work benches come in a number of sizes but I happened to come across one that is rated for 425 lbs, not that I needed that high of a capacity it is just the one that I found that was near me.
I then scrounged around my garage and came up with a 10' piece of cedar 2x4 that I cut into 4 equal pieces.
I then glued and screwed two of the pieces together to come up with a T that would fit down onto the Workmate.
I then found a old bath mat that I cut into two. I stapled it to the T'ed 2x4's for a pad to protect the rifles stock.
Once I had this done I checked the fit on the Workmate and saw that I needed to remove the center board of the top
With this board removed I placed the wrapped 2x4 T's down into the slot. The bottom of the 2x4's rest on both the rail of the Workmate along with the top boards of the bench.
Then came the time to check it out. I placed one of my muzzle loaders into it to install a set of new sights. The forearm is not as tight as I would like but it is quite secure. If you have a wood stock I would add some padding on the Workmate rails where the stock or trigger guard might hit it.
I thought about installing a couple of dowels into the 2x4's and then into the Workmate to secure them a bit more, but right now everything is quite secure and makes things a lot easier to work on. The muzzle of the barrel can be tilted down a little so that cleaning the rifle will be a lot easier.
Right now it is still a work in progress and I may add to it as the need arises. So far I have installed the sights on this muzzle loader along with the Vortex Prism scope on my Utah muzzle loader. I have a few more projects that will also get done using this vice.
Overall I'm into this about $40.
The Workmate was $25
10" cedar 2x4 $12, I think
Bathmat from a thrift store $3
Plus my time which isn't worth much when I am working for myself.
Like a number of us I like working on my rifles and installing the scopes and or other sights but have fought with trying to hold them steady in a number of contraptions that I would come up with. Then when I looked at rifle vices that you can purchase that will hold them steady I was put off by the cost of them.
So I came up with this.
I watched Craigslist and FB Market Place until I found a used Black & Decker Workmate. These portable work benches come in a number of sizes but I happened to come across one that is rated for 425 lbs, not that I needed that high of a capacity it is just the one that I found that was near me.
I then scrounged around my garage and came up with a 10' piece of cedar 2x4 that I cut into 4 equal pieces.
I then glued and screwed two of the pieces together to come up with a T that would fit down onto the Workmate.
I then found a old bath mat that I cut into two. I stapled it to the T'ed 2x4's for a pad to protect the rifles stock.
Once I had this done I checked the fit on the Workmate and saw that I needed to remove the center board of the top
With this board removed I placed the wrapped 2x4 T's down into the slot. The bottom of the 2x4's rest on both the rail of the Workmate along with the top boards of the bench.
Then came the time to check it out. I placed one of my muzzle loaders into it to install a set of new sights. The forearm is not as tight as I would like but it is quite secure. If you have a wood stock I would add some padding on the Workmate rails where the stock or trigger guard might hit it.
I thought about installing a couple of dowels into the 2x4's and then into the Workmate to secure them a bit more, but right now everything is quite secure and makes things a lot easier to work on. The muzzle of the barrel can be tilted down a little so that cleaning the rifle will be a lot easier.
Right now it is still a work in progress and I may add to it as the need arises. So far I have installed the sights on this muzzle loader along with the Vortex Prism scope on my Utah muzzle loader. I have a few more projects that will also get done using this vice.
Overall I'm into this about $40.
The Workmate was $25
10" cedar 2x4 $12, I think
Bathmat from a thrift store $3
Plus my time which isn't worth much when I am working for myself.
