If you’re a rifle shooter and you shoot by yourself, you’ve probably used your spotting scope on a small tripod on the bench next to you. The only real problem with that is accidentally knocking it over…and watching your expensive optic tumble off the bench and onto the concrete ground at your feet. I’ve knocked mine over without the fall, but it was close.
A mishap like that can ruin your entire day at the range and is probably is part of the idea that resulted in F.W. Arms’ new Best Bench Mount. It clamps onto your shooting bench and keeps your spotting scope ready and steady. And unlike a table-top tripod, it won’t be easily bumped off-target either.
Here’s their press release:
F.W. Arms, Hayward, CA October, 2018 – Once in a while a nifty, real-deal piece of shooting support gear comes along – and that’s exactly what you get with the Best Bench Mount spotting scope stand from F.W. Arms.
The Best Bench Mount attaches to a shooting bench using a heavy-duty clamp that quickly adjusts for bench surface thicknesses from 3/4 to 7-1/2 inches. Once secured in place, the Best Bench Mount easily adjusts to lock in the field-of-view of any target.
The scope mounting plate sets just 4 inches above the bench surface, but can be moved in seconds to its maximum height of 13 inches. The vertical (up/down) tilt of the scope mounting plate (and scope) allows for 1,600 minutes of total elevation adjustment via the threaded tilt adjustment knob.
The F.W. Arms Best Bench Mount is precision machined 304 stainless steel, brass alloy, and hard-coat anodized aircraft grade aluminum making it an all-weather tough piece of equipment.
An optional mast extension can be threaded into the main mast adding 18 inches of height for offhand shooting using a shooting bench for spotting scope support. This extension may be ordered with the bench mount or separately at a later date.
Together with its quick adjust heavy-duty clamp, precision adjustable spotting scope plate and near crowbar durability F.W. Arms’ Best Bench Mount presents a real bargain to the shooter who appreciates robust and reliable precision shooting gear.
MSRP: $249
Optional 18 inch mast extension: $32
$249.00?
Yikes!
I like the idea and design and all, but come on.
I’d go a Benji, but that’s about it.
Yeah, I am looking for a new bench mount and that item would fit the bill.
Then I saw the price….no thanks.
With that price, somebody must have a crack habit.
If you don’t need the height and thickness extensions: https://amazon.com/dp/B003MS1RL8
Much depends on the actual stability of the tripod head. At higher magnification 75x plus even the slightest movement, shake, tremble will affect if using higher end scopes. Even a slight breeze.
At 150x it becomes a real pain at times.
You pay for what you get.
That’s a lot of money relative to my $80 Celestron scope. The idea and execution are good but the cost seems too high for inexpensive scopes. I guess it pencils out relative to a $2-3000 Swarovski or similar but I would probably rig something myself with a camera mount or just a clamp and a bolt
I paid $40 for a cheap Chicom knockoff 60x scope. If it’s destroyed, I’ll order another one. Pro Tip: put a sandbag on the downwind side of the mini-tripod.
$12 Irwin clamp from Home Depot, add a panavise ball mount $15 on ebay and your’re good to go, unless you’ve got a $3,000 scope.
For anyone who wants to waste 249. Let me know. Send me the money and ill spend $10and build you one. And ill be buying at retail which they aren’t. 249? What a rip off.