Building Your Own Bench Top For The Coyote Jakes Shooting Bench

This bench top was designed with this size and shape for a reason. There is nothing sacred about these dimensions, and anyone is free to modify the size and shape to suit themselves. But I have learned from considerable field experience that this size and this shape work for me when field shooting.

Some people might look at this bench top and think it's too big and bulky. I disagree. Nobody is going to backpack a Coyote Jakes shooting bench around a prairie dog town. You're going to carry all the parts in a vehicle. So just lean the top on edge against the front or side of the pickup box (or against the back of the rear seat in a Suburban) and it takes up very little space when traveling. Or you can lay it flat and pile stuff on it. Everything is going to come out when you stop to shoot anyway.

When you do stop to shoot, this bench top clearly is not too big. It's just the right size to easily accommodate a rifle on a shooting pedestal or big sandbag, along with a rear bag under the butt stock. Plus, there is room to the left of the rifle (assuming a right-handed shooter) for binocular, rangefinder, ammo box, water bottle, etc. And there is enough room on the "wing" to support the elbow of the shooting arm, making for steadier shooting.

My bench top was made with Baltic birch plywood, also sometimes called Finnish birch or Russian birch. It's the best plywood available, far superior to typical construction plywood. The half-inch thickness sheet has seven plys instead of the usual four of typical plywood. Another plus for Baltic birch plywood is that is has no voids like construction plywood has. The biggest problem with Baltic birch plywood is that you can't find it everywhere. It's rather specialized stuff. I found mine at a wood products company that caters to the furniture and cabinet trade in the area. Recently, some home improvement stores have begun to carry Baltic birch plywood. So look around. It's worth the effort. But if you can't locate Baltic birch plywood, just get typical half-inch plywood ... but be prepared to fill some voids with wood filler.

I wanted my bench top to be an inch thick, thinking that thickness would have the strength needed to support the weight of a rifle and everything else that would be on the table. But you can't find inch thick plywood. So I bought half-inch thick plywood and glued two thicknesses together. Actually, Baltic birch plywood comes in metric thicknesses, but what I bought was close enough to half an inch that you aren't going to notice that the two glued-up layers aren't quite an inch thick. But they're darned close. Also, Baltic birch plywood comes in sheets that are 5 feet by 5 feet rather than the usual 4 feet x 8 feet that's typical of American plywood. One 5 feet x 5 feet sheet will be enough to make the bench top described here, with a few scraps left over. Where I bought my plywood, a 5 feet x 5 feet sheet half an inch thick (actually 12 millimeters, I think) cost less than $19.00, including tax, so the price is not prohibitive.

I laid out the dimensions of the bench top on the plywood sheet a little oversize to leave some room for trimming and truing the edges. Then I glued the two layers together using Titebond wood glue and about two dozen C-clamps around the edges ... plus a 50-pound weight in the middle. I left the clamps on overnight, which is more than enough time for the glue to cure properly.
I used a router and an edge bit in a router table to true up the edges, though a handheld router and a straightedge clamped to the table top would give the same result. Lacking a router, a table saw or radial arm saw could be used to true the edges. Lacking that sort of saw, a handheld circular saw and straightedge would work. The arc where the "wing" flows into the main dimension of the table was accomplished by first making the cut a little oversize with a saber saw. Then I made a template (or pattern) of quarter-inch plywood to the exact shape of the arc. Next I put an edging bit with a bearing guide into the router to follow the template. The rounded corners were accomplished by first cutting the corners a little oversized with a saber saw and then using another plywood template and the router to true things up. Then I sanded the bejabbers out of everything. The nice thing about using a router on the edges is that router bits leave such a smooth cut that little sanding is needed. If you true the edges with a power saw, you will have a little more sanding to do but the end result will be the same.

Next I marked the location of the bolt holes for holding the bench top to the mounting flange, which goes onto the top of the center post of the Coyote Jakes shooting bench. Note in the drawing that the mounting holes are laid out off-center rather than in the middle of the main portion of the bench top. There are two reasons for this. First, this off-center location puts the weight of the rifle and its pedestal or sand bags more nearly over the center post of the bench, which reduces the torque applied to the rifle side of the bench top. Second, it's easier for a shooter to line up on the scope with this arrangement.

The top and bottom surfaces of this bench top are mirror images of each other, so all you have to do for a left-handed shooter is remove the bolts, flip the top over, and replace the bolts -- which would take only a few minutes. I located stainless steel flathead bolts, 1/4" diameter by 1 1/2" long, in a local hardware store, along with lock nuts with a nylon insert so they won't work loose. I drilled 1/4" holes for the bolts and countersunk the holes on both sides of the top so the heads of the bolts were flush with the bench top. With the bolt holes countersunk on both sides of the top, you are ready to accommodate either a right-handed or left-handed shooter simply by flipping over the top and remounting it.

To finish this bench top, I applied a coat of Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner to help the stain sink in uniformly. Then I brushed on a coat of walnut stain (one surface at a time), let it set up for five to 10 minutes, and rubbed off the excess with a rag. I let this dry overnight and then did the same on the bottom surface. For a final finish I applied three coats of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane, letting each coat dry at least six hours. After coats one and two, I sanded lightly with 220 grit sandpaper before applying the next coat. This is a tough exterior finish, designed to withstand the elements, and should hold up well. It is somewhat thick, though, sort of like trying to brush out honey or molasses. Any good exterior polyurethane varnish should work satisfactorily. Once the finish has completely dried, bolt the bench top to the mounting flange and enjoy your Coyote Jakes shooting bench.

A VHA member.

Note: Left Handed shooters simply countersink holes on the opposite side.

More pictures of completed top: CLICK HERE