http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0020055225831a&navCount=1&podId=0020055&parentId=cat20793&masterpathid=&navAction=jump&cmCat=MainCatcat602007-cat20793&catalogCode=IJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20793&hasJS=trueNot sure where this review should go, so I closed my eyes and picked a spot:)
Just picked one of these up tonight at Cabellas. Saw them on special in the Cabelas mailer, and headed off soon after dinner...$79 and change, not bad:) Unlike many others I am lucky enough to live within 10 minutes of the Fort Worth Texas Cabelas superstore. Ten minute drive, ten minutes in and out, and a ten minute drive home later and I had it in my possession.
Opened the box and found everything very well packed with zip ties holding all of the larger components together to keep them from beating each other up during shipping. Took me about 15 minutes to do the assembly. One thing to note is that the fasteners are metric...it's made in China, so this only makes sense. What I assembled is a very well made, fairly heavy duty shooting bench. I am a 225 pound guy and am very comfortable knowing that it isn't going to break under my weight. The "pleather" top is nice enough, would of possibly wanted something more "all weather" as I am sure this will shred if I leave it outside on my huge 13 yard sight-in range. The little rest on the front to cradle the fore end of your rifle is a bit cheezy, but functional, will probably just take it off and put a base and sandbag on instead, but this will work for now. The ergonomics, I am a big ergonomics person, and the ergonomics on this seem pretty good, although I have only shot a pistol from it so far, a long gun should be just as cozy. I shot a couple dozen rounds through my Beeman P17 into my little lightweight Beeman pellet trap in the garage and the bench felt rock solid....yes, even though my 225 is probably closer to 235-240lbs:)
I don't know how long the sale will be on at Cabelas, and I see their website doesn't show the same price (it's $99 on the site), but even at $99 it's a pretty good deal. They also had a VERY similar bench for $69 at the store, nearly identical as a matter of fact, but it has a camo cover rather than "pleather" and it didn't seem quite as sturdy, but real close. The second bench is not on their site at all, so "Honey, hop in the RV, we're goin' to Cabelas!".
As a final note, if you take out the one pit pin that holds the seat on and lift the table, the whole contraption folds flat, then you put the pin back in and it stays locked flat. Kinda large in locked mode, but flat:)