Hi Mac,

Thanks for posting the great plans on the internet for that gun vice. I just finished up my version today. I have a couple of rifles I want to use the vice for, including a big honking bench rest gun so I modified your plans as follows:

1. Created a replaceable top piece for the forend to handle different gun stock configurations.
2. Made it 10" wide to increase the stability for the heavy bench rest gun.
3. Had to shape out a wider pattern for the stock holder.
4. Cut out the base plate at the butt end so I can position the gun more to the right, again to accommodate the long bench rest gun.

Finding the leather was an effort. I found a package of scraps at a craft store a couple of years ago, not sure what I paid. One internet post said go to Goodwill, buy a used leather jacket and cut it up. I stopped at Goodwill today and checked out that idea. They had lots of coats but most of them ran $20-25 - a bit more than I thought they would. There were a couple for $5 and $8, but the best selection of leather candidates were the $20/25 ones. There was a big trench coat in red leather that had acres of leather for $30. I glued the leather to the wood using Shoe Goo - good stuff.

I built this 1st one using old pine boards I had laying around the shop thinking this would be a prototype and I could do the real one using black walnut. Not a good idea - for the time I spent building this thing the cost of the walnut would have been trivial.

Steve

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