Product: |
P3 Ultimate Shooting Rest and Gun
Vise |
Manufacturer: |
CTK Precision |
Reviewed By: |
B.T. Davis |
Date of Review: |
May 07 |
CTK Precision P3 Ultimate Shooting Rest & Gun
Vise
The market for
rifle rests has seen an increase in manufacturer
offerings in recent years. A quick perusal of
shooting enthusiast catalogs such as those from
Midway, Cabela’s, Gander Mountain, etc… shows
many models from established manufacturers, as
well as entirely new offerings from
manufacturers entering this segment of the
market. Additionally, a stroll up and down the
aisles of shooting sports retailers such as
Cabela’s, Gander Mountain or Sportsman’s
Warehouse offers many fine examples of the
different types of rifle rests available to the
shooter.
For shooting
applications, rifle rests typically come in
three basic varieties:
1.
Traditional sand-filled forearm and buttstock
leather bags.
2.
Individual precision rests for both forearm and
buttstock support, of the type commonly used by
benchrest and other precision shooters. These
incorporate very fine adjustment mechanisms, and
are often used in conjunction with the
appropriate leather bags which cradle the rifle
stock.
3.
One piece cradle-type rests with independently
adjustable mechanisms for adjusting the height
of both the forearm and buttstock. Some of the
high end cradle-type rests have very fine
adjustment mechanisms fore and aft. Some also
offer the shooter a reduction in felt recoil by
providing for the addition of weight, in the
form of bags of shot, to the frame which “soak
up” part of the recoil. How much recoil is
reduced depends on the caliber being fired, the
design of the rest, and the amount of
weight/shot added to the rest.
Shooters now
have several choices when selecting an
appropriate rifle rest for precision shooting,
scope sighting-in and, depending on design and
features, a handy vise for use in cleaning or
working on one’s rifle.
For the
purposes of this review we are going focus on
one of the newer cradle-type rifle rests which
when combined with an optional vise assembly
allows it to double as a rifle vise for scope
mounting, cleaning or general maintenance. The
particular rifle rest and vise are two of the
latest product offerings from CTK Precision
of Marion Wisconsin. CTK Precision is
recognized as a leader in the shooting
accessories industry with their innovative
product designs for rifle rests and vises, rifle
buttstock monopods and collapsible foregrip
monopods for use with Picatinny rails on AR-type
rifles. All of CTK Precision’s products are
proudly made in the U.S.A.
The rest is
their “P3 Ultimate Shooting Rest” model,
and it came with the optional “P3 Ultimate
Gun Vise” assembly which allowed it to pull
double duty as both a shooting rest at the range
and a handy vise back at the workbench.
Assembly
and First Impressions:
The first
thing I noticed when I opened the box containing
the disassembled rest, was that the frame
component pieces appeared to be well made of
thick gauge squared tubular metal and finished
nicely. The pieces had no sharp edges, with
most being slightly radiused. Weld seams were
ground smooth and all were painted in a nice,
even gloss black color. Overall the
construction and finish of the frame pieces gave
the impression of the manufacturer’s use of
quality materials and construction methods. |
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Similarly, the three bags of associated
washers, nuts, bolts, rubber legs, and end
caps contained all required pieces with
which to assemble both the basic rifle rest,
and the optional vise mechanism.
Instructions for putting together each
assembly were easy to understand and
descriptive; with schematic drawings showing
the numbered stages of construction with
each component piece clearly identified on
the schematic. Total time to construct the
rest and vise assembly was approximately
25-30 minutes. |
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The directions
also offered insightful tips such as
greasing each of the adjustment
mechanism screws prior to assembly
so that subsequent adjustments would
be smooth. These mechanisms are the
set screws that raise/lower the
padded front forearm “U” post as
well as the long threaded nut and
threaded disk that are used to
precisely raise/lower the grooved,
padded buttstock rest. Alternately,
this rest can also be used with
handguns and the adjustment
mechanism for the buttstock rest can
be lowered below horizontal, if
needed, to accommodate the grip
frame of a revolver or pistol. Each
of the three legs on the outboard
points of the frame also
incorporates smooth screw-type
adjustment mechanisms to assist with
leveling the unit on a firing
surface such as a shooting bench.
The leg tips have rubber feet to aid
in obtaining a sure-footed grip on a
bench top.
The
manipulation of these two forearm
and buttstock controls allows the
operator to smoothly obtain indexed
and repeatable settings. An
adhesive backed 4” length of tape
measure was included in the parts.
Per the instructions it was affixed
to the forearm “U” post in order to
allow the operator to record
settings used for different rifles
or shooting scenarios. The index
marks on the tape measure are not
meant to reflect the actual inches
up from the bench top surface that
the notch of the “U” is set at.
Rather, they are relative index
points for quickly re-indexing the
front support to a particular
height, for an individual rifle.
Additionally,
the directions stated that lead shot
could be poured into the frame’s
metal tubes prior to installing the
end-caps. This would allow a
“contained” method to add weight to
the rest for use in reducing felt
recoil. Additionally bags of shot
could be laid across the frame if
necessary. In initial testing, I
did not add shot to the frame at the
time of assembly. The gas-operated,
relatively heavy M1A rifle that I
shot across the rest in testing does
not produce bone-jarring recoil so I
deemed this recoil reduction
enhancement as unnecessary.
The vise
assembly is a novel design which
incorporates two separate pieces
acting as opposing padded “jaws”.
These are held together at their
lower frame rail attachment points
by both a woven elastic band and by
an adjustment screw running
cross-wise across the width of the
two jaws. Of note, there is a
cleaning rod hook on the side of the
left hand vise jaw, which
corresponds with a concave dished
spacer washer that is attached to
the front rest assembly’s adjustment
screw knob. You can lay a cleaning
rod on the hook and the spacer
washer and it will be level and
parallel with the frame of the rest.
The function
of the elastic band is to allow the
vise jaws, when loosened
sufficiently via the adjustment
screw, to be “snapped” on and off
over the central frame rail. The
rear frame leg of the rest does not
need to removed in order to allow
the vise assembly to be slid onto
the frame rail. The only potential
downside to this design is if the
woven elastic band gives out, the
two vise jaws will not be held in
proper alignment for affixing to the
rifle rest’s frame. Maybe a spare
would be warranted to be included in
with the parts kit.
Enough of the
small talk, let’s head to the range!
Range
Report:
I, along with
a friend, tested the
basic-configuration rest at our
local 100 yard range with covered
firing benches. Rifles used were an
open-sight M1A and a Smith & Wesson
M&P 15, outfitted with an Eotech
sight. Once the shooting gear was
unloaded and the targets were
stapled downrange the initial set up
of the rest to accommodate the first
rifle, the M1A, took no more than a
minute or so. The hardest part was
getting the %&* set screw on the
bench’s adjustable seat loosened so
that the seat could be elevated a
bit. Maybe CTK can make a better
one of those too, LOL!
Nonetheless, once the M1A
was properly cradled in the rest’s
forearm “U”, and the sloped portion
of the buttstock’s underside was
properly nestled in the rear rest
assembly’s padded channel, final
adjustment of both front and rear
rest assemblies took only a couple
of seconds each. In no time I had a
perfectly solid 6 o’ clock hold on a
100 yard target. Additionally the
dimensions of the rest overall did
not cause ergonomic challenges by
way of “shouldering” the rifle once
in the rest. The act of shooting in
this position did not feel
unnatural, or such that I felt I had
to significantly modify my position
or hold. |
After “snapping in” a
few times (dry firing
with a clean sight
picture), the first
string of three 168
grain BTHP Sierra’s were
sent downrange.
Subsequently one click
down on elevation got me
roughly centered on the
bull, and from there the
group was nicely
clustered. While I don’t
typically shoot from a
rest of this type, I did
appreciate the
opportunity to remove
the “hold” variables
from the equation, thus
allowing me to
concentrate on front
sight breathing and
trigger press solely. |
After a couple of
magazines, we switched
to the M&P. My friend,
being somewhat taller
than I am, raised the
front “U” rest up quite
a bit to both
accommodate his shooting
position, and to adjust
for the differences in
the wood stocked M1A and
the pistol-gripped Smith
M&P 15. As with the M1A
we found the rest to
provide an extremely
steady platform for
firing the .223,
allowing tight,
consistent groups to be
shot. No adjustment at
100 yards was needed on
the Eotech and the
testing with this rifle
proceeded apace. |
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I will have to
admit, shooting an
Eotech-scoped weapon of
this type from a rest,
while fun, is not as
much fun as shooting it
offhanded in the manner
in which this type of
sight was designed for.
This is a move-n-shoot
type set up!
Nonetheless the rest
would be an invaluable
aid in properly zeroing
the sight, or any
telescopic sight, in an
effective and efficient
manner, had it not
already been dialed in
for that load and range
combination.
All in all,
the afternoon of
shooting with the rest
was fun and
informative. In terms
of basic shooting it
definitely provides a
rock-solid rest that is
quickly and easily
adjustable. This would
undoubtedly be conducive
to improving longer
range accuracy with
scoped rifles. Now,
let’s head back to the
house and clean up the
rifles.
Clean Up
and Maintenance:
As can be seen in the
accompanying photos, the
rifle vise mechanism was
affixed to the rifle
rest frame so as to act
as a both a rear rest
and vise. After field
stripping the M1A I
placed the receiver end
of the barreled receiver
group into the vise in
an inverted manner.
This keeps solvents from
leaking into the gas
cylinder from the bore.
Cleaning the bore, which
on the M1A is from the
muzzle end, was made
much easier with the
barreled assembly locked
in the padded vise
jaws. Similarly with
the vise acting as a
“third hand”, I was able
to make minor
adjustments to the
rifle’s running gear and
get it properly
lubricated. |
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Initial
Conclusions:
Overall, I
found CTK Precision’s P3
Ultimate Shooting Rest
and P3 Ultimate Gun Vise
both to be well thought
out and well made pieces
of equipment. In
addition to not only
being a solid and handy
rifle rest with precise
adjustment mechanisms, I
particularly like the
ability to easily attach
a vise assembly with no
other modification
needed to the base rifle
rest components.
Lastly, the combined
price point for both the
P3 Ultimate Shooting
Rest with the P3
Ultimate Gun Vise option
is very attractive in
relation to most of
their lesser-featured
competitors in this
segment of shooting rest
market. If you’re in
the market for a
feature-packed, solid,
U.S.-made shooting rest
and vise, give CTK
Precision a look. They
can be reached at
www.ctkprecision.com,
or at (715) 754-2891.
CTK Precision
E5861 Herzberg
Road
Marion, WI
54950
(715) 754-2891
www.ctkprecision.com |
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