Brilliant DIY Effort – Forum Member Crafts his Own Front Rest

You must admire someone who has serious DIY skills. Not just hammering and nailing skills, but also formidable design and fabrication abilities. Forum Member Dave D., aka “AKShooter”, has a DIY skill-set that could put some trained machinists in the shade. “DIY Dave”, a forum member, crafted his pedestal front rest using his own design, and around $100.00 in materials. (Not including the Edgewood front bag). Dave estimated he spent 20 hours on the project. But the result was worth it. “This Do It Yourself rest drives like an absolute dream.” Dave says, “I’ve tried the Caldwells and Sinclairs. They are nothing compared to this one.” Dave then tells us, “Here’s my Do-It Yourself front rest.” I wanted to show people who are handy, that a solid frontrest is possible with a little time and effort — and you don’t have to spend $1000.00. You could say that this design is for shooters who have more time than money. This is for F Class. I was initially overwhelmed by the amount of equipment required, so I decided I would make my own rest. I didn’t want to spend the money on a Farley Coaxial or SEB. This is the car I will be running this season (my second year as an F Class competitor).” We then asked Dave what equipment he used to make everything else. He said: “My brother owns a CNC cutter.” Most water-jet outfits could do the job for $100 or less. All the plates have been tapped and screwed. Dave says that there are other ways to make a front rest. “You could also do it with a plate stock base and a welder.” Dave admits that he is a DIYer and enjoys making his own gear. Dave is working on other projects: “Another thing we are doing for a buddy is taking a front rest and bolting it to a 3/4″ thick, wide MDF and adding additional adjustment screw.” Hardware stores are your friends! On the competition front Dave is tuning up his 6mm Dasher. “My rifle last season was a Rem Savage repeater in.260 Rem. I was in the middle of my group of shooters. I had a lot of fun with Bergers and Lapua brass that were not sorted. Now I’m hooked — line and sinker. I have a 6 Dasher barreled Action from Kelbly’s that needs to be broken in. I’m cheap so I bought a Do It Yourself stock for the Dasher.