June 2nd, 2015

Durable, Versatile, Affordable Tipton Gun Vises

This Editor has a MidwayUSA injection-molded gun cradle, now sold as the Tipton Gun Vise. This product has worked well for everything from an 18″-barreled lever gun to a 32″-barreled F-Class rifle. The unit has proven invaluable for many tasks: cleaning barrels, stock refinishing/bedding, scope mounting, trigger adjusting, bore-scoping barrels, and checking throat length with a Hornady OAL tool. To be honest, I can’t understand how any serious shooter can get along without a product such as this (MTM makes a similar plastic cleaning cradle). That said, The unit isn’t perfect. This gun vise will NOT fit rifles with forearms wider than 3 inches. And if your butt-stock is very shallow (vertically) from comb down to toe, it may not fit the clamping system very well. But, for 95% of the rifles out there, the Tipton Gun Vise works great.

Bargain Pricing on Amazon.com

The Tipton Gun Vise is on sale on Amazon.com for $39.89.
That’s a very good deal for a product you’ll use for years.

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There are a number of smart features on the Tipton Gun Vise. First it’s made of solvent-resistant plastic. I’ve spilled just about every “miracle bore cleaner” you can name and nothing has harmed the plastic — not even brake cleaner and that’s nasty stuff. Second, the front support has a dual-profile rubber pad with a flat section for benchrest rifles plus a “V” in the middle for narrow-forearm rifles. Third, the base section has handy cut-outs that hold solvent bottles or patches. Some people complain that the 8-lb Tipton Gun Vise is too light. While I understand that concern, the Vise is quite stable in use and I like the fact that I can easily pick up the whole unit with one hand and move it around the loading room. You can always add weight to the bottom. (NOTE: Start adding weight on the RIGHT underside of the Gun Vise — that adds stability without increasing overall weight too much).

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“Best” Gun Vise Offers Enhanced Adjustability
Much as I like the basic Tipton Gun Vise, there is an even more advanced version — the Tipton “Best” Gun Vise. This deluxe unit gives you much more control over the front and rear elevation of the rifle. Additionally, it has a convertible central support that works well for AR rifles, and even handguns. I do prefer the dual-profile front support pad on the basic Tipton Gun Vise to the wide V-notch on the Tipton “Best” Gun Vise. However, on the “Best” Vise, the front support, center support, and rear support all slide back and forth AND adjust for height. That makes the “Best” Vise incredibly versatile. One Tipton “Best” Vise owner explains: “I am a gunsmith and am always putting guns in awkward positions to work on them. The versatility from the adjustable parts of this vise makes those once awkward positions stable and solid. I have yet to find a position the vise would not hold my gun in. This product was very well thought out and is well worth the money.”

In the video below, MidwayUSA President Larry Potterfield puts a “Best” Gun Vise through its paces, and shows hows to adjust the various supports.


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