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July 7th, 2024
 Forum member Nodak7mm has discovered an ideal way to store your rifle cleaning rods in your garage or loading room. Using inexpensive Berkley Horizontal Fishing Rod Racks, Nodak7mm has secured a half-dozen Dewey rods on the back of a door. You could also mount the racks along a wall or on the side of a storage cabinet. This installation takes up minimal space and the Berkley Racks cost $16.99 at Amazon (select “6 Rod Rack”). There is also a similar Mezoom 6-Rod Rack Pair for just $9.99 at Walmart. If you prefer wood, Amazon also sells a pine 6-rod wall rack for $29.99.
Nodak7mm explains: “I was moving some fishing poles around and ended up with an extra pair of Fishing Rod wall racks. I said to myself, ‘I bet this would hold my Dewey cleaning rods’. I mounted the pair on the inside of a closet door in my man cave and put my cleaning rods in it. It works like a charm and is far cheaper than a specially-made rack that only lets the rods hang. One can even slam the door with the rods mounted and they stay put. This rod rack set… is made by a nationally recognized name and does a great job of holding the cleaning rods securely and safely.” These are inexpensive and are easy to mount to a door or wood cabinet.
Stow Your Cleaning Rods on Your Gun Safe
Another option is to make a rod set with a magnetic backing strip. This can be affixed to the sides of your gun safe or steel storage cabinet. Here is a home-made, magnet-affixed cleaning rod holder made by Forum Member “BobM”. This smart installation works great. CLICK HERE for more information.
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December 2nd, 2023
 You have to admire someone with serious do-it-yourself skills. Not just hammer and nail skills, but formidable design and fabrication skills. Well Forum Member Dave D. (aka “AKShooter”) has a DIY skill set that might put some trained machinists to shame. You see, “DIY Dave” crafted his own pedestal front rest from scratch, using his own design and about $100.00 in materials (not counting the Edgewood front bag). Dave estimates he put 20 hours of labor into the project, but the end result was worth it: “This Do-It-Yourself rest drives like a dream. I’ve played with the Caldwell and a Sinclair, they have nothing on this one.”
Dave tells us: “Here is my Do-It-Yourself front rest. I wanted to show other folks who are handy that a solid front rest is doable with a bit of time — and you don’t need to spend $1000.00. (You could say this is a design for shooters with more time than money.) This is for F-Class. I was originally overwhelmed by the equipment needed, so I decided to make my own rest. I didn’t have the money for a SEB or Farley Coaxial. This is what I’ll run this season (my second as an F-Class competitor).”
We asked Dave what equipment was used to make the rest. He explained: “My brother has a CNC cutter. But most water-jet outfits would do the work for $100 or less. All the plates are tapped and screwed. I found small machine screws on eBay.” Dave says there are other ways to build a front rest: “You could do the same with a welder and plate stock for base. It’s easier to do the top out of aluminum though, with all the tapping.”
Dave enjoys fabricating his own gear, but he admits the process can be time-consuming: “I’m a DIY guy. Sometimes I wrap up a project and wonder why the heck I just spent X amount of time on it.” Dave has other projects in the works: “Another option we are making for a friend is taking a cheap front rest and bolting to a 3/4″ thick, wide MDF base and adding additional adjustment screws. The hardware store is your friend!”
On the competition front, Dave is tuning up a 6mm Dasher: “My rifle last year was a .260 Rem Savage repeater. I was about middle of the pack in my group of shooters. Just went with unsorted Bergers and Lapua brass, and had a ton of fun. Now I’m in — hook, line, and sinker. I have an unfired 6 Dasher barreled action from the folks at Kelbly’s to break in. I’m cheap, so I ended up with a Do-It-Yourself stock for the Dasher.” Hopefully Dave will send us a photo of his DIY-stocked Dasher when the gun is dialed-in and “ready to rumble”.
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August 20th, 2021
 Forum member Nodak7mm has discovered an ideal way to store your rifle cleaning rods in your garage or loading room. Using inexpensive Berkley Horizontal Fishing Rod Racks, Nodak7mm has secured a half-dozen Dewey rods on the back of a door. You could also mount the racks along a wall or on the side of a storage cabinet. This installation takes up minimal space and the Berkley Racks cost just $11.22 at Amazon (select “6 Rod Rack”) or $11.64 per set at Walmart. If you prefer wood, Amazon also sells a pine 6-rod wall rack for $22.45.
Nodak7mm explains: “I was moving some fishing poles around and ended up with an extra pair of Fishing Rod wall racks. I said to myself, ‘I bet this would hold my Dewey cleaning rods’. I mounted the pair on the inside of a closet door in my man cave and put my cleaning rods in it. It works like a charm and is far cheaper than a specially-made rack that only lets the rods hang. One can even slam the door with the rods mounted and they stay put. This rod rack set… is made by a nationally recognized name and does a great job of holding the cleaning rods securely and safely.” These are inexpensive and are easy to mount to a door or wood cabinet.
Stow Your Cleaning Rods on Your Gun Safe
Another option is to make a rod set with a magnetic backing strip. This can be affixed to the sides of your gun safe or steel storage cabinet. Here is a home-made, magnet-affixed cleaning rod holder made by Forum Member “BobM”. This smart installation works great. CLICK HERE for more information.
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October 4th, 2020
 Forum member Nodak7mm has discovered an ideal way to store your rifle cleaning rods in your garage or loading room. Using inexpensive Berkley Horizontal Fishing Rod Racks, Nodak7mm has secured a half-dozen Dewey rods on the back of a door. You could also mount the racks along a wall or on the side of a storage cabinet. This installation takes up minimal space and the Berkley Racks cost just $11.96 at Amazon (select “6 Rod Rack”) or $16.50 per set at Walmart. If you prefer wood, Amazon also sells a pine 6-rod wall rack for $22.45.
Nodak7mm explains: “I was moving some fishing poles around and ended up with an extra pair of Fishing Rod wall racks. I said to myself, ‘I bet this would hold my Dewey cleaning rods’. I mounted the pair on the inside of a closet door in my man cave and put my cleaning rods in it. It works like a charm and is far cheaper than a specially-made rack that only lets the rods hang. One can even slam the door with the rods mounted and they stay put. This rod rack set… is made by a nationally recognized name and does a great job of holding the cleaning rods securely and safely.” These are inexpensive and are easy to mount to a door or wood cabinet.
Stow Your Cleaning Rods on Your Gun Safe
Another option is to make a rod set with a magnetic backing strip. This can be affixed to the sides of your gun safe or steel storage cabinet. Here is a home-made, magnet-affixed cleaning rod holder made by Forum Member “BobM”. This smart installation works great. CLICK HERE for more information.
Share the post "Hang Your Cleaning Rods with Fishing Rod Racks"
May 19th, 2020
You have to admire someone with serious do-it-yourself skills. Not just hammer and nail skills, but formidable design and fabrication skills. Well Forum Member Dave D. (aka “AKShooter”) has a DIY skill set that might put some trained machinists to shame. You see, “DIY Dave” crafted his own pedestal front rest from scratch, using his own design and about $100.00 in materials (not counting the Edgewood front bag). Dave estimates he put 20 hours of labor into the project, but the end result was worth it: “This Do-It-Yourself rest drives like a dream. I’ve played with the Caldwell and a Sinclair, they have nothing on this one.”
Dave tells us: “Here is my Do-It-Yourself front rest. I wanted to show other folks who are handy that a solid front rest is doable with a bit of time — and you don’t need to spend $1000.00. (You could say this is a design for shooters with more time than money.) This is for F-Class. I was originally overwhelmed by the equipment needed, so I decided to make my own rest. I didn’t have the money for a SEB or Farley Coaxial. This is what I’ll run this season (my second as an F-Class competitor).”
We asked Dave what equipment was used to make the rest. He explained: “My brother has a CNC cutter. But most water-jet outfits would do the work for $100 or less. All the plates are tapped and screwed. I found small machine screws on eBay.” Dave says there are other ways to build a front rest: “You could do the same with a welder and plate stock for base. It’s easier to do the top out of aluminum though, with all the tapping.”
Dave enjoys fabricating his own gear, but he admits the process can be time-consuming: “I’m a DIY guy. Sometimes I wrap up a project and wonder why the heck I just spent X amount of time on it.” Dave has other projects in the works: “Another option we are making for a friend is taking a cheap front rest and bolting to a 3/4″ thick, wide MDF base and adding additional adjustment screws. The hardware store is your friend!”
On the competition front, Dave is tuning up a 6mm Dasher: “My rifle last year was a .260 Rem Savage repeater. I was about middle of the pack in my group of shooters. Just went with unsorted Bergers and Lapua brass, and had a ton of fun. Now I’m in — hook, line, and sinker. I have an unfired 6 Dasher barreled action from the folks at Kelbly’s to break in. I’m cheap, so I ended up with a Do-It-Yourself stock for the Dasher.” Hopefully Dave will send us a photo of his DIY-stocked Dasher when the gun is dialed-in and “ready to rumble”.
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January 21st, 2019
Some years ago, the folks at TargetWorkz published a a handy set of plans for a 48-inch tall self-supporting target stand. This makes a great do-it-yourself project. To create a sturdy, self-supporting target frame, all you need are some 2x4s, 1x2x48 furring strips, plus fasteners. The target holder, which supports an 18×24 inch cardboard target backer, separates from the base for easy transport.
Note: There is no cross-piece shown in the plan, but we do recommend putting wood crosspieces at the top of the target stand and about 18″ up from the bottom. This will make the frame more rigid, and will allow the frame to work even if the cardboard is badly “shot up”. Use a T-square to set the crosspieces before attaching them with screws.
Alternative Target Stand May from ABS or PVC Pipe
If you like this kind of project, but want to build a frame that is taller, yet can break down into sections, we also have an article showing you how to build a nice frame with inexpensive ABS or PVC tubing. VIEW ABS/PVC Tubing Target Frame Plans.
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November 5th, 2017
A while back, the American Rifleman magazine published an excellent article showing how to construct a rock-solid Reloading Bench. This bench is very well-designed, with many deluxe features, such as an upper drawer with fitted slots for die boxes, and large lower drawers with 100-lb rated slides to store heavy materials or tools. If you have good wood-working skills this would be an excellent project. You can download a detailed set of Bench Blueprints showing all dimensions and listing all needed materials.
CLICK HERE to Download Article with Photos | CLICK HERE for Bench Blueprints
The author, Dave Campbell, offers good advice on building the bench top: “I ripped a sheet of 3/4″ AC plywood into two 24″ wide pieces and cut them to 72″ long. Then I glued them together to form a 72″ long, 1 1/24″ thick top. The trick here is to keep the edges smooth and flat so that the laminate will adhere properly and without voids. I chose a light grey laminate finish for the top because it’s easier to see what I am working on and keep clean. If you have never worked with laminate, remember it’s prudent to glue and rout the edges flush before gluing on the top. The top was attached to the carcass with eight steel L-shaped angle brackets and No. 10×1 1/4″ wood screws.”
Photos Copyright © 2008 The National Rifle Association, used by permission
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