Concrete bench height requirement

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Our local sportsmans club is planing to install concrete benches this summer. Is there a specific height required by IBS or NRBSA ? The legs would be square tubing or well casing,another question can the front legs and the rear leg be joined near the bottom for support?

Thank you,
Jim
 
there are no

James M. said:
Most use about 34 inches, but I know of no requirements from the rules. James
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rules concerning height, size, or shape in either organization. That said, James suggestion on 34" is a good one. If you were using concrete block, most use 3 and 1/2 block if they mortar or 4 block if they glue. And then fill the cavities with quikcrete. A couple pieces of re-rod would help as well. If you use well casing as you state, welding cross bracing between the legs only makes sense, as long as it does not impede the shooters feet. Basically do everything you can to make the bench as steady and secure as humanly possible. Nothing more aggravating than a bench that wiggles and wobbles.
 
I am glad you asked

You might try an article that I worked up a few years ago at

benchrest.com/articles/benches.pdf

I can safely say there are no standards at all concerning how benchrest benches are built. I believe I stated that a good working height would be between 32 and 34 inches. Today, I would say that 36" would make a good standard height because the shooter can sit straighter at the bench.

My favorite bench is the one on page 8. This is a heavy bench but it is moveable (not portable). Our members have built the benches like this at my club, the San Angelo Gun Club. Because we have remodeled our range, we have had to move these benches several times and they move well.

I would be glad to send you working drawings of the benches if I had your e-mail address.

Bill Wynne
 
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Jim,

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket but, if your club and/or your matches are open to the public including out of state competitors, any new or changed facilities after 1990 are subject to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities) Act of 1990. That requires that any new or updated facilities are required to provide reasonable access and usability for those with disabilities.

Specifically pertinent to your question, we were required to provide at least one bench at each firing distance that provided for left and right handed shooter wheelchair accessibility which included a top with underside clearance of 32 inches minimum and top surface height of 34 inches maximum. Note that it is also very tricky to provide adequate top support with clearance for wheelchair footboard clearance.

Fred Bohl
 
As the others have said, 34" is a good height. One thing that I would add is that non benchrest shooters tend to form their opinions about bench height suitability by sitting on something like a folding chair. IMO it is important that this be avoided by furnishing an adjustable stool during the mock up process, if there is one. I ran into this last year and having the right stool made all the difference since the board was made up of really nice folks who do not shoot benchrest. It is easier for a short shooter to sit on a tall stool than it is for a tall shooter to sit on one that is short. Having built a number of benches, I have of course tried to learn from those experiences and like to think that I know more than when we started building the first ones. If I can be of any assistance, please contact me. I would be glad to help.
 
Fred Bohl said:
Jim,

I'm not trying to be a wet blanket but, if your club and/or your matches are open to the public including out of state competitors, any new or changed facilities after 1990 are subject to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities) Act of 1990. That requires that any new or updated facilities are required to provide reasonable access and usability for those with disabilities.

Specifically pertinent to your question, we were required to provide at least one bench at each firing distance that provided for left and right handed shooter wheelchair accessibility which included a top with underside clearance of 32 inches minimum and top surface height of 34 inches maximum. Note that it is also very tricky to provide adequate top support with clearance for wheelchair footboard clearance.

Fred Bohl
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Fred, There is a product, "Extera", that is a waterproof MDF product that is made to be used outside in the weather. Two layers of 3/4" Extera glued and nailed together will make a very stable top. The "T" shaped benches can be used for left or right hand shooters. I could easily build a bench that would meet with ADA standards. If my club was building benches today, we would probably build them like we did and wait for someone with a badge tell us what we did was wrong.

Concho Bill
 
Failure to comply with the ADA can result in not only forced compliance and a hefty fine, but also the closure of the facility until it meets those requirements.
 
We have a handicapped guy that comes to our matches, so we have a make shift ramp the we use to get him to the right height. There is a club near were I live that has adjustable seats that are part of the benches. I'm sure there are a lot of ways to fix the problem.

Joe Salt
 
Jim & Bill,

Some general guidelines for wheelchair accessibility at shooting bench:

Bench Top Surface Height -- 34 inch maximum

Bench Top Bottom Surface Clearance -- 32 inch minimum (to clear wheelchair arm rests)

Foot Clearance -- 30 inch radius about shooters body center in shooting position (60 inch diameter turning circle)

Foot Clearance Height -- 9 inch minimum (to clear shoes on footboards - no posts or cross bars)

If the wheelchair accessible bench is close to other benches it would be better to use a "U" shape because of the need to back the wheelchair out of the bench to have the necessary 60 inch diameter turning circle.

Fred Bohl
 
Fred,

This is a good conversation.

You are looking at the same information that I am. I believe that the 5' diameter turning circle would need to be at the rear of the bench. An argument could be made that a shooter in a wheelchair could move in the wheelchair in and out of the shooting position of the bench and need only three feet in the clear (like a door or passage way). Do you agree?

Bill Wynne
 
Bill,

While the 3 foot wide hall/doorway clearance would allow passage of the wheelchair either powered or pushed, when operated manually by the user, at least 4 foot clearance is needed to allow smooth travel without elbow damage.

My preference for "U" shape is based on observing that most ranges I've shot at use bench spacing of 10 foot or less to maximize the number of available positions (we use 8 foot spacing at my local range). At another local range, they have very nice permanent concrete modified "T" tops at 10 foot centers. We tested that arrangement and found inadequate clearance if there was a right-left or left-right pair of wheelchair shooters or one wheelchair and one stool shooter during entry or departure without careful movement coordination.

Note that all the wheelchair bound shooters that I have worked with are very dedicated and amazingly tolerant of poorly designed accommodations, the rest of us could provide them with a far more enjoyable experience if we put just a little more effort into our range designs. There is a locally popular Indian phrase that loosely translates to "first walk a mile in his moccasins" to think about when dealing with the abilities of others.

Fred Bohl
 
Bench Height

The NRA Rangebook.....has a chapter devoted to b.heights.....every club should have a range book... also on cd......
 
Fred Bohl said:
Bill,

While the 3 foot wide hall/doorway clearance would allow passage of the wheelchair either powered or pushed, when operated manually by the user, at least 4 foot clearance is needed to allow smooth travel without elbow damage.

My preference for "U" shape is based on observing that most ranges I've shot at use bench spacing of 10 foot or less to maximize the number of available positions (we use 8 foot spacing at my local range). At another local range, they have very nice permanent concrete modified "T" tops at 10 foot centers. We tested that arrangement and found inadequate clearance if there was a right-left or left-right pair of wheelchair shooters or one wheelchair and one stool shooter during entry or departure without careful movement coordination.

Note that all the wheelchair bound shooters that I have worked with are very dedicated and amazingly tolerant of poorly designed accommodations, the rest of us could provide them with a far more enjoyable experience if we put just a little more effort into our range designs. There is a locally popular Indian phrase that loosely translates to "first walk a mile in his moccasins" to think about when dealing with the abilities of others.

Fred Bohl
Click to expand...

Fred, I built some apartments recently and as I recall the minimum width for passage to meet ADA guide lines was 2'-8". If a door in in the opening, it would require a 3'-0" wide door because of the reduction due to a door and the door stop.

We have our T-benches sitting on 5' centers and they work well with our posts on our canopy which are 20' on centers. While it would be a luxury to have more space, it is nice to have 20 shooters in a 100 foot long canopy. It is tight if we have a full line of shooters and more than 1 left hand shooter.
 
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