I wanted a sort of "Lead-Sled" type capability, but the tray to come off when not needed, for a less bulky rest, plus I wanted to actually be able to CYCLE a levergun without having to re-settle it in the rest each time. I also liked the idea of a rest which could work on an AR-15 or Mini-14, even with a 30-round magazine. Even the 'pistol grip' interfered with many commercial rests. I also needed quite a large range of horizontal adjustments, since the elevation of my 100 yard targets is WAY higher than my 25 yard ones or even 50 yard ones. I didn't see any rest like I wanted for sale for less than $300 or so at the time, so I pulled a 'Pitchy' and spent maybe $50 at Ace Hardware for some threaded rods, nuts, couplers, and other odds-and-ends. Add a few scrap oak flooring boards, and viola...!
I used fine-pitch threads for the front rest cross-piece and the adjustable left front leg and rear leg. The angled white pieces on the threaded-rod for the front support are just wedges of small PVC pipe, and the large black things are some sort of table-foot cushion I drilled the center of to be bigger. The red hose is just thick rubber hose, also cut at an angle. The two permanent threaded-rods help align the uprights to be parallel and stiff enough that when you tighten the front rest it doesn't push them apart. The hardest part was finding fine-thread threaded-rod-joiners to use for the adjustable 'feet', which I covered with rubber table-leg ends.
Rear Stock Rest with leather recoil-absorber but gun still goes against your shoulder:
Adjustable for Length (three steps for Garands down to Shorty AR's):
(You can't really see the detail, but the rear leg is also adjustable for height, and is easy to turn with your non-trigger hand while shooting to fine-tune your elevation.)
Adjustable Width front (rotates to 'snug' the forend):
The front rest is quickly removeable to adjust to five different heights:
Front Rest removed totally:
Adjusts Forend Rest for different widths but snug fit:
Wide Forends like this varmint rifle are also accommodated:
Room to fully cycle leverguns, and adjusts to snug to narrow levergun forends:
Useable for evil "high-capacity" magazines:
Useable for EBR's with "Vertical Pistol Grips":
Adjustable for Level/Tilt:
Built-in Level:
Removable Weight Tray (holds three 25 pound shot bags):
Weight Tray doubles for holding loose cartridges, tools, etc. (if only one shot bag):
Front View:
Rest in Real-world Use:
Puts me in mind of the old Erector Sets from the '50s and '60s.