Gun Rest/vise Recommendations?

[Helmutt]

My father's BDay is coming up and he plans to get into reloading soon, and some mild gunsmithing ( trigger jobs, scope/sight mounting, accessorizing, etc ) so I want to get him a good, versatile, gun rest and/or vice since I cant fund the new RCBS outfit he wants. I prefer to keep the price around $100 but I dont want to sacrifice quality. I've been researching within my price range and I'm very tempted with the Tipton Best vice, it seems to have good reviews, as well as vast weapon versatility, and fairly durable construction.

There are some killer rest/vice combos that are very well made, but I dont have the spare bank to buy him top of the line.

Caldwell's Lead Sleds seems very well built, but they're a bit out of budget and only a shooting rest, not a vice.

The Hyskore Parallax looked good for the money, but piss poor reviews have deemed this virtual junk.

The Lyman Revolution is a sweet concept with the rotisserie design, but read it's underbuilt and janky.

I need to order one in the next week or so, and although I'm not dead set on the Tipton, are there other brand options I'm missing?

What do you have, recommend, or love to no end?

[kiggy74]

If you are set on a vice go with the tipton. If you might consider other things along the lines of reloading a goodvset of dial calipers or a good scale are also some ideas.

Edited May 27, 2013 by kiggy74

[Helmutt]

Thanx. He's a retired machinist, so calipers/mics/indicators/etc he has plenty of. Looked at some digi scales but not exactly sure what I should be looking for. His plan is to reload .172 up to .308 rifle and .32 up to .45 pistol, but I've no clue yet as to what round carries what measure in powder. I assume the finer the scale can read, the better right? May be a good Xmas gift then.

I'd also considered a case trimmer, but there again.....not sure what I should be looking for.

I went with the gun rest/vice idea since he can use that immediately vs waiting until his new reload station is complete.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Hellmutt

[bandit12]

Those Tipton vices are nice, I have a friend with one and a local gun store uses one for bore sighting and what nots.

I built my own about 15 years back so I can't bring myself to buy the Tipton even if I do want one.

[flounder]

Unless He Is Going To Get His 07 I Would Suggest Staying Away From Trigger Jobs For Money. Fyi, What He Is Considering Doing Would More accurately Be Called Accessorizing Not Gunsmithing

[kiggy74]

Might look at picking up a tumbler for his brass.  Lots of options for under $100 and he can't start that process even before he's deprimed a single case.

[Helmutt]

He said he wasn't sure whether he'd go ultrasonic or abrasive tumbler, so I wasn't looking into making that decision for him. We've already collected a couple thousand rounds of clean brass for him to start with so really just waiting on him to get his new equip.

Think I'll order his Tipton vice and get it here, he'll like that.

As for accessorizing, he basically just does work for family & friends. But surely he'll install and tune for others once he gets setup and established. He can reload great and very consistent ammo so far, he just needs a better setup to get production to a higher level so it's not eating up so much of his time.

He did a trigger job on my long range gun and it works excellent. Half the pull and shortened the travel down to about 1/16" so it'll really help to keep on target now without such a stout pull and about 3/8" travel killing my accuracy.

[flounder]

Ultrasonic is nice but the real cats ass is stainless steel media tumbling and something like a Thumblers Tumbler. It makes years old green range brass look brand new.. Amazing results. 

 

For trimmers depending on how much he does. Giraud is the best. Trims, Camfers, and deburrs all in one step and the fastest on the market. Pricey though so be warned. 

Edited May 29, 2013 by flounder

[Helmutt]

Thanx for the info, I appreciate that and will be sure to fill him in on these