UVA Staff Review – CTK P3 Ultimate Shooting Rest
By Kelly Higashiyama
I have been using the P3 Ultimate Shooting Rest for a couple years now and wanted to update the review a little.
First off, this is the best rest I have shot from by far. I have fired almost 10,000 rounds of various calibers of ammunition from the P3 and it has yet to disappoint me.
The legs on the P3 are easily adjustable. The adjustable legs are simple in design, but are very stable. Even with the legs extended, it makes for a very stable shooting platform. The position of the legs are held by thumb locks, which really hold them in place and keep them from changing position while you’re shooting. The bottom of each leg is covered by a soft rubble pad, which helps to keep the rest from sliding around while in use.
The front support of the P3 is a tapered Y shape. I have yet to find a stock that is too big for the front rest of the P3. The front rest has decal on the support that allows setting the support to a repeatable height very easy. To adjust the front rest, just turn the handle to loosen the bolt, make you adjustment and tighten the handle. With the handle tightened the front rest is also very stable, with no side to side movement and only slight movement from front to back.
The rear support is like nothing I’ve seen before on a shooting rest. It is flat, hinged and has a central groove in the rest to allow you to align your firearm with the front rest. The rear rest is easily adjusted to almost any angle to match up with the angle of the underside of your firearm. The rear support is of course adjustable from front to rear as well to allow you to shoot anything from rifles down to small handguns. Both rests are covered in carpet, allowing your firearm to recoil naturally.
I took the P3 up to my favorite shooting range and put it through the test. I started out with the 22-250 in the Choate Ultimate Sniper stock, mainly because it is the rifle that usually shows problems with rests that I’ve tried before. It is pretty far into the heavy category at over 16lbs, it has a very wide front grip area that does not fit into any ‘standard’ rest and the buttstock is very flat and at quite an angle compared to the front grip area. With a little adjusting of the rear and front rest, the rest fit the rifle almost as if it were made for it. I shot a few rounds through the rifle and the rest performed extremely well, with no noticeable sliding or movement of the rest and the rifle recoiling nicely on the carpet on the rests.. I moved up to something a little bigger and tried the M1 Garand off the rest. It performed just as well, with the groove in the rear rest aiding in staying in line with the front rest. The P3 also handled the old Garand without a hitch and there was very little movement of the rest with the increased recoil.
I then started testing it with a few handguns I brought along. First was the 9mm Makarov. This is where the adjustable rear rest comes into it’s full beauty. The rest allows you to adjust the angle of the rest to perfectly match the angle of the bottom of the grip on the pistol. It makes it so that you can completely rest the handgun on the rests and get a dead-on steady hold on your target. The pistol I did the most testing with was my Ruger MKII. With it being a .22lr pistol you can get a lot of testing done and not have to worry about hurting the wallet. The P3 performed extremely well with the little pistol. Keeping a steady hold on the target was almost second nature by the time I had fired off a few magazines and it made for great fun shooting the MKII out to 200 yards and being able to have such a steady hold that milk jugs were no problem once you adjusted the rest for elevation and windage. I also tested it with an old Nagant revolver and a CZ52 and they also fit as perfectly as the MKII did.
The P3 is one product that actually does what it says it’s going to do and it does it very well. If you are serious about shooting and want the best shooting rest at an affordable price. For sure give the P3 the nod.
Congrats again to Curt at CTK Precision on another 5 howl review of a product!
Original Review: Utah Varminters Association