CTK P3 Shooting Rest/Gun Vise
Several tools in one thoughtful package
By Michael Zimmers, 2009
All rights reserved.
Sooner or later, there are two items that most shooters are going to want to invest in: a shooting rest, and a gun vise. The rest is used, as the name implies, for bench shooting, to provide a stable and comfortable platform from which to fire a gun. While these are mostly popular with riflemen, handgunners often find them useful as well. The vise is generally used in the shop as a second pair of hands to hold a gun steady while it’s being cleaned or otherwise worked on.
Rests and vises are usually among the larger gun accessories, so if you’re at all cramped for space (and who of us isn’t?), storage of these can be a real issue. Fortunately, a company called CTK Precision of Marion, WI, offers a that does double duty as a rest and vise, and performs admirably at both.
For those unfamiliar, CTK is rapidly making a name for itself, for providing well thought out, well built shooting accessories. If it comes from CTK, you can be pretty sure of two things:
- the product was designed by shooters, for shooters. Everything I’ve reviewed from CTK is chock-full of thoughtful features that only a shooter would have considered.
- the product will probably outlive you. From the heavy materials to the quality powder-coating finish, CTK’s products are truly built for the long haul.
At the heart of the system is a steel T-frame with levels at all three terminal points and an adjustable riser with a V-rest for the forend of a gun. The V-rest is padded with solvent-resistant material and is held in place by a hand-tightened jam nut. It can be properly positioned in a matter of seconds.
The rear rest consists of a steel plate (thoughtfully grooved down the center to accommodate a rifle’s sling stud) whose angle can be adjusted to match a rifle’s stock contour or the butt of a handgun The rear rest assembly slides fore and aft on the T-frame to suit the shooter’s preference. Very, very convenient.
When the user wishes to use the system as a vise, he merely installs the optional vise assembly (above). The heavy pads are glued to the jaws of the vise, which loosen and tighten with a generously-sized wing nut at the T-frame. Securing a gun is quick and simple. It’s also nice that you can move the jaws to where they don’t interfere with the part of the gun you’re working on.
The hook you see in the picture is for a cleaning rod; there’s a similar hook on the riser on the T-frame — another thoughtful feature you won’t find on all rests.
One note of warning before you use the P3: heed the instructions when they tell you not to allow a pistol grip of a rifle stock to contact the rear rest. The recoil will drive the grip into the rest and something — either the stock or the rest — will incur some damage as a result. CTK also points out that doing this could be bad for accuracy, as the gun will be prevented from taking a natural backward path in recoil.
The CTK rest/vise is a premium product, and is priced accordingly. Could you find cheaper alternatives? Almost certainly. But, if you need to rest and/or vise long guns and hand guns, and want a single package that does it all and is very well-built to boot, CTK is probably the way to go.
Original Review: ScopedIn