# Pattern Makers/Gun Vice Support Bracket



## Papa Charlie (Mar 27, 2022)

Not exactly what I did today, but I have been working on some of these today from a new run I just got from my CNC shop.

I have been on the lookout for the perfect gun vice. I have purchased several of the regular ones; Tipton Best Gun Vice & Ultra Gun Vice, along with some other types. Sadly, these maybe great for some, but I have found them wanting. For cleaning they are always moving on me as I try to force the rod through the barrel or they just don’t hold the gun securely and other short comings.

Trouble is I don’t have just one style of gun, I enjoy a lot of different shooting and also working on the guns. I have done some restorations, after watching Mark Novack’s channel on YouTube I would call it conservation as I like to bring them back to usefulness, but still not make them look new.

I don’t own a lot of guns, but they vary, F-Class competition rifle, Winchester 94, M1 Garand, etc. All require some special handling when supporting them which can be difficult as you rotate them around to disassembly, assemble or just clean.

I enjoy watching F-Class John’s channel. He shares a lot of information and evaluates a lot of very cool products. Some are way over the top and others definitely on the Wish List. On one of his episodes, he reviewed the Grizzly Pattern Makers Vice. This is a very cool vice that has jaws that swivel to align to different surfaces and rotates. The jaws are made of wood with a soft material that adds additional protection and grip to whatever you are holding. I was so impressed by this that I purchased one.




This vice is amazing, I have mounted all my rifles and my 1911 in it and it holds every one of them securely and in many different positions. It isn’t perfect as I still have to be careful around delicate wooden forearms like on the Win 94 or M1 but that is about it. I don’t know why Grizzly doesn’t show the many different uses for this vice. I am sure they sell quit a few but I believe there are so many other uses.

Now as much as I enjoy this vice and plan to keep it, there is one flaw, the rails between the jaws are steel bars and if you were to lose grip on the rifle as you are tightening the vice, not so much a hand gun, it could drop onto the bars and damage the firearm. I have been using a towel but not exactly a perfect solution.

So, I designed and built a bracket that is mounted behind one of the jaws and provide some soft rubber supports to replace the towel. This bracket works exceptional well for supporting not only firearms but just about anything else that you want to support. It uses the same mounting points as the jaw(s) do so unless one of these vices is different it shouldn’t be a problem.

I have been selling these on Accurate Shooter and had some really nice responses. Anyway, I thought I would share this with you as I have had few projects that I could. Right now, I am having the metal cut on a CNC machine and then chamfering the holes and deburring them by hand. To bend them I am using a small break that mounts to the vice jaws via magnets. Not the best, but I have gotten it down to as tight a tolerance as I use to get with the CNC Press Brake I use to run. Just takes a whole lot longer. The hardest thing is the surface work, which I am doing by hand. By the time I get 20 or more of these finished, my hands are barking. But the look is so nice that it is worth the effort.

Here is a picture of the finished product. I will show some of the steps in the following threads if any one is interested.



and here it is mounted on the vice. Very happy with the performance.


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