Idleback rifle chair review

The Idleback Rifle Chair is the perfect solution for shooters who want the luxury of shooting in comfort and taking rested shots wherever they go.

In short, the Idleback is a rugged shooting seat with a height and angle-adjustable arm to support your gun. The gun cradle at the end of the extendable supporting arm of the Idleback should accept all but the widest of airguns, and accommadated the relatively wide fore-end of my trusty old BSA Super-Ten with room to spare.

Assembly is an absolute doddle because most of the major components are already in place when this sturdy shooting seat arrives. Deployment in the field is just a matter of seconds: unfold the heigh-adjustable legs and gun rest arm, then adjust both until the seat is level and the rifle rest situated exactly where you want it.

Costing the best part of £300, the Idleback is not a cheap piece of kit but it is ruggedly constructed and I’d expect it to give years of first-class service. The quick-release shoulder strap makes it easy to transport but, in my opinion, it’s not really a tool that lends itself to staking – hauling it around the fields and trying to set it up as shots presented themselves proved too much of a rigmarole for me.
 

The Idleback is, however, an excellent and very comfortable aid to accuracy when set up for an ambush. The seat and rest rotate silently through 360 degrees so you can stealthily target quarry at all angles, and the easily adjustable legs mean it’s always on the level. As a hunter whose seat usually consists of little more than an old carrier bag, I certainly found it a real luxury.
I’ve set the Idleback up in the garden and around farm buildings to pick off rats and avian pests, and also used it in the woods to snipe squirrels at long range with an FAC-rated airgun. In these situations, it has performed flawlessly.