P3 Ultimate Gun Vise

The CTK PRECISION P3 Ultimate Gun Vise arrived well packed; all parts bubble-wrapped and/or zip-bagged, with NO MISSING components! The vise appears to be a very well made, high-quality product and with minimal care, should last a lifetime. The assembly instructions are more of a parts diagram & list, as there are NO step-by-step instructions. There is a useful on-line U-Tube assembly video noted in the instructions, and a link is provided from the CTK website. Although after completing the assembly; most of which was straight-forward and somewhat intuitive, watching the video was more than useful, if not required. The only issue I had with the assembly was T-Handle Knob (#27) and the Vise Spring (#26). In the video the spring easily slides on-and-off the T-Handle threaded shaft but in my case, the spring was just ever-so-too-small. I had to repeatedly force the spring onto the T-Handle threaded shaft part-way, forcibly remove the spring (which was far harder than forcing it on over the threads) and repeat this process over-and-over-again. Finally after 30 minutes, I was able to complete this portion of the assembly and proceed to the end without any further issues. Total assembly time was just over an hour, but half of that time was spent working the spring issue. I think this is an easy 30 minute job assuming you have some skill with a few wrenches and a screwdriver. I tested the sturdiness of the vise with several firearms and all fit firmly and snuggly. There is no "parts-tray" with this vise, but either the Raiseek Cleaning Mat or the Lyman Essential Gun Maintenance Mat fit well under the vise. I preferred the Raiseek mat as it has several magnetic pads for keeping small metallic parts from escaping. Both are ~16"x10" and fit well under/next to the vise. The CTK Gun Vise is rated on a number of sites as the "best gun vise" and I would have to agree. Having gone through several others in the past, all of which I was never fully happy, this is the vise for me! It is not the least-expensive vise but if you want a quality gun vise that will keep your firearm steady for maintenance or attaching components and most importantly, confidently preventing your firearm from falling out of the vise if properly secured, this is the vise you should purchase.

I debated about this vise for awhile before buying. So glad I made the leap and got it! First, putting it together... anyone having trouble with assembling this probably shouldn't own a gun. Look over the pictures, read the instructions, and take your time. The hardest thing was getting the nut started on the tool hanger. All you need is two adjustable wrenches, and Philips screwdriver and a pair of pliers. The unit is very well made. Holds rifles very sturdily. It's also very versatile. One extra benefit is its ability to hold a rifle or shotgun barrel and allow for cleaning. The plastic Tipton style vises block one end of the barrel. (It's not strong enough to hold just the barrel for gunsmithing, but no problem when cleaning.) The ability to add the gun rest is a plus, too. Not only making the unit a bench rest, this part also gives additional security when the gun is in the vise. Also, since it's made of steel, magnets stick to it, so magnetic levels, parts trays and lights can be attached. Don't know how I made it without this vise!

The vise is well made and simple to assemble, in this configuration it is suited more towards holding the firearm for service but will get the job done as a platform to shoot from. I would recommend purchasing the shooting rest attachment if you plan to do a lot of shooting off this vise. The other option is to buy the version with the shooting rest if that is your primary use .

To be honest.....I believe this is the best gun vise currently on the market......It is made of almost 99% steel and truly holds a rifle stock tightly....Another plus is it is manufactured in the USA..... Yes it does have a few fleas.....That silly little woman's hair scrunchee is just down right foolish.....It cheapens the product and gives it a Rube Goldberg feel......But that is easily over come with Four stout O-rings.....They take all slop out of the slide and will last a very long time... Second weakness in my opinion..... Is the threaded bar the vise tensioner screws into....It comes in Nylon.....It most definitely should have been made of a sturdier material....Steel ,Aluminum ect... Never the less a quality product that in my opinion blows away the Tipton gun vise.....With the CTK you have a tough steel foundation, not a flexing piece of garbage like the tipton...When it comes to a vise.............Steel will always be my choice over plastic.....

Some assembly required. Ha...that's like saying fat albert is a little 'rotund'. However, regardless of the fact that the manufacturer is lazy and could have pre-assembled most of this; it does work well. A simple design with little to go wrong. I use it for basic gun maintenance and part additions to my rails. Would I buy another one in the future if mine disappeared (I say disappear because it could NEVER wear out)? I guess so. I like it at about the 50% level. If anything better came along I'd buy differently, so I'm not in love with it. But it does work well...so I'm on the fence if I needed to repurchase. The device is strong and solid. Holds my firearms securely. Nothing bad to say other than the lame instruction manual that was poorly printed with blurred pictures.

It seems to adjust to any size rifle . it has soft rubber pads on it that don't mark the stock. I use mine for mounting rifle scopes & cleaning rifles. It will hold a pistol in the clamps where the butt of the stock would be but it does not do a very good job of that. For a rifle it seems to be able to hold it fairly tight & you can clamp it as tight as you seem fit. Its all steel except for rubber pads . There are feet at ends of frame you can adjust to get level if surface you are using is not completely level.

Was debating on getting a couple different vises sold at BassPro. None of them impressed me. Plastic stands/vises to use on guns where you need to manhandle things sometimes just don't seem to mix very well. This is a solidly made stand out of welded steel. You're not going to break this thing. It is also versatile. You can make a lot of adjustments to get your different guns settled in just right to work on. Only problem I have after owning a couple of years now is that the foam pads lost their hold on the adjustable steel arms. My guns would slide down while taking the pads with them. Had to use Carpenter glue to hold them in place. Having the optional rear rest is not really optional. You need to have it if your gun is on the stand for more than a couple hours to prevent your rifle sliding down.

I received this CTK P3 Ultimate Gun Vise earlier today. These are my initial impressions. It comes well packaged in a box that is 6"x6"x24". Total assembly time was well under an hour, some of that time was ensuring all parts were present and oriented for assembly. Along with the individual major components, there are two parts bags. One bag contains the hardware to assemble the T-frame, levelers, and the front Y rest assembly. The second bag contains the parts for the sliding rear vice assembly. Two sheets of paper contain the assembly instructions and a parts list. Assembly was generally easy and the instructions were quite adequate from my perspective. There is, however, no picture of the entire vice when fully assembled. I pulled the Amazon photo up and enlarged it to assist in further orienting the assembly. The overall dimensions of this vice when assembled, lacking in the Amazon product description, are: Length of main beam = 25"; Length of cross beam = 18", Height of vice and Y rest at lowest adjustment points = 10". There are some "quirks" to be aware of during assembly and use: ** Plan ahead to have your vice and Y rest locking controls on either the right or left side of the main rail. The cleaning rod holder is made to work that way. ** the leveling screw blocks and vice tightening mechanism are made of some type of neoprene, or similar material. They can be easily cross threaded initially if not careful. Otherwise they seem to work quite well. ** Tools required for assembly will be a couple of wrenches and a phillips screw driver. ** All nuts (4) are self-locking. ** The vice assembly has a mind of its own. It is only attached to the main rail by a friction clamp at the bottom of the vice assembly. If loosened to remove a firearm, don't try to pick up the entire T assembly by just the vice head as it may fall off. The vice is designed to work quite well when tightened but it remains very loose, even floppy, on the main rail if not tightened on itself when no firearm is present. After assembly, being anxious to see how it held a firearm, I clamped down the longest gun I have, a WW-II Mauser that is 48" long. Almost twice the length of the overall gun vice assembly. I am very impressed at how tight and stable the Mauser could be locked in the vice. There was no tendency for the gun to have the center of gravity forward of the front Y rest, and no tendency for the secured gun to rock forward with reasonable pressure on the barrel. This vice should work well for cleaning firearms and also for holding the gun steady for sight and scope installations. All things considered, I am VERY HAPPY and impressed with this purchase. All indications are that this CTK P3 Ultimate Gun Vise will provide me with many years of trouble-free service. I'll update this review if my opinion changes.