xx22
Battle of the Bipods
- Thread starter Frew
- Start date
xx22
PGW sells the LRA as a side line. Their main reason they bring them in is to full fill their obligations on their rifles. It is a bonus that they will sell them to us separately. I for one, am very thankful for that.
In fact, I'm ordering a second one from Ross next week for a new build.
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Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
In F class, we move quite a bit in Canadian matches so it is always best when gear can be taken apart easily and put back together easily. The MPOD can be removed from the appropriate rail a whole lot faster then a Harris. Just 1/2 a turn of the central lever and slide it off the gun. Putting it back on is just as fast... I have a video of this on my website about 1/2 way through the vid.
A couple of seconds to take off. A bit longer to put back on.
If you mean mobility in field shooting, folding legs are certainly easier. If you mean transporting the bipod, I will say the MPOD is as easy or easier to pack in the case as anything else.
It's 1" thick and flat in profile so sits very nicely under the top layer of foam in my case. Now, I don't even take off the legs. You can see a gap in the front of the middle foam layer, there is plenty of room to put the MPOD in with the feet vertical and still close the lid.
folding bipods are a whole lot thicker and bumpier... You might need to make pockets in the foam to allow the clearance to close the lid or take the bipod off which can be a pain with some.
Pretty much every other FTR suitable bipod like Remple and clones, Sinclair, Joy Pod needs it own separate box to transport.
YMMV
Jerry
The LRA tactical bipod vs. their F class bipod has the same legs and adjustment setting. The difference is in the rifle attachment the F Class has more of a cradle (horse shoe) that the rifle sits in to lower the centre of gravity reducing torque and allowing the rifle to run straight back while having less shooter influence on the rifle system. The tactical attachment is tighter to the picatinnay rail and does not come up the sides of the rifle. This is a notable difference for real world applications. There are no wings on the side of the rifle. If you drag a rifle for a living you would curse the wide cradle of the F class and its additional weight.
LRA bipods are ROCK solid and I would put them up against any bipod for toughness and the ability to take abuse. I would still be using mine today in F class if it was lighter.
And just to qualify my statement I used the LRA F Class bipod to win the same Team silver medal at the 2013 F Class world championships as Jerry did using his Mpod. We were on the same team... Credit the coaches I was just a trigger puller but I had every confidence in my rifle system using the LRA bipod.
Why I changed… F’n weight my LRA weighs 32oz. the Mpod was 13oz.
If you set up your rifle properly the slider bipods will shoot tighter then the LRA will... less influence on the gun means a truer more consistent recoil and predictable line of travel for the rifle.
I have gone to a slider bipod in order to remove the weight gained which I put into the barrel. I chose a mariner wheel sliding bipod over others because like the vast majority of shooters the mariner wheel bipod has finite adjustments. I can put the rifle on the rear bag and adjust the height of the rifle so the crosshairs fall exactly in the centre of the V bull without having any influence on the rifle system. You can’t do that with the LRA or Mpod. For the LRA I became a bag squeezer to make the final adjustments. The Mpod is the same for the final adjustments you have to use your rear bag. Or if you ingenious like Jerry build the mariner wheel into your rifle stock and adjust it to ride the rear bag.
There are some great F class bipods out there with mariner wheels
Henry Remple (cdn)
Evo
Dulphin
Star shooter (cdn) Fred is a great guy
Sometimes you are limited as to which bipod you can use because of weight
Best of luck
Trevor
LRA bipods are ROCK solid and I would put them up against any bipod for toughness and the ability to take abuse. I would still be using mine today in F class if it was lighter.
And just to qualify my statement I used the LRA F Class bipod to win the same Team silver medal at the 2013 F Class world championships as Jerry did using his Mpod. We were on the same team... Credit the coaches I was just a trigger puller but I had every confidence in my rifle system using the LRA bipod.
Why I changed… F’n weight my LRA weighs 32oz. the Mpod was 13oz.
If you set up your rifle properly the slider bipods will shoot tighter then the LRA will... less influence on the gun means a truer more consistent recoil and predictable line of travel for the rifle.
I have gone to a slider bipod in order to remove the weight gained which I put into the barrel. I chose a mariner wheel sliding bipod over others because like the vast majority of shooters the mariner wheel bipod has finite adjustments. I can put the rifle on the rear bag and adjust the height of the rifle so the crosshairs fall exactly in the centre of the V bull without having any influence on the rifle system. You can’t do that with the LRA or Mpod. For the LRA I became a bag squeezer to make the final adjustments. The Mpod is the same for the final adjustments you have to use your rear bag. Or if you ingenious like Jerry build the mariner wheel into your rifle stock and adjust it to ride the rear bag.
There are some great F class bipods out there with mariner wheels
Henry Remple (cdn)
Evo
Dulphin
Star shooter (cdn) Fred is a great guy
Sometimes you are limited as to which bipod you can use because of weight
Best of luck
Trevor
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Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
Trevor60 (a very good FTR shooter by the way and great Team mate) makes an excellent point... with FTR bipods, how do you want to handle the adjustment for elevation? - Front steer or Rear steer. Until you start shooting big heavy bullets, it really isn't going to matter much. But as recoil and torque levels go up - think 200gr to 230gr bullets (or in light rifles), this becomes a very real issue for better gun handling.
I am not saying one way is better then another... competition results will sort that out (think Darwin for FTR design) but I followed a path demonstrated by some very innovative Brits. I was shooting 230's when I podiumed at last years AB prov championships. The current thought is you cannot control the 230's in competition.... not with conventional tech!
I found that for me, rear steer gave me a bunch of advantages from gun handling, recoil and torque control, weight savings, and ease of adjustability. The MPOD is an extension of that philosophy and works very well. I run forends significantly longer then any other commercially available stock. Even if I wanted to, I simply cannot reach any bipod when in position unless of it has a "joy stick" coming back.... and then there are other issues to debate.
Now rear steer certainly doesn't need the complexity of the stock I designed for the 2013 worlds - and the SH!T storm it stirred up with the US shooters
a great shot by Scott B just as I sent another 200gr Hybrid downrange. There is no movement in the rifle... it just slides straight back and I can see the dust kick up on impact. Most of the time, the reticle doesn't even leave the black on the NRA target. Very fast shot recovery given how fast some "wind coaches" might have to run you.
My current FTR rifle with a taper on the bottom of the buttstock. Nothing to work loose, nothing to break, nothing to affect the recoil harmonics. And a big savings in weight... that goes into bigger barrels
My Team rifle... even faster then my rifle from the Worlds. Those pullers better have their A game on
A taper in the bottom like pretty much every varmint and hunting stock handles that nicely. Slide the rifle forward and back for the fine elevation on target.... simple and very light. So the useage philosophy is very similar to a Harris, LRA or similar.
As you can see FTR is a very technically complex class and more tech is being developed here then even Open. The byproduct is gear that offers wonderful performance over a wide range of field use. Some cost, some are complex, some are heavy, but if it has survived in competition, it works - within the compromises of any gear.
Jerry
I am not saying one way is better then another... competition results will sort that out (think Darwin for FTR design) but I followed a path demonstrated by some very innovative Brits. I was shooting 230's when I podiumed at last years AB prov championships. The current thought is you cannot control the 230's in competition.... not with conventional tech!
I found that for me, rear steer gave me a bunch of advantages from gun handling, recoil and torque control, weight savings, and ease of adjustability. The MPOD is an extension of that philosophy and works very well. I run forends significantly longer then any other commercially available stock. Even if I wanted to, I simply cannot reach any bipod when in position unless of it has a "joy stick" coming back.... and then there are other issues to debate.
Now rear steer certainly doesn't need the complexity of the stock I designed for the 2013 worlds - and the SH!T storm it stirred up with the US shooters
a great shot by Scott B just as I sent another 200gr Hybrid downrange. There is no movement in the rifle... it just slides straight back and I can see the dust kick up on impact. Most of the time, the reticle doesn't even leave the black on the NRA target. Very fast shot recovery given how fast some "wind coaches" might have to run you.
My current FTR rifle with a taper on the bottom of the buttstock. Nothing to work loose, nothing to break, nothing to affect the recoil harmonics. And a big savings in weight... that goes into bigger barrels
My Team rifle... even faster then my rifle from the Worlds. Those pullers better have their A game on
A taper in the bottom like pretty much every varmint and hunting stock handles that nicely. Slide the rifle forward and back for the fine elevation on target.... simple and very light. So the useage philosophy is very similar to a Harris, LRA or similar.
As you can see FTR is a very technically complex class and more tech is being developed here then even Open. The byproduct is gear that offers wonderful performance over a wide range of field use. Some cost, some are complex, some are heavy, but if it has survived in competition, it works - within the compromises of any gear.
Jerry
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That isn't exactly the case. The one importer brings in the one that is used on their particular rifle and is kind enough to sell you one without making you purchase a rifle.
Tomochan,
Did you ever review the star shooter bipod and compare it to the others? If you have a gun with an Annie rail, and are willing to pay shipping both ways, you're welcome to borrow mine. I can't use mine untill I get a pic rail adapter.
Did you ever review the star shooter bipod and compare it to the others? If you have a gun with an Annie rail, and are willing to pay shipping both ways, you're welcome to borrow mine. I can't use mine untill I get a pic rail adapter.
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The Parker hale and versa pod work fine for one shot, but because they wobble so much they are not so good for strings of fire. You can mod them to help control the rattle by drilling and tapping so you can run a nylon tip set screw into the pivot mandrel. It helps.
No, I've not reviewed the Star Shooter. Thanks for the generous offer to borrow yours but I've a number of articles I'm working on which means that bipods are off the table for the present. If the owners of SS want to send me one in the later part of the summer I will review what they send.
I agree with badasmoe, the PH is great for tracking and shooting movers. For strings or groups it takes a lot of practice with that setup and it has to be loaded forward very hard to stay still. I am ready to retire it and run my LRA bipod for shooting groups.
This ^^^^^^^
I shot with a PH Bipod for many years. Great for movers and exposure targets, but requires practice and a steady hand for stationary group/string shooting.
