Best spotting scope stand ?

geraldbergeron

geraldbergeron

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Hi,

A very basic basic question...

As I have to shoot in prone position, what would be the BEST spotting
scope stand ??? I will shoot ( I hope to be on target...LOL)
between 600 and 1,000 yards with a black powder Gibbs 45 cal.

I looked at those stands :

- Creedmore
- Ewing
- First Strike
- Freeland Swivel
- Freeland Woom
- Giraud
- Ray-Vin
- Satern
- Schneller
- ...

From: http://www.ray-vin.com/tech/shc/headcompare.htm



I would really appreciate your experienced advices.

Best regards.

Gerald Bergeron
Quebec city
 
Gerald, bienvenue au monde des tireurs!

I have always liked the Freeland stand because it folds up small, and there is no leg to interfere with the shooter's support arm. However, when I priced one many years ago, and it may have been bad timing around some stage of the Freeland company's life, they were quite expensive.

I use a Bushnell Shooter's Tripod and Bushnell spotting scope with a horizontal / vertical head. The little thumb wheel is good for fine adjustments once I find the target. The telescope had a big wheel on the side, which was a standard thread and I replaced for whatever reason.

Whatever you choose may be light to carry, but if it is bumped off-aim easily then you haven't helped yourself.
 
I have used a Freeland for the last 13 years with a Kowa TSN-1 mounted on it. It works great for prone shooting but is not very stable if you are sitting in a chair coaching or watching the conditions for the next relay.
If I was buying another stand I would go with a Ewing stand and a First Strike head.
 
maynard said:
I have used a Freeland for the last 13 years with a Kowa TSN-1 mounted on it. It works great for prone shooting but is not very stable if you are sitting in a chair coaching or watching the conditions for the next relay.
If I was buying another stand I would go with a Ewing stand and a First Strike head.
Click to expand...

maynard,

Any suppliers for these in Canada?

Thanks.
 
Just a few hours ago used a Ray-Vin head with a Pentax scope. I will get the Pentax scope but I think I will probably still use my Freeland stand. The Ray Vin is excellent but needs two hands to set up so would be great for coaching but would be hard to set up for shooting which I normaly do with one hand. When you loosen the knob al the adjustments go loose so you need to aim it and then tighten the knob = two hands. Pentax scope for one G was impresive!! like the Freeland stand because I can fold it up and it fits in my bag. A crip needs to make it all fit!
 
Last edited:
Max Owner said:
What about looking at camera tripods?

Seems to me that Manfroto came up with some table top models that might be short enough for prone use.
Click to expand...
I have a Manfrotto and love it. It's not a tabletop model, but it can still get anywhere from right down on the ground to standing, and everywhere inbetween.
Like this:

QK6L9569.jpg


Those legs can go right down flat (on the scope stand, that is). ;)
 
There's actually another tube that can attach to the center piece and allow you to have the scope offset about 1 foot extra from the center, if you're worried about bumping the legs...
91859755.vAq7Sbpx.jpg
 
I've use a Freeland with swivel head for many years and I'm happy with it. It have many accessories that gives a lot of flexibility. It is a good base for prone shooting. I bought mine from champion shooter supply in the US.

Hope this helps
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Gerald, bienvenue au monde des tireurs!

I have always liked the Freeland stand because it folds up small, and there is no leg to interfere with the shooter's support arm. However, when I priced one many years ago, and it may have been bad timing around some stage of the Freeland company's life, they were quite expensive.

I use a Bushnell Shooter's Tripod and Bushnell spotting scope with a horizontal / vertical head. The little thumb wheel is good for fine adjustments once I find the target. The telescope had a big wheel on the side, which was a standard thread and I replaced for whatever reason.

Whatever you choose may be light to carry, but if it is bumped off-aim easily then you haven't helped yourself.
Click to expand...



Hi,,

About the Freeland, do you have any difficulties with the HORIZONTAL adjustment. I was told that the VERTICAL is great, but not so much with the horizontal one.

What is your experience with that point ?

Thank you

Gerald



Freeland Zoom quite a lot. It's vertical adjustment is great. Its horizontal - not so great
 
Ian Robertson said:
What stand are you using with the Ray Vin and can it be adjusted with one hand, maybe I need another try at it.
Click to expand...

Ian,

I am using the F model.
Adjusting with one hand is difficult as it works on a friction system with a ball head to hold the scope and hold the horizontal bar to the upright. If you loosened the handle just slightly to relieve a bit of friction then you could adjust the scope head with one hand then re-tighten, but go too far and the scope will drop to the mat or hit the scope stand leg.

I answered your ?...now answer my PM dammit :D

geraldbergeron said:
Hi,

What do you think of vertical and horizontal adjustments ?

Any negative comments...

Gerald.
Click to expand...

Gerald,
I only got the 8" center post as I only use it for Prone and Bench shooting. If you are asking about the adjustment for the scope itself then the ballhead is great.

The only thing I wish they did differently was to have a separate adjuster for ballhead and center post holder.

The stand itself is nice heavy duty aluminum, not to say it is heavy but rather very well built.

If you guys want pics, let me know and I will post some.
 
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Gerald -

I was looking at a Freeland stand today with saddle and tube with a less than $200 price tag today. The dealer is not a CGN dealer, so I won't use his name. But he fixes air rifles, sells targets, is patriotic and has his office in Quebec.

The Freeland stand has a knob clamp for up and down adjustment of the whole column. You can put the tube end on the dirt, or way up. The head itself has another clamp. The saddle pivots on a horizontal screw, and there is a fine adjust knob to tune the centre of the scope. There are keeper clamps so the tube can be swung left/right without falling. I have never had any problems getting on aim. One advantage of a Freeland stand is the knob on the main tube is a great hand grip to get on and off the firing point. They sell extra lengths of tube so you can use the same base for 3 position (or sitting on a stool to observe from behind the line).

A matter of rules for long-legged tripod models, not the busty ones, is several disciplines and ranges have a set amount of firing line space per shooter. While those long, slender, tapered legs are ever so tempting, some shooters have to depend on short stumpy low maintenance ones that don't crowd out out the neighbours.
 
My son and I use a pair of Freelands that have been in the family since the 60's, and they are a solid piece of gear.
I guess they are actually BIPODS, not true tripods, because they only have two legs.
I find the rig a bit flimsy in big winds ofr my overly large 40X, but the 20X Sentry we use for smallbore position shooting works well.
For those that have never seen one, here is a few pics of the bipod set up on a bench.
Cat

DadandRobontheline.jpg

RobertandJordan.jpg
 
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