Bipods: To swivel or not to swivel

Mystic Precision said:
Cant - very important. Need a way to lock it up tight or run it with some resistance.
Pic attachment... NOPE... ARCA rail interface as you really need to consider an ARCA rail on the bottom of your forend.
Length of legs - really depends on the type of matches you are competing in. Local matches in BC so far, basic gear has worked out well. Field matches with weird terrain, tall grass, hillsides, etc... whole different story.

Pan feature... I do not like it.

Jerry
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I have to ask, what sort of disaster happens with the Pic rail? Or what sort of epiphany comes with getting ahold of an Arca rail and that flavour of bipod?
 
old303 said:
I have to ask, what sort of disaster happens with the Pic rail? Or what sort of epiphany comes with getting ahold of an Arca rail and that flavour of bipod?
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If you only plan on having the bipod in a fixed location, say at the front of the stock/chassis, then there's nothing wrong with a pic rail. An "arca" or better yet an in-spec RRS dovetail rail the length of the handguard allows you to slide your bipod fore and aft as needed to shorten up the bipod to rear bag footprint. This comes in handy on some props in PRS, allows you to gain elevation if your bipod legs are too short (by sliding it back towards the mag well) and really shines when trying to shoot off large rocks and other weird things you encounter in field matches/shooting. Being that a RRS dovetail is pretty much the standard for quality ball-heads on tripods, having a full length rail also allows you to quickly clip into your tripod. You could run a full length pic rail but it just doesn't sit nice on bags (or anything really) unlike the flat-bottomed arca/RRS rail.

The only caveat I have with an arca/RRS rail as the means to which you fasten your bipod is that I've noticed is that on lighter weight or heavier recoiling (or both) rifles, the bipod can start to move forward on the rail from recoil (since there is no "recoil lug like on a pic rail). Most quality arca/RRS rails come with threaded holes along their length into which you can thread a bolt. I do that at the front of heavier recoiling rifles and then butt the bipod up against that, like pushing your scope rings up against the front of a pic rail lug.
 
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Thank you. My experience thus far was with a M-Loc foreend with a wee piece of Pic rail forward for the bipod, so I had most of the benefit of it being smooth underneath and hadn't yet run into a shooting position that got awkward with that setup.

(It's possibly a shame that someone hasn't built a bipod quick-disconnect that locks into an M-Loc slot...)

Anyway, as my attempts at being a PRS shooter progress past the novice stage I'll watch out for the chance to acquire some Arca/RRS gear.
 
old303 said:
Thank you. My experience thus far was with a M-Loc foreend with a wee piece of Pic rail forward for the bipod, so I had most of the benefit of it being smooth underneath and hadn't yet run into a shooting position that got awkward with that setup.

(It's possibly a shame that someone hasn't built a bipod quick-disconnect that locks into an M-Loc slot...)

Anyway, as my attempts at being a PRS shooter progress past the novice stage I'll watch out for the chance to acquire some Arca/RRS gear.
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There actually is a bipod adapter that qds into a m-lok slot, I wanna say it's made by Kinetic something or other (not KRG). I remember looking into it a couple years ago. An arca/RRS rail would still be easier and faster to adjust on the fly though because you can just loosen the knob (or if it's a RRS throw lever, put it in the middle setting), slide the bipod fore or aft and then crank it back down. The qd m-lok adapter would be like using a qd pic attachment, faster than bolts but not really "on the fly" fast.
 
rugbydave said:
If you only plan on having the bipod in a fixed location, say at the front of the bipod, then there's nothing wrong with a pic rail. An "arca" or better yet an in-spec RRS dovetail rail the length of the handguard allows you to slide your bipod fore and aft as needed to shorten up the bipod to rear bag footprint. This comes in hand on some props in PRS, allows you to gain elevation if your bipod legs are too short (by sliding it back towards the mag well) and really shines when trying to shoot off large rocks and other weird things you encounter in field matches/shooting. Being that a RRS dovetail is pretty much the standard for quality ball-heads on tripods, having a full length rail also allows you to quickly clip into your tripod. You could run a full length pic rail but it just doesn't sit nice on bags (or anything really) unlike the flat-bottomed arca/RRS rail.

The only caveat I have with an arca/RRS rail as the means to which you fasten your bipod is that I've noticed is that on lighter weight or heavier recoiling (or both) rifles, the bipod can start to move forward on the rail from recoil (since there is no "recoil lug like on a pic rail). Most quality arca/RRS rails come with threaded holes along their length into which you can thread a bolt. I do that at the front of heavier recoiling rifles and then butt the bipod up against that, like pushing your scope rings up against the front of a pic rail lug.
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This is a pretty good summary.

ARCA/RRS is a more versatile setup as rugby dave mentions, but he makes a good point with harder recoiling rifles. My .300NM likes to slide around after a few rounds when mounted to an ARCA ballhead. Not so much an issue with 6/6.5mm's. Another downside to ARCA/RRS is some of the aftermarket rails are a bit thin/flimsy, and are generally made to extend past most stock/chassis' forends. People are seeing vertical dispersion issues when running their bipod out at the end of the rail, where it's unsupported.

Another downside is that there is no industry standard for ARCA-Swiss. RRS has created their own standard, of which the specs are available to everyone. They are trying to get the shooting world to adopt the RRS standard, to make parts compatibility easier for everyone. Stick with RRS products and the RRS standard if and when you can. If you use other photography companies/equipment, just be aware that they may not be 100% optimized to fit with your other ARCA components.

The ARCA/RRS rail gives a nice wide and flat surface to settle and ride a bag in, so you may notice a slight increase in stability if you do a lot of shooting off of bags. You have the entire length of the rail to mount a bipod or tripod, which certainly comes in handy if your shooting PRS/NRL type matches, or even if your shooting at your home or range might benefit from this. I can see this being a benefit for hunters and coyote shooters.

If you find all your shooting is pretty much done prone or from a bench with a bipod, swapping everything over to ARCA/RRS probably won't make monetary sense. It's a big fiscal expense to swap everything over to ARCA/RRS, and it's not fair to imply that it would benefit everyone.
 
Being as I'd never bothered with a bipod before, I looked at it as, why not have maximum versatility out of an expensive bipod. Good one isn't cheap, my needs may change from place to place and situation to situation, and I can keep it and use it on other guns down the road. As long as the lockups work properly, cant and pan can be there if you want them, or locked up if you don't. Better to have and not need, than need and not have. The full length Arca rail attachment makes sense also, to give a person some versatility with the leg height and angles that may be a bit more or less than anticipated. Nothing is perfect, but, versatility can save the day.
 
Atlas BT46-LW17 PSR Atlas Bipod: Standard with ADM170-S

This is one of the best out there. Has pan and cant. Built like a tank. And really light.

I bought one. It’s awesome. It’s around $500 tax in but well worth it. And lifetime warranty.
 
Also check Go Big Tactical website for the Area 419 ARCA lock stuff.. which will negate the slippage that some talked about between rail and clamp.

Don't forget that most ARCA clamps can be adjusted if used on rails that are slightly out of spec.

I've more or less decided on ARCA for anywhere I can put it on the bottom of stocks, being in the middle (in front of the mag well) for a tripod, or in front for a bipod. I use almost all RRS gear exclusively (had a lot of it from photography), and any new stock I purchase must have ARCA compatibility, whether they be competition guns or lightweight hunting rifles.


I've been happy the Atlas bipods I have. You really won't know until you buy one and use one. Resale is very good on them if you decide to go another route.
 
rgv said:
It depends a bit on what sort of chassis or stock you are mounting it on, and whether you are talking about precision rifle shooting generically, or PRS type matches where you shoot off varied positions/terrain in short time frames.

If the former, most anything will work. You need cant but can do without pan.

If the latter, nothing beats a MDT Ckye pod on an Arca rail. You can get a position on pretty much anything and quickly. People say they’re expensive, but in the context of $3700 scopes, $1500 chassis or stocks, and $0.65 bullets, a $550 bipod isn’t out of place, the $150 bipod is.
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Actually have to report back that my Truglo biopod really loosened up and was hard to keep tight. Not a good fit on an RFB, and twist lock tension broke on me too. Actually the UTG Recon 360 is a much better option but heavier. Sadly they're hard to get now, and I wish I had more than the one.
rascal1 said:
Hey Travis, how do you find the stability if the Truglo bipod? Is there any play and wiggle in the mount/swivel system? Are the legs notched for adjustment?
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rgv said:
It depends a bit on what sort of chassis or stock you are mounting it on, and whether you are talking about precision rifle shooting generically, or PRS type matches where you shoot off varied positions/terrain in short time frames.

If the former, most anything will work. You need cant but can do without pan.

If the latter, nothing beats a MDT Ckye pod on an Arca rail. You can get a position on pretty much anything and quickly. People say they’re expensive, but in the context of $3700 scopes, $1500 chassis or stocks, and $0.65 bullets, a $550 bipod isn’t out of place, the $150 bipod is.
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rgv has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space.
 
rgv said:
It depends a bit on what sort of chassis or stock you are mounting it on, and whether you are talking about precision rifle shooting generically, or PRS type matches where you shoot off varied positions/terrain in short time frames.

If the former, most anything will work. You need cant but can do without pan.

If the latter, nothing beats a MDT Ckye pod on an Arca rail. You can get a position on pretty much anything and quickly. People say they’re expensive, but in the context of $3700 scopes, $1500 chassis or stocks, and $0.65 bullets, a $550 bipod isn’t out of place, the $150 bipod is.
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rgv

please empty your mailbox
I am trying to contact you regarding the Bergara Stock/bottom metal/mags etc you have for sale

cheers

I.
 
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