Cheaper bipod

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I bought a 27'' Harris Bipod at a gun show about 25 years ago. It did not have a swivel head. (I was not well educated about bipods at the time.) I learned the hard way how important a swivel was when I went to shoot at a monster muley across a canyon on a side hill. By the time I got done dicking around with the legs on the hill side to level up my cross hairs for the shot the deer moved on and out of sight for ever. Live and learn.
 
I have the Caldwell XLA 6-9" and it is decent for the money. Bit the bullet a year ago and bought the Atlas. No comparison in the quality and functionality. The nice thing about shooting prone is recoil management, it's so much easier than at the bench. I have really grown to like shooting prone. I good rear squeeze bag is a must.
 
Which brand/model is that Bob? Looks like the swivel locks too??

Whoops...…… you did mention it in an earlier post. Mystic is name, made by EGW
same thing I was using in Silhouette Match awhile back, minus the rear bipod though.
 
I really like Magpul's bipod (https://www.magpul.com/featured/bipod). MSRP & Magpul's website price is $109.95, but I got one a year ago for about $80 from OpticsPlanet.com and have seen it priced similarly around the web even outside of the holiday discount seasons. It's the easiest bipod I've personally used to deploy and adjust, and it's about the closest to bomb-proof I've seen for under $100. This bipod has been out for about 2 years, and the only bad reviews I can find are by folks who clearly don't understand bipod use. Yes, this model is designed for the "tactical" market, but then so were scope caps at first. It doesn't rattle, clank, or make that "SPROINGGGG" sound if you lose grip on a leg while folding it.

While my own shooting experience with it has yet to begin, I bought it on the advice of about a half dozen PRS shooters in my LGC to replace a Harris HBRS that has detached itself on me for the last time in practice. The only guys who'd used the Magpul but still preferred other models had $250+ tied up in genuine Atlas bipods, but those guys still didn't poo-poo the Magpul outright. Most of those guys are shooting 6.5 Creedmoor or .308 Winchester out of 9-10 pound rifles, so their testimonies didn't address hard recoiling lighter rifles in magnum chamberings. But, I'll trust it on an 8 pound ML with my mild 110 gr. BH209 & 250 or 300 gr. SST loads, without hesitation.
I have the Picatinny attachment version, and a few short $6 M-LOK rail segments to attach via machine screws & epoxy to synthetic forends over the winter months so I can move one bipod between several rifles. It's easily adjusted for tension in tilt (roll) and pan (yaw) axes, and the pan can be quickly locked to 0* independently of tilt - all without tools or disassembly. The quickest way I can think to describe it is this: My Magpul bipod is to my Harris, as my Glock 19 is to my Beretta 92. It's uglier, but lighter, simpler, and very intuitive to operate, with fewer coiled/burred/spikey bits. (My Caldwell-labeled Harris "clone," in the same way, parallels a Jennings/BryCo Model 38.)

Last, Magpul has apparently released a new version of this bipod for use on Uncle Mike's type sling studs for about $130;

I have no idea how robust it may or may not be compared to the other attachment platforms; I'm merely sharing the fact that it exists. I'm avoiding mounting solutions involving two tiny 3/32" diameter studs squeezed into a sling stud's swivel attachment hole, in favor of a beefier solution. Even on a .22LR rifle, I still push my body into the bipod to "load" it in the prone position when I can. The whole mounting system is no stronger than its weakest connection; give me M1913 Picatinny rails all day long and twice on Sunday.
 
Last edited:
Yeah i know its not optics but its as good a place as any.

So are any of the $50ish or under bipods worth a damn or should i just wait on a Harris BRM bipod? Im not spending $200 bucks on a bipod. Dont even want to spend $100 but ive seen the Harris for under $100 a few times.

Blackhawk has one that gets good reviews but im skeptical and Sportmans has/had them on clearance for like $25 and i need some bullets to try anyway. Helps save me the shipping if i get the order upto $50.

This will be used only for informal bench shooting so i dont have to haul a rest to the public range. I hate the hard plastic rests they have.

Probably need the 9-13s so i can leave it on 9" instead of a 6-9" with it extended all the way?...Probably be more durable when not extended?

Just wondering, how'd all this work out? ;)
 
Might end up having to spend a lot more on my rings so the bipod is on hold. I will hold out for a deal on the Harris. It will be fine for as little as i will need it.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top