Bipods

[Gebogen]

Good morning everyone,

I have recently purchased a Synthetic American 457 with the suppressor ready barrel with the intention of setting the rifle up for the 2 games I can find locally, NRL 22 base class and CMP Rimfire sporter. I am not a “buy once, cry once,” guy as I like to tinker and I recognize that things will change as I understand the rules better. I have an area 419 picatinny rail coming and the reason I went for the particular model rifle is that the MSRP limit for base class will let me get a vortex venom 6-25x56  scope. I have a fixed 6x scope for the CMP game. I have a yodave trigger spring kit coming. Until I start competing, this is where I want to stop with extra goodies but I will need a bipod for ammo testing. I do not have any experience with bipods, how to mount the,  excetera. I am thinking a bipod that will attach to the sling swivel for now, unless you all think I should just mount an arca rail and be done with it. This puts me into a different (Boyd’s) stock for the CMP game which I would like to avoid for now. What are your recommendations?

[Gebogen]

Ok, like everything else in my life (only man in the house) even my rifle has drama. The retail price went up by $30 which puts the combo MSRP over $1200. This takes the rig out of base class so I have had to order an Arken EP-5 scope. The street price for the Vortex Venom is $500 but the MSRP is $700. The price on the ARken is $550 but I am going to have wait for it to ship at least two weeks. Another hold up is ammunition. In California, you can not have ammo shipped to your house, it has to go through a dealer and you pay an extra dollar for a background check. All I have been able to purchase is 1000 rounds of CCI standard velocity 40 grn lead and I have a little bit of Eley yellow box and some Federal Champion match. Looking on Ammo Seek, I really haven’t seen much else available. Since this was supposed to be a thread regarding bipods, I have purchased a champion 7-12 steel bipod for $50 from the lgs and I’ve ordered a Magpul off of eBay for $124. I’m asking around my club to see if I can borrow others for this project and I will post some results as as other components arrive.

[M1A4ME]

I have a bipod on my M1A (you know, the big heavy 7.62X51 semi auto clone of the US Military M14.

I removed the GI front sling swivel from the GI synthetic stock.  I used one of the AR15 front sling swivel mounts sold to install in the holes in the bottom of the AR15 GI type handguards. 

I epoxied it into the inside bottom of the USGI synthetic M14 stock which left me a small front sling swivel post (for the QC sling swivels) sticking out of the bottom of the stock. 

The bipod attaches to that skinny little post.

Never had an issue with that thing breaking or coming loose in spite of the weight and recoil of the M1A.

I'd think a similar QD sling swivel post would do fine for mounting a bipod on an .22 rifle.

[Twenty seventyfive]

Check out Harris bipods.  My wife has a S-BRM mounted on her CZ 457 Varmint.  It attaches to the sling QD mount-no adapter required.  My only other suggestion is to get one with the notched legs at 1” increments.  Easier to keep level.

[dolph406]

You said you had an Area 419 pic rail coming. Was that for the scope?
I purchased an area 419 IBR (improved Bipod Picatinny Rail) to mount my bipod with. Removed sling swivel stud and used that hole for one screw. Drilled new hole in stock for mounting other screw. When doing this you have to over drill on the inside to fit the locking nut in. I put some epoxy in to hold the nut. This seemed to work really well.

As far as bipods I like Atlas and Accu-Tacs. They are stable and adjust very well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Crawl]

Here's a tall, lightweight option.

Heathen Systems

[Gebogen]

At the risk of sounding like a boomer, how do I import pictures into this? I vaguely remember needing something like photo bucket, however, it’s been so long since I did anything but read this stuff I’ve forgotten. Is there a favorite hosting site for this forum?

I went shooting today using two of the less expensive bipods; A Caldwell that they charge $44 for at my lgs, and a champion that sells for 6 bucks more. Similar, but the Caldwell has a better feature set. They both have sling swivel attachments, adjustable legs from 6-12 inches, and both weigh about the same amount. They are so similar that they even use the exact same rubber feet.There are 4 advantages to the Caldwell design, imho.
1. The Caldwell has a tilt feature built into it.The Champion is static or rigidly attached to the rifle stock.
2. The Caldwell has a wider stance for the legs.
3. The Caldwell has thicker wire for the springs. This makes it much quieter than the Champion.
4. The Caldwell has detents in the legs so you can extend them evenly much more readily than the Champ.

This was just one outing using a bipod. As I said earlier, a Magpul will be here in a couple of days so I’ll compare the Caldwell to that next time. I’m bidding for a Harris right now so we will see where that goes. Once I get done with a bipod decision, I’ll start working on sandbags.

[Gebogen]

Apparently, the above mentioned bipods are both copies of Harris Bipods. The Champion is a copy of the Harris BR and the Caldwell is a copy of the BRM-S. The champion is going away and I’m bidding on a real BRMS to see what the difference is.

[2morechains]

I’ve been using Harris bipods for a long time, first for hunting then for competition.  One thing I did for competition was add Arca rails to the fore ends of my rifles (centerfire and rimfire) and added a RRS adapter to the Harris.  This allows me to swap bipods between guns, remove or add it for a particular stage, or slide the bipod in close to the magwell for shooting off the top of a 55 gal barrel or slide it to the end for shooting prone.  As well as attach a bag to the fore end using an Arca clamp. 

Last month of bought an Atlas CAL bipod with spiked feet and an Area 419 Arca clamp.  For shooting off uneven surfaces, ability to run the legs 45 deg forward or 90 deg… its a good bipod and wider stance than the Harris.  Only better bipod IMO is the Cyke-pod, but I am not spending $600 on a bipod (well, never say never…)

[Gebogen]

I can really appreciate the usefulness of an arca rail. Next on the list of gear is the area 419 12” flat universal rail kit, but let me ask you, does the rail kit or the Atlas bipod make more of a difference? I am assuming the rail will stiffen up the fore end and I like that the stop on the rear will help protect the magazine release for $225. Is the base Atlas at $219.00 money better spent for competition? My other concern is that the 457 American synthetic with the 20” sported barrel may not be the most suitable for the NRL 22 game if the director decides to stretch the range out beyond 100 yards. I am wondering how much of a poi shift I am going to get by the end of a shot string.

[Gebogen]

Aaand I just figured out that the forward barricade stop on the 419 kit won’t work with a Harris bipod because of the swivel tension nut.I think I’m going to pass on the kit but get the rail and the bipod adapter.

[2morechains]

I can really appreciate the usefulness of an arca rail. Next on the list of gear is the area 419 12” flat universal rail kit, but let me ask you, does the rail kit or the Atlas bipod make more of a difference? I am assuming the rail will stiffen up the fore end and I like that the stop on the rear will help protect the magazine release for $225. Is the base Atlas at $219.00 money better spent for competition? My other concern is that the 457 American synthetic with the 20” sported barrel may not be the most suitable for the NRL 22 game if the director decides to stretch the range out beyond 100 yards. I am wondering how much of a poi shift I am going to get by the end of a shot string.

I initially went with the A419 14” universal Arca Rail but ended up swapping it out for the weighted rail to add more weight to my rifle and help balance it on barricades.  My gun is relatively light compared to others in the NRL22 game that are in the low 20 lbs…. The weight does help with making the gun more stable when resting on a bag on a barricade, but IMO balancing it a few inches in front of the mag is more important.  I went 14” to be able to push the bipod as far forward when shooting prone, and wanted the rail to extend back to just in front of the mag w/ a barricade stop.  When shooting off a barricade with a Scmedium weighted bag I lean into the rifle, pushing the barricade stop up against the bag to reduce the wobble.

As far as the Atlas vs Harris… Harris deploys faster, just yank on both legs to drop them into place.  With the Atlas, you have to deploy each leg individually by depressing the detent release.  That said, the Atlas CAL I got has a wider stance which is helpful, and every now and then when shooting off boulders or a roof top angled sideways the ability to flip the uphill leg to a 45 deg does come in handy.  Or when shooting prone you can run both legs 45 deg forward for more stability when pre-loading your bipod. 

My 455 has the 20.5” varmint barrel on it with a .820” dia.  The added weight helps with the balance of the rifle bc on my gun with the Manners stock it was a little butt heavy until I added the weighted Arca rail with 4 brass weights towards the front.  Personally I like the 20” bbl length, it balances better, aesthetically is more pleasing, but not so long as to be cumbersome when moving in and out of a ladder or slots in a barricade.  Most stages are only 10-12 rnds, so not much heat build up.  As far as any potential velocity loss for barrels longer than 16”, the flip side to that is more time for the round to stabilize so I wouldn’t stress about the length of the barrel even out to 300+ yds. 

[2morechains]

Aaand I just figured out that the forward barricade stop on the 419 kit won’t work with a Harris bipod because of the swivel tension nut.I think I’m going to pass on the kit but get the rail and the bipod adapter.

The only barricade stop I run is at the end of the Arca rail just in front of the magwell.  On my centerfire gun the rifle’s magwell acts as a barricade stop, but the CZs I want something there to protect the mag. 

[Cinimod]

I have both the Atlas and Harris bipods both have cant adjust and arca rail adapters. The arca gives you the ability to reposition your bipod based on the course of fire.

[Sc0-]

Wouldn't worry about accuracy when stretching past 100yds but will need to play with barrel set screw and bedding torque along with different ammo until you can get the tightest group possible then slowly stretch out to longer distances for proper dope.  ARCA rails are nice in that you can quickly configure per stage, and is legal for base and production classes.  Only problem is that ARCA is so nice, you will want to convert all your rifles over to it to use the same accessories! My production rifle is a 16" Tikka T1x that wears a 14" Area419 universal ARCA rail, it does stick out and is at an angle to the barrel since the forend tapers inwards but it's not an issue.  I converted to ARCA to use the same accessories as the open guns.  My Open 455 has the same universal rail drilled and bedded to a Manners Synthetic stock, only thing I dislike about that rail is the ARCAlock notches in the sides.  Bipods, broke a Harris where the round tube is welded, which was repaired with a integrated picatinny/ARCA Mount.  Have a few ATLAS bipods which were neat but slower to setup, then graduated to the MDT CKYE which is faster to deploy than the ATLAS but still slower than the Harris.  Recently grabbed a MDT GRDPOD WHICH is cheaper than building a Harris up for a arca rail and works (Harris swivel + integrated ARCA clamp + barricade stop + Podloc)

Sounds like you should keep this one as a CMP gun/hunter and build another rifle up for Open.