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Can I add a ball head to this tripod?

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Scouty

Scouty

Member
Sep 6, 2019
1,258
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SD, United States
I know nothing about tripods. My wife got a free one many years ago that was missing a part and as I understand it she figured out what was missing and ordered it. She still hasn't used it.

It is a Bogen 3063.

I don't shoot much at home but when I do I often move from my garage pellet trap to my basement pellet trap and then drive out into the woods to map out my Optimal Zero and Point Blank Range. I think a tripod will be easier to move around than my current combination of bipod, DIY shooting bench, etc.

At this point I don't intend to use it for pesting or hunting.

My main air rifles are all Leshiy Classics and one Leshiy2 with the lower picatinny rail (no handguard on the Leshiy2).

Have no idea what is possible here or what I would need to order. Appreciate any help.

Here is a picture of the top of the tripod currently. I don't know what part was replaced but it was something up here.

tripod.jpg
 
@Scoutry The photo looks like some sort of head is already on the tripod. Look below the actual pivot points and see if there is a juncture where the existing head in the photo meets the actual tripod. If you find said juncture the pictured head should be removable. Once you remove it we can see what you need to affix a ball head. Hopefully that one just screws off counter-clockwise at some point.
 
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Scouty said:
Three set screws removed and head unscrewed from threads below. Let me know if you need any other pictures. Right hand threads.

View attachment 286288
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With the type of Innorel ball head I have, it should screw onto that screw. Some tripods come with a removable screw-on plate with a similar screw that protrudes up like the one pictured above. Check out some photos in this thread of the ball head taken off of the tripod for a better visual. https://www.airgunnation.com/thread...tup-advice-and-criticism-are-welcome.1099111/
See post #23
 
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beerthief said:
most ball head adaptors you just screw on like you would a camera ??
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@beerthief I don’t know about most but the heads that I own for shooting work this way.

@Scouty Did you get it figured out? The other thing I was thinking that’s important is knowing the maximum recommended weight tolerance of the tripod. I don’t think you’d want to place an airgun you paid hundreds to upwards of $1000 upon a tripod that it might topple over and damage your rifle.
 
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Ezana4CE said:
@beerthief I don’t know about most but the heads that I own for shooting work this way.

@Scouty Did you get it figured out? The other thing I was thinking that’s important is knowing the maximum recommended weight tolerance of the tripod. I don’t think you’d want to place an airgun you paid hundreds to upwards of $1000 upon a tripod that it might topple over and damage your rifle.
Click to expand...

I started to skim through your thread but then had to get on to other things. I posted yesterday because Camera Land is having a sale including some ball heads and I didn't want to miss out. But I know from experience it's best to take my time and get stuff figured out.

I was actually in a large sporting goods store yesterday afternoon buying stadium seats for my son's football game and according to the inventory I could access on my phone it appeared they had a ball head in stock but I was in a bit of a hurry at that point. As it turns out we didn't need the stadium seats and I had plenty of time so I wish I had at least gone and looked at it.

Your point about weight is a good one, thank you. I just looked it up and found a link saying 11 pounds. I know some of these cameras have large lenses and have some weight bias but maybe not as much as an air rifle so maybe I should look at the ratings from some rifle oriented tripods and just see if they're comparable.
 
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@Scouty I rushed and took these yesterday. I wanted to point out the plastic disc (circled) between the head and tripod. It has a bolt with threads on both ends and a nut in the middle that holds it in place within the plastic disc. One side of the bolt screws into the tripod and the other into the ball head. The screw in your photo looks similar. When I took these I accidentally unscrewed the disc and head from the tripod as opposed to the head from the disc. You can see the details much better in the link I provided in my previous post. Considering the weight tolerance of the tripod is a smart move.
66051859-8BEC-4D20-8112-185FDAF243A6.jpeg


60CE7C8D-23DF-43CB-814E-D205BAA008FE.jpeg
 
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Keep in mind that the weight rating on a tripod head is for a camera or a long lens attached to the tripod with the camera body floating in the air, a small fraction of the length of an airgun. A rifle attached to it is going to impart significantly more stress than the say a 400mm lens with a fairly large camera body on it mounted at the center of balance -- when pressure is applied to the extreme ends of the gun. The farther out from the center of the head you apply force, the more stress you will be imparting. The heavier the weight rating the better for large guns, but the carrying weight goes up as well. The thicker in diameter the legs are and the beefier the head is, the more steady it will be with the rifle on it, but all of them will shake and move from your breathing and heartbeat unless you add a support on the buttstock area. If you want it as steady as you can get it, don't raise the center column. Keep the head down tight on the tripod body.

I put some 14 pound plus chassis centerfire rifles on my larger Manfrotto geared and ball heads and 4-8 pound guns on some fairly light ball heads, with no problems as long as nothing pushes down hard on the muzzle or the butt. You want the mounting point on the gun to be at the center of balance if possible. I exclusively use Arca Swiss plates attached to the gun for linking with the head. The longer the plate and the more screws holding it to the gun the stronger it will be. An M-Lok to Arca plate works the best on guns that have the M-Lok slots, but you can attach a regular Arca compatible plate to any stock / chassis that you can run some screws into or through.

If you wanted to, you can convert your existing head to an Arca plate clamp as well using one of these. Just attach the camera plate to the Arca adapter and you are good to go.
 
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Several days after I posted this thread mysterious boxes started showing up at the house. Turns out my wife went on a lens buying spree and her and my older son are now taking pictures/videos at my younger son's football games. So she had me put the camera head back on.

I might try the adapter plate in the previous post so there is less time switching heads back and forth.
 
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Thanks for bumping the thread. Meant to post a couple of weeks ago but evidently forgot.

I took the easy route & bought the Leupold clamping head & it attached right to the hexagonal plate in the original picture I posted.

The associate at the store where I purchased it said the BOG clamping head wouldn't fit but I think he was wrong. I could still return it but this Leupold does seem to be good quality so I think I'll keep it.

I made up a block with an old scope mount to clamp into this head. That works with my Leshiys & then springers & rimfire rifles can be clamped directly without the block.

I did bring home a basic BOG Death Grip but I liked our tripod better. In particular how easy it was to fine tune height with the single center adjusting post. Rotation & tilt was much smoother as well.

I wish I could say I have hours of shooting time using this set up but between the wind, a nagging back & son's football season I've barely used it. I do think it will work for my current needs and will give me an idea of whether I want to invest more & try to get back to hunting.

Doing my back stretches now but will post some pictures later.
 
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