Ball Head or Gimbal Head?

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ctshooter

ctshooter

Member
Oct 30, 2018
4,067
1,811
CT, United States
I'm just moving over to Arca based rails. I've picked up a LH-40 ball head which I like a lot, but I notice I get some stiction when trying move it around. I'm wondering if anyone has tried the gimbal heads. Do they move more smoothly than the ball head setup? 

I've seen a gimbal head mentioned on AGN a couple of times, but it's definitely in the minority compared to the ball heads. It makes me wonder either what the benefit is of the ball head or the weakness of the gimbal. 
 
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There is a reason most if not all PRS shooters use ball head instead of gimbal... I looked into the gimbal head but in my opinion, there is no advantage over the ball head. I don't mind spending money on quality stuff but for now, I'm very happy with Leofoto LH-40 and I'm not looking for any other heads for now. On another note, we all different, and what works for me may not work for you, get a gimbal head, will like to try it next time we meet.

B
 
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B - not rushing out to change anything... yet. The LH-40 head is really nice. Now that I pulled it off the 30 year old Slik tripod and put it on the mini Leofoto it's much more stable. 

Reason I most likely wouldn't go for the gimbal head is because of size - they are huge. 

The gear heads have piqued my interest - gonna look into them some more. 
 
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I've been using a Vault Outdoors Wrecking ball head and I love it. It's extremely smooth. Won't go back to a bipod anymore 

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Dairyboy - that's a nice setup. It was your posting that finally had me pull the trigger. B was the first to introduce me to tripods when we got together a month or so ago.

Starting off small with a portable tabletop setup.

Tripod Setup - 1.1618185432.jpeg
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Ctshooter, can you tell me what tripod and saddle you’re using here? This looks very similar to a Caldwell setup I was interested in, but on that one the saddle can’t be removed and used on another tripod. Thanks in advance!



Kevin
 
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For hunting and pesting, a gimbal head is much easier to move around than a ball head. I use both and they’re both great but when you get the friction set up right on the gimbal head adjusted properly, you can move it up, down sideways or any direction without it slipping because of the design. Take a look at the pictures and you’ll see what I mean. You’ll like either, they’re both stable, the gimbal is just easier to move around fast for quick target acquisition without it falling over or moving when you don’t want it to. The last picture is another option and is easy to adjust but the adjustment arms sticking out are bulky. Have a good one.

Stoti

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Dairyboy - that's a nice setup. It was your posting that finally had me pull the trigger. B was the first to introduce me to tripods when we got together a month or so ago.

Starting off small with a portable tabletop setup.

Tripod Setup - 1.1618185432.jpeg
Click to expand...

Ctshooter, can you tell me what tripod and saddle you’re using here? This looks very similar to a Caldwell setup I was interested in, but on that one the saddle can’t be removed and used on another tripod. Thanks in advance!



Kevin
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Kevin - I was looking at that one by Caldwell but passed because of the limitations. This is the Leofoto LS-223C tripod, LH-40 ball head and the saddle is Bog Deathgrip with arca base.

I did put some 1/4" high density foam on both sides of the Bog saddle as I was reading some reviews that it can mar the finish of the stock if tightened down too much.

This is setup is almost as solid as a bipod and rear bag setup.
 
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B - I've been trying to figure out how I could do it. I've looked around at all the Pic and ARCA rails available. Area419 seems to have a very large selection, but the bottom of the stock is so rounded and has this sweeping arch to it that no rail will sit flush. The stock is also very thin up by the air tank, so I don't want to support the rifle's weight there.

I've got the simple Rowan hamster for the Red Wolf and it uses the stocks mounting bolt, so it is very secure. I'd like to figure out a solution that could make use of this as a solid mount point as it is very close the front/rear center of balance too. 
 
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Can you modify and attach ARCA plate that came with the ball head?

I’m using that plate on my Steyr, just drilled new holes to attach to hamster which is mounted to the guns Anschutz rail

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B
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B - That's a good idea. I actually just took that ARCA plate and replaced the pic rail on my Cricket II with the plate. 

I may have to replace my bipod with an ARCA version soon - unless anyone knows of an ARCA to pic (not pic rail to arca) adapter that would attach to ARCA plate on rifle and have a pic rail for a pic bipod. 
 
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