I would like to get a bipod for the FX Impact and don’t know what features are useful (never used one). Bipods seem to range from cheap junk to ridiculously overpriced - looking for something practical that is reliable and functional.
I would appreciate couple of pointers, a few suggestions for what I should be looking for and what brands to consider (or avoid). I will be using it (mostly) for bench shooting and some pesting.
Thanks in advance!
Hank
Hank,
I'm Tom of Tomcat Airguns. A few people have mentioned the videos I'm currently filming and editing (Thanks guys!). Here's a
link to my channel on Airgun 101. I did a comparison video a while back on the Atlas vs the Atlas clone. In the end, my advise would be to stay away from the clone. My "vs." video was done many years ago and I do plan on re-filming it because there are some things that I did not address.
There are so many things I could say to the responses I've been reading. Everyone has they're own shooting style, budget, impressions, and features that are important to them. The car analogy is an easy one. Buy a super car capable of 200+ MPH and put the absolute bottom of the barrel, cheapest, junk tires that you can find on it and go for a drive. They'll get you down the street and across town, sure enough. But, when you need them to perform, they'll fail and you'll be wishing you hadn't skimped on them as you slide out of control at 200MPH into a ______. The
clone will hold your rifle up, sure enough. But, it's going to fail when you ask it to perform and you'll wish you had spent that money on something better.
I have found that an easy to adjust
TILT feature to be one of the most important features in a bipod for my style of shooting, primarily benchrest. I almost never use the pan feature. Good solid leg extensions are important as well. I thought I would prefer infinitely adjustable but, I'm actually finding that I like legs that lock into positions, so long as the tilt feature has been well designed. Quick release is very important to me as well because I'm switching between rifles quite often.
Price is always a driving factor and I'm not blind to the fact that
Accu-Tac and Atlas are very expensive which eliminates them from many peoples budgets. This may be hard to believe, and I'm not trying to talk you into anything but, I've found that you do actually get your moneys worth out of them. It sounds like your budget does not dictate one of these, though.
Dropping down a notch would put you in the mid level category with prices in the 75 to 150 range. I've been working my way through quite a few that fall into this category recently. The downside to many of these is that they do not have a
45 degree leg position. I almost exclusively use 45. Why? 45 degrees generally widens the stance, which adds stability. It also lowers the rifles center of gravity, which adds stability. Its also puts a little bit of load on the legs which helps remove any slop and, therefore, adds stability. There's a theme here... lol!
In the
mid level category I've been impressed by the
Harris ($75), and the
Magpul (110?). Both are among the lightest I've tested and both have their own pro's and con's with the biggest difference being the way they mount to the rifle. The
Caldwell I tested failed and I felt it was not very ergonomically friendly. Many people have mentioned the
UTG bipods to me and, of those, the
Recon was specifically mentioned a few times. I actually bought all three designs in order to put them through the paces but, I haven't taken them out of the box yet and the Recon is currently in the mail. So, I can't share a
hands-on opinion with you. It'll be quite a few weeks before I get those videos made.
Simply looking at a picture of the recon, there's a few things I notice. No quick release, looks like the pan tension might be controlled by a flat head screw, 45 degree leg option, the leg position lock looks like it could have a little slop if it hasn't been designed properly, leg pivot point looks good, it looks like the leg extensions are both position locking as well as infinitely adjustable (haven't seen that before). It also looks like pan and tilt are combined, ball and socket style, and I really would have liked to see them put a lever on the pan adjustment.
LOL!! I was about to hit "Submit" but, decided to look at some of the other pictures on amazon. Look closely at the flat head screw! Looks like someone had to really try to lock it in place.
Anyway, I hope this post helps you out in making a decision. Maybe hit my little green dot if it does.
In case anyone is wondering, I
DO NOT have any bipods for sale currently. Once I get done with the final testing, I'll have a massive sale. But, that's a ways out still.
Happy Shooting!
Tom
