Hatch V3 bipod experience?

midnightmalloy

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I was doing some searching for a bipod as my new rifle is almost done and came across the Hatch V3 bipod. A little heavier than I wanted at 19 oz but looks like a solid all around prone to sitting bipod for the mountains. Does anyone have any experience with these and how they work in different situations and positions?
https://www.hatchoutwest.com/products/bipod/
 
Seems ridged with no play for preloading forward. Seems to me like it would have a lot of jump?
 
I've got one. This was my first year with it, and I really like it. I hunt in a hilly area for mulies, and spend a lot of time sitting on downward slopes looking down small valleys and meadows. You can't get prone in these spots, and most shots are within 300 yds, so prone isn't a necessity, but some kind of support is needed (for me at least). This bipod fills this niche very nicely. It will get low enough that you can shoot prone if needed, but is plenty long for a seated shot on a downhill slope. The way the legs work is very nice. You just pull each one out and it stops as soon as you stop pulling, so infinitely adjustable, length-wise. Very simply to release and collapse the legs back in. The build quality is very good. Overall it will do exactly what you see in the marketing videos, so I'll focus on a few negative things. Some negatives/nitpicks... In order to get low enough for prone this bipod has a feature to spread the legs since they don't collapse far enough to be in that 8" range you would want when prone. To make the legs spread there is a little release that you have to pull out. This release has a little key ring and a piece of cord like a zipper pull on it. Two things I don't like about this... First, the little key ring gets in the way of the legs when you fold them forward, and I bent mine all up in the first 15 min by crushing it in the leg joint. Not a huge deal as I'll find another way to attach the "zipper pull" that won't interfere with the legs folding up. The second thing I don't like about this is that I only have two hands. It takes one hand to hold the rifle or bipod, another to pull the little cord to release the legs, and a third hand (Or leg, or whatever) to spread the legs. It can ben done, but it's not super fast/easy like the other features on the bipod. Another nitpick is that the way it attaches to your atlas rail is that it slides over the end of the rail and locks on with a push button. I don't like this method as much as the typical "claw" that you get with an Atlas because you can't adjust the fit to your rail. So it's either a little too tight and hard to get on, or it's a little too loose, and wiggles. Then the other thing about Hatch's connection is that it won't fit on a low profile pic rail. The top of the claw is too fat, and won't clear the stock when you try to slide it on. I have one rifle with a low profile rail, and it won't work on that one, so I will have to replace the rail (or maybe grind the top of the connector) to get it to fit. All my other rifles have the standard BT industries 3-4" rail with the slotted hole, and it works fine with this rail since this rail sits more "proud" of the surface of the stock. Overall - This is a really nice bipod that does a better job of covering prone shooting all the way to sitting position better than anything else I've used. The next closest thing I've seen is the Evolution bipod where you can carry a short set of legs, and long set of legs and switch back and forth.
 
look at the spartan from javelin bipods. 5.5 oz. long leg extensions available. attachment mechanism is by far the simplest and best. I have 2 bipods and their tripod. 5 rifles flush mounted for them. crazy stuff.
https://javelinbipod.com
Hatch bipod looks nice. just on the heavy side
 
look at the spartan from javelin bipods. 5.5 oz. long leg extensions available. attachment mechanism is by far the simplest and best. I have 2 bipods and their tripod. 5 rifles flush mounted for them. crazy stuff.
https://javelinbipod.com
Hatch bipod looks nice. just on the heavy side

Yea I checked these out. I don't like that it is separate from the rifle and you can't effectively leave it on. Also can only be used in prone and not prone and sitting. I'm pretty much between an Atlas or this Hatch unit.
 
I've got one. This was my first year with it, and I really like it. I hunt in a hilly area for mulies, and spend a lot of time sitting on downward slopes looking down small valleys and meadows. You can't get prone in these spots, and most shots are within 300 yds, so prone isn't a necessity, but some kind of support is needed (for me at least). This bipod fills this niche very nicely. It will get low enough that you can shoot prone if needed, but is plenty long for a seated shot on a downhill slope. The way the legs work is very nice. You just pull each one out and it stops as soon as you stop pulling, so infinitely adjustable, length-wise. Very simply to release and collapse the legs back in. The build quality is very good. Overall it will do exactly what you see in the marketing videos, so I'll focus on a few negative things. Some negatives/nitpicks... In order to get low enough for prone this bipod has a feature to spread the legs since they don't collapse far enough to be in that 8" range you would want when prone. To make the legs spread there is a little release that you have to pull out. This release has a little key ring and a piece of cord like a zipper pull on it. Two things I don't like about this... First, the little key ring gets in the way of the legs when you fold them forward, and I bent mine all up in the first 15 min by crushing it in the leg joint. Not a huge deal as I'll find another way to attach the "zipper pull" that won't interfere with the legs folding up. The second thing I don't like about this is that I only have two hands. It takes one hand to hold the rifle or bipod, another to pull the little cord to release the legs, and a third hand (Or leg, or whatever) to spread the legs. It can ben done, but it's not super fast/easy like the other features on the bipod. Another nitpick is that the way it attaches to your atlas rail is that it slides over the end of the rail and locks on with a push button. I don't like this method as much as the typical "claw" that you get with an Atlas because you can't adjust the fit to your rail. So it's either a little too tight and hard to get on, or it's a little too loose, and wiggles. Then the other thing about Hatch's connection is that it won't fit on a low profile pic rail. The top of the claw is too fat, and won't clear the stock when you try to slide it on. I have one rifle with a low profile rail, and it won't work on that one, so I will have to replace the rail (or maybe grind the top of the connector) to get it to fit. All my other rifles have the standard BT industries 3-4" rail with the slotted hole, and it works fine with this rail since this rail sits more "proud" of the surface of the stock. Overall - This is a really nice bipod that does a better job of covering prone shooting all the way to sitting position better than anything else I've used. The next closest thing I've seen is the Evolution bipod where you can carry a short set of legs, and long set of legs and switch back and forth.

Thanks for the details! How stable is it in the split leg prone position? Can you compare it to another bipod you have used?
 
Thanks for the details! How stable is it in the split leg prone position? Can you compare it to another bipod you have used?

It's good to go. It compares to the Atlas, Harris, Evolution, or KAC in terms of stability prone. The difference is that it's really wide when spread all the way out, so it's honestly not what I use if I'm ONLY going to shoot prone. But for a prone to sitting to sitting on a down slope it's the best I've used and I've used a lot.
 
It's good to go. It compares to the Atlas, Harris, Evolution, or KAC in terms of stability prone. The difference is that it's really wide when spread all the way out, so it's honestly not what I use if I'm ONLY going to shoot prone. But for a prone to sitting to sitting on a down slope it's the best I've used and I've used a lot.

That's interesting about you not liking the wider legs for prone as I would think of it as an advantage. If you look at fclass bipods or some others they spread out fairly wide.
 
That's interesting about you not liking the wider legs for prone as I would think of it as an advantage. If you look at fclass bipods or some others they spread out fairly wide.

Just a preference thing. To me the Hatch is a hunting bipod and the best I've seen or used. I'm not an F class shooter so I just don't like the bigger footprint etc. None of my criticism of the Hatch is major, all minor things. But I'm not bringing it to my next PRS match. Will stick with the small, simple Atlas for that.
 
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