Shooting off a Bi-pod.

[Topshot]

Anyone got some advice on how to best shoot off a Bi-pod and maintain the sight picture through recoil.

When shooting my .338 Edge off a Bi-pod I can sometimes maintain a good sight picture after recoil. At other times the barrel jumps up and to the side wildly and I loose sight of the bullet impact.

Seems to depend a lot on the surface material that the rubber stops on the feet of the Harris Bi-pod are sitting on.

I have tried to hold onto the beast a number of different ways but am not sure whats best.

 

[Kiwi Greg]

I have some Pod Spikes made by Gunworks Canterbury on 4 of my bipods & they deffinately relieve a lot of the jump, so much so that when I fired my suppressed 308 one day after firing my Edge & 22-243 I couldn't understand why it jumped so much compared with them & it was because it had a STD bipod with rubber feet. lightbulb
A word of warning though you wouldn't want to shoot over the bonnet with them

 

[groper]

It's because of a poor bipod... Harris bipods are garbage mate... Why spend big money on a long range precision rifle, top it with a great scope like a NF or S&B and then ruin the whole package with a flimsy, toy like bipod that doesn't provide adequate stability... So many people on this site don't see the value in a decent bipod...

Perhaps you are starting to see the light?

A quality properly setup bipod will not bounce, allows better spotting of your impacts, caters for a ideal shooting position and provides a very stable platform. The types of feet are important, the raptor feet on mine don't move in the dirt no matter how many shots I fire but obviously won't do you any good shooting off a hood of a truck...

The balance is very important aswell, a quality bipod will provide a wide stance for stability and the point where it attaches to your foreend is very important to get the balance right. If it's attached too far forward or rearward, the rifle can move in wild movements under recoil which can make spootig shots difficult and cause poor accuracy also. Probably deserves a new thread on this point alone...

 

[FEENIX]

Anyone got some advice on how to best shoot off a Bi-pod and maintain the sight picture through recoil.

When shooting my .338 Edge off a Bi-pod I can sometimes maintain a good sight picture after recoil. At other times the barrel jumps up and to the side wildly and I loose sight of the bullet impact.

Seems to depend a lot on the surface material that the rubber stops on the feet of the Harris Bi-pod are sitting on.

I have tried to hold onto the beast a number of different ways but am not sure whats best.

Tame it down with an effective muzzle brake, check out Jim See's ...

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f23/new-concept-muzzle-brakes-44252/

BTW, I believe he's using a Harris bipod. Good luck!

Ed

 

[Jumpalot]

I shoot a Harris and I have no problem maintaining my sight picture. It's the shooter's technique that is the problem. You'll need someone to help watch you and make corrections. You need to line yourself up straight behind the rifle and make sure the butt of the gun is in the natural pocket formed in your shoulder. Slightly lean into and load the bipod. It takes some practice and feels awkward to start with and having a partner to watch is important while learning. This technique works with any caliber and works whether you have a muzzle brake or not. It also works on any surface with rubber feet. There are some good instructional videos on Snipershide that show you how to do this.

 

[joseph]

I have some Pod Spikes made by Gunworks Canterbury on 4 of my bipods & they deffinately relieve a lot of the jump, so much so that when I fired my suppressed 308 one day after firing my Edge & 22-243 I couldn't understand why it jumped so much compared with them & it was because it had a STD bipod with rubber feet. lightbulb
A word of warning though you wouldn't want to shoot over the bonnet with them

Where can I see the bipod that you use? Could you post a web site for us to see?

Thanx, gun)

joseph

 

[FEENIX]

Where can I see the bipod that you use? Could you post a web site for us to see?

Thanx, gun)

joseph

Joseph,

Try Genuine Harris Bipod LM-S with Gunworks Pod Spikes for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand

You might also consider http://www.phoenixtactical.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4&zenid=acuo74jroleae8nsr4an5t0ap4

Ed

 

[bigngreen]

It's because of a poor bipod... Harris bipods are garbage mate... Why spend big money on a long range precision rifle, top it with a great scope like a NF or S&B and then ruin the whole package with a flimsy, toy like bipod that doesn't provide adequate stability... So many people on this site don't see the value in a decent bipod...

Perhaps you are starting to see the light?

A quality properly setup bipod will not bounce, allows better spotting of your impacts, caters for a ideal shooting position and provides a very stable platform. The types of feet are important, the raptor feet on mine don't move in the dirt no matter how many shots I fire but obviously won't do you any good shooting off a hood of a truck...

The balance is very important aswell, a quality bipod will provide a wide stance for stability and the point where it attaches to your foreend is very important to get the balance right. If it's attached too far forward or rearward, the rifle can move in wild movements under recoil which can make spootig shots difficult and cause poor accuracy also. Probably deserves a new thread on this point alone...

Provide a link to the solution! So far I can completely control how my gun recoils on the bipod with good body position and a stock that delivers the recoil correctly.
I like what Phoenix Tactical is doing but I find the idea of some of the stuff that centers around the barrel axis or mounts on top allowing you rifle to hang to be appealing.

 

[Broz]

I would really like to see the "better than Harris" pods too. I use Harris now but will admit when the time is taken to dig it in a bit the after recoil sight pic and accuracy is better. I have found that pre-loading the bipod slightly with my shoulder is helpful in obtaining a repeatable hold. I also have found that the more solidly the pod is rested the better I shoot.

So what is the best pod, and can it be carried in a hunting application?

Jeff

 

[Kiwi Greg]

I would really like to see the "better than Harris" pods too. I use Harris now but will admit when the time is taken to dig it in a bit the after recoil sight pic and accuracy is better. I have found that pre-loading the bipod slightly with my shoulder is helpful in obtaining a repeatable hold. I also have found that the more solidly the pod is rested the better I shoot.

So what is the best pod, and can it be carried in a hunting application?

Jeff

That is the problem if you have a hunting rifle especially one under 10 lbs with the scope included as my Edge is.
I find the spikes great especially when long range rabbit shooting, they sink into the ground & provide a very steady rest, essential when shooting beyond 500 yards, the only problem is it is difficult to move the rifle side to side if they are on the move

 

[Bravo 4]

I shoot a Harris and I have no problem maintaining my sight picture. It's the shooter's technique that is the problem. You'll need someone to help watch you and make corrections. You need to line yourself up straight behind the rifle and make sure the butt of the gun is in the natural pocket formed in your shoulder. Slightly lean into and load the bipod. It takes some practice and feels awkward to start with and having a partner to watch is important while learning. This technique works with any caliber and works whether you have a muzzle brake or not. It also works on any surface with rubber feet. There are some good instructional videos on Snipershide that show you how to do this.

+1, your position behind the rifle is the problem.

 

[Broz]

+1, your position behind the rifle is the problem.

I agree with you guys. Form and position is very important for watching the impact and trace. But, I just came in from my favorite practicing. The kind where I go out and hike a bit till I find a target that looks to be about 1.5 moa. I then drop to a prone position to engege. I like learning to deal with what I have for a shooting platform. This could be a down hill or up hill slope or a side hill. In some cases it is vary hard to get good form. Like for me, on a down hill slope where I am slighlty higher than the rifle. I ALWAYS get the cheek weld so it feels correct. But at times getting the shoulder contact perfect can not be obtained. I try hard to not raise the bi-pod any higher than a few inches. It really looses stability as you go up. So I was wondering if there is a better pod that will allow higher positioning and remain more stable than a Harris. But it needs to be transportable for hunting.

Jeff gun)gun)

 

[Topshot]

I shoot a Harris and I have no problem maintaining my sight picture. It's the shooter's technique that is the problem. You'll need someone to help watch you and make corrections. You need to line yourself up straight behind the rifle and make sure the butt of the gun is in the natural pocket formed in your shoulder. Slightly lean into and load the bipod. It takes some practice and feels awkward to start with and having a partner to watch is important while learning. This technique works with any caliber and works whether you have a muzzle brake or not. It also works on any surface with rubber feet. There are some good instructional videos on Snipershide that show you how to do this.

Jumpalot,
I have watched the Snipers Hide video's and they are very good. I have tried to follow there methods and it works well with my .308 Target rifle but not so well with my .338 Edge.

How do you hold a rifle when shooting with a Bi-pod? Everyone seems to do it a different way!

Seems that on hard dirt the rubber stops loose grip on the ground. This does not happen so much when set up on soft moist soil where I can dig the feet into the soild a bit.
With the Edge I seem to get a bit of rotational torque that also moves the front of the rifle sideways during recoil. I have taken a video of me shooting the rifle and there is quite a bit of bounce.

I think with the spikes on the feet it might provide better grip and less bounce compared to the rubber feet.

 

[groper]

Topshot, my old 338edge had a 30"'heavy contour barrel with brake in a HS stock. Due to the heavy barrel, it was a front heavy rifle... I could not get the bipod mounted far enough forward for proper balance. I experienced the same wild movements under recoil you described. My new rifle with custom stock, has a longer foreend so that I can achieve a better balance with such a long heavy barrel, and i dont experience these wild movements even with a more powerful caliber... Just a thought... Broz brings up another good point regarding shooting position... In the field, you often can't get into a good comfortable position to the the terrain, angle of shot etc some people fail to realize it's not like shooting at the range!
(or shooting off a Harris at the range )

It wasn't until I started hiking with my LR rifle that I realized how largely unusable most bipods are in the feild... Whilst I don't know of a " do all" solution, I do know that there are much more suitable bipods than a Harris. Just for range work, all of the big F-class bipods are a better choice, but not an option for hunting. I havnt tried a shooting tripod as yet, perhaps this might be the best option in the field?