Thread: Bipod modifications (inspired by ChrisF)

After Chris's post on bipods, I thought what makes for a more stable platform. Basically it's width and getting the barrel closer to the ground.

For me, I'm a hunter, not a target shooter...so all my gear has to be light weight and be practical. The Harris I use is fine, but it could be better. I didn't want my barrel any closer to the ground, as it gets tricky shooting in field positions in long grass etc, so that left width.

To get width, I initially thought about cutting and welding...but the Harris is alloy and I had not a clue what type?

So plan B was hatched: make a wedged shim

some dodgy milling, all real engineers please look away!



finished wedge


scribing out the shape


test fit, pretty happy with that.


clearance issue with legs


clearance issue sorted, the "electric file" took care of that in no time flat!



And done. I needed to use slightly longer bolts, but every thing can be undone if ever I needed to (why, who knows???)


before, note the spread on the ruler.

And after



So about 40mm wider, and quite a lot more stable.

Kj

Bad photos sorry, but you get the idea.

Here it is in place, note the legs have moved inwards towards the centre by the thickness of the wedge.

I could double the amount of spread before running into any issues, i.e. 80mm of extra spread is obtainable if wanted.

Kj

you need to go into production

Good going.
I maybe wrong but I think the one ChrisF was posting about was designed as such so it naturally wants to hold the rifle upright as opposed to the harris swivel on top that the rifle naturally wants to fall off sideways.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Good going.
I maybe wrong but I think the one ChrisF was posting about was designed as such so it naturally wants to hold the rifle upright as opposed to the harris swivel on top that the rifle naturally wants to fall off sideways.

The underslung mounting is advertising hype. The additional stability of that design is fundamentally achieved by the wide stance and "lower centre of gravity" which is a flash way of saying lower to the ground. If I cut the legs shorter on this one it would achieve the same thing. Actually it would possibly be more stable as the over all length of the legs would be shorter compared to the other design which has much longer legs (more potential for deflection with longer legs).

The shape, mounting system etc etc really don't matter, you could shape it like the McDonalds arch, with unicorns attached to the sides...doesn't really matter, as fundamentally it comes down to height from the ground and width.

Kj

Looks cool , more people should be " Brave " enough to mod stuff up , years ago , I had a S&W M66 and being a type of SS , the trigger was not the best , I read a article , stripped the gun down , and did the work my self on the trigger mech , basically polishing stuff up & cutting a very small bit off a coil spring , and the difference was very marked , especially in DA mode , people asked what gunsmith did it , and stocked when I said I did , most are too afraid of stuffing it up , to try at all .
And while the concern of buggering up a gun is valid , if you take your time and research it , & its when in your ability , give it a go .

Later Chris

I stand corrected then............... massive market opening their for someone with a cnc to make one that the rifle naturally sits upright then @tui_man2 ?
go ya halves

He's after low slung sako one ain't he like . . .?

That looks much better but is the center of gravity below the pivot point?

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

I stand corrected then............... massive market opening their for someone with a cnc to make one that the rifle naturally sits upright then @tui_man2 ?
go ya halves

Sorry, didn't intend that to sound rude, apologies.

Kj

And painted the non wear surfaces, looks normal now, you wouldn't be able to tell the changes at first glance.



Happy as with how this turned out.

Kj

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