Big money bipod(s)?

[Thor357]

I just paid $140 for my Harris that Ill use on my hunting rifle. I'm 59 years old and it will still be working perfectly long after I'm not. I'm building a NRL type hunting rifle that I'll also put a bipod on. I will not be putting a $500 bipod on it even IF its the best bipod ever made. I think the advent of YT, and PAID "non bias" YT reviews, are having too much influence of what is actually good and what is just expensive.

I've used a cinder block wrapped in a towel as a "bipod".
Shot very well.
Also use my old Army sleeping bag as a rest. It too works well!
I use "cheap" bipods because they use less room of the bench so I can put more of my crap on the bench.

 

[Thor357]

There is a search function in the upright hand corner. Click on it and enter “bi-pod” and you’ll get about 7 or so pages of threads to read. All kinds of information and some of the reasons why F/F-TR shooters want a quality unit.

I DID do a search before posting my question. No one seemed to ask the question(s) I asked so I posted my question,
With all the responses, I still can't seem to be able to justify to myself spending $500 for a bipod when my $50 ones are functioning fine...for me. Like I said elsewhere, I've used a cinder block, sleeping bag and other items to shoot from a bench. They all seemed to work fine other than they take up a bunch of space on the bench. Bipods don't.

 

[ronsatspokane]

Bought my first Harris in 1970, added two more since. All three still going strong after 52 years.
Not sure if they qualify as "cheap", but they sure have worked well over all these years.

In my wildest dreams, I'd never consider paying $500 for a stinkin' bipod no matter what whistles and bells it may have. It's a BIPOD for crikey-sakes!



Made in the USA, NOT a ChiCom knockoff, works as advertised.

A sack of potatoes would be cheaper and more stable. Why spend all that money on a chunk of metal?

Better expand on that. I have a GGG, a Dublin and a Harris. The GGG is much better than the Harris in terms of ease of use, design, quality and stability. The Duplin is much better than the GGG in terms of stability and ease of use. The Duplin exceeds the others to the point that I mill the stocks on many of my guns to fit an Anschutz rail and I run the Duplin on all of those rifles. Those with a lower picatiny rail, I have an adapter to run the Duplin. This is for bench and prone shooting. If I shot PRS I'd go with the GGG. When shooting in the field I prefer shooting sticks since I can't often see above the grass when shooting prone. I never use the Harris anymore. I'm not even sure where it is. In a box of parts somewhere in the shop I'm guessing. But, a Harris will work. So will a sack of potatoes.

In the off road world I've taken a box shaped 4 door Toyota in places that only a Jeep should be. Then I owned a Jeep. Then I found out that the best indicator of the off road ability of any vehicle was rental papers in the glove box. We pay our money and hopefully we enjoy what we spent it on.

 

[nmkid]

I bought 2 Harris bipods sometime around 1980 and they are still nice and tight. I get it if a fellow needs a high-dollar unit that has been proven. For us, run-of-the-mill guys cheap isn't necessarily a piece of junk.

 

[Thor357]

A sack of potatoes would be cheaper and more stable. Why spend all that money on a chunk of metal?

I ate the potatoes! Now I need a bigger bench!!!

 

[ronsatspokane]

I bought 2 Harris bipods sometime around 1980 and they are still nice and tight. I get it if a fellow needs a high-dollar unit that has been proven. For us, run-of-the-mill guys cheap isn't necessarily a piece of junk.

No one is saying that it is a piece of junk, it works. Only that there are options that do what a Harris does only better. That does cost more money. My jeep was a better off road vehicle than my Toyota was and it cost a lot more money. It is not worth it to some people. I shoot F Class so I need that additional stability and design that results in increased ease of use. Since I have it, I run it on any rifle that it makes sense to do so. On the others I use the GGG or shooting sticks. Not sure how I ended up with the GGG. Guess I thought it looked cool and had some money burning a hole in my pocket. It is a quality bipod though and I'm glad I have it.

 

[CJ6]

I'm curious. What makes a $500 bipod worth $500?

Nothing....Everything....As has been said multiple times here...The quality and utility of the product for it's intended use to the user. You may not need or want that but others do,and that makes it worth $500 + to them.

 

[Medic505]

Ram

You beat me to it.
They are called DODGE for a reason.

 

[1813benny]

I DID do a search before posting my question. No one seemed to ask the question(s) I asked so I posted my question,
With all the responses, I still can't seem to be able to justify to myself spending $500 for a bipod when my $50 ones are functioning fine...for me. Like I said elsewhere, I've used a cinder block, sleeping bag and other items to shoot from a bench. They all seemed to work fine other than they take up a bunch of space on the bench. Bipods don't.

The reason for paying for the higher priced bipods are for functionality, repeatability and adjustability. The high end bipods are designed for top tier competitive shooting disciplines (i.e. F-TR, etc.) which have different requirements vs other types of competitions and/or the casual shooter's needs.

It is up to each individual if they can "justify" the price for any piece of shooting gear based on their own personal requirements and budget. A $500 bipod does not bother me as I can spend that much money on smallbore match ammunition just for the national matches alone.

This is a "you do you" type of conversation - nobody is right or wrong.