BI-POD KNOWLEDGE

[Okumacaptain]

Lengthy and interesting thread. I think the Op's final choice will work out for him; EGW makes pretty solid stuff and that looks like a decent, solid bipod for shooting off a bench, which I recall is what he said it was going to be used for.
Although sometimes they feel a bit springy, I've never had a Harris bipod fail on me, and I have to say that also includes the cheap Chinese knock-offs I bought some years back when a bit impecunious, although they don't feel as solid and the mounts do come lose sometimes. They fold up pretty compact so you don't really have to keep taking them off.
If I were going for a less expensive bipod today I like the MDT Ground Pods as they eschew the Harris stud fitting for either ARCA or Picatinny which feel a bit more solid to me.
That said, latterly my first choice in bipods has been a Sinclair F-class bipod. I didn't like it at first but it has really grown on me. It's been strong enough to use with my Savage 110 and 112 in 338 Lapua, attached to my BipodXT with a Harris stud adaptor on the 110. It's never come lose. And the bipod Harris fitting has held up very well, although I didn't expect it to on the 338.
Just lately I went for the Godzilla of bipods, a Valdada Anvil for the 338. It's big, but incredibly solid. It has the same horizontal footprint as my Sinclair. The downside is it isn't especially cheap but the best never is.
The bipod and and adaptor space is crowded for sure. I like the MDT Mlok adaptors for ARCA and Picatinny.
There's a lot of good stuff out there and in the middle market, say $200-$400 it's hard to pick one over another.
Full disclosure, I make a market in some of the products mentioned.

 

[Bill Norris]

Hi Bill !

Just got my Valdada and any pointers off the bench are welcome .

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Make sure you are directly behind the rifle and allow the bi-pod to track straight backwards to kind of copy the movement of a B R rifle on a rest and rear bag. Looks like you already have your carpet on the bench. Looking good Bro.

 

[Okumacaptain]

Make sure you are directly behind the rifle and allow the bi-pod to track straight backwards to kind of copy the movement of a B R rifle on a rest and rear bag. Looks like you already have your carpet on the bench. Looking good Bro.

 

[Okumacaptain]

Thx Bill ! I’ve tried to get shoulders square but feels really strange . I’ll work on it more . And I see where someone else suggested deep pile carpet . Makes sense to prevent side to side movement .

 

[Bill Norris]

Thx Bill ! I’ve tried to get shoulders square but feels really strange . I’ll work on it more . And I see where someone else suggested deep pile carpet . Makes sense to prevent side to side movement .

Right, I went to Lowe's and got the square carpet samples to fasten down on my bench where the bi-pod feet/skids will sit rather than buy a rug. I know. Cheap. LOL. See pic.

 

[Okumacaptain]

Right, I went to Lowe's and got the square carpet samples to fasten down on my bench where the bi-pod feet/skids will sit rather than buy a rug. I know. Cheap. LOL. See pic.

That’s some deep pile . Wow ! I also bought a Mystic Precision but it is so light . We have no weight limit so Valdada made more sense . Rifle with bipod attached weighs an even 25# .

 

[Bill Norris]

Yea, I mostly wanted the Mystic for my hunting rifles when I shoot from the bench.

 

[Ray123]

I don't particularly like Bi pods...I prefer a front rest. But when I have to, I use Harris...and on the 50BMG I use what it came with, it's heavy but works, feels better than the Harris on smaller calibers. But the Harris works, but feels flimsy compared to the 50 Bipod.