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F-TR Class Bipod Recommendations?

Papa Charlie

Papa Charlie

I have been running some weight calculations on my rifle. Looking at my present weight and looking at future desired upgrades I am skirting the 18lb 2oz limit with the Harris BMR-S bipod I have now. I am looking at upgrading my scope to the Vortex GE from the Vortex Viper HST and have a new barrel on order from Benchmark. I could have them shave more material off the barrel but want to maintain the rigidity.

I have found a few and creating a list with weights for comparison. I know there should be more choices out there so looking for some recommendations on light weight or ultra light weight F-Class Bipods?

Thanks for you help. Will post the final comparison table when done in case anyone might be interested. So please provide as many as possible as the information may be valuable to others as well.
 
I shoot a Flex bipod and it weighs 21 oz. but another bipod I had that is nice was the M-Pod and it weighs 13 oz. If you like ski type bipods it might be worth looking at.
 
The new Phoenix on my scale weighs 31.2 oz if you already have the rail. Add .7 if you use their rail section.
 
In case no one else caught this, the OP is currently using a Harris BRM-S bipod and his rifle is right at the 18.18 lb weight limit. A Harris weighs about 0.8 to 1.0 lb (~12.8 to 16.0 oz), depending on the exact model and how it's mounted. He's also planning to add an additional 7.1 oz of rifle scope (Vortex GE). Any bipod that weighs more than what he already has will only put the rifle further over the weight limit. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the OP needs to do some serious weight reduction somewhere on this rifle in order to make weight. It appears it will be overweight by the difference between the two scopes (+7.1 oz), plus however much more than the weight of a Harris the new bipod might be, which could be anywhere from a couple ounces, to a lot more. Half a pound (or more) is a LOT of weight to try and make up in the barrel; basically, that's a couple inches of barrel length off the muzzle.
 
Papa Charlie, as gstaylorg stated, you are going to need serious weight reduction if your plan is to upgrade and change bipods. Barrel fluting might help some but the only other way to go is probably stock reduction. Going to aluminum scope bases and rings may get you some savings as well but still probably not enough. A lighter scope is also worth checking into. Last thing you want to do is shorten the barrel if you can help it. Good luck.
 
gstaylorg said:
In case no one else caught this, the OP is currently using a Harris BRM-S bipod and his rifle is right at the 18.18 lb weight limit. A Harris weighs about 0.8 to 1.0 lb (~12.8 to 16.0 oz), depending on the exact model and how it's mounted. He's also planning to add an additional 7.1 oz of rifle scope (Vortex GE). Any bipod that weighs more than what he already has will only put the rifle further over the weight limit. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the OP needs to do some serious weight reduction somewhere on this rifle in order to make weight. It appears it will be overweight by the difference between the two scopes (+7.1 oz), plus however much more than the weight of a Harris the new bipod might be, which could be anywhere from a couple ounces, to a lot more. Half a pound (or more) is a LOT of weight to try and make up in the barrel; basically, that's a couple inches of barrel length off the muzzle.
Click to expand...

Hes also installing a barrel as heavy or heavier than a Heavy Varmit. 1.25 x 5 taper to .950@30
 
Essential investment if you are building a new gun with a weight constraint:

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-ultraship35.html

Last weekend we had a guy show up at a LR Regional believing he was good to go, because his bathroom scale said he was. Turned out his rig was @ 8.35 kg... and that was *without* the Gen 2 Phoenix or any mirage or rain shield. Luckily other people had spare guns he could borrow; one of those shot his ammo well enough to snag a silver medal. Very lucky indeed. I've seen people travel to international matches only to arrive and find out their gear was over weight. Extremely expensive and painful lesson to learn.

Weigh your stuff before you travel to a match. Don't use a bleeping bathroom scale; those are not accurate enough for the task at hand.
 
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milanuk said:
Essential investment if you are building a new gun with a weight constraint:

http://www.oldwillknottscales.com/my-weigh-ultraship35.html

Last weekend we had a guy show up at a LR Regional believing he was good to go, because his bathroom scale said he was. Turned out his rig was @ 8.35 kg... and that was *without* the Gen 2 Phoenix or any mirage or rain shield. Luckily other people had spare guns he could borrow; one of those shot his ammo well enough to snag a silver medal. Very lucky indeed. I've seen people travel to international matches only to arrive and find out their gear was over weight. Extremely expensive and painful lesson to learn.

Weigh your stuff before you travel to a match. Don't use a bleeping bathroom scale; those are not accurate enough for the task at hand.
Click to expand...

When necessary, I select a new bathroom scale at Target or WalMart by stepping on several to determine which one tells me I'm 2-3 lb less obese than I actually know myself to be. That's the scale I buy ;). That range of precision/accuracy works fine in the bathroom, but as Monte pointed out, is somewhat less satisfactory when it comes to determining rifle weight.

I recently needed a new scale for weighing shooting gear when my old one crapped out. I purchased this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MT86A1I/?tag=accuratescom-20

I am happy to report that it works very well for the intended purpose in terms of both range (up to 90 lb) and precision/accuracy; the readings are spot on to the 3rd decimal place for a 4 kg calibrated weight. At $21.99, it cost far less than some fancy bathroom scales I've owned. Unfortunately, I weigh a little more than 90 lb and I doubt my U-boat-like feet could both fit on it; otherwise, I might have purchased a second one to become my new bathroom scale. ;)
 
Speaking of scales...

Just remember that the only scale that counts is the one used at the venue of the match.

For those of you who like to make your rifle very close to or even right at the rules' weight limit, I suggest you bring a drill and a hacksaw with you when you go to matches.

Denys's rule of rifle weight: The further away the match is, the more the match's scale will differ from yours.

The corollary is:

The more important the match, the more the match's scale will differ from yours.

I keep the weight of my F-TR rig under 18 pounds, closer to 17.75.
 
gstaylorg Wrote:
In case no one else caught this, the OP is currently using a Harris BRM-S bipod and his rifle is right at the 18.18 lb weight limit. A Harris weighs about 0.8 to 1.0 lb (~12.8 to 16.0 oz), depending on the exact model and how it's mounted. He's also planning to add an additional 7.1 oz of rifle scope (Vortex GE). Any bipod that weighs more than what he already has will only put the rifle further over the weight limit. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the OP needs to do some serious weight reduction somewhere on this rifle in order to make weight. It appears it will be overweight by the difference between the two scopes (+7.1 oz), plus however much more than the weight of a Harris the new bipod might be, which could be anywhere from a couple ounces, to a lot more. Half a pound (or more) is a LOT of weight to try and make up in the barrel; basically, that's a couple inches of barrel length off the muzzle.
Click to expand...

I am not yet over weight. When I factor out the Vortex Viper and add the Vortex GE I am still under weight. I measured my rifle as it is now 14.35 lb on a pretty good scale. Will be reweighing it on a friends precision scale and will reset my values. I have gathered weights from different sources, generally manufacturers for the scopes, factory barrel and bipod. I calculated the new barrel weight which should be to the high side. Values shown below with an X next to them are part of the Rifle Weight (14.35), I then put a -1 next to the item to remove the weight and a +1 next to the item I am thinking of adding. This way I can play with weights to see how any option might affect the total weight.

My weight with the new barrel will be 8oz under weight according to my calculations. If I change only the Vortex to a GE, a very future add on, I will still be underweight by 0.9 oz (-Vortex Viper, +Vortex GE). If I leave the Vortex Viper scope on, I think I will be OK with a better Bipod weight wise. If I want to do anything else, like the scope, it may require modifications to my stock or my barrel. There are a couple of other places I can shave weight. Such as the scope rail is steel not aluminum.

I could also shave some weight by making a plate of some type, that would replace the magazine since I load as a single shot anyway. So there are things I can do.

What I am looking for is recommendations on F-TR Class Bipods with accurate weights. This way I can have a list to choose from that gives me the best options with the least weight. So far, as best as I can tell, the Mystic Precision is the lightest unit out there, followed by the Dublin Rorer.

upload_2017-9-14_15-35-32.png

Here is the rifle before I removed the muzzle brake (not part of the weight calcs) and replaced the scope with the Vortex Viper.

upload_2017-9-14_15-39-41.png
 
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+1 Denys
Many forget NRA HP rule Section 22 Rule 3.4(b)(1)
“(1) The rifle’s overall weight, including all attachments such as sights, sling and bipod, must not exceed 8.25 kilograms (approximately 18.18 pounds). An attachment also includes any external object, other than
the competitor and apparel, which recoils or partially recoils with the rifle, or which is clamped, held, or joined in any way to the rifle or which even slightly raises with the lifting of the rifle from its rest/
firing point.” This means things like plastic rain coversheets.

Of course this also applies to F/O rifles.
 
Here is my list so far where I have been able to gather weights. Do we (Accurateshooter.com) a place to put spreadsheets like this for others to draw from?

upload_2017-9-14_16-9-1.png
 
M-pod (with the longer legs, as recommended by Jerry) 14.8 oz / 0.420 kg
Talon Advanced Mk 7 (with leg extensions) 12.5 oz / 0.352 kg
 
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