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Need help choosing tripod

Kind of depends upon what kind of shooting you will be doing while using the scope/tripod combo. Personally, I like a 45 degree scope for both and I like my Freeland for prone and my Manfrotto pistol grip head on a manfrotto tripod when sitting in a chair spotting. My advice is that when you go out to the range next time, jsut ask people if you can look through their scopes and play with their tripods......pretty hard to beat some hands on experience when trying to pick either a scope, a tripod or what kind of a head you want to put on a tripod.
 
Kind of depends upon what kind of shooting you will be doing while using the scope/tripod combo. Personally, I like a 45 degree scope for both and I like my Freeland for prone and my Manfrotto pistol grip head on a manfrotto tripod when sitting in a chair spotting. My advice is that when you go out to the range next time, jsut ask people if you can look through their scopes and play with their tripods......pretty hard to beat some hands on experience when trying to pick either a scope, a tripod or what kind of a head you want to put on a tripod.

Note the above comments and especially with regard to the "head" of whatever set upyou decide on. I have bought and tried a variety of stands and actually not been all that pleased with any of them, especially the stand itself that tends to "rock." Nothing is more irritating than when you are looking through a good quality Spotting Scope and the stand "rocks" or isn't perfectly still. I shoot primarily Benchrest and therefore prefer to just lean over from my seated position and look through the Spotting Scope. Even my Sinclair bench attached stand gives me issues from time to time. I finally settled on using my Creedmore stand and took out one section of the (3 section) pole and have it positioned up against the bench to keep it steady. If you are shooting prone, those issues don't present themselves as most low height stands work just fine. It's overcoming the swaying or movement of a Spotting Scope stand that is sometimes the headache. The higher up you go, the more probability of movement. And I'm sure there are guys on this blog who've figured out how to overcome the issue. So I suggest you wait and see what's available. And do go to a top tier NRA Competition and see what the serious pros use. Then buy what you think works for you, instead of collecting Spotting Scope Stands while in search of "the right one."

Alex
 
For bench use I made my own scope stand. Used a pipe clamp from Home depot, a block of Aluminum and a ball head from a yard sale tripod.
Cost about $20Scope-1.jpg Scope-2.jpg Scope-3.jpg scope-4.jpg
 
Good choice on the glass Paul. You wont regret it. I have that same spotting scope and absolutely love it. If you're going to spend a lot of money on great glass, be sure to get a high quality tripod that will allow you to get the full benefit of the glass. The same goes for the head.

I use a Manfrotto CXPRO4 carbon fiber tripod with a Manfrotto head and am very pleased with it. Much lighter than aluminum tripods of equal size and a lot more strength. Very strong and handles the weight of the large Meopta spotter with ease. Its more of a field tripod, but the top center column shaft will rotate down 90 degrees if I want to set it up next to a shooting bench and see long range targets without getting up. Extremely versatile tripod for all applications.
 
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Good choice on the glass Paul. You wont regret it. I have that same spotting scope and absolutely love it. If you're going to spend a lot of money on great glass, be sure to get a high quality tripod that will allow you to get the full benefit of the glass. The same goes for the head.

I use a Manfrotto CXPRO4 carbon fiber tripod with a Manfrotto head and am very pleased with it. Much lighter than aluminum tripods of equal size and a lot more strength. Very strong and handles the weight of the large Meopta spotter with ease. Its more of a field tripod, but the top center column shaft will rotate down 90 degrees if I want to set it up next to a shooting bench and see long range targets without getting up. Extremely versatile tripod for all applications.

Good choice, Manfrotto.
 
By Manfrotto CXPRO4, I assume you're talking about the MT190GOC4TBUS. The carbon fiber model. That's the one I've had for a couple years now and I like it a lot. I got another Manfrotto head for it late last year, made of magnesium to keep the whole thing light.

I'm a Manfrotto snob, it's the only tripods legs and heads I buy.

Too bad this thread is old.
 
By Manfrotto CXPRO4, I assume you're talking about the MT190GOC4TBUS. The carbon fiber model. That's the one I've had for a couple years now and I like it a lot. I got another Manfrotto head for it late last year, made of magnesium to keep the whole thing light.

I'm a Manfrotto snob, it's the only tripods legs and heads I buy.

Too bad this thread is old.

No. I have the MT055CXPRO4. Has a max height of about 67" so I can comfortably stand straight up while spotting without completely maxing the tripod out and it has the cam lever leg locks. I don't like twist locks because they are slower at deploying and stowing the legs. Both are excellent designs and cams aren't a whole lot faster. Just my preference.

My manfrotto CF tripod is so strong that I will deploy the legs (but keep all 3 legs straight together), raise the center column a bit, and use it as a hiking stick when scouting or hunting in the high country. Makes hiking a lot easier and setting up my spotting scope to look at things that much quicker. My father in law even used it as a rest to make a downhill shot on a nice high country mule deer one season. I was already using it as a hiking stick when we spotted the buck so it quickly turned into a make-shift shooting rest when it was needed. He dropped the buck with one shot at 200 yards. Many times I've been packing an animal out and used it to support my weight, including my loaded pack, fully leaning into it as I descend the very steep NW Rocky Mountain terrain. The strength of the Manfrotto CF tripod is amazing. I never worry about it failing when using it to descend mountains with my 225 lb frame and sometimes 80-100 lb pack loaded with gear and meat.

The head I use is the Manfrotto MHXPRO-3W X-PRO. Its a 3 way pan/tilt head. Very solid head and I like how the lever arms retract to make it more compact when transporting it in my pack. Also has secondary tension adjustments on each axis. Very nice head for the money.
 
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That's a very nice tripod indeed. The choice between the 055 and the 190 for me, came down to a little smaller (closed) and lighter, but either one is great. I don't subject my tripod to anything close to what you're talking about.

The head you mention is an excellent one. I have an earlier model, the 804RC2 which is very similar, but I found that it was difficult to use from prone so I finally bought the Manfrotto 322RC2, magnesium grip ball head and it's been super.

Manfrotto makes good stuff.
 
Bayou can you elaborate on the different heads for prone use? I'm in the market for a Alta Pro or Manfrotto tripod for my spotting scope.

I haven't gotten to use many different head attachments.
 
Bayou can you elaborate on the different heads for prone use? I'm in the market for a Alta Pro or Manfrotto tripod for my spotting scope.

I haven't gotten to use many different head attachments.

Here's the deal. There are essentially two types of tripod heads to consider: ball heads and pan&tilt heads.

As a shooter with a spotting scope set up alongside me, I need something that is easy to maneuver and that stays solidly on whatever I'm looking at. The tripod that I use allows me to pull out the center column and drop it 90 degrees from the top plate. Now when I splay out the tripod legs, I leave one a little higher that the others to bring the spotting scope comfortably to my eye. This means the top plate is not horizontal or vertical, it's canted.

The Pan&Tilt heads work great it your tripod's top plate is perfectly horizontal. These things even have bubble levels to ensure level. You can traverse the scope by simply loosening the pan and see all the target line and flags and stuff. When the tripod plate is 90 degree vertical you can traverse the line by loosening the tilt instead of the pan. When the tripod top plate is at an angle, you're screwed, because you have to play with pan and tilt together.

The ball head allows you to place the scope anywhere you want, but when you release the ball, you have to maneuver the scope directly. When the time comes to lock it down, you need both hands, breaking position and even then it's difficult to lock it on the exact direction you want. The pistol grip that I have is a ball head with a handle that allows you to move the scope on the ball and unlock/lock it with the same hand that you use to maneuver the scope in position.

It does not traverse as nicely as the Pan&Tilt head, but it's much easier to lock/unlock directly where you're looking. Especially from position.
 
Thank you that's exactly what I needed to know. I knew a ball head was the way to go.

I was undecided on a pistol grip vs a standard ball head. I ordered the pistol grip as there was a better deal on it.
 
This is the setup I'm using now. I'm still adapting it but it's beginning to come together. I took this picture at the end of the match this past Sunday. We had our famous southern twitchy wind during the match and I lost a ton of points right and left of the 10-rings during the first two matches. On the first match I didn't think I needed the spotting scope and on the second match, I had not set it up properly yet. (I did say it was a work in progress.) On the third match, I think I hit an adequate position and this time, I spent much more time on the spotting scope looking at the mirage @ 27X and when I was satisfied with my wind call, I could transition to the 50X riflescope and get the shot off very quickly. That March-X riflescope just drilled right through the mirage and I did much better on that last match. I caught the switches which sent many people into the 7 and 8 and if I had had my head out of my posterior on a couple of shots (fixating on growing an inch group in the 9-ring at 10 o'clock for some reason,) it would have been a great score.
 

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