Will be hunting antelope in Wy. I am going to use a harris bipod on my 7mm vanguard. What size do I need to buy. 13" or the 27" or some where in the middle.

THANKS
Jerry

JY, I like the tall one, it works well, for me in a sitting position, and if you don't extend it all the way it is fine for prone, although my belly may have me a little higher off the ground for prone than a normal human.....

I really like the pod lock accessory which I got from Sinclair, it helps tighten up the 'tilting' aspect of the bi-pod and it's great.

Good Hunting--Don

ONLY one thing on the subject of bipods...
depending on the range you plan on shooting, depending on how you sight in...
depending on how demanding the shot may be, beware the vagaries of "bipod bounce".

If you sight in using your bipod at 100yds off of a hard bench, then make a money shot at 3-400yds off the soft dirt, there will be a BIG diference in where you THINK it will hit vs where it WILL hit.

A bipod will bounce/react differently from being shot off a hard surface vs a soft surface.
Whetehr it would vary within a minute of antelope I don't know, that is your skill in play.

Jerry,

I would take a serious look at shooting sticks if I were you. Bipods can be a real pain in the ass, especially if you're crawling through sagebrush to sneak on a goat. I've had problems with them getting hung up on the sage, they are heavy, noisy... With sticks, you can vary your shooting heigth between prone and sitting/kneeling as well.

MG

Jerry

I second what Madgoat said, bipods take ages to set up, clank, unbalance the rifle and can change your POI on long shots.
A ruck sack is great for prone and I made a mid height bipod shooting stick for over the grass shots sitting. Have a look at this link http://www.varmintal.com/abifu.htm its simple cheap and extremely steady.

Mark

I use the 13 to 27 inch bi pod I have found they work great.from prone to sitting. But again I set my rifles up to work with bi pods. I make sure the barrels are free floated when using the bi pod. I have had no trouble shooting many a thousand of rounds with them.

jy, that's good intel from LAWCOP, I have not double checked my bi-pods on all my rifles in terms of bench at the range, versus dirt. Having said that at 300 yards at our range, there isn't a bench so I've shot em all 'off of dirt' at that range.

I've had the same POI in the rifles I've taken afield, because I always confirm zero when I get to my hunting destination, and always have shot my rigs off of the dirt once afield.

I've used the sticks also, and haven't found them as steady or consistent as the bi-pods, but they are heavier than the sticks, I don't crawl 'through' any sage, but I'm sure they would snag in it if you do--crawling around sage, I haven't gotten my rifle snagged up in any, but I do look out for that.

I like one that is long enough to shoot from a sitting position.

I would not doubt go with the 9-13" model. Every one I know that started with the taller model has gone to the shorter model.

I would also sight it in via laying on the ground as opposed to off the bench.

Good luck to ya.

Mark D

I use both a bi-pod and shooting stick my bi-pod is the 13-27.

Please explane to me how shooting off a bench vs soft ground has any bearing on POI, that would be like saying shooting off a rest vs shooting free hand would change, POI is POI no matter what you shoot off.

There are a few things that will change POI wind, weather, altitude, and where I aim.

Chalk up another vote against bipods on the POI
subject. I"ve put my bipod on my .22 magnum, and it"ll not be on a centrefire again. The recoil/vibration makes the gun jump up, to a varying begree, depending on what the bipod is on. I use a Roe sack(rucksack) as a rest for prone shots, and have noticed a big improvement on my shooting.
Sticks, either bipod or tripod sticks are much better than an attatched bipod.
Regular bipods might be ok if your just shooting on a range and in the same spot(same surface) all the time.
I lost a lot of foxes last year due to fiddling with the height of the bipod when i should have been shooting.
Try a rucksack, it"s very practical and you might be surprised at your shooting.
good shoting

quote:

Originally posted by Mark Dobrenski:
I would not doubt go with the 9-13" model. Every one I know that started with the taller model has gone to the shorter model.

I would also sight it in via laying on the ground as opposed to off the bench.

Good luck to ya.

Mark D

???

I have been using the sitting version since they first came out. I can shoot dead steady prone with a sling; I don't need a bipod. But for long shots, a bipod sitting with a sling is the way to go, especially if you use my method, which I have explained ad nauseum before. SSCoyote tried it and he said it is the steadiest field position bar none. And it gets you above the grass.

FWIW, I notice zero difference between a bipod and a padded rest out to ranges of 850 yards. You can sometimes get a bit of different POI using a sitting position with a tight sling (another great shooting postion), but not from a bipod, at least not the way I use it.

Learn to shoot sitting with a shooting sling; you should be able to keep your bullets in a ten inch cirlce out to 500 yards with practice. Much quicker than sticks. If you need a steadier rest, you have time to attach the bipod.

One more thing - those short bipods are COMPLETELY usesless in Africa. Even the taller ones usually are, but I have used the sitting models there.

quote:

Originally posted by Hunt-ducks:
I use both a bi-pod and shooting stick my bi-pod is the 13-27.

Please explane to me how shooting off a bench vs soft ground has any bearing on POI, that would be like saying shooting off a rest vs shooting free hand would change, POI is POI no matter what you shoot off.

There are a few things that will change POI wind, weather, altitude, and where I aim.

BIPOD bounce has to do with the reaction of the rifle moving as the harmonics of the recoil make the legs of the bipod move or bounce off the solid surface of the bench.
Variables
weight of rifle
is bbl floated or does it have a presure point
size of shooter
style of shooter
caliber of rifle
bullet being fired
etc..
Bipod bounce will NOT be consistent when removed from the hard surface as it will move differently when the bullet is still in the bore.
BUT each scenario is different. That 12 pound prarie dog rifle in .22 hornet shot by a 250 pound shooter won't be as affected by bounce as the 6 pound .308 shooting a 200gr bullet with a 155 pound shooter.

My study of it comes from having been a PD sniper and long range shooter for many years. As a PD shooter we had to remove as many variables as possible, as 1/4" could make a rather large diference in the outcome. We found that the vagaries of the positions and situationss made for unacceptable inconsistenceis for bipod usage. I know other departments use nothing but bipods but that is their choice and they all have their own shooting envelopes they have to be within.
We figured we could always pad something hard, but it is difficult to drag a hard bench with you into a vacant side hill field.
Maybe 1/2 -1" variance is no big thing to someone shooting an Eland at 200yds, but then again if you have to thread a shot through a hole, its nice to know you have removed as many variables as you could.
my $.02 on the subject.

Once again I would have to give a vote for shooting sticks over a bipod when it comes to hunting. Bipods are certainly handier and are more "tactifully sound" when it comes to millitary or LE work. However the biggest problems I have had with them is that you invariably can't get high enough above brush to make the shot when you use a bipod. I preferr medium colapsable shooting sticks. When they are set up I can shoot comfortably sitting or kneeling. If I can get prone I just spread them out wider and they are still very solid.

I have only tried the harris bipod. I used it on a 300 win and a 223 varmit rifle. Like I said in theory I thought it would be great but in the field it was pretty useless. Unless I was hunting in a sandy desert devoid of any vegitation I would take shooting sticks over a bipod any day.

All that said I have to also say that in my limited experience I never saw any abnormal groupings from the 2 rifles when equiped with bipods at extended ranges from the bench or the ground in the field.