Shooting tripods

[sir-lamp-alot]

99% of my foxing is now done static with me waiting up in a likley area scanning with the thermal from the boot of the car, then when charlie comes its onto the quad sticks. But if im honest its a bit of a faff trying to deploy the sticks, get the rifle, kick the pard and ir into life and keep a eye on the fox as I do it all and was thinking about one of these tripods where you leave the rifle clamped up ready to go but, they seem to be eye warteringly expensive for the ball head types which is what want so I started to look at other options and a normal camera tripod is a fraction of the price even in carbon fibre seems to be able to take the weight of a rifle, has a ball head adjustment and seems to have the same fittings that will take a pig saddle. Now am I missing somthing here will it work and is the just the shooting equipment tax in action

 

[Bo Diddley]

This could be a very informative and money-saving thread.

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

This could be a very informative and money-saving thread.

I have a 10% information fee on any possible savings people have and lets face it thats still better than a missed shot fee ive seen advertised by some stalking guides

 

[Bo Diddley]

I also need such a set-up, I've just been standing in a field shelter for over two hours waiting for a chicken-killing fox, gets a bit weary holding the rifle on quad sticks for so long! I did shoot one, so hopefully, it's the culprit.

 

[jall55]

I use the bonnet of the disco normally with a matchbox on it
If i cant or the disco is too obvious i have a bog death grip alloy body type - its amazing and was about 150 quid.

 

[Eric the Red]

The short answer to your question is yes, you can. The ballhead fitting you refer to is Arca Swiss - and is a de facto standard - a bit like VHS or Blu-Ray - others are available, but it's the norm.
So you can get a perfectly good ballhead that will take 15kg pull for around £40. The pig saddles are well copied - but for me the originals remain the best. That said when I first started I spent 40 min in the garage with some 2mm steel plate and some bike inner tube and had a compression working equivalent in 40min. Only good for one rifle mind - unless all stocks are the same. You can go cheap and fit an Arca plate direct to your stock, but I found this too fiddly to fit easily when working at pace (target in sight).

The biggest thing is the tripod. Money = weight (lack of). The biggest issue with many 'photo' tripods is that the feet are too close together so it's not as stable as it could be. The tripods recommended for shooting have a good wide footprint.
Next is height. Try to avoid anything where you have to raise the centre column significantly, as this doesn't, for me, feel as steady as one where you're at the tip of the apex of the tripod itself.

Price - I don't know what eye watering is - but the top stuff is over a grand. The Rekon Tripod sold complete by Scott Country is £400 all in. When you take account that the pig saddle is £145 - that means £245 for a carbon tripod and ballhead - it's not that bad at all. But you can beat this by looking for cute deals.

A lot of people have had success with the Innorel 85C tripod - amazing value for money on Amazon. If you can find a saddle on the cheap, you have a prone to standing - and everything else in between capability that is unmatched by any other system. With practice is it extremely stable and capable of sub-MOA at extended distance. What price that?

 

[ChesterP]

I just use a vanguard shooting tripod. Light, quick to deploy and whilst there's no clamp, there is a smoothly operating swivel rifle rest. Taken deer to over 200yds with no issues and it's rock solid plus has a wide range of telescopic length for sitting or standing shots...oh...it's considerably cheaper than a decent camera tripod and almost as light as a carbon one.

 

[Foxyboy43]

I also need such a set-up, I've just been standing in a field shelter for over two hours waiting for a chicken-killing fox, gets a bit weary holding the rifle on quad sticks for so long! I did shoot one, so hopefully, it's the culprit.

Hmm. Next time step back about a foot (younger members ask your grandad) and rest the quads-mounted virtually weightless rifle on your shoulder. Simples.

 

[Overlay]

I just use a vanguard shooting tripod. Light, quick to deploy and whilst there's no clamp, there is a smoothly operating swivel rifle rest. Taken deer to over 200yds with no issues and it's rock solid plus has a wide range of telescopic length for sitting or standing shots...oh...it's considerably cheaper than a decent camera tripod and almost as light as a carbon one.

Yep
I use one of these with a neoprene scope cover stocked on/ over the U the U is a reasonable fit for my hand , placing the rifle in my hand it’s as steady as a rock with three legs.

also have and use a bit the bog grip with carbon legs and it’s a good piece of well made useful kit, but it’s not for walking around its tooooo top heavy, for sitting out and moving occasionally, but very well made, it’s a treat to use, if your going for long term I would get the already made bog grip they are a tidy, heavy piece of kit but well worth it

 

[Bo Diddley]

Hmm. Next time step back about a foot (younger members ask your grandad) and rest the quads-mounted virtually weightless rifle on your shoulder. Simples.

Yep, I leaned back against the inside of the shelter and had everything nicely leaning back into me while I waited. It would be nice to have a tripod though so you have a little more scope to do other things!

 

[Len the dog]

I also use the Vanguard T62U and found that standing and supporting the rifle for a couple of hours gave me neck pain the following day (old injury). I looked at the Primos Gen3 with the extra two point support but decided that I could make something stronger and sturdier myself to fit the Vanguard.
I can now stand next to the rifle, scan with the thermal and when I spot foxy, just call him in for a clear shot. The support head I made swivels and tilts and has a wingnut clamp to alter the friction of the tilt.

 

[3.5mag]

I have the Rekon + standard Pig Saddle.... It makes life a lot easier enabling me to scan with the thermal whilst having the rifle ready for action.
The standard Pig Saddle is not the best - there is a lot of "slop" in it which I negated to a great degree by nipping up the runners in my vice. It's also pretty heavy & I will soon be going the route of fitting a Arca rail to the majority of my rifles to enable direct fitment to the ballhead.
In summary, for static shooting it's another great tool for when I can't use the tailgate of my pickup to stand on & shoot off the roof & with practice very accurate.

 

[BenBhoy]

+1 for death grip but exactly as above, its no fun to trundle about with. But for static shoot it's fantastic, so steady and strong.

 

[Tim.243]

99% of my foxing is now done static with me waiting up in a likley area scanning with the thermal from the boot of the car, then when charlie comes its onto the quad sticks. But if im honest its a bit of a faff trying to deploy the sticks, get the rifle, kick the pard and ir into life and keep a eye on the fox as I do it all and was thinking about one of these tripods where you leave the rifle clamped up ready to go but, they seem to be eye warteringly expensive for the ball head types which is what want so I started to look at other options and a normal camera tripod is a fraction of the price even in carbon fibre seems to be able to take the weight of a rifle, has a ball head adjustment and seems to have the same fittings that will take a pig saddle. Now am I missing somthing here will it work and is the just the shooting equipment tax in action

I use the same method for deer as foxes but with out the wagon also drone 10 and IR. (after dark)

For me foxes are on the move so am I, lots of times they won't come to a call as something is not right, so like deer if i see one I am on my toes to get a shot off the quad sticks.

The images you see of Mark Ripley leaving his expensive kit hanging to the fate of a clamp is not for me...

 

[Jeffsy]

My quad sticks have a foot rope on them.
Once the weight of the gun is on the sticks you can leave it to its own devices and scan away with your NV or Thermal.

 

[DVS1]

My experience with tripods has shown the areas to be concerned most with are leg rigidity & load bearing rating.

As said before all tripod fittings are standard across the board but if you mount your rifle in pig/hog saddle or arca rail and then use a single finger to 'wobble' the butt pad side to side the amount of movement is going to affect your accuracy ability. This wobble is a combo of your fixing method and leg stiffness, very thin legs you can see flex and rotate slightly!

Arca fitting is fiddly if a quick attachment presents itself and the pig saddle offers more room for error.

If your a 1moa shooter and your tripod wiggles left/right up/down badly your 1moa has probably become 2 or 3moa and will need to be taken into account.

Tripods like the RRS are dang expensive but as rigid as anything!

Some interesting viewing here...

Tripod Selection

One thing to also take into account is the ball head controls, the 260 RIPS version from Scott Country is a lovely tripod, the ball head.tension knob is utter shite! So smooth you could ride it bare arsed to Paris! Some adhesive grip tape is a good addition but for that cost you should be good to go!

Like anything in our sport it is truly buy once cry once. If static then a non carbon fibre tripod with a good load bearing rating, decent ball head will be as good as any super gucci carbon fibre jobbie

 

[Tim.243]

My quad sticks have a foot rope on them.
Once the weight of the gun is on the sticks you can leave it to its own devices and scan away with your NV or Thermal.

same

 

[zerovarm]

+1 for death grip but exactly as above, its no fun to trundle about with. But for static shoot it's fantastic, so steady and strong.

One of the the best bits of kit I've invested in. Gave up trying to carry it extended as obviously a bit nosey setting it up when in position. Not to bad actually folded and carried by the foam leg. Gives great confidence in longer shots.

 

[User00035]

I've just used a basic Bog-Pod for years. I don't get why you need to have the rifle clamped in a cradle while you spot. I say that because I find such cradles cumbersome, restrictive and expensive. I envisage a thermal monocular round my neck on a lanyard, in which case I'd either leave the rifle slung on my shoulder while I spot, or I'd have it rested on the bipod holding it with one hand while scanning with the other. If I see a target, shoulder the rifle flick the sight on at the same time.
Most of these things are less about the equipment than the drill you develop for deploying it.

 

[JohnSmith]

I can save you money… simply don’t use sticks or a tripod or any kind.

I have a tripod for my spotter but I’ve never used one for my rifle. If the animal is within 100 yards I’ll shoot standing freehand, if a tree is around I’ll use it as a rest. Maybe I’ll shoot seated. Anything further and I’ll get prone and deploy a bipod.

I realize this advice goes against the norm when it comes to stalking out your way as sticks are far more common than over here.