Need opinions on bipods for ARs

[turnburglar]

A lot of people were having problems with the legs not staying extended. Something in it wasn't jiving and part of the polymer was wearing prematurely.

Never heard of that. Mine works. I extend the legs all the time and it has never released unexpectedly. The only thing I noticed made a BIG difference in the usability of the bipod, is locking out the rotation feature. When you pull it out of the box it will swivel, but locking out that feature made it so much more useable. Since the bipod isn't super stiff you still have about 15* of adjustment, but because it is now locked up the rotation knob will never work loose.

[Hammer_Man]

Would you mind explaining why?

The Accu-Tac bi-pods that I’ve handled were bigger and bulkier than their equivalent Atlas bi-pods. I examined both brands in person with my eyes and hands, and found the Atlas does everything the Accu-Tac does with less bulk and weight. I also like how the legs on the Atlas are faster to deploy, you just push a button and the leg swivels down. The Accu-Tac requires you to pull the leg out of a notch before it will move. It is a simple concept, but in practice there is more resistance in pulling the leg out, versus pushing the button on the Atlas.

The Accu-Tac seems solid, and well made. For my rifle, I felt the Atlas suited my needs better.

[CubeWarrior]

Harris BRM-S with Pod-Loc works well if you want to pre-load it while firing in the dirt/grass--with an AR you can watch your rounds go into the target at long range. I use them with my precision guns. Problem is that you have to get the adapters so the swivel can hook to the picatinny and the sling swivel tensioning knob on the Harris will work its way loose over a course of fire. I prefer the Harris BRM-S with Pod-Loc for bolt guns with sling swivels. I hate shooting Harris bipods without the locks.

The CAL-Atlas is the Atlas bipod with a Pod-Loc. This is rapidly becoming my favorite bipod because I never could ratchet the disk at the bottom of a normal Atlas to remove all the slop and it worked itself loose faster than the BRM-S. The CAL-Atlas stays tight, and you don't have to worry about a tensioning screw because it is locked to the pic rail. Pre-loading the bipod is a little more difficult (at least for me) because the legs on the Atlas are far more rigid than the BRM-S. The CAL-Atlas shines shooting from a bench or concrete, and its better for any gas gun because little will work loose. The CAL is bit wider than the normal Atlas---maybe 1/2" wider than a Harris. The body isn't obnoxious, but it does put those legs out a bit farther when stowed.

The Atlas V8 with Pic Rail mount (BT10?) is a really good bipod. My problem with it is that you have to mess with that disk underneath the bipod to tension it down. If you like leaving your bipod a little looser to make it easier for transitions, then this is a great bipod because less is hanging down under the gun when the bipod is stowed.

I've seen the Accu Tacs -- seems like it has too much leg and would prevent decent pre-loading. You want a little flex in your bipod legs. I could see it mounted on a .50 cal or a .338, but it seems like overkill for an AR or anything south of a 300WM.

[jsbhike]

A lot of people were having problems with the legs not staying extended. Something in it wasn't jiving and part of the polymer was wearing prematurely.

I got an mlok one a year or so after they came out(and I think 2 to 3 months prior to the sling stud model announcement) and I have had zero in use problems with mine.

I sat mine on my truck roof as I was getting my stuff out to go hunt and it slid off and snapped somewhere in the pan/tilt guts, but the flipped out legs were fine. Magpul said they didn't send out repair parts for it so they had me send it in and sent me back a new one at no cost and it was totally my mistake.

If anyone is 100% sure they want it on 100% of the time the mlok is low profile and nice. I keep a hex key velcro'd and Velcro wrapped to 1 of the legs for removal, but in hindsight, if you think you might not want/need it all the time then I vote one of the other models would be a better choice.

[wanderson]

My first AR had the VLTOR side mounted bipod legs, similar to how the new MLOK side mounts work.

Did not care for it. While it freed up the bottom rails, I didn’t like losing the side-side swivel and even with the wider stance the polymer legs weren’t as solid as a Harris. Made for a pretty wide setup too.

[militarymoron]

I had given some thought to trying the UTG Flex bipod, which is the arrangement that you mention - the bipod legs direct mount to the handguard at the 3 and 9o’clock positions and can fold backwards or forwards when not in use. It was an interesting design and I came close to buying one but decided against.....partly because the idea of putting anything made by UTG on my gun is extremely off-putting to me, but mostly because while not hard to attach and remove, being Mlok, they aren’t exactly QD and I didn’t want that amount of weight hanging off of my gun.
Another disadvantage is that you can’t really pivot the gun much with this setup, you have to just move the whole rifle.

I have a UTG Flex on a .308 AR. It was cheap enough to take the risk and try it out. I wanted something similar to the tangodown/vltor bipod that attaches to the sides of the rail. Better build quality than I expected. It's on a range toy, so I don't have concerns about 'real world' use - I'm just a recreational shooter anyway. I've used it on a bench and in the dirt and it's worked just fine. It doesn't cant, so you just adjust and lock the legs to account for cant. You can pivot, just like you would with any fixed bipod, within a limited arc.
My favourite rail-mounted bipod is the Bobro, but I haven't see those around for some years.

[Devildawg2531]

I have an Atlas bipod and a Harris bipod.. the Atlas blows it away in every way including price. The Harris is serviceable and the Atlas is basically perfection.