Bipods

[Slater]

I was watching some Youtube videos on the various bipods on the market nowadays. Some of them are well thought out and and feature pan as well as tilt. Some manufacturers I'd never heard of before, such as Fortmeier (German?). The Magpul bipod seems to be well thought of by many folks, although some claim that it's too wobbly.

Is the old reliable Harris still a good choice for hunting/target applications or has technology passed it by?

[Disciple]

There was a recent thread on this. https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...bipods-for-ARs

[Slater]

Yes, but I'm including bolt guns as well.

[maximus83]

I've been full circle and come back to Harris. Have 3 of them, 2 the original sling stud mounts, recently added a new one with a pic rail interface. Also have Magpul that I use on my precision 10-22, it's fine too.

All things considered, I prefer the Harris, though if I didn't use it I'd probably go with Atlas. Keep hoping they'll eventually update it a bit, but they are rock solid, they last forever, and I can get great accuracy and consistency out of them with bolt guns and AR's.

[SomeOtherGuy]

The Harris, although it's a dinosaur, works quite well with few faults. It's relatively inexpensive and light too. Get the notched-leg model.

I've tried some bipods with panning and it often works poorly in real life, especially when you want to step away from the rifle but not have it fall over.

For F-Class or similar precision shooting there are definitely better options than Harris, and I'm currently using a Sinclair "tactical" (I have used the Sinclair F-Class and didn't like it). But the Harris is not awful even for precision.

Your best bets for latest info on the newest bipods will be the PRS and F-TR forums like Accurate Shooter and 6mm BR, and Sniper's Hide.

[SteyrAUG]

Harris is my go to except in instances when factory bipods exist for a reason (FAL, HK, SIG, etc.)

I will use a back pack before I get too heavily invested in this bipod vs. that bipod.

[PrarieDog]

I run serval Harris bipods. They are good but their is better on the market for much more. Truth be told for prone shooting it is hard to be a good back pack.

[soulezoo]

Harris was a standard for a long time and is still popular. Kind of like a Leupold vari III. Can still get the job done, but there exists far better now. Most of that far better comes with a cost. So what is valuable to you? The only things Harris has going for it is lightweight and convenient flip down spring loaded legs. Now what you introduce is a certain level of inconsistency in your shooting due to the level of flex and wobble in the unit.
It's funny to me when you get folks that expend much effort into load development and chasing lands and that last 1 or 2 points in SD to get another .1 smaller moa, just to use a Harris bipod.
If you're looking at a Harris just to save some money, then save even more and use a proper bag instead. And don't forget that rear bag too.

[B Cart]

It kind of depends on what type of shooting you plan to do. If you just want to shoot prone, Harris is a great durable option. But if you want to do more PRS type shooting, or have more flexibility for a wide variety of situations, you get a lot more benefit out of something like an Atlas or Evolution bipod.

The benefits of something like an Atlas or Modular Evolution bipod are: You can run the legs 45 degrees both front and backwards, which gives you a lot more flexibility on barricades and in unconventional positions etc. You can also swap out leg lengths which is a huge benefit. With the harris, you are stuck with the bipod size you get, but with the Evo bipod, you can take the legs off and run really tiny spikes in place of the legs, which hook up great on barricades, wood, etc., or you can swap out the legs for extended length legs which are much better for shooting from sitting or kneeling (especially nice for hunting when you have to shoot over bushes, or are shooting from a steep hillside etc). You will pay a lot more for the Evo or Atlas, but if you want something that will work in a large variety of different situations and positions, a bipod like those are the way to go.

[Pappabear]

Atlas is my goto, I have one Harris on a gun and it doesn’t bother me but I prefer Atlas.

PB