Hunting Washington Forum
Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: bobcat on February 05, 2019, 10:43:54 AM
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I've never used bipods and don't know too much about them, but I've been wanting to get one to attach to my rifle for predator hunting. I was planning on a Harris, but now I'm wondering about the Blackhawk bipods, which seem to have a good feature that the Harris bipods don't have. Blackhawk calls it the "traverse" feature:
Combining pivot and traverse functions with a time-tested bipod design, the Traverse Pivot Bipod is an industry first. The new horizontal traverse feature allows you to steadily track a moving target or change from target to target without repositioning the firearm. And when you’re shooting on an uneven surface, the pivot action lets you swivel the firearm to either side, giving you a level shooting platform.
Just curious if anyone has experience with Blackhawk bipods, and how the quality is compared to Harris. And is this "traverse" feature a good reason to buy the Blackhawk over the Harris?
https://blackhawk.com/products/long-gun-accessories/long-gun-accessories/bipods/sportster-traversetrack-bipod
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Is the traverse thing like a swivel? If so I’d say no go on that. If you are moving the angle of the rifle then ideally body position must also change. It’s easier and faster to move a rifle than your whole body. :twocents::
Only experience I’ve had with Blackhawk bipod was years ago I bough one and the cant adjustment broke the first time out. I returned it and got a Harris. My Harris bipod don’t have the can’t feature on them though.
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I'd say go for it. I looked them over once, then tried a friends. Really liked the swivel, especially for coyote hunting. Went back to buy one, and they were out. This was years ago. Never pursued it. Less that half price of any of my cant model Harris' also.
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Can’t hurt to try it.
Come to think of it my atlas and spartan bipods both have swivel ability, I just don’t use it.
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Okay, I guess I'll go ahead and try it. Won't be out much money as it looks like I can get it for under $60, including shipping. Even if I only use it for one year, as long as it helps me kill a few coyotes it'll be worth it.
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I have used the pivot model, not the traverse model, for quite a few years on my deer rifle. Only issues I've had are that the wing nut that tightens it down (to keep it from pivoting, or to make it require more force to pivot) doesn't hold as well as it used to. So now it's either complete free swinging or locked in place. And the extendable legs – definitely turn the tension knobs on them to lock it in place once it's set up. If you don't, the legs will retract from full extension if you merely breathe on them. Which makes your rifle move out of position and makes a really loud clanging echo from the springs. Mine works pretty well for the price – but there's definitely a reason they cost less than a Harris.
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My opinion on the swivel type bipods is they are pretty pointless over a simple set of shooting sticks. They offer no additional support vs sticks but do add weight to the front half of the gun. I've shot hundreds and hundreds of coyotes and I've lost count of ththe times I've had to come off sticks to get a crack at a dog that came behind me. A tall length bipod really can screw you on those opportunities. Catching on brush, rocks, your foot, etc.
To the question of Blackhawks quality, they definitely aren't a Harris. I have a medium canting model and it's a lot sloppier than the Harris when loading, and I've replaced springs in both legs. One the body of the thing is twisted a bit too but it still functions. Its had thousands of rounds fired off of it though. All in all it was a pretty solid 35 bucks spent.
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There is one benefit over shooting sticks I see. A guy can lay prone if need be to make a longer shot or if the calling situation allow you to shoot prone...…….like if you miss at 20' and he's off to the races and stops at 400. :chuckle:
