Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Attached Bi-pod, or not ?

Not sure if it is as stable, but they are pretty darn stable in the right hands. Ted Trueblood once wrote an article about it called "My 6-Ounce Benchrest" where he basically proclaimed it almost indispensable. My attitude is if you are going to carry a rifle, it will likely have a sling. Make it a good shooting sling and learn how to use it and you will be in good shape. It doesn't completely replace a bipod or sticks, but it is better than nothing. I just got a bipod and like it a lot, but it sure makes the rifle feel screwed up balance wise.

In absolute terms a bipod may be steadier...but the issue is something of a red herring for BG hunting,because,for anyone trained in the use of a sling,it will tame those wobbles to a great enough degree that he will kill as much big game out to 400-500 yards as anyone using a bipod.

We may say that a bipod shooter MIGHT shoot a tighter group(I'm not even sure of that. It depends on who is doing the shooting),but again, to a BG hunter this matters not at all. Generally BG animals are not killed with "groups".

The sling is more versatile, likely faster,and can be used from any position,including off hand.I've used it to kill animals from all those positions.

If I were given the choice between a bipod and a shooting sling for western BG hunting,I would take the shooting sling.

No "may be" about it.

A rest is a good thing.

In the quakies chasing elk a tree will work. A sling is good. A pack is good if you can shoot prone. You can sometimes stand a pack up and shoot off the top.

In open country for mulies or antelope a bipod is handy. It does alter the balance of a rifle, but it is steady for the shot. Shooting sticks are similarly beneficial, but require you to hand carry them to the shot.

Nothing is perfect. A rest is a good thing.

The majority of my hunting is at moderate to extended ranges. I very much prefer a bipod and sling on LR guns. Of course accurately shooting from a bipod is a skill set, and it takes time to develop.

The vast majority of civilian/recreational shooters I have observed shooting prone from a bipod are all over the map and do not know how to load a bipod for consistent results.

Being able to get as low and as centered as possible behind a rifle to properly control recoil will generally lead to better results than shooting higher up, off sticks. Of course that is terrain dependent, and terrain will dictate the type of supported shooting.

Being able to shoot from various types of support and understanding POA/POI shifts with each is fairly important..

Yeah.....OK.

It depends a great deal on your style of hunting. "Spot and stalk", and "sit and wait" hunting are both great opportunities to put a bipod to work. More active types of hunting may find the bipod more of a hindrance than a help.

I for one loath a bipod. I use a sling or my hiking pole (a ski pole with the basket off) for an aid. I carried one on a few rifles for years and just never found myself using them much at all. It is kind of hilarious to watch one of my friends when we're calling coyotes. He always sets up with the 25 inch bipod down. Rifle tripodded on the legs of the bipod and the butt of the rifle, gun pointed in the general direction of our calling. Invariably the coyote comes smoking in from a hard left or right angle and he's trying to swing that rifle with 25 inches of bipod hanging down. It's hard for me to roll on the ground laughing and still make a running shot on a coyote.

If you like bipods, great. I'll stick to my sling or hiking pole.

mart -

I'm in your camp.

Sling, and I never leave home w/o my sticks. PERIOD.

I'd agree with that and go so far as to say a bipod hanging off the fore-end of a rifle is a hindrance for most hunting. I can't remember the last time I put one on a rifle for a big game hunt.

But there were two question raised. The first question by the OP on the practicality of a bipod and then a second question of whether a sling is as stable as a bipod.

It's not.

If anyone wants to prove that to himself, go to one of the long-range competitions where the shooters move around to different stations with targets at different ranges. If slings or sticks were as stable as bipods you'd see at least some competitors using them, given the choice. You won't, except at the stations where a bipod can't be used.

I do find it interesting that the sling proponents caveat their endorsement by saying "provided the shooter knows how to use one," as if the same thing can't be said about the bipod. Shooters who know how to use both know the answer.

Bob,

Sorry, but that is just not true. I have shot lots of game big and small over a Harris swivel bipod. A sling will steady a shot better than no sling, but a bipod is more stable. I haven't seen you shoot but I am willing to wager $1.00 that I could out-shoot you at 400-500 yards if you use a sling and I use a bipod.

Even if you won that bet, I do know that shooting against myself the bipod will always win. The use of shooting sticks is just a preference and still doesn't give the stability of a bipod...

Shrap, your dollar is safe.....

I had a guy tell me a sling was just as stable as any bipod.

Then he missed a pronghorn @ 80yds. With sling.

Then he tortured one to death from 400. With sling.

He did bring the right ammo though.





Travis

Yup, you guys are right!

I can't kill BG animals at 300-500 yards using a sling,and leaving the bipod at home.

Wonder how the hell I've managed to do it? Thanks for all the great tips.

Another CF mystery.

I've become a more patient shooter as my grumpier years have progressed. I just don't like to miss, or worse yet, wound (hate blood trailing if I don't need to) so I generally take my time to line up a good shot, or simply pass.

I am actually thinking of just using the tripod of my spotting scope(scope tilted out of the way) as an add-hock rest. It's good from 12" to 50". Below that, I have the back pack.

Sticks would probably be quicker and more adjustable, though the thought that an attached bi-pod might be a bit more stable.

Bob if you and Shrapnel get together for a shoot off I'd like to watch. Could be fun. Seriously, an attached bi-pod might have the advantage over a shooting sling, but the difference between shooting sticks and someone schooled in the proper use of a sling could be close, all other things being equal. For ME, I'm much better off using the shooting sticks.

"Schooled" being the operative term here, seems to be forgotten when considering the bipod. Believe me, I have and can use a sling, but the bipod is better...

You're right in that we're right, but wrong in that no one said you can't kill animals with a sling. Reddest of herrings.

In a pinch, the "v" between the truck door and body can work as a rest, somewhat in between a sling and a bipod...

I learned to shoot with a sling from over the course match shooters back in the 70's. My club has lots of them.Still does.

I killed my first mule deer in the Missouri River Breaks of Montana. I was walking along the bottom of a big coulee. He jumped from his bed near the top and went diagonally away. i dropped to a sit, slung up,and followed him.When he stopped, I killed him at about 200 yards.

You could have twisted yourself into knots deploying a bipod, but between the uneven terrain,the upward angle, and the sage brush the bipod would not have been of much use. I'd have branded anybody trying to use the bipod under those circumstances as a dawdler and a rookie game shot. And a bipod would not have been "always" more steady than a sling....which is why I qualified my answer. Under some hunting circumstances a sling is more versatile.


I killed a pronghorn, also my first, at about 400 yards, slung up again with left hand over a back pack. The shot was pretty easy,because at the time i was also doing a lot of woodchuck hunting and used the sling there,too.

I've shot quite a few animals with the use of a sling. They all died.

I have shot some "KEO" matches at my club, in practice, against the target shooters.20 shots in 25 minutes or something like that at 300 yards, slung up. They use target rifles; I use a 7.5 pound 270 because that's what i have. I have finish pretty good...middle of the pack to top half.

With a 270....and a sling. Imagine that.I really can't help it if most of you never learned how to use one. But then again the bipod does work really well moving from the truck to a nice flat spot where you can lay down....doesn't it?

Schrapnel you may beat me with the bipod for "groups" but not by much...and i will still kill as many BG animals as you out to 500 yards not because i'm betting, but because I've done it.

Besides i thought you were one of the adults on here....I'm not coming to Montana to shoot groups against you and you aren't coming here...so why even bother trying to make stupid bets?

You better stop reading your own press....you might start to believe it.

If you want to know whether i can shoot...with or without a sling, I have some people you can call. They've watched me shoot and hunt for years and some live in your neck of the woods.



Smokepole you didn't like my answer...GFY.

Let us know when you finally do something besides copy everyone else on here,and nit pick everyone's posts to shreds. What a jerk-off.

Bob,

You may want to read this again. I didn't call names or make fun, I just pointed out the usefulness of a bipod. I don't care about groups either, I am just talking shooting. $1.00 wouldn't break either of us and certainly isn't worth getting all huffy about.

As far as adults go, I am and I thought you were too. I didn't call you out, you feel crowded because I don't agree and that doesn't matter. But you really don't want to sling up and shoot against me over a bipod at 500 yards...