Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Stoney Point bipod review

Hey folks, hope all is well with everybody.

Thought I'd post another quick review of this bipod. I've messed with it a bunch more since I mentioned it a while back...

Very interesting unit. It consists of two assemblies- the bipod itself, and a walnut-sized mounting pod for the bipod, which installs more or less permanently on the forward sling stud on the stock. �It did leave a mark on my stock which I don't care about but if you have a fine walnut stock- beware.

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The two assemblies are very different in the sense that the bipod is an elegant, slim, very light and simple design; this is what first attracted me to it. �I have a Harris and love it for what it is, but slim light and elegant, it is not. �You don't stick a Harris is your back pocket. The Stoney Point, on the other hand, is very much something you can just slip in a pocket.�

However, the mounting pod for the SP is anything but elegant. It works and works well, but my Lord what a contraption! �It involves pinning an inner sleeve to your sling stud, then screwing an outer sleeve onto that and using a set screw and another sling swivel (so that you still have one up there) to retain the pin. Wierd. Finicky little fooker to get on there, too.�

Once it's on, putting the SP bipod on the rifle is very simple; it just snaps right onto the "pod". �

The two legs of the bipod are adjustable for length individually.



The rubber "head" where they come together is flexible; this means the bipod can go quite low by splaying the legs out like in the picture. It works quite well. Getting the bipod to an optimum height is very easy, either by adjusting legs, smooshing them down, or both.
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This brings up one worry I have about the unit. The flexible head is basically spring-loaded when smooshed like that, and can twist some too. It's not hard to avoid this but my worry is that, under recoil, some amount of the upward springiness and/or any twisting will affect the rifle in a bad way for accuracy. I have not done any rigorous testing of this. However, I can't say I've seen it be s problem in the field; it may be a baseless worry, or I might not be a good enough rifleman to see whatever it might be doing. Seems like it's GOT to have some effect, but I haven't seen it matter any!

In summary, positives are very light and trim design- it'll get taken along when Harris would not- very quick mounting on the rifle, and unlike a Harris you don't have to walk around with it on the rifle! �Negatives are a finicky-to-assemble little pod attached to your rifle, and a flexible mounting for the legs that MAY be prone to "loading up" when stretched, with negative effects on accuracy. Emphasis on "may".

Extra "pods" aren't cheap at about $15. �If you intended to run it on several rifles you'd need more pods; you don't wanna be moving that pod from rifle to rifle!

Finally, my Sendero seemed to kinda overwhelm the thing. I don't think it's a good choice for a big heavy rifle like that. �It smooshes down too easily.�

I have mixed feelings about it but here's how I see it. It's a far, FAR better bipod than the Harris I didn't bring along! � �Its so light and packable that it goes with, when a Harris does not.

I'd give the bipod 4/5 stars, but the mounting pod 3/5 stars. � �

If I can answer any questions or clarify anything I said, PM or email me and I'll do my best.�



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My bro has a stoney point. They are pretty neat. But I opted for the easier to mount, lighter, and more compact bipod system called a snipepod:

https://snipepod.ipower.com/index2.html

At 6 oz its hard to beat and my wife really enjoys using this to aid her shooting when she is sitting down.

It swaps from rifle to rifle pretty easily but mainly will keep the little adapter on her rifle until she has got her animal on the trip and then I will swap it to mine.

That snipod looks like it would be quite noisy to employ?

The guys at Best of the West like that Stoney Point bipod, but they say that if you don't keep those flexible legs straight up an down, you'll get an impact shift.

No bipods for me, especially on a back pack hunt. My pack works just fine. E

i'm in the E camp on this issue

have seen bipods used very effectively


but my pack has always been all the shooting aid I've ever needed or desired.

6 oz. is 6 oz. and when I bp hunt oz. count


glad for you guys that like and use bipods that you're finding what works best for you, but I'll stick with my pack.

Randy, I hear ya. If just going by myself I would leave it at home, though with a 6.1 pound loaded rifle I could probably spare the weight, but its really just for my predator hunting setup or help my wife shoot more accurately and I'll glady hump the 6 oz extra if it helps her bag an animal.

some guys need a 3.5# bag to sleep well, not me


some guys or gals need a bipod to give them the confidence to shoot well, not me

some guys need to count oz. so they can haul another hershey bar up the hill so they don't lose that shed they've built over their tool.......uh yeah that'd be me (blush)


ain't no wrong way or right way, just each of us find our own way, and hopefully we help each other along a little by sharing our experiences and what works for us individually

HAHA....now that is funny right there!!!

Think I'll stick with shooting off my pack too. I've thought about giving a bipod a try, but I just can't make myself do it.

Just one more akward thing to haul up the mountain, I will take my pack or rock, branch, whatever is handy.
Do the, what did Stick call it, 'monkey [bleep] a jug?' deal.

Howdy all,

Just an update. The very next time I took the sucker up shooting, I noticed that it was sagging a bit to one side. Upon examination I saw that the rubber head thingie was defective, or was failing, on that side, allowing that side of the head to flex more. This is a problem; as I tried to explain earlier, the flexing of that head is crucial and it needs to be "even" or it's a problem.

A little Googling and I saw others had seen this. Also that SP was saying to just swap it at any dealer, which I did. All is now well. I'll be watching it carefully to see if this re-occurs.

It is called the Rapid-Pivot by the way; forgot to mention that.

I also shoot over a pack, but I have found that to have more variables (thus more to go wrong) and, I don't always carry a pack. I suppose a person could load their pack to avoid bumps and lumps (variables).

Anyway, to each their own! The focus of my practice this last year has been field positions, deployed quickly. Spot it, lase it, hit it (hopefully, grin). I've liked how this bipod works for that better than I liked a pack (or a Harris).

As before, PM or email me if you have any specific questions. I'm not monitoring this thread.

Would you purposely hunt with something that has proved to be junk?

Did POI change with it?

How is a pack a variable? Maybe I don't shoot often enough but my hand under the forearm while resting on a pack, stump, branch ect. has always seemed to work well.

I do love sticks while calling dogs and bipods work well when walking and shooting gophers or prairie dogs. Can't see one going in my pack though.



Travis

A pack (or at least my pack) is a big-time variable in a situation where minor changes can have major effects.

Consider a sandbag. It's almost completely uniform; the same every time. Now consider the outside of your pack. There's straps with buckles, there's thick parts of the fabric and thinner parts, etc. My hunting pack (Badlands Superday) has two exterior pockets that have "stuff" in them. That stuff moves around and it's different stuff if I'm elk hunting vs. a day up chasing blacktails. Variable as all heck.

Anyway, what I've found with a pack is that at a minimum a guy has to take it off (which may be a PITA with a heavy coat on), get it on the ground and settled in, at least pay some attention to whether there's any hard lumps under the rifle and if so, deal with that so that they aren't pressing the stock sideways or whatever... etc.

I've seen guys fill those outer pockets with stuffing to make them uniform. Suppose that might work, have not tried it. I need those pockets.

A bipod is much more consistant than all that, at least for me. This particular one you just snap it on and away you go.

I've shot a fair amount over a pack and will continue to do so- it just makes sense to have that one in your toolbag. Not arguing that. But it's not ideal. Now I don't know that the SP bipod IS ideal; I suspect it's not. But it's pretty slick and (aside from the defect that cropped up ) works real well for a sporter rifle at "middle" ranges (out to 550, 600 yds).

Just passing along what I've seen so far! Hope it helps- even if all it does is help someone decide they DON'T want an SP.

OK

His pack is a variable????

Have to agree with Calvin...

Ummmm. ok

Someone remind me to call Patrick and tell him his damn frame is moving on me.....

mkay... +3

A sandbag? On a backpack hunt. No thank you. It's hard enough to haul all my groceries.

As for using a pack as a rest, I've done than many times. It does have it's drawbacks sometimes. I got this one from using my pack with my head downhill and an elk above me across a draw. The angle put the scope a little closer than I'd anticipated.

Rock Chuck, great pic! But you can presumably say "you should have seen the other guy!", right?

I didn't mean a guy should pack a sandbag. It was meant to illustrate how a pack isn't a sandbag; it's much less uniform and much more variable as a thing to rest your rifle on.

I'm not gonna argue against a pack as a rest. In my experience it can work. But it's no bipod in terms of repeatability and flexibility; it can go lower than a pack, it can go higher, and it is the same every time you use it which a pack isn't. I think the Harris is a superior bipod BUT I won't pack a Harris generally speaking, and am completely uninterested in having one permanently attached to my rifle... this SP bipod is very packable and fast to deploy and has been working well for me for a couple years now; worth a look perhaps for those so inclined!

So Jeff,
I assume this means you are going to be backpack hunting this coming Fall?