Versa-pod Bipods

[Guest 308Panther]

I have had my eye on the Versa-pod bipod for sometime,and not to long ago I finally picked one up.I saw it as an alternative to some others where the springs run down the outside of the bipods legs.

Springs after awhile tend to get creaky and the wrap and hook of the spring can catch bits of vegatation.

 

Shooting off the top of a suv or across the hood of a car is illegal in my state.Even leaning a gun against a vehicle will get you a ticket.

 

The bipod I ordered was the Model 2,Steel/Aluminum Alloy (150-002) ($67.95) and along with that the adapter lug($29.95) needed for mounting on a M16A2 Handguard.I wasnt sure if this was needed or not as I have a free floated barrel and a carbon fiber free float tube.As it turns out,it wasnt needed but I will hang on to it anyway as one never knows when a spare part may be needed.

 

The installation was a breeze.

Slip the mount stud over your existing sling mount,install the pin,slide the rubber base over new mount stud,and tighten the new sling mount nut.As a preventitive against it loosening back up I used locktite on the threads.

Reattach your sling,Slide the legs on the lug and your done.

Total assembly time including looking for loctite........ 10 minutes.

 

 

Mounting lug

 

 

 

 

Bipod Legs

 

 

 

Legs stowed

 

 

 

 

Ready to Rock

 

 

 

 

At the Range

 

 

 

 

Had I used a little more patience,I would have gone up a couple of models,and I'll explain that in abit.

This particular model has a lot of useful features,I like.

Adaptability,you can puchase an extra mounting lug and swap the legs over from one rifle to the next.

Lightweight

Its quite.No exposed springs.

The legs adj in height at a touch of a button,one on each leg.Legs are under spring tension

and literally shoot to full extenstion.

Adj. range is 9 in (legs compressed) to 12 in (legs extended) in 6, 1/2 in. increments.

The legs will stow forward or rearward.

It will pivot(pan) about 6 degrees,3 each way and will tilt up and down a small amount also.

There is plenty of fore and aft flex range to allow for recoil and target aquiring.

Plenty of cant adj to make up for uneven ground.I was shooting on concrete so that wasnt a problem.

 

One thing I found I could make an improvement on was the need for a cant lock,as top heavy rifles will tip over.This is an easy fix as one only needs to drill a hole in the eye of the leg mount,Tap it out,and add a thumb screw.

The other thing is this model really doesnt have a whole lot of panning range...

Panning isnt a feature thats really needed at the range but lack of panning may be a hinderance to varmint hunting.

 

I will admit I didnt buy this directly from Versa-pod or off their web sight.

I bought it thru another distributor,and wasnt sure of the model I was ordering was the correct one for my usage.Even tho there were pictures and descriptions of the product,I still liked to have had one in hand before my purchase...so to me it was still a sight unseen purchase.

 

Cabelas,Gander Mountain did not have them or do not have them in stock.

 

I am very impressed with it.And would buy another one....

 

Only I think I would purchase the Model 52 as it has the friction locks for Tilt,Pan and Cant.

The Model 52 is a bit higher($ 87.95 ) in price also.

Or the model 50($84.95) from their military side of the website.

 

www.versapod.com

 

308Panther

[Vermincinerator]

Excellent review Panther,

I am with you on the Versa Pod, and have been using them for a few years now and i think they are a superior design to the more common Harris.

I am the only one in my group of shooting buddies who uses the Versa Pod, i have them with both skids and rubber feet.

I find the skids better for work off the bench and use the rubber feet for shooting off the hood of the truck.

Like you said swapping them over is a breeze once you have the stud/block affixed, i believe you can buy the mounting block seperately now.

Tell you one thing, it frightened the $hit out of my buddy after he had tried my rifle, and it tilted to the side when he let go of it , he thought it was going to fall off the bench

 

Ian.

[Guest 308Panther]

Thanx Vermincinerator,

 

Oops,Guess I forgot to mention the bipod can be ordered with skid plat pads or the rubber pads.

Mine has the rubber ones,and its the softer rubber not the harder plastic type rubber so if one were inclined to use off a vehicle top the paint wouldnt be damaged.(Real hunting trucks come prescratched )

Most of the military models are equipped with the skid plate pads.

And yes,the base block or mounting lug can be purchased seperately and generaly run about $30.

There are a couple of instances where the base block is model specific...M16A2 for example

And they offer mounting blocks for a 1913(picatinny)Rail along with the UIT rail(Blaser,Sig tac rifle)

Some of the specialty mounting blocs can run as high as $36

 

And realistically I think it is also fair to mention that this is my first real hands on use of a bipod,

in the past I have used a range bag or rucksack or rolled up ground pad to use as a rest.

I found the Versa-Pod to be alot more supportive then the above mentioned items.

 

I also found that the (attached) pod system is still light enough that I could take an offhand shot if I needed too.

 

 

Offhand

 

 

 

 

308Panther

[millpool]

i am selling a versa pod bipod and 3xmounting brackets on e bay ,so if your after 1 have a look and bid

 

impoverished of cornwall

[Ronin]

Great review Panther.

 

I must admit I like the feature that the legs pop out rather than have to be pulled as on the HArris, it also save nipping the skin when retracting the legs (ak harris do)

 

Millpool, i'l have a look at your wares