Thread: Bi-pod mounting

Tussock and I have been sending a few pms about better ways of mounting bipods. The main issue for me is when using a harris your sling attaches to the back of the harris which raises the balance point and makes it unstable on your shoulder (especially when suppressed) The other issue is the fixture point is then some distance from the stock itself which gives more room again for the rifle to move on your shoulder, other than that there is the discomfort of the pod lock or back of the bipod sticking into your shoulder.
This is all stuff that I have put up with over the years but my wife has her firearms licence (and is going well, you may recognise this pic from the photo comp in the NZ hunter mag




and after a 13 hour walk she was really sick of the way the rifle was carrying so started looking at other ways to mount the bipod that would either allow for quick attachment when needed (without needing to move sling) or allow the bipod to stay mounted without having it dig into your shoulder or move the balance while carrying.
I liked the way the Versapods mount on the spigot allowing for quick mount/removal but was still not a fan of the sling stud being moved away from the stock (the block is a better shape against your shoulder though and wont cut into your front hand under recoil like has happened to me with the Harris.

After seeing Norways rifle I thought it would be worth having a play to see if something similar would work on a tikka, I had a copy of the Versapod sitting in a drawer that I thought would be worth having a play with to see if everything would work before going crazy and selling my harrises (3) and swapping them for versapods just yet.

So Redbang and I decided we would have a play day in the gun room and see what we could come up with

First step was to get an appropriate spigot, I'm a bit impatiant so rather than wait for one to come from the states a conveniant piece of stainless found its shape changing



Next there was a fair bit of measuring, its pretty hard with so many curved edges and angles to make sure your getting accurrate measurements (note redbangs sneaky thigh entering the pic there....)



after measuring 20 times the hole was drilled (Im not so nervous drilling a fibreglass stock, can always be filled....lol)



Everything was set inplace to check clearance etc, make sure measurements were right and set the length for the mounting pin. There was a small oversight here as the bipod needs to be able to slide past its rest point to allow the clip to clear the rib it latches to (was remedied but something to be mindful of) - another bit of sneaky leg exposure by mr Redbang in this shot...



The inside of teh stock was roughed with a chisel up for the epoxy to hold to and make sure there would be a mechanical lock, a dam was made to stop the epoxy running everywhere and let us concentrate on the one area (the whole stock will be stiffened after this is completed)



I didnt get pics of the mix getting poured in, hands were a bit busy balancing things and moving plastersine around the spigot to stop any of the compound oozing out.



Everything was left to go hard and put back together




The new mounting spot allows for the rifle to sit snug against your shoulder and bipod doesnt dig into your shoulder if carried with it mounted, if it is off its a simple slip and clip and your away. There is however more torque applied to the stock due to the extra leverage from being mounted further out. I will open the barrel channel a little more just to be cautious and stiffen the forend, You could make an extra long spigot that ran back to the mag well to remedy this but I think with the stiffened stock it shouldnt be too bad (it doesnt flex a huge amount but deffinitely applys more pressure when mounted like this) I had thought of threading the spigot so that the sling stud could screw up into it as another fixture point but after looking at how little holding area there was on the mounting block that came with the bipod I figured the effort was more than the benefit.
Will be interesting to see how it holds up, the first few range trips/hunts will tell me if its something I will be doing to all my rifles, if I do I'll be getting the real versapod with friction controls and may look at getting the same setup done on a carbon stock.