Bipod problems....help please!!!

[Eightball]

Alright, here's the deal. I have a Saiga .308, with wood furniture. I just recently got an 8x42 PSO scope to sit atop that baby (can't wait to test it at the range, haven't gotten to yet), and was planning to mount a bipod to it (every sweet rifle with a sweet scope needs a sweet bipod, right? ). So, I go out and buy a Rockmount bipod to mount to the sling swivel. Guess what? IT WON"T FIT. Universal bipod my . The stud itself it like a mm too wide to fit through the brass portion that it is supposed to fit through--which translates into that if you can mount it, it's not anywhere near flush (about 1/4" gap the whole way down). So, I take off the stud, try to see if I can get it to fit better than it does with those two little clamps--and the screw won't fit if I insert the stud from the bottom (to get it to stay without those clips). The only way this thing is fitting is with a little bit of metal being shaved off in a few places. I have the reciept left, and am contemplating returning the bipod and looking for a Harris bipod somewhere, but don't know if I'll run in to the same problem, or what's the deal. Anyone here have any advice on what I should do? (file away the Rockmount, or return it and get a Harris?). Any and all help is greatly appreciated--and hopefully soon, so I can finish my rifle!

 

[ocabj]

I don't know what a Rockmount bipod looks like, but the Harris bipod uses a clamp mechanism to grip the sling stud. You have to unscrew the clamp screw enough so that the clamp can be expanded enough to fit over the stud. Then you screw it back down to tighten the clamp.

 

[Eightball]

The Rockmount is basically a Harris bipod ripoff. It uses the same general "clamp" mechanism....but it's too tall/wide on the clamps and too narrow on the slot the stud is supposed to fit through. Hope this helps other people debating weather or not to reply--I need help, because I really wanna get this project finished (so I can move on to another, an old Spanish Mauser that needs some "scout work" done without touching the original wooden stock)

 

[ocabj]

That clamp should move freely up and down and widen appropriately if you loosen the clamp tension screw and you pinch the clamp open.

 

[Eightball]

I am aware that the clamps loosen and such due to the thumbscrew; the brass part through which the swivel stud/clamps go is not tall/wide enough to accept the stud (with the clamps attached) through it to the degree that it is flush. It will stay on on it's own, but the stud will not fully go through the hole it is supposed to so that it will become flush (it wobbles similar to a see-saw when attached the way it is supposed to due to this problem). The stud is too wide to go fully through the hole when the clamps are on the side; it can't even fit through the hole when it is disassembled and off the forend. Is there any way to make the system flush with the forend, keeping this issue in mind?

ocabj--if you're the only one going to respond to this, would you rather just PM, or continue posting? You seem knowledgeable on the subject, and any/all help is always appreciated.

 

[Rockstar]

Well, unless one were referring to me personally, then I'd have to just say that studs are cheap.

 

[GunGoBoom]

The lack of universality probably lies with the Saiga (if it's like mine); not the fault of the bipod. The Saiga has some proprietary, screwed-up type of sling swivel stud. Put the bipod on a different rifle, and either forget about a bipod for this one, or find another type with another attachment method.

 

[Eightball]

G.G.B.--so, you're basically telling me that I'm screwed over as far as mounting a bipod to my Saiga? ...... :banghead: . So, basically the only way it's going to fit is through metalworking? or, is there another bipod out there that will fit? I've read reports on here of people mounting bipods to Saigas previously, so maybe I'm just "special" and am missing out on something :banghead: .

 

[Eightball]

So, is there no one else able to help me out on this? Does it look like i'm going to be doing some rifle-specific metalwork in order to make this bipod fit?

Yes, this is a shameless bump.

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

harris won't fit on a saiga either...
you could attach a rail to the forearm and use a rail mounted bipod..
no metal work involved...

 

[Eightball]

Would a rail work on a wooden forend? Especially for someone who this is their first "project" rifle? That, and what rail, what bipod, where to mount it, how to mount it, etc. PM if you want.

 

[GunGoBoom]

I don't know - I'd say that if anyone has something, it would probably be Doug (Tantal):

http://tantal.kalashnikov.guns.ru/

try there. Or, you might be screwed without some home or gunsmith fiddling/machining.

 

[gaston_45]

If it has a wooden forearm why not buy a 10 dollar set of sling mounts and put the new stud either in front or behind the current one? That way you can have the bipod on the correctly fitting stud and leave the sling on the factor original where it exerts less torque on the stock then it would on the end of the bipod mount?

Oops, mine were 13 dollars, not 10, but they come with both front and back studs, white spacers, and a set of quick detach sling swivels. Uncle Mikes #1002-2 QD 115
those are the nickel plated ones to match stainless rifles but the blued ones should have a similiar number.